For My Firstborn

I'm sure every parent thinks their kids is super cool, sweet and the cutest thing walking.

But I have the proof to back up my beliefs.   : )

Today marks a miraculous milestone for me; the birth of my baby girl two years ago.

If most people actually sat down and thought about the miracle that is pregnancy, they'd see why children are such gifts.

My daughter is one of the best things that could ever happen to me.

From the first kicks to the first kiss, I loved her. When she was in the womb, genderless and nameless, I knew I loved her and would protect her until the death of me.

I can finally relate to my own mother and the many things I've heard her say. All the things I wasn't allowed to do were forbidden out of pure love for me.

Now I'm the one saying it's bedtime or "no" to candy.

I simply want the best for mine. I was determined not to have a baby at a young age (though some may argue 20s is too young) because I knew I wouldn't be able to meet all her needs.

Armed with a college degree and my first job out of college, I was prepared to give this little girl all the world has to offer.

And now two years later, I still feel the same way. I'm amazed at this love I have. It's a love like no other.

I didn't cry at any of my graduations.

But I did cry when I first held my baby girl in my arms.

After 9 hours of labor and a half hour of pushing, this gift was finally mine.

I vowed to give my baby the best which is why I strive to be the best.

My daughter will reap the benefits of my hard work.

That's my gift to her.

Happy Birthday, baby girl.

What I Got From Django Unchained

Everybody has had something to say about Django Unchained and so I might as well throw my two cents in there.

First off, it was hilarious. The stars of the movie were flawless. 

Critics have been bad-mouthing the film since its release, saying the movie was not realistic and poked fun at slavery.

I failed to miss that part of the movie.

Sure there were some laughs here and there in the movie, but the entire time, my mind was thinking of the horrible institution slavery really was.

Ignore the gun slinging, slick talking free slave Jamie Foxx portrays and look at what he really was underneath—a man whose wife was beat in front of him and stripped from his life.

Is that not realistic?

Did this not happen to countless slave families?

Slave men had to helplessly watch their wives be cruelly mistreated and they could do nothing. They had to standby while their wives were used as sexual objects that belonged to another man—despite the union the two of them truly shared.

Many today argue that the institution of slavery is what caused the basis for the breakdown of the black family.

Black men today still feel like helpless bystanders when it comes to the black women in their lives.  And black women have been trained to take pain and mistreatment and not look to be saved.

Black women endure the pain. There are no knights in shining armor to save them.

That’s what I got from Django Unchained.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s character fully embodied the attitude of slave owners. Blacks were nothing more than animals and they were in fact property.

He took delight in having the slaves fight and kill each other, just to live another day and possibly be killed by a stronger man the very next day. 

You can even argue that what started as forced violence on one another has continued into today’s society as learned and acceptable behavior.

Black men are killing one another at alarming rates and often times the perpetrator soon becomes the victim.

That’s what I got from Django Unchained.

Another thing you cannot ignore is the message of hope the movie gives.

Yeah, hope.

Although slavery has long ended, it still gives you (for lack of a better word) some satisfaction that maybe despite all the brutality, cruelty and pain blacks lived and died with, there was one Django that emerged.

For critics who say there was no gun slinging, slick talking free slave like Django, you can only hope that out of the millions of lives destroyed by slavery at least one slave found his wife and rode off with her to live happily ever after.