Yeah...and so, anyway...

The name of the group is Earth, Wind and Fire, and so is this song. It wasn't as well known as some of the other hits the group had, but then again, we bought a lot of albums back in the 70s, and played the songs that weren't always on the radio. So why am I posting the lyrics and song here? I don't know. One part nostalgia, and the other part because I love the music and the lyrics. The words have always calmed me down; made me put life in a more reasonable perspective. And  the music, in my opinion, is beautiful It's also a reminder that at one point in my life, I was a teenager and idealistically hopeful about not only my future, but the future of the world. I could use a nice, big dose of that teenage enthusiasm these days.

"You can only take care of yourself. There's nothing you can do about anything else that's going on right now." I hear that a LOT from my fellow 12 steppers. I hear it so much that I quit confiding to them about what truly disturbs me these days.  Amadou Diallo. Trayvon Martin. Oscar Grant. Alan Bluford, Ezell Ford. Kimani Gray, Michael Brown. Eric Garner. and  12 year old Tamir Rice , who was by himself, playing with a toy gun in a Cleveland park. He was only five years older than my grandson. To me, he was still a baby. That isn't even close to the number of unarmed Black men who have been killed by police since 2007 , And people forget that an unacceptable number of Black women have been shot by the police, too.   Oh, you didn't know?   Seven year old  Aiyana Stanley-Jones was shot by  Detroit policeman Joseph Weekley  as she lay sleeping on the living room couch under a blanket. And there have been many, many more.  Adaisha Miller.  Alesia Thomas, Darne

Dear Friend, Voting rights are under attack across the nation, and I want you to help protect them! When the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act last year, it got rid of a powerful tool to end discrimination at polling places.  States and localities across the country are now enacting and implementing anti-voter rules that will keep many Americans' voices from being heard. I'm asking Congress to stand up for every voter and fix the VRA -- will you join me? http://www.commoncause.org/FixTheVRA Thanks! Don't believe it? Need more proof? Well, here ya' go! https://www.aclu.org/secure/congress-repair-voting-act This is what happened because Congress didn't fix the voting rights act Texas sees surge of disenfranchised voters Well, I know that's about all people can take in at one time. And I'm leaving the commentary out because I have some other things I need to write about. But right now, this issue feels very urgent. People

I had a conversation a few days ago with my niece, Jasmine Shortt, about the importance of young African Americans knowing and understanding the history of what people have sacrificed over the past 400+ years, so that long standing institutions based on racial hatred, assumed superiority and economic benefits for the ruling class no longer have the type of stranglehold and taint on this country that they did at one time. Many young people don't know, or if they do, they don't understand what it means to them because people have a tendency to preach instead of teach . In my opinion, history has be broken down, put into context, and made personal to THEM . Otherwise, it's all about the Hamlet effect: "Words, words, words." What I told Jasmine is that many people died so that her grandparents, my parents, could own their home at 8420 Fawcett Avenue in Tacoma, Washington and at 2124 Kirk Way in Sacramento, California. The house in Tacoma was in a mostly White

My ex husband and I never had what anyone could call a "good relationship". I have to own up to my part in this: by the time I met him, I was very unsure of myself and suffering from the effects of a very out of control eating disorder, low self esteem, guilt about being a disappointment to my parents (this was a projection of my own disturbing thoughts; they never did show me any indication that they were disappointed in me), and, at age 22, I had dropped out the last semester of my senior year in college. I told myself that I needed a job more than I needed the degree because I wanted to move out of my parents' house. But that wasn't it. Here's the truth. I had an obsessive need to look like the many stunningly beautiful Black women I saw each day. I thought if I looked as good as they did, I could snag a boyfriend just as easily as I imagined they had done. The mixture of imagination, jealousy, resentment, and insecurity is an extremely bad combination for anyo

The post started with a simple declaration:  I think I am in love with someone! What should I do? Usually, when I post on Facebook, it's about some cause or issue that I am passionate about. And usually, I'm lucky if five people like the post. I've hit the lotto if someone comments. But when I put up that question, which wasn't at all what it seemed to be, I was flooded with comments, suggestions and a couple of jokes. (I really liked the jokes!) I was flabberghasted. I thought most of them would be suspicious that I would post something like that because a) they know that I am not into mushy romantic stuff; b) In the five years I've been on Facebook, I've never posted anything like that before. I might post an article from a psychology website about (cough, cough) romance and relationships, but that's about it. I don't talk about myself that much, and I'm certainly not going to put myself out there on blast if I were in a relationship. But the co

"No importa que, nada cambia. Ya lo sabes, ¿no? E starás  libre y yo tambien tenemos diferentes caminos. Pero eso cambia absolutamente nada para mi. Siempre recordare’. Te` amo."  "My baby, you've been, my best my only friend. There's nothing like the joy you bring " http:       Whatever It Takes

So it's almost two in the morning, and what I'm doing? Listening to my YouTube playlist while posting on Twitter, Facebook and now my long neglected blogger account. Why? Because I'm trying very hard to accept the fact that I am once again living in the city of my birth, against my most fervent wishes. I've fallen in love with Oakland and the East Bay area, and I'm hoping and praying that the apartment that I have been filling out paperwork for (over and over and over, because there's a new owner, and the old manager has no idea how to deal with the new paperwork) will FINALLY go through. I have been going through this since December. It's almost May. But I will continue to do whatever it takes to get back to Oakland because Sacramento is INCREDIBLY DULL BY COMPARISON! The public transportation system is a joke, and even if it were better, what is there to do? I've been spoiled by the Bay Area, where I could hop on a bus or BART and go anywhere just for