Happy Birthday Dr. King

June 23, 1963

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

Happy Birthday Dorothy

One of the most accomplished actresses of her time, she set a high on screen standard for the African-American female film stars who followed and continue to follow her. As a child, I wanted to be her, dreamed of being as beautiful as her and loved her movies.  She rose to the top of her profession with her first starring role and became the first African-American woman to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. But, just as fast as her success was achieved, so did it begin to fade. She had the drive and the talent to make it but the color of her skin held her back and her life soon began a downward spiral which in the end turned tragic. She is described as a kind and extremely giving individual who wanted to please everyone.



To support herself and to make contacts, she established herself as a nightclub singer, appearing at important clubs throughout the country. After appearing in a couple of low-budget films, her major breakthrough came when she was cast opposite Harry Belafonte in "Bright Road" (1953). Soon afterward, Dandridge won the coveted title role in Otto Preminger's "Carmen Jones" (1954), an all-black adaptation of George Bizet's opera "Carmen." Her performance in Carmen Jones won her an Academy Award nomination, the first for an African-American. She continued to work in nightclubs, but it was three years before she made another film. That same year, she won the Golden Globe Award for best actress in a musical film for her role in the film. Dorothy Dandridge made historic contributions to her profession and her race despite being stereotyped and having only a small number of significant roles. She blazed a new path by showing that African-American women could handle starring roles in white-dominated films. By the end of her short life, Dorothy Dandridge had brought the black actress in films from behind the shadows and had emerged as Hollywood's first authentic movie goddess of color. --courtesy, The Biography of Dorothy Dandridge, a book I read from cover to cover a few years ago

MLK

In Celebration for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Feliz cumpleaños mi amor - Happy Birthday

I sat down this morning and tried to think of something moving to write so that a reader could truly understand my journey with the twins. How much they have saved my life and how much I adore them. The are no real words to describe how I truly feel. Until today I didn't think 16 was ever coming...meaning, I felt they would be my babies forever.


That's probably why I finally gave into the promise to allow Twin A to get his ears pierced when he was 16. I made the deal at 12. He never forgot. I did. He started reminding me last Wednesday. CRAP! Thank God, I had enough sence to tell him he will never be allowed to get a tattoo as long as he lives in my home.

In all seriousness though, I looked back at some letters I wrote when they were still in my womb and how much I loved them before they even arrived. It's still tickles me to think of myself breaking down crying on the ultrasound table when they told me it was twins. I couldn't imagine how in the world I would ever complete this huge assignment the Lord had chosen for me. Instead I cursed God and asked him why he had done this to me. God is good and he only gave me one busy baby at a time. When one cried the other smiled, when one screamed the other slept, when one swing stopped rocking back and forth the other kept going. When one bottle was empty the other was full. Twin A walked a month before Twin B and Twin B talked 2 months before Twin A uttered a word. It has been like that their entire lives.

How far I've come in raising these two and no matter how many mistakes I make they continue to love me regardless. Our daily talks, or laying on the bed in silence or my loud mouth in the stands at their games make me so happy.

This year I promised myself I would baby them less and allow them to grow up a little and not shelter them so much but it's been a internal fight sometimes. When I see Twin B not working his hardest on the field or court, even though I know he is one of the most talented out there, I no longer want to beat up the coach because he is an "idiot" and doesn't know true talent. I look to my son and say "work harder, no one is going to give you anything you have to take it". I also make sure to reward him when his grades continue to rise because I want him to know that hard work pays off and an athletic scholarship is not the only way to college.

I'm still working on not coddling Twin A so much. He needs his hand held just a bit longer academically but with God's help, my continued push and some more maturity I'm sure he will be as successful in the classroom as he is on the field.

I've often said if you make them into one they are SUPERHUMAN but they are two and each have their own issues, traits, and qualities. No matter the situation they realize if that I love them so much and they love me. Tonight they have planned a dinner...including dates and a movie with friends for their 16th birthday. I guess I should enjoy the chauffering that I'll be doing tonight as next year they'll probably ask if they can use the car.


Twins - Mommy loves you more than you will ever know. Happy 16th. Love Mom.

Mama There Goes that Man

Tupac made me fall in love with Hip Hop...Happy Birthday Pac. Gone but Not Forgotten.

Happy Birthday CJ

A picture is worth a thousand words! I asked my baby what he wanted last week for his birthday and imagine my surprise when he said he wanted an Easy Bake Oven. Yes...an Easy Bake Oven and a Snowcone Machine were at the top of his list!

Recently he had spent the night at a friend's house and his sister had an oven. CJ fell in love and has been in the kitchen with me each night and has also requested cooking classes. Wow! I love that he has his own thing!


So Saturday was filled with a house full of kids, a bounce house waterslide, gifts and a transformer pinata. The transformer cupcakes even worked out quite nice. By evening the kids had gone home, CJ - The Rockstar had a date with the movie "UP" and the rest of us crashed out by 9:30!


Happy Birthday My Sweetie Little Boy!

Happy Birthday MLK

On this day that we choose to celebrate the great Martin Luther's King's 80th birthday, let us never forget that he had a mission to enter into the "promised land" many years before we ever thought it was possible. In the words of President Elect - Obama

We will couple the spirit of this inauguration with the celebration of the life of a preacher who once stood and shared his dream for America on the very mall where we’ll gather tomorrow. Martin Luther King lived his life as a servant to others, and today, ordinary citizens all across the country honor that legacy through the more than 10,000 service projects they’ve created on USAservice.org. And I’m asking the American people to answer the call and turn today’s efforts into an ongoing commitment to enrich the lives of Americans in their communities, their cities and their country.

Remember to give back to your community today. Happy Birthday Dr. King

p.s. I must add with all the news of the inauguration, Obama, the families making long trips to DC, the love I feel from a broken down country right now I am completely overwelmed and an emotional crying wreck so don't say "boo" to me or I'll start crying all over again.