*Props* to a Fellow Blogger's MJ Tribute

I love this tribute to MJ's memory and what his passing means for each of us. I felt similarly:

Black.girl.Thoughts.: Will they.reminisce.over.you...

"Gone Too Soon" (R.I.P. Michael)

UPDATE 6/26/09: I found some words. They don't come close to expressing my feelings but they'll have to do for now.

Dear Michael,

You were my first...crush, reason to blush, poster on my wall, person I said hello to in the morning, album I played on repeat every day, cassette I copied, video I knew by heart, dance routine I learned, doll, book I bought with my own money, lunchbox, debate topic, death that I feel deep down in my soul.

I mourn your new music that has yet to be created. I mourn your lack of a happy childhood or content adulthood. I mourn that, even in your death, some people continue to tear you down. But...I also celebrate the childhood memories that were filled with your presence. I celebrate your positive effect on me and the world.
I celebrate the awareness you brought to so many causes: racism, famine, child abuse, media stereotyping/misinformation and so much more...I celebrate your legacy of musical genius and the bar you raised for future generations. And I hope that where ever you are, you know that you are loved and missed.

Love,
A fan

What's your favorite memory of Michael Jackson? What's your favorite MJ song(s)?



6/25/09: I'm still speechless. Hopefully, I'll have some words later. Until then...

Michael Jackson: Interviews: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9dG8i0mMls

Young Michael singing "Got to Be There" (acapella w/ backing vocals):


Young Michael choosing a date:


The Story of the Moonwalk:


How MJ Learned How to Moonwalk:


Michael shows off his beatboxing skills to one of my fav songs - "Tabloid Junkie":


Michael's home videos:


The media never let him rest:


There are too many of his songs that are my favorite so here are just some:

Heartbreak Hotel (live in '84, Victory Tour):


Heartbreak Hotel (live in '87, Bad Tour):


You Rock My World (full video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3wShd_bX8A

Smooth Criminal (radio edit video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WjOn5TNjBM

Jam (extended video w/ extra scenes of MJ teaching Air Jordan how to dance): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ZGZexsaFo

Thriller (full video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8

R.I.P. Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009)

Random Thought of the Day

I've never seen an ugly child get kidnapped. Parents should be more mindful before trotting out the cute baby pics in front of random people. Not everyone is a perv, but there are many out there who are thinking hard while they're "oohing" and "aahing". And it's not just men now. The perverts are getting smart these days by recruiting women to help them abduct children.

Two-year-old Jada Justice of Portage, Indiana has been missing for a week. You wouldn’t know it from watching national news.

http://www.blackamericaweb.com/?q=articles/news/moving_america_news/10384

Jada Update - July 6, 2009:
R.I.P. Jada The details of Jada's story are here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31725012/ns/local_news-chicago_il/

The N*Word: Reclaim or Disown?

"No one can make you feel inferior without your permission." - Eleanor Roosevelt (my philosophical twin!)

On June 15, I read an email from my stepmother that contained one of the most powerful videos I've ever viewed: a plea from 10 year-old Jonathan E. Mccoy for us to stop using the n*word. So I tweeted it. Between June 15 and today (June 24), there has been an overwhelmingly positive response to sharing Jonathan's video with others in the Twitterverse. This is, by far, the most popular video I have linked to, which tells me something: many people are tired of the n*word. Most of us know the history of it: where it came from (Latin/Spanish roots of "black"), why it was introduced (to dehumanize blacks), and why the use of it spread throughout our community (the conscious and subconscious internalization of slaveowners' attempts to dehumanize us).

A couple years ago, I remember there being some beef between the rapper Ludacris and Oprah Winfrey where they got into a battle of words about whether or not the n*word should be used. The disagreement ocurred during a segment in which "Crash", a movie that explores people's racial prejudices, was featured on Oprah's show (if you haven't seen this movie, go rent it NOW). Oprah famously hates the n*word. Ludacris famously uses the n*word. A lot. Hence, conflict. Ludacris argued that by using the n*word, we're changing the meaning of it. The good ol' "reclaiming the negative word by using it positively" argument. Naturally, Oprah - belonging to an older generation - dismissed that argument and reminded us of the n*word's role in the lynchings, beatings, captivity, and general brutal/overt racism against those that came before us. To Oprah (and others who think similarly), the n*word represents only pain. It will never be a term of endearment, regardless of how affectionately it's uttered or how you spell it.

I really wouldn't be extreme in writing that there are two types of African-Americans: those that want to reclaim the n*word and those that want to disown the n*word. Growing up, I learned the history of the word early and never heard my friends or family use it out of it's original hateful context, so it's not a part of my natural vocabulary. However, I understand that, to many blacks, this word is the same as saying "my dude", "my homie", and sometimes even used as a way to punctuate a particularly strong point within a comment (as in "my nigga!!!"). In other words, "n*gga" has become a verbal exclamation point of sorts. I do believe whether or not we choose to use the n*word is a reflection of our level of racial consciousness. Therefore, I don't use the n*word in the "nigga" context. I prefer using the word "friend".

On the other hand, there's some truth to the "reclaiming" argument. In 7th grade, I got into a verbal altercation with a female classmate. The situation was tense and I called her a bitch (something I usually don't do). Her response? "That's right. And I'm a damn good one, too." That comeback had me on pause for a bit. One, because it was an unexpected response. Two, because she completely owned my attempt to insult her and turned it into a strength. Regardless of the fact that I did not feel that being called a "bitch" was a positive thing, she did. As a result, that insult lost a lot of power. Now, I don't think that "nigger" and "bitch" are on the same level as far as hateful words go, but they are both rooted in someone trying to dehumanize or cast a negative light on the other person. Many women have owned the word "bitch" and made it a postive thing (e.g., B.I.T.C.H. = Being In Total Control of Him). Some have even written affirmative songs about how being a bitch is just one of the many facets of their multi-dimensional selves. Again, I'm of two minds on using this word to describe myself and other women, too. And, again, I don't normally use this word as an affectionate term.

As a connoisseur of words, I understand that they have both objective (dictionary) and subjective (personal) meanings. Objectively, "nigger" and "bitch" are derogatory words. Period. But subjectively, the meanings of "nigger" and "bitch" are embedded with the history of our personal life experiences with these words.

What's your definition of "nigger"? Do you ever use this word? Why or why not? If you do, in what context? How do you feel about non-blacks using this word?

For your viewing pleasure:


If you want to tweet, IM, or email this video, here's a shortened URL for you to copy & paste: http://bit.ly/Qyimt

War+Peace = Survival (Dedicated to Iranian Soldiers for Democracy)

If it exists, then it's meant to be
War + peace co-exist as cosmic enemies

Disrupting each other's goals
Drawing lines in the sand that the other ignores

Cannot live with each other
Cannot live without each other

Too much war causes annihilation
Too much peace causes stagnation

Extremes exist to create balance for all
War+peace = ultimate survival

© Jara 2009. All rights reserved.

I'm going out of my way not to watch any of the Iranian protest footage. Although I know the protests are necessary, it's disturbing to watch people getting injured and dying over the right to have a democratic election. As an American, I was taught from Day 1 that the right to govern ourselves is an inalienable right. Maybe that's why we didn't protest our (recently) stolen elections in 2000 and 2004 with as much fervor as the Iranians are fighting now. We trust(ed) our government too much to *really* believe that it would steal an election right under our nose. Stolen elections? That's a "3rd-world" problem. That would never happen in America - land of the free, home of the brave.

But it did happen here. The fact that Americans even refer to Bush as "president" is a clear testimony to how much, as a country, we don't want to believe our elections were stolen. As a result of having an unelected president in office, tens of thousands of Americans (and Iraqis) have lost their lives...fighting a war of no consequence. The irony of this is not lost on me. We can't even intervene in this situation without looking like complete hypocrites for so many reasons. Among them, our previous government administrations had a hand in placing Ahmadinejad as President in the first place. It's almost as if a cosmic balancing act is going on here...

"Why Can't We Live Together" by Carlos Santana & Sade is on repeat for me today while I thought about the Iranians. Listen here: http://blip.fm/~8rrum

"Why Can't We Live Together"

Tell me why tell me why tell me why
Umm why can't we live together
Tell me why tell me
Umm why can't we live together
Everybody wants to live together
Why can't we be together

No more war no more war no more war
Umm just a little peace
No more war no more war all we want
Is some peace in this world

Everybody wants to live together
Why can't we be together

No matter no matter what color
Umm you are still my brother
I said no matter no matter what color
Umm you are still my brother

Everybody wants to live together
Why can't we be together

Everybody wants to live
Everybody's got to be together
Ooh everybody wants to live
Everybody's got to be together

Ooh Ooh laaa laa laa laa
Everybody's got to be together
Everybody wants to be together

I said no matter no matter what color
Umm you are still my brother
I said no matter no matter what color
You are still my brother

Everybody wants to live together
Why can't we be together

Gotta live together
Together!

Lyrics courtesy of www.azlyrics.com

What's your reaction to the Iranian election protests?

Random Thought of the Day

What part of 72% approval of public option do our stupid Senators not understand about the type of healthcare reform we want? I'm so tired of wimpy Dems. The GOP needs to bottle whatever is keeping these Dems in their pockets. Is it 2010 yet?

Happy Father's Day

I wrote two versions of this poem. The first one is my dad's favorite.

Version 1

When young, I was a Daddy's Girl
Placed you in the center of my world
On a pedestal built with great expectations
Flaws not included in my mind's depictions

Growing up, I was a Disappointed Teenager
Realized my vision was built on meager...
Quality time with you, I had me deluded
About your humanity, contradictions included

But now, I'm a Brand New Grown
Wearing these clear-colored glasses I now own
Our complete, complicated, layered past
Makes me appreciate the reality of you at last

© Jara 2009. All rights reserved.

Version 2:
When young, I was a Daddy's Girl
Placed you in the center of my world
On a pedestal built with great expectations
Flaws not included in my mind's depictions

Growing up, I was a Disappointed Teenager
Realized my vision was built on meager...
Quality time with you, I had me deluded
About your humanity, contradictions included

But now, I'm a Brand New Grown
Wearing these clear-colored glasses I now own
Our complete, complicated, layered past
Makes me appreciate the reality of you at last

© Jara 2009. All rights reserved.

"Fathers, be good to your daughters. You are the god and the weight of her world."
Fathers Day Quote by: John Mayer

"The most important thing a father can do
for his children is to love their mother."
Fathers Day Quote by: Unknown

"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."
Fathers Day Quote by: Clarence Budington Kelland

To all of the good fathers out there, I'm wishing you a very Happy Father's Day. Keep protecting, providing, disciplining, guiding, and caring for us. Thank you.

Will Smith - Just the Two of Us



Luther Vandross - Dance With My Father



Nona Gaye feat. Marvin Gaye - The National Anthem




Natalie Cole feat. Nat Cole - Unforgettable



A great interpretation of Beyonce's "Just Like Daddy"

Will You Date/Marry Me?

I just finished commenting on a blog entry titled "Rules of Engagement: How to Approach a Man". The premise was sparked by a woman asking the author for advice on how to approach a man for dating. I jumped in with my comments, but quickly realized that I'm of two minds about whether a woman should approach a man. One side of my brain (the left?) thinks it's fine if a woman wants to approach a man that she's interested in. Go for yours, sista! But the other side of my brain warns this adventurous woman not to pursue the man so strongly because of my observations of (American) men taking women who pursue them for granted. Whichever side of the fence you're on in this debate, it's a good hypothetical question to ask ourselves, right?

But let's move away from hypothetical land and over to the real African island (Orango Island, Guinea-Bissau to be exact) where its tradition for women to propose instead of men. This concept is so bizarre to my Western-raised mind that I was immediately intrigued. The divorce rate is damn near non-existent there. Why? Because women generally make better choices when it comes to long-term mate selection. While men focus on physical attraction, women tend to think beyond initial infatuation to evaluate a man as a potential provider. When the initial choice is in the woman’s hands and the man is left to decide yay or nay, things work just fine. Well, here come Westerners who turned the ish around by putting thoughts into the men’s heads that THEY should be selecting the women. And guess what happened? The divorce rate increased. The islanders recognized this and are now trying to reverse the situation by going back to their old ways. Let's stay tuned...

African-Americans are so twisted up value-wise. Our DNA retains memories of (some of) our old customs, yet we grapple with our Western teaching (read: brainwashing) urging us to go against our natural instincts (see “The Making of a Slave” by Willie Lynch for details), which gave birth to this perpetual Battle of the Sexes...

Related articles:

"Women, not men, choose spouses on African archipelago"

"Senior Black Couple Sets Record With 84 Year Marriage"

My Email Signature

I believe there are some shortcuts we can take to get straight to who a person is: musical taste, hobbies, work, lovemates, friends, etc. Another great one is the email signature. Is it contact info? That person is probably about his/her business. Is it a picture? Ooh creative! Is it a quote? A communicator, a lover of words. What does the quote say? *ding ding* Jackpot insight into the personality+values.

My email signature contains three quotes:

"Actions express priorities." - Mohandas Ghandi

"Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you feel a loss of energy, a loss of power, a sense of spiritual deadness." - Shakti Gawain

"Humility is a tough pose to hold because your knees start to ache when you are on them too long and your neck starts to hurt when it is bent in submission to something greater than yourself." - Melissa Harris-Lacewell (www.twitter.com/harrislacewell)

Quote #1 describes my life philosophy. I try to back up my words with actions as much as possible.

Quote #2 describes how I recognize + follow my purpose in life.

Quote #3 hints at the type of sense of humor I have (which is one of my best qualities). See, I recognize in that quote that Ms. Lacewell is being sarcastic. Did you?

In other words, if you're not feeling these quotes, then you're not feeling me.

My Twitter Recommendations (for FollowFriday)

Welcome to my attempt to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome (aka TwitterThumb). At the time of writing this, I follow 200 people on Twitter. Of those 200 people that I follow, I'm recommending the ones whose tweets I enjoy the most consistently. If you're not on my list, it doesn't mean I don't like you personally. So don't take it personal. Ok? Good. Also, if you're not on my list but would like to be, DM @jazzzyone and I'll start paying closer attention to your tweets. I hope you enjoy these people as much as I do. :-)

Special Note: Tweeters are only listed once week to week. For example, if I recommended you on 6/12/09, then you won't be repeated on the 6/19/09 list. (But every week is included on one list for easy reference.) Also, "Featured Tweeters" are people who I really enjoy and believe should have a spotlight on them because of their extra interesting tweets.

If you want to recommend me, remember my Twitter name is spelled with 3 Z's (not 2). Thanks. Tweet on!

Click below to see:
@JaZZZyone's FollowFriday Recommendations

"Proclamation of No Emancipation"

I stare at the steel bars decorating my new home
My veteran roommates move in slow-motion
While memories of the crime I didn't commit
Run through my mind at break-neck speed
An unending flow of unanswered questions
Keep me company in the silence
Killing time is my new hobby
Until someone believes me
And fights for me
Eventually
Hopefully
Soon

© Jara 2009. All rights reserved.

This poem is brought to you by someone who is fed up with our cracked-out "justice" system.
In case you missed it, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today (in a 5 to 4 decision) that convicts aren't constitutionally allowed to receive DNA testing when appealing a case. Basically, this is some bullsh*t but I'll let the justices speak for themselves. According to the New York Times article:

“DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty,” the majority conceded, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “The availability of new DNA testing, however, cannot mean that every criminal conviction, or even every conviction involving biological evidence, is suddenly in doubt.”

In addition, the majority reasoned, it is not so much up to the federal courts as it is to the state legislatures to establish rules “to harness DNA’s power to prove innocence without unnecessarily overthrowing the established criminal justice system.”

Justice John Paul Stevens is one of the 4 justices with some sense and integrity (on this case):

“The DNA test Osborne seeks is a simple one, its cost modest, and its results uniquely precise,” Justice Stevens said.

It's times like these where the politicizing of our justice system really disgusts me. And people wonder why it's so important that we have more minority representation on the U.S. Supreme Court? Out of the 200+ justices in our nation's history, only a handful have been non-white /non-male. We need diversity of opinions, thoughts, and life experiences in our legal system- STAT!!!

Especially within the black community, we need to begin aspiring to become police officers, probation officers, lawyers, judges, etc. Instead of railing against the system, let's INFILTRATE it! Maybe then we'll begin to see more genuine justice + peace. I fight most of my traffic tickets and win my cases. Why? Because I come prepared. And because my city VOTES for justices that are fair (for the most part). That's so key. Most people don't know that most judges in the criminal court system have to be voted in, which means they can be voted out, too.

But the historically underpriviledged are allergic to actually particpating in the system outside of being tried and sentenced, which is understandable but also extremely stupid.

When my cousin became a detective in Tennessee, he received a lot of flack from our relatives and his friends about "selling out" and becoming part of The Establishment. When I first found out he entered the police force, even I was disappointed..until he told me what motivated him: he wanted to make sure that his community received a fair deal. There's power in being able to COLLECT and VIEW the evidence, people. After dedicating years to serving his community as a detective, my cousin is now a barber. And he gets more props for hooking up hair. Our values are so backwards...

I believe the real reason why this ruling came down is because DNA testing has proven time and time again that our justice system is inefficient (e.g. full of incompetent people rushing through cases in order to up the conviction rate) and weighted heavily against lower-income people (for a variety of reasons, including racism). If you're poor and/or a minority, you better sell everything you have to afford a good attorney or else you can kiss your freedom goodbye. And yes, having a good attorney TRUMPS your skin color in court. Just ask my black cousin (and OJ Simpson). He was charged with attempted armed robbery (of white boys in the South) and received a very lenient sentence for his 1st offense because a) his father hired an excellent attorney (with his college fund, no less) and b) his relatives include a police detective and a congresswoman. I'm willing to bet that if my cousin had a public defender on his case, he'd be in jail right now serving maximum time.

Here's the Innocence Project's response to today's insane ruling (via @innocenceblog on Twitter): http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/2042.php

Love Revisited / "Love by Definition"

Three years and one relationship ago, I wrote about love and what it means to me (romantically speaking). Then, I questioned the concept. Now...

Love by Definition

Love is a noun,
More importantly a verb

Love is how you act 
When you've run out of words

It's that natural high

When you turn to your side...

Seeing your bliss reflected in someone else's eyes.

Imperfection
Ugly truth when you'd rather hear pretty lies

Sometimes a burden. An obligation. A blessing in disguise.

Other times, a heartache when one-sided or un-actualized.

Simplest four letters carry heavy weight and its meaning varies.

Hope, fear, joy, anger, stubborn, compromise - can make one wary.

But love is powerful. In its pure form, the strongest cure for negativity and hate.

Tears down walls and replaces with bridges. By our own will but designed by fate.

© Jara 2009. All rights reserved.

Romance: Grading on a Curve

Friends & family come to me for romantic advice. A lot. I'm noticing that the same issues keep coming up - to the point where I have deja vu moments all the time. I think I finally figured out the cause of relationship issues between women and men: different grading scales! We just don't give the same credit for the same actions within a relationship.

Since I'm a female, I'm gonna represent for the ladies and post our grading scale* (for men) below.

SIMPLE DUTIES
You make the bed ......................................... ....+1
You make the bed, but forget to add the decorative pillows.... 0
You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets...................-1
You leave the toilet seat up..................................-5
You replace the toilet paper roll when it is empty............ 0
When the toilet paper roll is barren, you resort to Kleenex...-1
When the Kleenex runs out you use the next bathroom...........-2
You go out to buy her breakfast to be served in bed.....+5
In the snow..................................... ..............+8
But return with a six pack of beer............................-5
And forget the breakfast................................ .............-25
You check out a suspicious noise at night..................... 0
You check out a suspicious noise and it is nothing............ 0
You check out a suspicious noise and it is something..........+5
You whack it with a six iron................................+10
It's her cat...................................... ...........-40

AT THE PARTY
You stay by her side the entire party............ 0
You leave her to chat with a college drinking buddy......-2
Named Keisha.................................. ..-4


HER BIRTHDAY
You remember her birthday................................0
You buy a card and flowers...............................0
You take her out to dinner.............................. 0
You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar....+1
Okay, it is a sports bar................................-2
And it's all-you-can-eat night..........................-3
And your face is painted the colors of your best team........-10

A NIGHT OUT WITH THE BOYS
Go with a pal...................................... .0
The pal is happily married..........................+1
The pal is single................................... -7
He drives a Ferrari.................................- 10
With a personalized license plate (GR8 NBED)........-15

A NIGHT OUT WITH HER
You take her to a movie...............+2
You take her to a movie she likes.....+4
You take her to a movie you hate......+6
You take her to a movie you like......-2
It's called Death Cop 3...............-3
Which features Cyborgs that eat humans....-9
You told her it was a foreign film about orphans.....-15

YOUR PHYSIQUE
You develop a noticeable pot belly................-15
You exercise to get rid of it...+10
You resort to loose jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts......-30
You say, "It doesn't matter, you have one too."..........-800

THE BIG QUESTION
She asks, "Does this dress make me look fat?"
You hesitate in responding......................-10
You reply, "Where?".............................-35
You reply, "No, I think it's your belly".........-100
Any other response..............................-20

COMMUNICATION
When she wants to talk about a problem: You listen, displaying a concerned expression...........0
You listen, for over 30 minutes...............+5
You relate to her problem and share a similar experience....+50
You're mind wanders to sports and you suddenly hear her saying "well, what do you think I should do"...............-50
You listen for 30 minutes without looking at the TV..+100
She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep............-200

*Actual grading scale was originally written 2+ years ago, but it's still relevant. Don't ya think?

Random Personal Quote

It makes no difference whether progress enters through the front door or the back door, as long as it makes it into the house. - Jara

Inspired by all of the criticism heaped on President Obama by disappointed leftwing progressives.

I prejudge. Therefore I am?

Last year, a friend turned me onto participating in a research study (Project Implicit®) conducted by Harvard on unconscious biases. As most people who know me know, I'm very interested in human psychology and what motivates us to act...So I was game to be a guinea pig. I started out with the U.S. Election 2008 test to see which candidate I preferred. At the time, I was still undecided between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but was consciously beginning to lean towards Obama. Well, my results showed I had negative subconscious feelings about Hillary. (It probably didn't help that I just saw a negative film about the Clintons' financial/political shenanigans.) So my appetite was whetted. On to the skin tone test to see if I had a preference for light or dark skin. I scored "equal preference" or "neither preference for light or dark skin". No shocker there. I took all of the other tests and received similar results...until I took the weight test. Apparently, I have a subconscious problem with fatties. And old people. Do these results mean I'm ready to kick an overweight senior citizen down a flight of stairs? Probably not.

But my results did make me wonder about why I didn't have any strong unconscious prejudices against people according to race, sexuality, gender, skin complexion, etc. which are the usual suspects, right? Well, I grew up in the Bay Area, CA where a person is generally stigmatized for being intolerant of cultural differences. But I was also raised around strict, dogmatic Rastafarian vegetarians and naturalists who taught my schoolmates and me that being unhealthy is a serious character flaw. If I had a nickle for every time I heard "Eating healthy maintains a healthy mind" and so on...I consciously believe that age is a state of mind. So, it doesn't take a genius with a psych degree to make the connections going on in my subconscious here: unhealthy diet -> unhealthy mind -> old = bad!!!

What are your conscious prejudices?
Find out your unconscious prejudices here: Project Implicit®

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life...

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." - Berthold Auerbach
"Music is what feelings sound like." - Unknown
"Music is the shorthand of emotion." - Leo Tolstoy
"Music is the poetry of the air." - Richter
"Music is the medicine of the mind." - John A. Logan

Music is all of this and more to me. There have been so many times when a song celebrated a milestone with me, expressed what I couldn't communicate, comforted me through a breakup, or simply stood in as a witness to so many of my life experiences. I believe much can be learned about a person by her taste in music. Get to know me...

I'm a Blip.fm DJ. Like my latest selection? Click inside the black space above the song title below to visit my station:



I'm always open to discovering new music, so if you have any suggestions, hit me in the comments section. (No heavy metal or loud music, though.)

"The Making of a Slave" by Willie Lynch

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Greetings

Lets Make A Slave

Cardinal Principals For Making A Negro

The Breaking Process Of The African Women

The Negro Marriage Unit

Controlled Language

_____________________________________________________________

GREETINGS

"Gentlemen. I greet you here on the bank of the James River in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and twelve. First, I shall thank you, the gentlemen of the Colony of Virginia, for bringing me here. I am here to help you solve some of your problems with slaves. Your invitation reached me on my modest plantation in the West Indies, where I have experimented with some of the newest and still the oldest methods for control of slaves. Ancient Romans would envy us if my program is implemented. As our boat sailed south on the James River, named for our illustrious King, whose version of the Bible we Cherish, I saw enough to know that your problem is not unique. While Rome used cords of wood as crosses for standing human bodies along its highways in great numbers, you are here using the tree and the rope on occasions. I caught the whiff of a dead slave hanging from a tree, a couple miles back. You are not only losing valuable stock by hangings, you are having uprisings, slaves are running away, your crops are sometimes left in the fields too long for maximum profit, you suffer occasional fires, and your animals are killed. Gentlemen, you know what your problems are; I do not need to elaborate. I am not here to enumerate your problems, I am here to introduce you to a method of solving them.

In my bag here, I HAVE A FULL PROOF METHOD FOR CONTROLLING YOUR BLACK SLAVES. I guarantee every one of you that if installed correctly IT WILL CONTROL THE SLAVES FOR AT LEAST 300 HUNDRED YEARS. My method is simple. Any member of your family or your overseer can use it. I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES; AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES. These methods have worked on my modest plantation in the West Indies and it will work throughout the South. Take this simple little list of differences and think about them.

On top of my list is "AGE" but it's there only because it starts with an "A." The second is "COLOR" or shade, there is INTELLIGENCE, SIZE, SEX, SIZES OF PLANTATIONS, STATUS on plantations, ATTITUDE of owners, whether the slaves live in the valley, on a hill, East, West, North, South, have fine hair, course hair, or is tall or short. Now that you have a list of differences, I shall give you a outline of action, but before that, I shall assure you that DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY, STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION. The Black slaves after receiving this indoctrination shall carry on and will become self refueling and self generating for HUNDREDS of years, maybe THOUSANDS. Don't forget you must pitch the OLD black Male vs. the YOUNG black Male, and the YOUNG black Male against the OLD black male. You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE. And the MALE vs. the FEMALE. You must also have your white servants and over- seers distrust all Blacks. But it is NECESSARY THAT YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US. THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US. Gentlemen, these kits are your keys to control. Use them. Have your wives and children use them, never miss an opportunity. IF USED INTENSELY FOR ONE YEAR, THE SLAVES THEMSELVES WILL REMAIN PERPETUALLY DISTRUSTFUL. Thank you gentlemen."

LET US MAKE A SLAVE

What do we need? First of all we need a black nigger man, a pregnant nigger woman and her baby nigger boy. Second, we will use the same basic principle that we use in breaking a horse, combined with some more sustaining factors. What we do with horses is that we break them from one form of life to another, that is we reduce them from their natural state in nature. Whereas nature provides them with the natural capacity to take care of their offspring, we break that natural string of independence from them and thereby create a dependency status, so that we may be able to get from them useful production for our business and pleasure.

CARDINAL PRINCIPLES FOR MAKING A NEGRO

For fear that our future Generations may not understand the principles of breaking both of the beast together, the nigger and the horse. We understand that short range planning economics results in periodic economic chaos; so that to avoid turmoil in the economy, it requires us to have breadth and depth in long range comprehensive planning, articulating both skill and sharp perceptions. We lay down the following principles for long range comprehensive economic planning. Both horse and niggers are no good to the economy in the wild or natural state. Both must be BROKEN and TIED together for orderly production. For an orderly future, special and particular attention must be paid to the FEMALE and the YOUNGEST offspring. Both must be CROSSBRED to produce a variety and division of labor. Both must be taught to respond to a peculiar new LANGUAGE. Psychological and physical instruction of CONTAINMENT must be created for both. We hold the six cardinal principles as truth to be self evident, based upon the following: the discourse concerning the economics of breaking and tying the horse and the nigger together, all inclusive of the six principles laid down about. NOTE: Neither principle alone will suffice for good economics. All principles must be employed for orderly good of the nation. Accordingly, both a wild horse and a wild or natural nigger is dangerous even if captured, for they will have the tendency to seek their customary freedom, and in doing so, might kill you in your sleep. You cannot rest. They sleep while you are awake, and are awake while you are asleep. They are DANGEROUS near the family house and it requires too much labor to watch them away from the house. Above all, you cannot get them to work in this natural state. Hence both the horse and the nigger must be broken; that is breaking them from one form of mental life to another.

KEEP THE BODY TAKE THE MIND! In other words break the will to resist. Now the breaking process is the same for both the horse and the nigger, only slightly varying in degrees. But as we said before, there is an art in long range economic planning. YOU MUST KEEP YOUR EYE AND THOUGHTS ON THE FEMALE and the OFFSPRING of the horse and the nigger. A brief discourse in offspring development will shed light on the key to sound economic principles.

Pay little attention to the generation of original breaking, but CONCENTRATE ON FUTURE GENERATIONS. Therefore, if you break the FEMALE mother, she will BREAK the offspring in its early years of development and when the offspring is old enough to work, she will deliver it up to you, for her normal female protective tendencies will have been lost in the original breaking process. For example, take the case of the wild stud horse, a female horse and an already infant horse and compare the breaking process with two captured nigger males in their natural state, a pregnant nigger woman with her infant offspring. Take the stud horse, break him for limited containment. Completely break the female horse until she becomes very gentle, where as you or anybody can ride her in her comfort. Breed the mare and the stud until you have the desired offspring. Then you can turn the stud to freedom until you need him again. Train the female horse where by she will eat out of your hand, and she will in turn train the infant horse to eat out of your hand also.

When it comes to breaking the uncivilized nigger, use the same process, but vary the degree and step up the pressure, so as to do a complete reversal of the mind. Take the meanest and most restless nigger, strip him of his clothes in front of the remaining male niggers, the female, and the nigger infant, tar and feather him, tie each leg to a different horse faced in opposite directions, set him a fire and beat both horses to pull him apart in front of the remaining niggers. The next step is to take a bull whip and beat the remaining nigger male to the point of death, in front of the female and the infant. Don't kill him, but PUT THE FEAR OF GOD IN HIM, for he can be useful for future breeding.

THE BREAKING PROCESS OF THE AFRICAN WOMAN

Take the female and run a series of tests on her to see if she will submit to your desires willingly. Test her in every way, because she is the most important factor for good economics. If she shows any sign of resistance in submitting completely to your will, do not hesitate to use the bull whip on her to extract that last bit of bitch out of her. Take care not to kill her, for in doing so, you spoil good economics. When in complete submission, she will train her offspring in the early years to submit to labor when they become of age.

Understanding is the best thing. Therefore, we shall go deeper into this area of the subject matter concerning what we have produced here in this breaking process of the female nigger. We have reversed the relationship in her natural uncivilized state she would have a strong dependency on the uncivilized nigger male, and she would have a limited protective tendency toward her independent male offspring and would raise male offsprings to be dependent like her. Nature had provided for this type of balance. We reversed nature by burning and pulling a civilized nigger apart and bull whipping the other to the point of death, all in her presence. By her being left alone, unprotected, with the MALE IMAGE DESTROYED, the ordeal caused her to move from her psychological dependent state to a frozen independent state. In this frozen psychological state of independence, she will raise her MALE and female offspring in reversed roles. For FEAR of the young males life she will psychologically train him to be MENTALLY WEAK and DEPENDENT, but PHYSICALLY STRONG. Because she has become psychologically independent, she will train her FEMALE off springs to be psychological independent.

What have you got? You've got the nigger WOMAN OUT FRONT AND THE nigger MAN BEHIND AND SCARED. This is a perfect situation of sound sleep and economic. Before the breaking process, we had to be alertly on guard at all times. Now we can sleep soundly, for out of frozen fear his woman stands guard for us. He cannot get past her early slave molding process. He is a good tool, now ready to be tied to the horse at a tender age. By the time a nigger boy reaches the age of sixteen, he is soundly broken in and ready for a long life of sound and efficient work and the reproduction of a unit of good labor force. Continually through the breaking of uncivilized savage nigger, by throwing the nigger female savage into a frozen psychological state of independence, by killing of the protective male image, and by creating a submissive dependent mind of the nigger male slave, we have created an orbiting cycle that turns on its own axis forever, unless a phenomenon occurs and re shifts the position of the male and female slaves. We show what we mean by example. Take the case of the two economic slave units and examine them close.

THE NEGRO MARRIAGE UNIT

We breed two nigger males with two nigger females. Then we take the nigger male away from them and keep them moving and working. Say one nigger female bears a nigger female and the other bears a nigger male. Both nigger females being without influence of the nigger male image, frozen with a independent psychology, will raise their offspring into reverse positions. The one with the female offspring will teach her to be like herself, independent and negotiable (we negotiate with her, through her, by her, negotiates her at will). The one with the nigger male offspring, she being frozen in subconscious fear for his life, will raise him to be mentally dependent and weak, but physically strong, in other words, body over mind. Now in a few years when these two offspring's become fertile for early reproduction we will mate and breed them and continue the cycle. That is good, sound, and long range comprehensive planning.

WARNING: POSSIBLE INTERLOPING NEGATIVES Earlier we talked about the non economic good of the horse and the nigger in their wild or natural state; we talked about the principle of breaking and tying them together for orderly production. Furthermore, we talked about paying particular attention to the female savage and her offspring for orderly future planning, then more recently we stated that, by reversing the positions of the male and female savages, we created an orbiting cycle that turns on its own axis forever unless a phenomenon occurred and reshifts and positions of the male and female savages.

Our experts warned us about the possibility of this phenomenon occurring, for they say that the mind has a strong drive to correct and re-correct itself over a period of time if I can touch some substantial original historical base, and they advised us that the best way to deal with the phenomenon is to shave off the brute's mental history and create a multiplicity of phenomena of illusions, so that each illusion will twirl in its own orbit, something similar to floating balls in a vacuum. This creation of multiplicity of phenomena of illusions entails the principle of crossbreeding the nigger and the horse as we stated above, the purpose of which is to create a diversified division of labor, thereby creating different levels of labor and different values of illusion at each connecting level of labor. The results of which is the severance of the points of original beginnings for each sphere illusion.

Since we feel that the subject matter may get more complicated as we proceed in laying down our economic plan concerning the purpose, reason and effect of crossbreeding horses and nigger, we shall lay down the following definition terms for future generations. Orbiting cycle means a thing turning in a given path. Axis means upon which or around which a body turns. Phenomenon means something beyond ordinary conception and inspires awe and wonder. Multiplicity means a great number. Means a globe. Cross breeding a horse means taking a horse and breeding it with an ass and you get a dumb backward ass long headed mule that is not reproductive nor productive by itself. Crossbreeding niggers mean taking so many drops of good white blood and putting them into as many nigger women as possible, varying the drops by the various tone that you want, and then letting them breed with each other until another circle of color appears as you desire.

What this means is this; Put the niggers and the horse in a breeding pot, mix some asses and some good white blood and what do you get? You got a multiplicity of colors of ass backward, unusual niggers, running, tied to a backward ass long headed mules, the one productive of itself, the other sterile. (The one constant, the other dying, we keep the nigger constant for we may replace the mules for another tool) both mule and nigger tied to each other, neither knowing where the other came from and neither productive for itself, nor without each other.

CONTROLLED LANGUAGE

Crossbreeding completed, for further severance from their original beginning, WE MUST COMPLETELY ANNIHILATE THE MOTHER TONGUE of both the new nigger and the new mule and institute a new language that involves the new life's work of both. You know language is a peculiar institution. It leads to the heart of a people. The more a foreigner knows about the language of another country the more he is able to move through all levels of that society. Therefore, if the foreigner is an enemy of the country, to the extent that he knows the body of the language, to that extent is the country vulnerable to attack or invasion of a foreign culture.

For example, if you take a slave, if you teach him all about your language, he will know all your secrets, and he is then no more a slave, for you can't fool him any longer, and BEING A FOOL IS ONE OF THE BASIC INGREDIENTS OF AN INCIDENTS TO THE MAINTENANCE OF THE SLAVERY SYSTEM.

For example, if you told a slave that he must perform in getting out "our crops" and he knows the language well, he would know that "our crops" didn't mean "our crops" and the slavery system would break down, for he would relate on the basis of what "our crops" really meant. So you have to be careful in setting up the new language for the slaves would soon be in your house, talking to you as "man to man" and that is death to our economic system. In addition, the definitions of words or terms are only a minute part of the process.

Values are created and transported by communication through the body of the language. A total society has many interconnected value systems. All the values in the society have bridges of language to connect them for orderly working in the society. But for these language bridges, these many value systems would sharply clash and cause internal strife or civil war, the degree of the conflict being determined by the magnitude of the issues or relative opposing strength in whatever form. For example, if you put a slave in a hog pen and train him to live there and incorporate in him to value it as a way of life completely, the biggest problem you would have out of him is that he would worry you about provisions to keep the hog pen clean, or the same hog pen and make a slip and incorporate something in his language where by he comes to value a house more than he does his hog pen, you got a problem. He will soon be in YOUR house.

Love of My Own (Pure Love)

Originally written on Sunday November 6, 2005 - 05:42pm

Everytime I see this picture, it inspires more than an "AWWWWWW" from me. It gets me to thinking about LOVE...in it's most pure and natural state (like in this picture).

Over the years, I've discovered that one of the hardest things for me to do is to accept and admit that "Yeah, I need love, too." I always marvel at those people who can say that so easily and go after love with all the impulsiveness and naivete of a child, without all the adult caution getting in their way.

Over the past 5 years or so, several guys have made similar comments to me in the way of I seem like I don't really need anyone, that it's hard to tell if I like them, etc. Lately, I've stopped and thought about this. I mean I enjoy being alone (probably more than the average person), but that doesn't mean that I don't want a special person in my life, too. When I tell people that I'm really a sensitive person who's extremely emotional, they always look at me like I've grown a second head. Inevitably, the next thing that comes out of their mouth is "get outta here" or "yeah right." All of this has led me to believe that maybe I should start showing the *real* me a little more often without being so afraid of getting hurt or taken advantage of. In my experience, it's a cruel, cruel world out there for sensitive people who wear their hearts on their sleeves. But I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather wear my heart on my sleeve than to pretend I don't have one at all.

So here goes...

This picture symbolizes the kind of LOVE I want in my life...

1. Someone who I can look up to

2. Someone who provides support

3. Someone who I can cuddle with

4. Someone with whom I feel comfortable enough to just sit still and chill with...and it doesn't bore me or them

5. Most of all, that good-old-fashioned-you-can-lean-on-me-cuz-I'll-have-your-back-when-the-world-gets-too-rough-but-we-still-know-how-to-enjoy-life kinda love.

And this goes for all kinds of love: friendship love, family love, romantic love...

Ah hell, maybe I should just get myself a kitty kat.

Anybody else feelin' me on that? What kinda love do YOU want in your life?

Marry Your Babby Daddy Day (Oh Happy Day?)

Originally written on Wednesday November 30, 2005 - 09:51pm

Ok, a friend recently sent me an article this past October that had me laughing and shaking my head at the same time. Last January, author MaryAnn Reid found ten unmarried black couples with children and offered them an all-expenses paid mass wedding. Maybe she was encouraging the concept of black family. Maybe she was testing whether or not these couples who have all been together 5-12 years would actually go through with the wedding since a lack of money is often cited as a reason why people don't marry their baby daddies/mamas. Or maybe she was just promoting her new book titled "Marry Your Baby Daddy."

I'm not sure what to make of this event or the following statistic:

As of November 2005, there's a 70% children-out-of-wedlock rate within the black community.

This statistic reminds me of a joke I once heard about a mailman who visited the house of a woman who had named all 6 of her sons Michael. Upon noticing that all 6 children were named Michael, the mailman asked the mother how the children know which one she's talking to when she calls their name. The mother replied: "I use their last names."

Marriage after the fact isn't always the answer because, in my opinion, unhappily married homes are worse for children than single parent homes, BUT we need to reprioritize our values within the black community. It shouldn't be acceptable to have kids by every single boyfriend/girlfriend you've ever had, as if they're souvenirs of past relationships. Why is it so hard for my generation to wait until there's a stronger commitment before having unprotected sex with someone? And why is it so much easier to make the lifetime commitment of having a baby with a person who you wouldn't actually commit to for life?

Sourcelinks:

Marry Your Baby Daddy Day

"Marry Your Baby Daddy" by MaryAnn Reid

The Power of Words (a.k.a. Sticks, Stones, & Words Can Hurt You)

Originally written on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 05:48pm

Yesterday, I found myself nodding my head and humming to the Ying Yang Twins' "Wait (the Whisper Song)." Catchy beat, right? But when I started listening to the lyrics (Click here to read the full lyrics to "Wait (The Whisper Song)" ), I stopped mid-hum. Yeah, they *bleeeeep* out the actual curse words, but they can't blur the whole content of the song. I told myself "It's just a song", but is it? I mean, the lyrics are extremely sexual to be on the radio (even the edited version) and they objectify women. When I brought this point up to a friend of mine, he responded with "Aw, quit being a hater." Why am I "hating" on the Ying Yang Twins because I have a problem with their lyrics? Why aren't the Ying Yang Twins called "haters" because their lyrics are disrespectful to women? On the flip side, I suppose if I were to buy front row tickets to a Ying Yang Twins concert, know every word to every song, and want to get an autograph from them, then I'd be a "groupie." Which brings me to the point of this blog... Here are my entries for the "SLANG GRAVEYARD" (i.e., Words I could do without hearing for the rest of my life). 1. Bling Bling (or just "Bling" for short) 2. Groupie* (appreciating someone's work does not make you a "groupie") 3. Hater* (being a critic of someone's work does not make you a "hater") *Being a critic or a fan simply means you pay attention enough to have an opinion. 4. Wifey (good enough to claim as your woman but not quite good enough to walk down the aisle for?) 5. Baby Daddy (whatever happened to having a husband who's ALSO the father of your child?) 6. Baby Mama (see above comment) 7. Baby Mama/Daddy Drama (treating people with respect minimizes the drama) This is an open list, so additions may be made at any time. Feel free to add your own list, too. For your viewing "pleasure" (warning: explicit!):

Originally written on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 5:48pm

Love Rules

This post was originally written in 2005, but it's still applicable.

What is love? We all want to receive it, but are we really ready for it? What does "I love you" mean? How do I know when I'm in love? How do I know when someone *really* loves me? Love is so abstract. I like to deal in "I Like You's" because that's a feeling that I'm very sure of. It's easy to know when I like or dislike someone. But love? That's when it gets tricky. So many times we do stupid things in the name of love, but would we do those same things in the name of like?I'm still working on my definition of love. 



Until I have love all figured out, below is a list of relationship advice that I have found enlightening, inspiring, and validating. This is for all those single and attached ladies out there who are re-evaluating their past, current, and future relationships:

Love Reminders

1. If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away.
2. If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.
3. Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior.
   
4. Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache.
   
5. Stop trying to change yourselves for a relationship that's not meant to be.
   
6. Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy.
   
7. If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve then hell no, you can't "be friends." A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend. Don't settle.
   
8. If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is.
   
9. Don't stay because you think "it will get better." You'll be mad at yourself a year later for staying when things are not better.
   
10. The only person you can control in a relationship is you.
    
11. Always have your own set of friends separate from his.
    
12. Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you. If something bothers you, speak up.
    
13. Never let a man know everything. He will use it against you later.
    
14. You cannot change a man's behavior. Change comes from within.
    
15. Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are...even if he has more education or in a better job.
    
16. Do not make him into a quasi-god. He is a man, nothing more and nothing less.
    
17. Never let a man define who you are. For example, getting your pride from having the title "Mrs. Dr. So and So."
    
18. Never compete for a man...if he really wanted only you then there would be no competition...
    
19. A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you.
    
20. Never agree to put ANYTHING in your name for a man unless he put a ring on your finger first...good credit and no money is better than bad credit and a lot of money...protect your credit.
    
21. If you're not married to your baby's father, give your children your last name. If a man's last name isn't good enough for you, then it shouldn't be good enough for your children. Kids with different last names is not cute...and neither is your daughter doin' the booty dance, gettin' her eagle on, droppin' it like it's hot or backin' that thang up!
    
22. Don't date a man (or have a relationship with a man) who you don't want as a role model for your children. The type of man you date is the type of man your son will become and your daughter will bring home to meet you. Kids don't pay attention to what adults say, they watch what they do.
    
23. Never borrow someone else's man. If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you.
    
24. There's plenty of good brothas who work hard and don't have that bling, phat whip, or thug mentality. When you want a thug, you'll get exactly what you asked for and more than you bargained for.
    
25. If you want a baller, trust me you'll get a player. Many guys strive to become a baller because many women will put up with any kind of doggish behavior as long as the bills are getting paid.
    
26. All men are NOT dogs. If you keep attracting dogs, then reevaluate whether you're throwing off a bitch-in-heat scent. Like recognizes like.
    
27. Become what you want to attract. If you want an honest, hard-working man who will treat you right, then become an honest, hard-working woman who will treat her man right. Like recognizes like.
    
28. A good man comes in every shape/size/complexion/race.
    
29. Romance is not always "game." Questioning the sexuality of a man who knows how to be considerate and sensitive towards you trains him to think all women want to be mistreated. If you don't like consideration, then move on. Don't try to turn a nice guy into a thug.
    
30. You should not be the one doing all the bending. Compromise is a 2-way street.
    
31. You need time to heal between relationships. There is nothing cute about emotional baggage. Deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship. (Listen to Erykah Badu's "Bag Lady" for reference)
    
32. You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you. A healthy relationship consists of 2 WHOLE individuals. Look for someone complementary, not supplementary.
    
33. Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be MR. RIGHT. But never settle by committing to Mr. Right Now.
    
34. Make him miss you sometimes. When a man always knows where you are, and you're always readily available to him, he takes you for granted.
    
35. Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need (e.g., spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically).
    
36. Keep him in your radar but get to know others. In other words, don't go on one good date and immediately start dreaming about the wedding, the honeymoon, and the wonderful kids you're going to have together. Getting to know others will help you define what you *really* want in a man.
    

* If you can't remember everything on this list, just remember this...

"Don't allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option."


* Feel free to share this list with other ladies. You'll make someone smile, another rethink her choices, and another woman prepare. They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, and an entire lifetime to forget.
Originally posted on Tuesday, October 17, 2005. 5:15pm.

Gotta Have Faith

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Originally posted on Monday, October 17, 2005. 8:24pm

I have no religion. But I have plenty of opinions. I have no religion. But I've got a point of view. I have no religion. But I have morals. Some feel uncomfortable around me because I follow no religion. Some have even went so far as to claim I'm an evil, immoral person because I follow no religion. They'd ask, "If you're not a Christian, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Jew, then what are you? What do you believe in? How are you even able to have an opinion if you don't believe in anything?" I usually hear at least one of those questions whenever I get into a moral, religious, or philosophical conversation with someone. What they're really asking is "How can you even exist without a label? How can I even relate to you if I don't know how to categorize you? You must represent some group, dammit!" I don't get mad when I'm asked these types of questions, because I'm constantly asking myself these very same questions. Some might think that you can't have opinions, a point of view, or morals without also having a religion, but I'm living proof that it's definitely possible...
I wasn't raised to believe in anything. My mom's religion is being nice for karma's sake. My dad is a Muslim. Neither one of them pushed their beliefs on me, so I've had the rare (and mixed) blessing of being able to develop my own belief system. While I don't envy those whose beliefs are a result of what others have told them is the right thing to believe, I do admire those who are able to believe in something. That's the upside of practicing a religion. It helps a person develop faith in what is abstract. That's what I was lacking. If I couldn't see it, hear it, feel it, smell it, or taste it, then as far as I was concerned, it didn't exist. But that's narrow thinking, which goes against my personal religion of being open-minded to all possibilities when there is no proof that those possibilities are impossible. So I started reconsidering my position...
I thought to myself, "Maybe I do need a religion. Should I make my own religion? Does the religion for me already exist but I've just never heard of it?" Because I know that I have opinions about how the world SHOULD be. Shouldn't that be the starting point for claiming a religion, rather than simply accepting another's belief system as my own? I know I strongly believe in making up my own mind, so my spiritual journey began with finding a label for myself.

So far, my position has evolved into sitting on the spiritual fence of "I don't believe and I don't disbelieve." I'm hoping that one day I will be able to develop some faith in something that both my head and my heart can agree on...

In my search to find a spiritual label for myself, I found the "Belief-O-Matic" quiz. (See the bottom of this blog entry for my top 10 results, a link to the "belief-o-matic" quiz, and links to more information about my top 3 results.) After reading more about my top 3 choices, I was so excited because I actually found something I liked! Who woulda thunk it? Surely not me...

It's funny that Unitarian Univeralism (UU) came up as my #1 result, because I did a project for a local UU church during my last semester at San Jose State University. I was attracted to the project because I was told that this church welcomed everyone, regardless of their denomination, race, creed, color, whatever. That sounded too good to be true, so I had to find out for myself if this was even possible. I worked with San Jose's UU church for several months and found the members to be so welcoming. I actually went to a couple services and loved it! Before meeting them, I had a very negative view of religion due to the narrow-minded, dogmatic, and judgmental people who I'd encountered throughout my life. I didn't want to be anything like them, so I disregarded religion altogether. After my experience at the UU church, I've come to the conclusion that religion isn't the problem. The problem is those people who are using religion as a justification for pushing their own personal agendas (for their own individual benefit) onto others. It's extremists and fanatics who are giving religion a bad name. So in my quest to find a spiritual label that I'm comfortable with, I found my faith in religion.

Tip of the day: You don't have to fit your religion. Your religion has to fit you.
My Top 10 Results:

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

1.	Unitarian Universalism (100%)
2.	Secular Humanism (93%)
3.	Liberal Quakers (91%)
4.	Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (87%)
5.	Theravada Buddhism (79%)
6.	Neo-Pagan (79%)
7.	New Age (65%)
8.	Nontheist (60%)
9.	Bahá'í Faith (56%)
10.	Reform Judaism (54%)

Sourcelinks:

Belief-O-Matic Quiz


Unitarian Universalism Beliefs


More About Unitarian Universalism Principles


Secular Humanism Beliefs
Council for Secular Humanism Website

Liberal Quakers Beliefs