Really???

Sadly enough, I had been under the impression that we were far removed from of the lasting effects on being held captive on plantations. Even though the 13th amendment gave us our physical freedom by law, our  minds still aren't free. Though I see acts of buffoonery just about every day from us-this takes the cake. Nothing like the bondage of mental chains...

I don't know what to say about this pic...

 

...But Wu-Tang is my favorite group of all time.

Kids get scared straight!!!

So; as many of you know, or may not know, I work in the field of juvenile justice reform.One of the many questions we find ourselves faced with everyday is what exactly can we do on the front-end? Meaning-how we can we stop kids from getting incarcerated in the first place? Well, there are many diversionary programs that serve as an alternative to jail time. These are used to essentially get children to think differently and hopefully change the course of some of the bad decisions they have made. The cable channel A&E has a new show called "Beyond Scared Straight". It is a take on the old "Scared Straight" that I grew up seeing(thanks to my parents lol). It takes "bad" kids that have been getting into trouble and places them in adult prison for the day in hopes of scaring them straight. Whats funny though, is that as morally diminished as modern t.v. has gotten, it is no-where near as terrible or threatening as the original television special from the 80's. Here is a taste of both of them. Take a few minutes out to view and you tell me which one you you think is worse(or more effective that is!). WARNING-INTENSE LOL!!!

President Obama's Speech in Tucson, Arizona

For those of you who might have missed this moving speech by our President...

I Ain't Gonna Lie...I'm 50 Tyson!, and the Freedom of Ignorance

I know that by now, many of you have seen the infamous "50 Tyson" youtube video. For those of you who have been under a rock for a few months, you can view it below. There's something to be said about videos like this. While we laugh at it's author and his seemingly slow demeanor, there is something inside of us that's actually jealous of his ignorance. It's that lack of caring about what others think that we wish we could sometimes display.The ability to say and do whatever we please without the fear of reprisal or judgement. To sing freely though we weren't gifted with a beautiful singing voice, to dance like Micheal Jackson, though we may have two left feet. The truth of the matter is, we wish we could do some "outlandish" stuff without being laughed at or being made fun of. I admire those with the brazenness to do stuff that seems crazy or not necessarily politically correct. I even admire those who might be a little slow, because they are not inhibited by the restrictions of social mores. 50 Tyson is getting his 15 minutes of fame, and being paid for it. I'm happy for him and it's funny. Now if he only knew how jealous I actually am, because I've allowed society to repress my audaciousness...

So Very Thankful for...Monotony

I awoke this morning with a smile on my face. It's the first Monday in 2011, and I have a job to go to. As much as I've enjoyed a few days off with travel and some partying thrown in over the course of the past two weeks-I'm eager to get back to my desk. Yeah, some of us sat in front of our televisions last night dreading the fact that we have to wake up early and get back to our sense of working weekday normalcy. It's this monotony and normalcy that we often overlook and take for granted. I'm well aware of how cliche' it is to say how "thankful" you are to be working, but it's simply the truth. For some people their monotony is getting up every day and pounding the pavement looking for a job, or getting to the soup kitchen in enough time for a meal. My toughest decision last week was which pair of boots to choose from at Nordstrom? Really? I am so thankful to God for having to decide what to do with the little bit of money I have, instead of deciding what to do in order to get a little bit of money. Today I woke up in good health, put on my clothes after a hot shower, turned down the heat in my apartment and drove to work to sit at my desk. It may not seem like much, but a whole lot of people wish they could say they were doing the same. I am so very thankful for my monotony, and pray that God continues to grant me with more of it in the years to come.