It’s a year later, and I’m a guest feature on someone else’s “blog,” again. This time around I blessed the screens of TJDaDJ’s Quick Bites Food Review.
I first featured TJDaDJ last year during what Black Restaurant Challenge month when I shared the top 3 Baltimore black owned restaurants he reviewed on his YouTube Channel. This year we together reviewed a black owned restaurant in Baltimore named Creole Soul Restaurant while he also interviewed me about Doc’s Castle Media.
Creole Soul Restaurant is located in an industrial food hall and community space in Baltimore called R. House. Owner and chef Shunquita “Chef Que” Neal brings her Atlanta roots and ventures in the Bayous of New Orleans straight to the city of Baltimore to create the perfect fusion between the deep south and rich creole authentic dishes.
I really enjoyed the meal with TJ. I ordered the Oyster Po Boy while he ordered the Shrimp and Grits special. The food was phenomenally tasty and reminded me of the New Orleans vibes I experienced not too long ago on my 30th birthday.
TJDaDJ not only took me on a trip on reviewing this black owned southern goldmine of a restaurant, but he also introduced me to his subscribers with an interview with Doc’s Castle Media. We talked #Thirsty30Body, my latest art collection Tipsy Decor, and a little history of the Doc’s Castle Media brand. I had a good time with TJDaDJ and hope that we can collaborate more in future because I also enjoy trying new cuisine.
Watch TJDaDJ Interview with Doc:
What are your favorite Black owned restaurants in Baltimore that you like to eat? Share them in the comments below.
Baltimore Blogger Bria Danielle shares in a YouTube video three ways we subscribe to self-sabotage by falling for our “comparison demon” when scrolling our social media timelines. It’s a word worth sharing with readers this season for mental health awareness month. It’s also a reminder to snap out of it while we’ve spent an entire year glued to our phones watching other people live their best lives.
Bria Danielle is a fellow friend and Baltimore Lifestyle Blogger of The Reverie Blog. She’s recognized as one of Baltimore’s talented roller skaters. She is absolutely thriving living and sharing some of her most precious moments on social media. Some of her latest ventures include her acceptance into graduate school and marriage to the man of her dreams during the craziest year in history; 2020. Bria is most definitely an example of someone who’s enjoying life.
Everyone has a niche. Everyone has a hobby or talent they share online. We watch highlight reels of the best actions from these people that we love. We follow people’s accomplishments and praise the work of others daily. I believe we do it so much that we may gloss over how this could have the potential to tarnish any belief of what we have for ourselves being the best. It’s an entire battle that us navigating social media do not talk about. We rarely acknowledge the struggles of unconscious comparisons.
It’s important to have some level of media literacy when navigating online social spaces because it’s better to understand why something happens, rather than fall into a slippery depressive state of “should haves” and “could haves.”
Bria Danielle’s video explains her hiatus from blogging and I completely get it, girl! I shared my experience in a hair diary video, and I can say it could have been the comparison demon that took me out during those dark years of Doc’s Castle Media. Nonetheless, she shares some important points worth reiterating.
Watch Where Have I Been by Bria Danielle
Three Tips for Fighting Your Comparison Demon from Bria Danielle
How to Deal with Comparison
Why must we torture ourselves only watching the accomplishments of others 24/7 when we should be taking time to improve ourselves?
Everyone has a story. Everyone has good and bad moments. We all go through the trials of life. Seeing people share online their accomplishments, along with their faults, gives us a more realistic view of that person. But it’s still from the perspective of a protagonist. Even while we hear so many angles of a story, both good and bad, we are seeing what the protagonist allows us to see. Remember that. Those you follow could also experience bad moments. They’re their own person and won’t walk the same path as you. So it’s a waste of time to fret. The only comparison you should make is between the new version of you and the old one.
You Have Unrealistic Expectations
You need to be real with yourself about what you can do and how you plan to do it. So set goals to make them easily measurable and obtainable.
Here’s an example we all hear: People who make goals to lose weight face challenges sticking to them because they set them too high and are labeled too specific. “I want to lose 100 pounds within a month” already sounds like a lot of straining and too much pressure. Setting this goal could potentially be setting yourself up for failure. Understand what you can or cannot do.
Have Faith in Yourself
Believe in yourself. Affirm what you want for yourself by truly believing in it.
Your tongue has the power to lift or degrade anyone’s spirit, including your own. Be cautious of your words so you’ll attract what you’ll love and can stand behind. It’s having faith that you can achieve and speaking highly on it with conviction that surges energy through you pushing you towards conquering it. The more you say it, the more it sounds like it’ll happen. You’re affirming it. You live in the essence of it happening each day, especially if you start crossing off habits and take steps completing tasks.
Bria Danielle’s Tips about the comparison demon will help you recognize you’re not alone dealing with mental fatigue from fighting your mental demon. Read the full blog post about the comparison demon via The Reverie Blog.
Sit with me as I take the moment to do my infamous braid out and share a little bit of Doc’s Caste Media history.
In 2018, Doc’s Castle Media lost its URL for www.docscastlemedia.com due to some unfortunate events and spam activity that caused the website to crash. I lost access to Doc’s Castle Media for 6 months! Readers caught on to my absence slightly before that 6 month period, and I was frequently asked questions about what I planned to do with my blog.
In a new vlog series What’s Up Doc, I’ll share more personal ideas and plans I have for my blog and also share a few personal things going on with Doc. Readers will have more opportunities to hear my voice and get to know me beyond just writing about what’s happening around me. This comes as an idea after two years of starting an art blog on IG. When creating my art blog, I had no idea anyone would follow my page. I did not start with the idea to share art with people that I knew. Instead, I let my art following build organically and I hope to do the same with my vlogging series geared to sharing more about what I take personal interests in.
My 1st episode is a podcast style recording giving a little background insight on Doc’s Castle Media. Readers can find out some history about the Doc’s Castle, LLC brand, what I was up to during my year-long hiatus between 2018 and 2019, and what new things are coming for the blog. I do this all while styling my hair into my go-to hairdo.
If you can leave the correct year Doc’s Castle Media launched in the comments of the video or this blog page, you enter yourself into a drawing for some Tipsy Decòr.The winner will be contacted through direct message. Do you know?
From arts and culture to small business successes and housing developments, the entire country is looking at Baltimore, MD with a microscope wondering what defines who we are and how we compared to other metropolitan areas.
I’m proud of my city being a leading example of peaceful protests after the death of George Floyd because sometimes a painted narrative that Baltimore is bad and vastly promoted negative visuals of violence and crime in a 3rd-world-looking neighborhood does not help create an optimistic view for potential. It’s good people of Baltimore that can prove to doubters the positivity that comes out of here.
Since the world had it an eye on Baltimore during the 2015 Uprising, outsiders discovered it to be a visually neglected community which faced years of increasing neighborhood blight. National and international media caught images of an area that had many in disbelief in the conditions of the neighborhoods in Baltimore. But what people were seeing was how the population declined rapidly for decades and the city’s inability to keep up with the costs of these growing vacant communities appeared.
Multiple Baltimore creatives step to the forefront being the activists for the perception of Baltimore. Many are creators who live, breathe, and eat everything that is the Baltimore city lifestyle. The creatives who take pride in Baltimore continue to bring everyone back to the message and show onlookers what needs to be done to make a difference.
Outsiders to Baltimore are intrigued by how people still have pride in neighborhoods that look like this. They wonder what possesses someone to stay in these neighborhoods or get involved with sharing the history of Baltimore. But these creatives become activists to share a message that people see what is only surface level and a result of years of neglect in broken promises, not the proper resources being put into the communities, and a simple disinterest in preserving these neighborhoods. There are people who take pride in where they come from and how it’s shaped their life experiences. These people are working to improve and create new origins for emerging generations.
Vacants Tour
Cheyanne Zadia created a project coined from Baltimore’s housing crisis called “Vacants” with a group of other Baltimore artists to “spread the message which is really to spread love, to seek self and to spread community.” Starting Juneteenth, they performed six pop-up styled concerts on street corners from East to West Baltimore. The project has now evolved into a tour featuring Zadia, Al Rogers Jr, Josh Stokes, Brandon Woody, Bobbi Rush, Mike C, TAli, Prettiman and AyeFinney; all accompanied by live instrumentation.
I went to The People United exhibiton to support some photographer friends who are advocates of documenting the changes in Baltimore city’s neighborhood developments.
Each photo exemplifies life in Baltimore. Each image possesses the in your face message that can never go ignored if you’re a resident of the city. These artists document history, a story of how Baltimore was and its current status. They do it in hopes of a bringing attention to these neighborhoods for an optimistic future because these streets and blocks are home.
Check out the work of some of these awesome artists at their Instagrams below:
People pour into a one room warehouse full of astounding art on a beautiful Saturday evening. The Fridge, a place where artists from DC gather to spread their inner creative abilities, whether it be through painting, poetry, singing, dancing, and any other art form a person can think of. It’s on this particular day, we all gathered to listen to spoken-word and a group of talented local hip-hop artists performs in celebration of DC blogger Whiskey Girl, owner of the Whiskey and Poetry Brand and also the host of the Embrace The Crazy Podcast, birthday celebration.
I don’t know what to make of the start of the event on whether it was good luck or bad luck. Outside of the venue, there was a fire that occurred at Capital Hill Tandoor & Grill, directly across the street from The Fridge. People crowded the streets to sneak a peak of the damage inside the restaurant. It’s uncertain whether there were any injuries during the time.
I have tunnel vision for the arts, I guess. Haha.
Otherwise, the evening was nothing but love once I entered the showcase. The host Rich Rocket opened the night telling peers to “give an energy that can be reflected by the audience.” So whenever an artist performed, they needed to give an energy that the audience could mirror. If the performance was worth a standing ovation, it’s what the artist got. That was what made the evening lit. Everyone was respectful to everyone’s art. Artist worked with what they deserved.
A few artists to name that were in attendance were Donnie Breeze, Rello, Starve Marv, Mike Evann, Young Mally, and DC Kash. Each artist came with their own individual swag representing where they come from. Some of these artists even came long distances to share their unique flair; Starve Marv from Florida, and Donnie Breeze and Rello from Baltimore city.
I was so proud to see Baltimore recording artists Donnie Breeze and Rello perform at the Fridge. I put on my proud parent smile as I watched them perform. Whenever I see people from Baltimore out of their element, I get super hyped to support them. It’s the idea that they don’t get that type of love in Baltimore. The love was abundantly overwhelming from DC event goers because, like the Rich Rocket told them to do, they came with an energy that demanded an equal response.
Again I found myself asking why can’t it always be like this?! Every time I leave Baltimore City hip-hop scene to experience another city’s hip-hop atmosphere I ponder what could it be that my city is doing wrong which is preventing artists from getting the recognition they deserve? First, it happened as I went to Rockview Entertainment’s hip-hop showcase in Queens, NY while I was in attendance for support of DMV artist Jae Ducketts. Now I’m in DC, and the love that their peers showed was phenomenal.
I want to bring the attention back to the promoter of the event, always. The power of support is always in the event thrower. In this case, it was Whiskey who’s birthday may have been the cause of such a great turn out. But such a turnout was worthy of being mentioned when comparing to the turnouts of open mic and showcases in my hometown.
What I notice about attending both the events in Washington, DC and Queens, NY is the hosts for each event reminded their audience the importance of showing others respect when they have the floor. It’s appalling that the majority of the audience were old enough to understand modest mannerisms. But maybe that’s what it is needed in Baltimore. Promoters in Baltimore should often push more participation from the audience at the start of their events? It’s something worth pondering.
Here are some moments captured during the show by Doc’s Castle Media.
What are some ways to show support for independent artists? Leave your feedback in the comments below.
Doc did something out of her element over the weekend. Dun, Dun, Dun. Doc’s Castle Media was a special guest alongside the owner of the Strong Way Radio brand on DC’s favorite Whiskey Girl podcast, Embrace the Crazy, to discuss the topic “Love and Hip-hop.” It was an interesting show, indeed, and I’m sure many of my readers will know why.
Most people who know me, know that I’m not very open with my love life. I’m far from the mushy type. Many may recall me being more of a goofball than a love bug. Until more recently, I’ve even gone as far as YEARS since posting a single photograph online of myself with a fling. But apparently, times have changed for Doc because exclusively for the DC Whiskey Queen, I’ve opened up my love life as an open romance novel for her podcast and it wasn’t bad at all.
As stated on WG’s Whiskey and Poetry Blog,
WG is a blogger, self-published author, spoken word artist and single mother with a full-time professional career in the nonprofit mental health arena. She lends her unique voice and perspective to her own WG’s Embrace the Crazy blog as well as MyTrendingStories.com. In addition to writing, her true passions include public work and serving as a mouthpiece to address mental health issues within the black community.
Embrace the Crazy podcast is a series of audio shows hosted by Whiskey Girl on her website WhiskeyandPoetry.com and Soundcloud. The series focuses on a plethora of topics ranging from hip-hop and poetry to mental health and “staying woke.” The sky’s the limit on her show.
While Karlito and I interviewed on the Embrace the Crazy podcast with Whiskey Girl, we covered topics on hip-hop and love, such as the Karlito and Doc love affair, couples collaborating with their brands, Nicki Minaj and Remy Ma beef, how local artists should prepare for hip-hop showcases, and much more. Listen to the full podcast below by visiting Whiskey Girl Souncloud.
After the podcast, the three of us did a raw photoshoot. Because I had so much fun, I thought it would only be right to share the photos on Doc’s Castle Media with the hashtags #BlackLove and #RelationshipGoals to fit the mood. View the gallery for Love and Hip Hop Episode of Embrace the Crazy Podcast below.
Submitted a few months later than expected, Boutzie finally sends us the visual to her single “Intoxico” featuring Baltimore artist Flu_X and Jimmy Apoet.
We know her best for her interview in our Doc’s Castle Media Blogger’s Rundown, where she lets us in on the journeys of her blog. Now the owner of Rebellious Rebel goes even further with showing us another one of her talents. Could Ms. Brianna Ragler have the potential of being an entertainer, too?
Located on the Dugout Dojo YouTube channel, the Boutzie single can be spotted. “Intoxico” was recorded at the Dugout Dojo Studios in 2014, and later was featured on Doc’s Castle Media as a Doc’s Thumbs Up Music Highlight. In more recent months the video was published under War Drumz Audio Art social media channels, which reminded us that we didn’t get to see the video in its original release. But there are no worries because we have it here, today.
Intoxico lets viewers in on the minds of people who use outside substances to cope with life’s blips and blunders. When life takes you on a ride down its crazed highway, intoxication is what keeps us from going under and drowning in its misery. Intoxico is where the intoxicated float on life’s edge.
Boutzie dances sensually to sounds produced by Jimmy Apoet. The video was directed and edited by videographer and recording artist Flu_x. This single is a work of art pieced together by each of these artists.
The visuals for Intoxico gives us a little of the reality of life when we’re afraid of choices. It shows how we naturally want to choose the easier choice out of life’s woes. Whether it be drugs, partying, or promiscuity, we subject ourselves to intoxication to decompress from the harshness of life.
What do you think? In a life so Intoxico, how do you cope with life woes? Tell us in the comments below.
Did you know Taylor “Doc” Walker released a mixtape in 2015 produced at the Dugout Dojo Studios? Listen to Songs From Da Dugout on Doc’s Castle Media.
As I enter into every new year, I like to reflect on my past experiences. It helps me to discover the next steps needed to excel to a higher level of self. I usually start with a list of goals I hope to accomplish before year’s end. There’s no limits to how few or many goals I may set. I just write out a list of things I want to do. The next thing I know, I’m forming a sense of happiness as I scratch off tasks as time surpasses.
But last year in 2015, I didn’t do what I always set out to do. Instead, I wanted to try something new by focusing on one word for the entire year, rather than lists. The word chosen was “self-discipline,” and I wouldn’t say that I’ve done a good job with remaining focused on living up to its meaning, which left me quite disappointed in myself. But I can’t beat myself up in 2016 for it.
There were incidents in 2015 that will remain unspeakable. For the first time in my life, I’ve done something I’ve regretted, and this year I’ve come up with a plan to never put myself in such a position where I’m ashamed of something I’ve done. So I’m going to remain focused on this one word. I’ll just make sure to incorporate my habits of listing things so I can keep my eyes on my success.
I first want to start of with the word’s meaning.
Self-Discipline means to have a level of control over yourself.
Self Discipline is all about having self-control. It requires you to be focused on the direction you see as best for yourself. It requires you to have a plan. It requires you to ignore your lazy impulses. It requires you to strive for the better.
Last years failure resulted from not continuing to keep up with my usual habits that help keep me focused. It was my mistake at the beginning of 2015 to not carry on with what I already know that helps me. This year will be different.
I know I can take this same word and create a brighter year in 2016. But as I’m getting older, I’m learning the habits I have which I shouldn’t break that were already helping me and making me proud. Creating lists is what I am good at so let me tell you my list of plans for my upcoming days.
My 2016 Goals List
Learn How to Cook. (HaHa!)
Move into my own place.
Complete two things from my bucket list.
Complete my first manuscript for my first book.
Provide more professional services under Doc’s Castle Media brand.
Expand my knowledge by reading at least one book a month.
Seek more opportunities to inspire others.
Make Myself Proud, again.
Create and Follow an Accomplishment Box.
I thought about explaining more on why I have all of these specific goals. But I thought of how sometimes when I share things with people they start to expect it, and if I don’t follow through with it they’ll become disappointed. Well, for the sake of those type of people, I’ll rest my pretty little fingers. I rather I not disappoint myself, let alone others, by talking about it too much.
I do plan to blog more of my successes. So be on the lookout for a better explanation as I foreshadow those successes being goals from my 2016 Goals List.
I hope that everyone is preparing themselves to becoming better people this year, as well. I’d love to hear your dreams. Leave your what awesome goals you plan on achieving in 2016 below.
I didn’t have a list of goals for 2015 but I sure did accomplish quite a bit in 2014. I also made sure I kept up with completing tasks on my bucket list. To see what I’ve done, read “Bucket Listing It Up” on Doc’s Castle Media.
Waking up on April 28, 2015 was the most surreal feeling I’ve experienced in my 23 years of living. To open up my eyes at the crack of dawn after tossing and turning caused by the Baltimore riots happening blocks away from where I laid my head that night, how could anyone feel any other way?
Two days prior to probably one of the most shocking riots to ever happen in history, I spent 7 hours writing about my frustrations towards the riots in Downtown Baltimore. In opinion essay on Doc’s Castle Media, “The ‘Real’ Revolution Will Not Be Televised. #ILoveBaltimore,” I speak from an emotional standpoint on the ways I believe Blacks should move forward after the major breakthrough of riots on Saturday, April 25th. I’d hope it’d be a message to calm people down from seeking to destroy more of our city as my blog reached over its average viewership.
My words may have reach quite a bit of individuals but as this week started, I see that my efforts may have not made much of an impact. Monday morning at Mondawmin Mall in West Baltimore, only 5 minutes away from my job, was rioted by a huge group of young people immediately when dismissed from school and lasted for hours that day.
Rioting eventually turned into looting and destroying of historical neighborhoods. People who once had jobs along North Avenue and Mondawmin Mall are now without employment, and as riots made it across East Baltimore later that night, near Monument Street, again around the corner from where I stayed that evening, a senior center was burned down, leaving older people who were anticipating to move into a new home suddenly without one. To top it off, our mayor grounded the entire city. So we have to be in our homes by our 10 o’clock curfew.
Baltimore is a mess. The city I’ve known all my life is scorned from which the world believes is because of police brutality against 25 year old African American man Freddie Gray. But our story is deeper than the surface. It is now that we use everyone’s cameras as a tool to let you in on the scoop.
Words cannot express how I feel about what happened in my city. I’m not a fan of the media like I once was before, especially as I’ve watched events that day come to pass. There’s a media circus in my backyard reporting from Penn-North subway station, now internationally famous for our CVS that burned down on its corner.
Come on, now! Just the other day I bought a chocolate Snickers bar out of there. I’ll never be able to do that again.
We’re never getting some of those shops back. It’s hard to have hope for the restoration of CVS or any of those other buildings due to the the reputation of reconstruction in Baltimore. We’ve waited YEARS for our government to rebuild the hundreds of vacant buildings and shops damaged from the Martin Luther King Jr. riots in 1968. The only reconstruction we’ve ever seen has been to our pothole infested streets, and I swear, we can’t improve the pavement on Charles Street anymore than it is.
Geeze! Does all our tax money go to that street?!
In the minds and hearts of many people here, it’s second nature for citizens to want to walk outside to see what’s happening for themselves, rather than to watch the news nowadays. The world’s painted picture on television is far from what we’re experiencing. A trust barrier is broken for many who relied on national news stations to give us the 4-1-1 on events occurring during the week. So the local news and social media is our only best friend during this time.
The media from outside of Baltimore lacks an understand of the type of people who live in Baltimore and the lifestyle that we see on a day to day basis. It’s like the media’s way of looking at us is similar to viewing through a microscope. They’re looking to find where all these horrid problems and rioting behavior could be stimming from. But the people who experience the lifestyle of living in here will always have a better understanding and a better way of explaining what’s going on.
Poverty is one of the hardest struggles a person can try to shake in Baltimore City. With a phrase like “The struggle is real,” which is often recited in Baltimore’s Black communities, it models the hard knock situations we see as being seriously rough to live through. When we say this phrase, almost everyday nonchalantly, we as black Baltimoreans adopt an “It is what it is” attitude, learning to also desensitize and quiet ourselves from what’s really happening. Well, Baltimore’s tired of being quiet now.
People who are publicly judging my city worldwide are failing to understand. Even I feel uneasy each time I come into the realization of what’s happening to us sometimes. Tuesday evening, I walked passed a reporter from Russia and another from London. Like whaaa?! These people don’t even know that just 2 weeks ago I was frustrated from fighting to be heard because of Baltimore’s crab in a barrel reputation.
Our youth isn’t afraid to make a change. I think of how some of those kids who were rioting were doing so to scream out they were fed up. Some of those kids had no home before they rioted. Some of them go to school everyday to get away from their daily worries of not having something to eat once they leave school. Some of them were angered because they were stranded without transportation to get home due to the police shutting down the bus lines and subways before school let out. (But that’s another mystery in itself I won’t get into.) And I admit, some of them were just following the crowd. But to see our kids act this way, hurts the most because they are innocent. They’re the one’s we’re trying to protect from “the struggle.” But we can’t.
Baltimore needs change and everyone knows now. I’m so proud of us. We made a stand for so many things this week. We’re fighting police brutality, racial profiling & systematic racism, bad publicity and corrupted governmental policies not only for us, but for our entire country, we’re making a statement. My feet are suffering from it and I don’t mind it all. I have a bigger hope for my city, though I may doubt our government’s follow-up as an African American woman who’s part of the working force striving for success and a better Baltimore. But I’m glad to have seen a better side, finally! I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
Rest In Peace, Freddie Gray. You’re gone, but you are not forgotten. Your name will be in history books along with our city. Change will surely come for us and our country.
Special Note: This post will be my least uniformed blog post due to the built up emotions from recent events caused by the death of Baltimore black man, Freddie Gray. It’s my duty as a Baltimore writer to talk about this the way mainstream media does not want us to. PLEASE KNOW THIS FIRST WHILE YOU READ THIS: I AM NOT A JOURNALIST, now. I AM WRITING AS A BLACK WOMAN FROM THE CITY OF BALTIMORE!
Words pour onto paper as I’ve become a part of American history today while I write about what my eyes have witness on April 25, 2015, a day which I thought I would never see my city be the forefront of America for something so severe and extremely civil. I thought it was a part of mankind’s inhumane struggle that Black people conquered, or at least scratched the surface of overcoming. But we haven’t and it’s obvious to the world now.
America is governed by a system corrupt that uses the very people who help build this very nation as a stepping stool to bringing the world back to square one by embarrassing my whole race through provoking us to move; by tormenting Blacks unfairly.
As a Black woman, myself, and a blogger who lives in Baltimore, it is my duty to talk about the problems my city faces in the eyes of millions, nationally and internationally, who are watching my town react to police brutality towards yet another African-American male, who met his end in the most unfortunate and unfair manner society could ever grant, death by the very people meant to protect him.
Who is Freddie Gray?
If you don’t know by now, get the fuck off my blog. You don’t care enough. This post isn’t for those who rather sit in their ignorance while we are at war. This post isn’t for the people seeking to view how “ratchet” and “routy” my city is to confirm our “home of The Wire” reputation. This post is not for people who go on major media outlets social media pages to read and participate in the racist comments. This post is to wake you the fuck up! This post is meant to make you realize from the eyes of a Baltimore writer that something really messed up is going on. So open your eyes.
Baltimore, what are we doing? No, let me redirect my concerns to the correct group of individuals… America, what are we doing? No, no, no. WORLD, what the fuck is going on?!
These last two years of my life has been about watching a massacre of black men, AND black women, being slaughtered by a system who prays on a culture who isn’t united and hasn’t been since we were active in the 1960s US Civil rights movement. The way that I feel about it, I have no words for what’s going on in my heart. I have no words for how I see my country being portrayed. I have no words for how my race is being treated. I only feel a fire burning within me from how close to home Freddie Gray’s death has hit thousands and thousands of hearts around this country, and I’m in awe because I would have never thought something this relentless happening in front of billions of people watching is happening in my very own backyard.
I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES! This shit happens everywhere else, not in my home.
As each month unfolds since the death of Trayvon Martin, I started to view my country as the ultimate hypocrite and bully. I use to watch and read about the United States in international affairs while growing up, thinking how phoney we must be to walk into other countries, like Liberia and South Africa, trying to assist with their racial issues when in neighborhoods where I live didn’t match up to the persona America tries to paint for the world to see. It is here, the media hides what’s really happening between blacks and whites, until now. Why? Our country’s own racism was hidden and blocked from mainstream media and majority of this country’s citizen for so long, so we could believe we were past oppression; to make us feel like we could give a helping hand to other cultures around the world. America needed us on the same page so we could be viewed by countries around us as “land of the free” and “home of the brave.”
Black people have fallen by the arms of police officers since forever ago, and white people, and even black people, still want to yell out one of the most irrelevant and most repeated statements recited in recent years as if it’s an excuse for why we shouldn’t make a difference in our law enforcers policies. “Blacks kill blacks all the time.” WE KNOW THIS! WTF DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH POLICE KILLING US TOO!?
Black people I need you to listen! I need you to open your eyes because this is what’s real.
Do you know we are being manipulated by national news? Of all things to capture and broadcast to the world, they choose the most uncalled for and offensive images to represent our race at such a delicate moment in our history because they know it will make our uneducated youth move and take an opportunity like protesting as an excuse to “show out” and express their anger, when they don’t even know what to be angry about. Do you know we are being made to have opinions that we’re unsure of because the media knows this will make us angry and ready for a revolution? And why is it that our own news stations WJZ and WBAL are taking a different approach in reporting about Freddie Gray than stations like CNN and the Huffington Post? Nothing’s making sense. This isn’t adding up.
Do you realize the media’s power, now? LISTEN!
Though we are made to believe the media is not bias, people of Baltimore and black people around the world, we do not have control of the media’s motivation to stay unbiased. Even I am being bias now (and I encourage you to continue to have your own opinions during this time. All I ask is that you realize and watch everything going on)! The media is what’s making police brutality the fuel of our anger ; it’s turning it into something bigger than expected. The media, which is funded by BIG corporations who bank on black people’s money, are making my culture out to be unruly savages and it does not sit well with me. It makes me angry. It’s what made me step up and write how I feel today. Black people I don’t blame you at all. We have a right to be mad, but it is unwise to be so turbulent.
To me, this is beyond race. Racism is being used as a tool to push a bigger motive because it’s the only way to get large bodies of people to move. We have to be wiser. We have to be smarter in our decisions because 10 years ago, we lived in a better peace. But with the media suddenly pushing stories about police brutality incorrectly more often, seems every couple of weeks to days, it’s also corporations that are funding the media’s weapon to wither our peace away and box us in for something we don’t fully understand yet.
So what is real? What is true? We can’t rely on our reporters to be honest and staying away from these stereotypes we’re fighting about.
To all the kids who are reading this, you must choose now to learn your history. You need not act before you are educated. Do you see how dangerous it is to go through this? This entire ordeal isn’t transparent enough, and this anger escalating within us is not good, especially coming from a group like us who can’t get past light skin and dark skin.
Peace, love, joy. Peace, love, joy, everyone.
Why is it that America decides to use my backyard as a war zone this week? America decides to take the city that I’ve spent the last 3 years trying to help put on the map, positively, as a target and guinea pig for a bigger agenda. Can you image how I feel right now? For someone who spends all her spare time trying to help the city become angry with her fellow Baltimoreans. They don’t see the bigger picture, and rather dig a bigger hole for us to climb out of? I’m so disappointed and proud at the same time. This is why I have no words. I’m so all over the place.
I doubt this will be my last post on this. I’ve been awakened.
I ask that anyone who lives outside of my city to turn to the World Wide Web for real accounts of what my city is doing in honor of Freddie Gray and not CNN. I ask you to read about what we are really going through from us. I ask that you empathize for us. I ask that you pray.
#PrayForBaltimore #PrayForMyCity
Scornful men bring a city into a snare: but wise men turn away wrath. -Proverbs 28:9
