Zendaya's Flawless Faux Locs.

If you haven't already seen Zendaya, the young teen actrees/singer/dancer, recent slay on the red carpet of the 87th Annual Academy Awards, I'll start by placing a picture below before I begin.

Zendaya's beautiful faux locs along with her overall gorgeous-ness graced the red carpet. She reminded me of a young Lisa Bonet. I thought she looked amazing, the locs were neat and she wore them really well. However, everyone did not have the same appreciation for Zendaya's red carpet hair.

On the popular E! Network show Fashion Police, Giuliana Rancic, commented on Zendaya's hair saying, "I feel like she smells like patchouli oil and weed." Now, me being a fan of Giuliana, I was in disbelief that she would actually say something like that. The comment was racist, highly offensive and stereotypical. 

Kylie Jenner debuted her faux locs on Instagram weeks before Zendaya, they were described as "edgy". There's something wrong with that.

Zendaya is a wonderful young lady so she delivered a very well thought out, classy response to Giuliana Rancic and the Fashion Police crew.  Shortly after, Giuliana tweeted a so-called apology to Zendaya saying she meant the comment in a "bohemian chic" way and that she's sorry Zendaya took offense to it. I think the apology was weak, honestly.

After the internet was a buzz with what happened, Giuliana delivered a public apology on E! network. Basically she explained it as the "joke" was written for her so that's why the comment was made. Whether it was written for someone or not, it should have never been said.

I'm not here for it. Team Zendaya! She handled this situation very well and is walking away with her gorgeous locs and all.

What do you think about the comment?

Story Time: Kids These Days.

Imagine a photo of a little girl posing with a doll, side by side with her childhood friend. A big smile on her face that goes from ear to ear. Not a care in the world.

Yes, that little girl with the Barbie is me. I know what you're saying to yourself.. "How adorable!" I'm flattered. I was about five or six; a kid. The only thing on my mind was playing with Barbies and dressing up. That doesn't seem to be the case

with the kids nowadays. (Wow, I sound so old)

Granted, the kids I'm talking about are 10 and up, not five like I was. My case still stands though. Kids these days are so quick to want to grow up!

Which brings me to my little story... My younger cousin is in the 7th grade, she has an Instagram, which I tried for the longest to avoid her on. Unfortunately, she found me. The other day I discovered that she also had a Twitter account as well. Why does a 12 year old have a Twitter and an Instagram? Seriously, if somebody could answer that question for me that would be great.

Anyway, back to the story. Of course I was curious as to what she could possibly be tweeting about. As I'm scrolling down her page, I see endless retweets about One Direction and other pre teenage girl things. I saw something that caught my attention, it was a link to a website similar to Ustream. If you're not familiar with what that is, it's a website where people can do live video streams.

I clicked on the link. My little cousin has a live stream channel on this website... I'm pretty sure my aunt has no idea about this. I scrolled through and found a recent video from a few weeks ago.

I start watching the video and initially she was just sitting there talking to the camera as if she had fans watching. I then hear her start singing... "P*ssy on fleek, p*ssy game always keep them n*ggas on geek." DID THOSE LYRICS JUST COME OUT OF HER MOUTH. I rewinded the video to make sure I heard her correctly. A second time, and then a third and fourth. 

It wasn't just the lyrics that I heard spew out of her mouth that had me appalled, it was the way she sang them. She bobbed her head and sang it like it was such a cute song for her to be singing.

As I watched more of the video I listened to my cousin talk about the size of her chest. "Look at my boobs, I could definitely be a model." The more she talked the more I began to wonder at what point in time did my once innocent little cousin become so grown. 

Kids these days are such a rush to become adults instead of simply enjoying being a kid. Life was so much easier and carefree when I was 12, that's for sure. Some days I wish I could go back. So what's the rush?

Slow your roll, kids.

In a sexualized society, it's so easy for kids to want to emulate with they see and hear on the television. What they see are people that are so much older than them dressing, behaving, and living like they are grown... because, hello, they are. 

If you don't have to grow up before it's time for you to do so, take it easy and bask in the sweet moments of being a kid. They won't be around for long.

Kids these days need to go outside and play until the street lights come on, not post pictures on Instagram asking for their fellow kid followers to rate them. 

You know the lyrics to every Migos song, but you don't know how to do long division... I'm just saying. 

Enjoy your youth!

Fresh Start.

I think one of the best things in life that a person can be given is a fresh start. This thought actually came to me as I was sitting in my first class of spring semester yesterday morning. It's the beginning of a new semester, which means... a fresh start.

Whether it's a fresh start in a friendship, relationship, job, or in my case, in school. It's always great! It gives you a chance to put the past mistakes and misfortunes behind you. It's like pressing the refresh button on life.

Breathe in... breathe out. A fresh start is like one big sigh of relief, knowing that you now have the chance to turn things around and get back in the game. 

Sometimes, I feel as though fresh starts can be taken for granted. We're always offered a fresh start in any aspect of our lives. However, sometimes we don't take it in the "right" way or we simply choose to rest in our old ways.

I think resting in your old ways is so easy to do because that's where you've become comfortable. A person's comfort zone is hard to break out of. I still find myself trying to break out of mine.

Realizing that a fresh start is a new opportunity to do things differently and to take different risks is important. It's like things don't have to go the same way, situations can change, and you can ultimately decide whether or not that's going to happen!

Brilliant, right?

I guess since I have a totally new outlook on the idea of a fresh start, I'm so willing to embrace it and see it for what it can come to be. 

This year and this semester of school, I've made a promise to myself to be mindful that I'm in a new season and that I've been given a new, fresh start.

It's all taken one step at a time though.

I hope I have in some way or another given you a better feeling about your fresh start. Whatever it may be. Wherever it may be.

2015: A New Year.

I started this blog when I was in the 11th grade. I had no idea exactly what I wanted it to become or what I wanted to fill it with. Each year since I've made this blog, I've changed the name and my ideas for it. I always said how I would get it up & running, but never actually did. Now, as a sophomore in college, my idea is so clear and I can finally say that I am ready to see my blog blossom and bring about so many great things.

I'm holding myself accountable for continuing to keep with posts every week. If I don't, who else will? I'm making sure this time I'm persistent and diligent in my work to get my blog off the ground. With each post I hope to make someone's day, make someone laugh, open up someone's mind, help someone, entertain and anything else!

This is me. This is my blog and I'm welcoming anyone who wants to take the time to support something so important to me.

Thank you. Happy New Year.

Breaking My Silence.

I'm not one to voice my opinion on sensitive subjects. Of course, I do have a lot to say... in my head. However, I can no longer continue to do so.

Given the current events that have taken place in this nation, I can no longer sit back and simply agree with what everyone else is saying. Now I must voice my feelings and opinions just as everyone else has. Now I must speak out.

I actually don't even know where to begin because there's so much I want to say, but I won't make this too long. So, first, I'll start by saying this... All lives do indeed matter. However, I'm not at all pulling the "this isn't about race" card because I know that's not true. And for the people that continue to say that... I will just pray and hope that one day you will open up your eyes. 

It's crazy that the society we live in at this moment in time resembles one from 50 plus years ago. I'm disgusted, hurt and want change. The justice system has once again failed to uphold just what it says... justice. Police are supposed to serve and protect and yet they've done neither. When is it going to end? The brutality, excessive police force and the infinite cases of injustice.

A few weeks ago I participated in a 'die in' on my school's campus. It was a peaceful protest. Everyone collapsed to represent the lost lives and each body was outlined with chalk. A few people had roses placed on their chest. In that moment, laying on the ground, I was overwhelmed with a flood of emotions.

It was as if I could hear the cries and feel the pain of every mother, daughter and wife who had to bear witness to the death of their son, father or husband. What a feeling!

It's not fair that I have to worry about the safety of the black men in my life every time they step out of the house. Every time they venture off to the city. Every time they walk into a gas station. Every time they're walking down the street. Every time they're simply driving in their car.

"Black men get shot by police everyday, you're just finally hearing and seeing it." Yes, I was blind to what happens everyday in America, but now that I'm seeing with my own eyes what I've been oblivious to, I can't stand to hear anymore stories from various news stations about how another black man was killed and how the officer got off scotch free.

My mother has instilled in my the importance of education since I was a young child. I hate to sound cliche, but... knowledge is power. Getting and education and truly being a aware/learning about your surroundings is so very important. Become the change that you want to see. Enlighten yourself. Be a productive member of society in anyway possible. Stop judging everyone.

These are my feelings and opinions, if you don't agree... that's perfectly fine.

Staying Positive. +++

Going about our everyday lives, it can be so easy to let the bad completely overshadow the good. Why do we do this?

Personally, I've come a long way from being the Negative Nancy I once was. Not so much negative in my speaking, but more so in my thinking and attitude. People... the mind is such a powerful thing. I'm sure you've all heard that before. Negative thoughts can so easily consume you to the point where it just becomes so prevalent in your life that it becomes the norm for you.

It's truly so much easier to think ten negative thoughts then to have one positive thought a day. Things don't go the way we want, people don't always do what we want, and situations don't always work out the way we want.

I began to realize during my senior of high school just how much my negative thoughts and speaking were pulling me down. It was as if I was in this constant state of focusing on the bad surrounding me. When did I became such a negative person? And it's crazy because while I was in this negative state of mind, I would turn around and try to tell my friends how they should remain positive through all their adversities. WHAT A HYPOCRITE.

Of course I was pretending like I was Ms. Positive. However, that most definitely wasn't the case. Now, the question is, what did it take for me to change my state of mind? First, realizing that you gain positivity in every aspect of your life just by reversing your thoughts and thinking positive. 

Staying positive is so vital, to me. It's as if once I made this conscious decision to stop keeping myself in bondage of negative thoughts, the world began to look differently to me. My insight on things changed. I didn't look at things for how awful they were to or look at situations for how terrible the outcome appeared to be. I was able to at least try to find the positive when the negative was placed right in front of me.

Why is it so important to stay positive? Well, for one, thinking positive can lead to positive actions and people are drawn to other positive people. 2) In a world full of harsh negatives, a positive light will always outshine the negativity. 3) I think staying positive just makes for a happier you. 4) Won't so easily be dragged down and discouraged to do things in life. Negative thoughts or even negative people can make you feel as if you're incapable of accomplishing something or make you feel like  you're not good enough. A lot of missed opportunities comes from that. 5) I believe positivity can evoke change, in a good way. The list goes on...

The way I stay positive is through prayer, meditation, and making the conscious decision to be positive and have a positive attitude everyday. Yes, there are days when negativity might creep into my head or spew out of my mouth. However, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be.

Try to spread positivity wherever you go. Start with yourself first though. The negative will work its way in from time to time, but it's nothing you can't overcome.

Stay positive, people.

Story Time: Church People.

You're probably looking at the title of this post thinking I'm going to go on some rant. No, no I'm not. I'm just going to tell you a little story. A story that appalled and puzzled me.

A close friend of mine recently joined this new ministry. She's been going to studies, going to church every Sunday and she even went on a retreat a couple of weekends ago. I've witnessed an amazing change in her; spiritually, mentally and emotionally. One of the people she met in this ministry she became really close with and spoke so highly of when she would tell me about her. This person was helping her out so much with her walk with God, and I was just amazed at how much of blessing she had become in my friend's life.

Well, a few days ago, a problem came about and my friend was not happy with what she was being told from this particular person or the two other people that were brought into the equation. They didn't agree with a decision that my friend had made so they felt they should try to help her "change her mind." She was in a relationship with a certain guy before she made the major changes in her life. They basically were telling her that this guy was detrimental to her new life. They thought he was some kind of demon in her life. (her words, not mine) If anything, she could help him in his life just like the new people she had met helped her, but they didn't see it that way. My friend is far from a follower, she's very much so a free thinker and once her mind and heart are set on something, there's no changing that. I guess they had never encountered someone like her at their church.

I got in the car with my friend the other day and the first thing she turns to me and says is: GIRL! Now if you don't know, in "girl language" that meant she had something very important to tell me and I should focus all of my attention on her. I did just that. She proceeds to tell me that she met up with the group of people from church that were trying to change her mind. Well, since she had no intentions of changing her mind, they told her to.... LEAVE THE CHURCH. She went on to tell me that not only did they feel like she should leave the church but that she was "poisoning" everyone else by staying there. Ludicrous, right?

For a moment, I was at a loss for words. I had only heard about this type of thing happening. I've never witnessed it firsthand. I was livid. How could I not be upset for my friend? She had come to love this ministry and the people in it and now they were telling her she needed to leave.

The whole car ride I just sat in the passenger seat thinking intently on the story I had just been told. It then came to me that this very situation is where the negative connotation that "church people" receive comes from instances like the one my friend had experienced. I'm a "church person" myself, but it would never cross my mind to do something like that to someone nor would I ever think that something like that would happen to me. I enjoy every uplifting moment of being at church and being able to worship such an amazing God. Why try to take that from someone?

I guess what I'm trying to say is as "church people" we want to openly welcome more people into the church so they can worship along with us. We shouldn't PUSH people out, especially because they're not following someone's "rules". I think the more situations like this occur the more people will continue to equate "church people" with something that holds this weight of negativity. They're given reasons to think this, after all.

I'll finish by saying this... The church is meant to be made up of people who are committed to LOVE each other and to HELP each other mature and so become more holy. (and don't get holy confused with being perfect)