Far From Over…

Posted on by serenitisparkles

Let it be in us to know 

Let it be in us to grow together

-Sereniti Sparkles 2021

With reports of variant Covid outbreaks around the world, we prepare for yet another wave of torment.  A wave that will pull at every heart string and bring us to our knees over and over.  

If I stand still and look at what is to come, I can’t possibly have enough space to cherish what is in front of me.  

If so many variants lay ahead, why are we not focusing on what is in front of us.   What is in our control.  Wouldn’t that feel better? 

If we know that when someone smiles it feels better than a frown, then we must also know that putting importance on our bodies and our minds must be our number one priority no matter what is ahead.  

WE NEVER REALLY KNEW THOUGH DID WE?

Was there ever a day in your life that you woke up sure of every element of your future 24 hours?

The answer is absolutely not.  

Sure, there is a grey area that some might say, well, if I knew I could stay home all day, I knew I was going to see the next day.  But if we use logic and our spirit, we know that to be incorrect.  

And what did we do before, when we were uncertain of each day?  We moved on.

Moving on isn’t about ignoring what is ahead.  Moving on is focusing on what is important today.  How can we be the best at who we are?  How can we learn from these viruses so we do better?  Isn’t that what we are here for anyway?

A Smile to Remember, RIP Big Daddy

Posted on by serenitisparkles

Too often we never get the chance to say goodbye.

It all happened so fast. Like a lightning bolt that strikes down a beautiful palm. My best friend called me crying. Kenya got shot. Chills ran through my body and I remember feeling so helpless. I could hear her deep pain. And I understood why. Kenya aka Big Daddy was larger than life. He had a smile that made your heart melt. Kenya was like a teddy bear. He was there to help and never to harm. All I could remember thinking was WHO could be so evil.

My best friend told me he was on life support at a hospital about 20 mins away. She told me that the whole family was there. I dropped everything and went to be with them.

What would come next would stay with me forever.

When I got to the hospital I saw the family crowded by his bed side as my best friend walked out to tell me, he’s gone.

That day ended in pain and tragedy, but what it would bring was a sign of unity never seen before.

In order to tell this story properly, let me give you some background on my experience with my best friend, Kenya and the family that you won’t know if you are just reading this.

About 5 years before this tragic day, I moved to the south from New England. My white skin and love for Hip Hop music would make me an awkward fit at the time for this heavily separated town. When I first entered the high school lunch room it was obvious that most groups were separated by color or ethnicity rather than interests or life experiences.

I felt alone at the time because I related more to the black kids in the school because of Hip Hop culture, but I wasn’t necessarily accepted by them at first. Until I met my best friend, Kenya, and the family. They just truly saw ME. Me and my best friend became inseparable and Kenya’s smile became a reassurance that I was always good where ever I was in town. I was so blessed to have each and everyone of them in my life, especially Kenya. They were the definition of what family stood for. Always together, and I was always welcome.

I had come from a broken home and family that was separated by 1000 miles. My mother, whom I was living with at the time, was suffering from breast cancer, and I just remember feeling the embrace that I needed from all of them. It came right on time.

As the years passed on I saw Kenya grow up from a boy into a man. July 4th was the last day I got to spend with him. I remember there was a cookout at one of the family members houses and Kenya was the reason that July 4th was a hit for all of us. He brought hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks and began the show. We were outside for hours that day, basking in the beauty of the fireworks show that Kenya was putting on as he poured his energy into it. He was a bright light for all of us, and that day, he did his thing. Less than a month later, he was gone.

Hopelessness and sadness filled the family circle, but like always they stuck together. As the years would pass, his brother, sister and cousins would start an event for his birthday in his name. RIP Big Daddy. In the beginning, maybe a couple hundred would show up and celebrate and the police would always try to shut it down. Every year, more and more began to come. Like a fire igniting, it would continue to burn. Whether we realized it or not, Kenya’s energy lived far beyond his death.

This year, thousands would gather in the name of Big Daddy and Ending Gun Violence. The police that used to try and shut it down, would be forced to get behind the cause.

I don’t believe that our energy ever really leaves this earth and I believe that Kenya aka Big Daddy is proof of that.

I will always miss you, but your smile lives in my memory bank to remind me that life is worth smiling about. RIP Big Daddy.

Choice and Acceptance; Our Human Right

Posted on by serenitisparkles

Does anyone really know what is best for you? Does anyone understand what is in the depths of your soul? Probably not. Because everyone of us is given a different perspective, drawn from the moment we enter into this existence.

So often we hear of governments, religions groups, our own families telling us what to choose and what is accepted.

Is that their story to tell? What is it about anyone or anything that could possibly give them the right to define which way your life should go?

Think about it. Think hard. When you lay awake at night, in your deepest thoughts, are you thinking about what others want, or do you think about what you want and what YOU feel?

When you think about these desires, are you held back from them because of another person’s opinion? What makes them have so much control over you. Why would you give them authority over the one most sacred human right; Your Choice? Your choice will define your existence. The voice in your head and heart will continue to tell you the way. How could you stop what is for YOU? What type of power in all of human existence should be given to one over another?

Choice should be recognized as our most basic human right.

You do not have to agree with my choices, you do not have to understand the why behind them, but you must accept them. They are mine and should be mine alone to make. If I choose to do something to benefit the feelings of another person, then I must make that choice. If I should choose a path that a religious group doesn’t agree with, it is still my choice for them to accept.

We are not given many freedoms in this world. In fact, at every turn, power, money, and government , chips away at our choice and enforces their own. But when we hold the control to walk in the direction that most fulfills us. WHO should have enough hold over us to take that away. CHOICE IS FOR ME ALONE, ACCEPTANCE IS FOR YOU. The path of my choices will teach me what I am to learn, and no one and nothing should be able to take that away. Live in the custom reality that was made just for you, and don’t allow others to take you from that.

Silence is having blood on your hands…It is time White People

Posted on by serenitisparkles

For my entire life thus far, I have watched as some of the people I cared for most in this world being tormented by a system built to oppress them. Through the years I have seen what the simple color of my skin meant to my experience in this world and more specifically this country. The shame I have, to see others that look like me and that hold the same privilege sit in silence. The pain I’ve felt watching my friends and family members be treated as less than or overlooked despite their clear capabilities. The sickness I feel every time I see the outright mistreatment by law enforcement.

Let me be clear when I say, you may love your neighbor no matter the color of their skin, but if you do not speak truth to power, then you too have blood on your hands. How many times do we have to see the blatant disrespect and disregard for human lives? How many times do we have to watch the difference in being black in America vs white in America to know we must not be silent? I’ve written hundreds of articles, praying they reach someone else that needs to hear these words. I’ve listened to my friends and family of color so that I can be better in the fight against racism.

This is getting to the point that it is NO LONGER acceptable for you to just love thy neighbor, you must also be willing to fight for thy neighbor. Imagine a world where every time you walked out into the public, you had to fear that you would be in harm’s way or treated as less than. Imagine that you were treated this way every single day of your life, not because you deserved it, but because of the pigment of your skin. It may not be you that engages in racism or hate. It may not be you that assists in the breakdown of another human’s rights. But it is because of you and your silence that we have witnessed a rise in racism. It is because of that silence that white supremacists marched on the capital as if they would have no repercussions and not be held accountable for such hate.

I am going to keep writing and keep telling white people what they need to hear. I am going to keep speaking up against the most dangerous type of hate that exists in America. The mentality that you or I are better because of the color of our skin is a fallacy and one we are responsible for deconstructing. If you choose to not speak up against what is happening with racism in America, then you my friend, have blood on your hands. PERIOD.

I didn’t know speaking about equality would get me REJECTED from FB

Posted on by serenitisparkles

I have always been a person of deep spirituality. Prophetic some might say. I have always thought about what it means to live with purpose. Purpose is what drives me to write. I’ve never been paid to write or encouraged to go against the laws of the land. But what happens when my free speech, and sharing it with others is rejected.

For the first time in my life, power has silenced me. My voice is no different than any other average American. I am not famous or powerful. I am humble. I want nothing more in my life than to leave a valuable message for the generations that live beyond me. I want nothing more than to right the wrongs or at least try to.

Never would I have thought that one of my blogs, written from my heart with only good intent, would be rejected by a platform. Speaking truth to power is important, but what happens when power won’t let us be heard.

I wrote a blog yesterday about supporting my Black brothers and sisters in their fight to gain true equal rights from a system that has silenced them for too long. It was nothing more than what every faith lives on; Treat others how you want to be treated. It is so simple, yet so complex in the world we are living in. An opinion is all. An opinion that spoke of love and support was rejected by FB. I didn’t understand it so I dug further.

I found that in order for me to write about equality, I must first disclose my name, phone number, and address to the platform for approval. Why would I do such a thing, when I watch whistleblowers from around the world be silenced and forgotten. The people in charge want to know who I am before I can speak about what is right. Why? I am not a politician. I am not organizing the resistance. What is the resistance anyway? Isn’t this something we ALL want to see before we take our last breath?

I had to write about it, like so many other things. More than ever, I had to speak up for what I see as wrong. I had to speak up for those who can no longer speak. I had to speak up so that the day I take my last breath, I know I never walked away from the truth. We should all be working towards love. We should all be working towards a better future for each other. These blogs are for my friends, my family, and anyone that ever needed confirmation that love is the way. You can silence me today, but just know I will keep writing, unapologetically.

What are we afraid of? Fearing Covid-19

Posted on by serenitisparkles

The summer of 2020 has been a challenging one to say the least.  Not because of events within my home or family, but because of the constant reminder that we should fear each other and stay “safe”.

Terminal illness is something I know very well as my father succumbed to death by liver cancer at the age of 49.  Illness is something I know well as I have an 8 year old daughter who gets the flu every season.  Drug addiction and illness is also something that has touched my life in a tragic way when I lost my aunt to her addiction.   Yet, I kept on living.

So I beg to ask the question, what are we afraid of?

Are we more afraid of a virus than we are of complete government oversight and control?  Are we more afraid of a virus than our children growing up without a childhood?  Are we more afraid of a virus than a world of social distancing and separation?  Are we more afraid of a virus than we are of fighting for our freedom?

Yesterday, in the grocery store, I made sure to mask up and go about my regular weekly shopping.  I observed people as they walked by making sure they weren’t “too close” to me.  I observed the discomfort of not being able to see if a person was smiling at me or frowning.

In my home, I have an eight year old little girl who is an only child.  A little girl who once upon a time thought anything was possible, yet now she can’t even enjoy the first day of school.  She watches as the school buses pass by in the neighborhood, not because they are picking her up, but because they are being paid to train on their routes for food drops.

My child, whose father lives in South America, cries for the moment she will see him again.  She asks me almost daily when this will be all over so she can see her dad.  For the first time, the mom who knows it all has to tell her baby, “I don’t know”.

Most people I know that have had Covid-19 (and that number I can count on one hand), are alive and breathing and living.  Those friends of mine that have had the virus are now stigmatized by the rest of the world as having “The Virus”.  Though they are all clear of the virus today, they are still excluded from family moments and gatherings.

When you ask me, What are you afraid of?  My answer is very different than what you may think during this pandemic.

I fear that this is the new normal.  I fear that we have entered a time of no return.  I fear that we will all be forced to vaccinate to live a “normal” life again.  I fear that the laws surrounding this pandemic will last beyond the virus.  I fear that people won’t introduce themselves with a hug anymore.  I fear that the government will use 5-G and technology to invade our homes and our lives in the name of “safety”.  I fear that my daughter won’t have a first day of school because digital learning proved to be more economic for the states.  I fear that she won’t be able to make a “new” friend because the parents are scared she may be infected.  I fear that small talk in the grocery store has ended.  I fear that human interaction has been forever tainted.

We are watching the powerful make decisions for all of us.  We are watching it without having real facts and statistics.  The chains have been applied to all of us, not just US citizens, but humans around the world.

I fear that the chains will not come off in my lifetime.

Teach them…

Posted on by serenitisparkles

2020 has brought clarity to everything around us.  It has exposed our greatest fears and highlighted our greatest love.  It has brought us to our knees with humility.  Through the Pandemic, the Economic Downfall, and Civil unrest, we have been given our most important opportunity.

It is our time to teach the future generations the most vital lessons of today.  We can wait no longer to be conscious of what humanity has the power to do, both for good and evil.  If we do not teach them what these lessons are, there may not be a bright future.

So let’s begin,

Covid-19 came in like a tornado and has wiped over 100,000 Americans from the face of the earth.  It has caused many to lose the people they cherish most in an instant.  The ripple effect of all of those deaths has caused us to understand that everyone’s life can inadvertently cause someone’s death.  We are humbled.  Take care of you, take care of your neighbor, life depends on it.

 

The Economic downfall has caused people to lose their homes, their savings, and their stability.  Like an earthquake, it all started to crack.  The floor beneath us started to fall out.  Work hard and save because you don’t know if tomorrow will be a day the floor is no longer there.

 

And finally,  the Civil unrest.  This is what happens to a nation of people who have been silenced for too long.  Complacency can be the enemy if you allow it to live within you.  Accepting the mistreatment of others can also kill.  Without saying a word, you can take part in allowing a system to harm the people it represents.  More than ever, in 2020, we understand that we have to speak up, our lives depend on it.

 

As we smile around the world through our selfies and group photos, we are missing our sparkle.  We are losing our light as hopelessness grows within all of us.  Teach them that strength and respect for one another can save us.  Teach them to walk back into the light we once knew.  Teach them so that the smiles of the future will never be so grim.  Teach them…

The C word VS the N word and why they are not the same.

Posted on by serenitisparkles

“Cracker” is what I would be referred to at times and it never bothered me.  Not because it wasn’t derogatory, but because it literally held no actual weight on society as I knew it.  “Crackers” weren’t systematically oppressed.  “Crackers” weren’t being targeted by the police.  Being a “Cracker” didn’t affect your place in society.  “Cracker” was just a word.

Many people ask well “if the N word is so bad to say, then why isn’t the C word as bad” One is a word and the other torments you.  One word is used as a clap back and the other is used to cut you.  One is the word of the moment, the other is a word derived from the cruelest moments in our nation’s history.

Other people ask the question, “Why can’t I say the N word if Black people say it to each other?’  

It is because THAT is their word.  The N word has been used as a racial slur and a representation of the oppression for centuries.  Since the blood was first placed on the white hand by the slavery they instilled in this nation.  That blood, stains.  Every time a white person says the N word, it cuts like a knife in an open wound.  The N word represents all that is wrong with White vs. Black in this country.   Our Black American citizens decided that rather than let this word be used against them, they keep it.   That by being so restrained in its use, it gives white Americans (specifically) a taste of what it is like to not be entitled to “do anything they please, anywhere.”

So no, the C word will never be equal to the N word because Black Americans have never been offered that same opportunity.  They have been kneeled on by the power of government and law in a country that’s primary principle is that All Men Were Created Equal and All Men Deserve Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

So “Crackers”, if you find this word offensive, think of what a lifetime of being exploited feels like.

Juneteenth, Hidden in Plain Sight

Posted on by serenitisparkles

I’m sure we can all agree that somewhere in our history books there was a mention of June 19, 1865.  I’m sure for most it was like the many other stories of oppression, hidden in plain sight.

How do you teach something yet still hide it?  How do stories of the lives of our Black brothers and sisters be told but not be of equal celebration?  How can June 13th not be a government holiday? How could we have not seen that this was a vital day to becoming America we know it to be?

Without this moment in time, many of the greatest moments in history by the hands of our Black brothers and sisters wouldn’t have existed.  Without this moment, some of the most beautiful children would have never been born.  Without this day in our country’s history, we would not have been impacted by some of the greatest influencer’s in our society.

So why has Juneteenth been hidden in plain site?  A day that memorializes June 19, 1865, when Union general Gordon Granger read orders in Galveston, Texas, that all previously enslaved people in Texas were free.  Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed them almost two-and-a-half years earlier, and the American Civil War had ended with the defeat of the Confederate States in April, Texas was the most “remote” of the slave states, with a low presence of Union troops, so enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent.

Why are not more of these moments in history celebrated like every other American Holiday when we, the masses, defeated evil.  We are witnessing a moment like no other before us, not because we are standing together, but because THEY are finally listening.

To my White Constituents…

Posted on by serenitisparkles

As a grown white woman, I would like to speak to all of my fellow members of our race.  I would like to directly address you.  I am particularly speaking of the liberal mothers that won’t move down the street because there are too many black students at the other school.  To the white college student who didn’t feel comfortable walking into “that” bar because it looked too “ghetto”.  To the white grandparents who spoke of affirmative action like it was an easy ride.  To the white customer who would rather the white associate help them.  To the white people who look down upon other races as if they have something to prove.

I am here to tell you that “they” DON’T have anything to prove.  It is your turn to prove your worth to this community.

No, I’m not speaking to myself because I am not apart of YOU.  I have never wanted to be a part of that so my friends have always been every race and treated as family.  But I DON’T need to prove that to anyone because “my people” know me.  The kids know me.  The parents know me.  This movement represents the pain of many of my family members so I am taking this personally.

My entire life has consisted of me being bullied by YOU.  You now want to be an ally because it is convenient.  Because it is a part of pop culture.  But I have always been.  I’ve been there every day.  I have held their hands, made the best memories, supported them, and always lifted them to the kings and queens they are.  But YOU.  You need to take a long hard look at the fact that YOU just appeared on the scene.  All of sudden, you say it out loud.

All of sudden, you march through the streets, taking selfies using the #BLM.

I still see YOU for what you are until you prove that you want these people to have what YOU have.

I’m here to call you out.  I have always been on the side of right by my brothers and sisters of color.  I have always stood next to them no matter what would happen to me for doing so.  I’ve lived through your racist remarks and police harassment.  So I’m calling you out because this is a movement close to my heart.

This is a movement I have been living for my entire life.  This movement is going to ensure that we recognize and celebrate my brothers and sisters of color.  This movement is for them.

I’m calling you out, My White Constituents, to recognize your failures to the Black community.  To recognize the blind eye you turned and silence you maintained.  I’m pleading with you that you realize that until you continue to stand with our Black brothers and sisters, you will be asked to prove yourself.  The Black community knows which white people stood for this cause all their life.  If you are going to stand up, don’t plan on sitting back down on this one.  You are either a part of the solution or the problem.  Remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “In the end we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the Silence of our Friends”.