My Snow Story-- Nov 22

Cold? I was stuck outside for over two hours last Thursday trying to get home from class: no bus, no taxi, no one to pick me up. I was swearing up and down and told a colleague on Friday about my incident, that i was afraid of getting frostbite and that i'm fed up with the cold. She gave me a surprised and weird look and said that there was no snow storm and that it was not cold but a nice -15!

Thanks,Ward , for reminding me to blog this terrible experience :)

The Agenda

So, tonight at 8:16 sharp, a bit late but, okay, i tuned in to The Agenda with Steve Paikin on TVO. It was a round table of sorts: four black women, 'successful' black women, i must add, and two 'successful' black men. What was the topic? The status of "Today's Young Black Women." Now, lets do a quick check list/run down of the kinds of precautions that any educated host would take:

The Blacks called upon are

1. From diverse backgrounds with diverse histories and experiences
2. Diverse in their opinions about blackness and race (one woman said that she grew up "raceless")
3. All agree that there are systemic problems in the "black community"

Okay, so we are good. No one will be criticized for being essentialist. But what do all these "black" people have in common? They are all being called upon to explain and account for black experiences, barriers and level of success in Canada (especially Toronto, the dominant loci of black hyper-visibility) against the backdrop of the systematic media violence that promotes blackness as hostile, criminal and dangerous. These men and women are pulled together to counter--explain everything from slavery to the role of the church as a moral centre in black life in Canada. Indeed, the called upon ness of these black men and women is part of the same narrative of the media base "black problem", a part of the same narrative of each speaker's 'race' and 'otherness', a part of the same narrative of Canada's covert (ethnic) multicultural marginalization, a part of the same narrative of the migrant subject as uprooted, displaced and problematic. There is no way out, it seems as if blacks will always be trapped; trapped in the doubleness of having to live and, then, simultaneously, having to explain to white Canada how it is that they live, with the popular stereotypical views always lurking in the background. I think that what needs to be changed is the systematic ways in which blacks (and people of colour, in general) always have to explain and account for themselves. The revolution should start with the government taking care of its peoples (not 'citizens' as is generally expressed: some are "permanent residents") through an anti-racist-educational-and-economic-system approach.

Oh, and what percentage of the Canadian population would have received this (positive) counter-discourse to the stereotyping of mainstream media? The same percentage that would have happened to "tune in" and/or were randomly switching channels and decided to take note of TVO's 'agenda'.

Stress-metre Decreasing

My hobby went home to bury his dad; I am handling everything better than i thought. Everything's going well otherwise and i am feeling a little bit more in control of my life (perhaps because academic pressures have subsided somewhat). My daughter has been cold free for two weeks and i am happy for that as well. It's funny how the little things in life are what makes you happy, at least in my case.

I watched some reality TV last night: "The Bachelor" finale/final rose ceremony.
I am a sucker for romance even thou i know its not "real." The "bachelor" did not pick any of the final two ladies which is fine especially since he wanted to be honest about his feelings; but why lead the women on and have them believe that he genuinely cared about them (and not as sisters) and then dump them? He actually said that he didn't see anything in DeAnna that he wouldn't want in a wife, yet he sent her home broken hearted. My first reaction was: "Okay, he's either gay or crazy." I won't be the judge.

Sick Day

Mi sick lacka dawg...

Not a good week for me; my head is pounding like a road drill. Tylenol does nothing for me; and what's the fancy name for runny nose? Rhinorrhea-- i have that too. I am freezing even though the heat is up 30 degrees. Whatever Jaylah had i certainly caught the adult version of it! No coughing though (i'll take the headache over the coughing). I had to miss class today due to my overwhelming headache but that's okay, i needed the break anyways (unconsciously, am i happy that i'm sick? consciously, no!)

I am smiling my way through the rest of November.

Note To Self
Smile throughout the year.

JJ Being JJ

Halloween





This one cracks me up :)
Looks like she's meditating, shhhh.