What Can White People Do?

Posted on by serenitisparkles

What Can White People Do?

I keep hearing the same question as if it seems so difficult to come to the answer.  What Can White People Do?  What can WE do?  What Can I do?

We’ve known the answer all of our lives.  We have lived the answer with every breath we take.

Did you grow up in a world with the comfort of stable food and shelter?  Were you able to walk in any door and know you would be treated with dignity and respect?  When stopped by the police, did they just take your ID and send you on your way?  Did you see many cop cars patrolling your neighborhood?  Did the police seem like they were always there to care for you and protect you?

If your life was like this, then I am speaking to you.  Your great-grandfathers sins do not rest on you, they live in you.  You get to live in a world that is fair and equal.  You get to feel as if the law is on your side.  But your brothers and sisters of color, they, do not.  They suffer from unlawful arrests and sentencing, harassment, and brutality all at the hands of power.

It is not that ALL police are bad and ALL lives don’t matter.  It is that there are lives of our fellow citizens that have been roughed up and taken by a system that is built to sustain it’s power.  White Power.

If you are like me, you don’t believe in White Power or what it represents.  But unfortunately for you, you are the beneficiary of such power.  And it is because of that that you were handed a responsibility.  A responsibility greater than any you have ever had and will ever have.  Use your voices, your money, your hands, your words and speak to that power.  Make sure they listen.  Call your representatives, gather in peaceful protests.  Be the change you want to see in the world.

This is dedicated to all my Black brothers and sisters.  The ones who treated me like family.  The ones who are still by my side to this day.  This is our fight.

Stand Together with George Floyd and ask WHY?

Posted on by serenitisparkles

Why is a powerful word if you think about it.  Why can answer so many questions.  Why can tell your life’s story.  Today, we have citizens of America outraged and distraught.  We ask why?

George Floyd is just an example of how power becomes the greatest sin of all.  For centuries, African American citizens of the United States have been oppressed.  For lifetimes, these citizens have been underpaid, underfunded, disrespected, disproportionately imprisoned, disenfranchised, and killed all because they were born with more melanin than another.

We ask why?

Long ago a system was set in place by the most powerful men in this country and manipulated into making it forever law.   Every administration has blood on their hands.  All power is to blame.

We ask why?

Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.  Power has been around as long as humans have been around.  Power has oppressed the masses.  It is simple, POWER, did not want all men to be created equal. 

In order for a system to change, power has to shift.  The movement of power is to move with great speed and force.  That force must be non-violent yet strong at the same time.

We must move as a family beside George Floyd.  We must move as a nation that is horrified with what we saw with our very own eyes.

They ask why?

Because, if George Floyd was my brother, I would never want this to happen to one more human being.  I would have wanted my brother to have the same opportunity as everyone else.  I would have wanted my brother to bask in the American dream.  I would have wanted my brother to watch his children grow and have moments of love and life in his future.  No one should have been able to take that away from him.

Time is Our Most Valuable Resource

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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If I lose a dollar, I can replace it with another, but, If I lose an hour of time, I will NEVER get that hour back.  My father once said to me, “I’ll sleep when I die.”  This was a man who woke up every morning at sunrise and didn’t go to sleep until 1 or 2 in the morning.  He couldn’t have been more right.  Today, that same man is asleep forever, may he rest in peace.

Watching so closely the full cycle of life, from my daughter being born to my father’s untimely death,  has taught me a crucial lesson.  Time is my most valuable resource.  Every moment of each day is an opportunity.  It can be an opportunity to share time with a loved one, an opportunity to write, an opportunity to take a chance, and the most beautiful fact is that every moment is an OPPORTUNITY.

Many of us live in the past, or look to the future.  How many of us actually live in the NOW?  Since my father’s passing I try to ALWAYS live in the present.  I am constantly asking myself, am I happy with my moment right now.  If I am not, then I quickly adjust myself to think positively and change course.  I do not know many things, but what I am definite of is that this is my moment.  My life span could last another 50 years, or 50 seconds, but what I choose to do with my moment is vital to my quality of life.

When we fail to look around us and bask in our present, we fail to see the beauty of living.  Life is a gift.  No matter how many times we fall short, we are alive.  We have something that is so precious.  We have something that for all of us, will run out.  So when you wake up in the morning, appreciate and utilize the time you are given because it will be gone before you know it.

Dreams and The Law Of Attraction

Posted on by serenitisparkles

My entire life has been a road of relentless determination and focus toward success.  I have always believed that I am someone who will work with talent in the music industry and create great artists.  I have found that no matter how many people told me it wasn’t going to happen, I stayed positive toward reaching my end goal.  This focus has landed me in positions as publicist, engineer, MC, event coordinator, songwriter, and manager.  Yet there were so many times that I was lost.  The only thing that remained in my heart in those times was my dream and love of music.

bobbi blogMusic has helped me stay positive no matter what the challenge, and my determination has guided me to reach many goals.  It wasn’t until recently that an old friend of mine explained to me the definition of what I was doing through my entire quest.  It is called the LAW OF ATTRACTION.  This law that states LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE, and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, one can bring about positive or negative results.  The belief is based upon the idea that people and their thoughts are made from pure energy.  The idea of the law of attraction was first noted by author James Allen in 1901.  And in 2006 became an international sensation with the movie, The Secret.

Numerous authors have referred to the law of attraction as the key to success.  Many well-known celebrities have used the law of attraction to reach their dreams.

Will Smith “There is a redemptive power that making a choice has…I want to represent an idea that you really can make what you want.”

Jim Carrey “Not one single thing has ever been accomplished without intent.”

Oprah “It is very true that the way you think, creates a reality for yourself.”

Steve Harvey “If you see it in your mind you can hold it in your hand”

UFC Champion, Jon Jones “When you know where your going and know what you want, the universe has a way of stepping aside for you.”

Bob Proctor “Your brain is an electronic switching station, when you think you activate brain cells, those brain cells set up a vibration…Whatever my vibration is is going to dictate what I attract.”

We are all a product of our minds.  Once that is fully understood and we are able to listen to our deepest desires, we are able to create a reality that is derived from our energy.  “We are not what we are, but what we think we are.”

Tech Savvy and Braindead

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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If you were born after 1992, your life will be completely consumed by the technological world around you.  You will have at least one device on you at all times that connects you to an invisible world called THE INTERNET.  Instead of physical interaction with people on a daily basis, you will communicate alone with a device that holds your entire life in your hands.

If all you know about the world is being connected to what many elders would call, technology, how are you in control of the world around you.  For a moment observe your surroundings.  Look at the person next to you sitting a few feet away and watch as they glare into that device.  A device so powerful it drains all of our attention.  Try interacting with that person and watch as they are drawn back to their device.  Will you ever really cherish life’s precious moments, or will you be expending all of your energy into a mindless piece of humanity?  Look around you once more and pretend it is 50 years ago.

The same person sitting next to you would have no choice but to look up and transmit the energy we all need to morally survive.   Real physically energy between us as people is necessary for humanity to survive, yet we can’t help but be connected.   Watch as the internet desperately sucks in your energy by creating standards that are soulless.  The commercials on every site flying by at every moment, put forth by the same companies that strive for your addictive nature.

You are a generation of young people absorbed by a non-living entity that has found a way to trick you into believing it is a way of life.  Run by private executives, with personal goals and purpose, the internet  has found a way to take life’s most precious gift in your life.  TIME is all we are given.  Time to experience and enjoy the warmth of each other.

Try to remember in your young life the last time you sat down and spent a significant amount of time disconnected to the internet and connected to a loved one.   These moments won’t happen very much in your life, if at all.  Your memories as you grow old and near the end will be spent mostly with a “thing”.  You won’t even understand life without the internet.  And if the private entities that run that “thing” decide to shut down or turn off, will you be left BRAINDEAD?

Stalked By Digital Footprints

Posted on by serenitisparkles

 

Stalked by Digital.jpgImagine a world where blood sucking corporations were in constant pursuit of our trail. Imagine that the closer they could get to you, the more money they would make. Imagine they were able to place a GPS tracker, watch every move we make, and witness every conversation we had.  They can even predict our next move. WELCOME to the world of BIG DATA and DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS.

Across the world and concentrated heavily in the US, there are businesses set up solely to watch our movements and study our habits.  There are devices designed to ensure the precise collection of every mark we make in the digital world.  They are like stalkers lurking in the darkness, recording everything about our lives, to then hand over our personal information over to the highest bidder.

If we all believed that world existed, we would all be much more careful of leaving a digital footprint trail. The reality is that everyday, with every click of a button and stroke of a key, we are creating a lifetime of digital footprints. We are volunteering personal and private data along with giving up our right to privacy to exist in a more “convenient” world. In this digital world, the end user (us)  searches for the easiest way through.  The more convenient the internet becomes, the more invasive corporations are in our personal lives.

As a corporation, using data collectors, called aggregators results in a 200% increase in sales within a 6 month span.  It is like pure gold.  Collecting these digital footprints allows a corporation to specifically target each user.  The aggregators  collect strings of data from each website you visit, all of your personal information(name, age, gender, location,  your most common websites (and any other website you have visited), and your social media posts.    They are not only collecting your clicks, they are collecting your context.

THEY COLLECT LITERALLY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE ONLINE. They have millions of digital files identifying your long path of digital footprints.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights offers everyone the “Right to Privacy”.  Unfortunately for the internet, there is very little control, if none, over privacy laws protecting our personal information.  Unlike tangible places in the world, the internet is global and there is no worldwide policy that addresses the right of digital citizens regarding their digital footprints.  So there it is  digital citizens, we are subject to a world where everything we do is being tracked by corporations and governments, with little control over what is done with our personal data.  We are being watched by people we don’t have any relationship with and our most private data is available to anyone with enough money to hire these collectors.  The internet is becoming more important in our daily existence and if we do not become educated about the moves we make in the digital world, all of our freedoms that we enjoy in the physical world will be at risk.

In the words of Plato, “Good people do not need laws to act responsibly,  while bad people will find a way around those laws.”

Next time you tweet, email, create a profile, or post a photo, remember that not everyone using this data has your best interest at heart.   We will all die one day, but within the internet, our digital footprints will LAST FOREVER.

Is our inner voice following the leader?

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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If someone asked you to tell them about yourself and what you represented, would your answer be found on someone else’s Facebook page? I’m sure you have seen the same inspirational quotes and stories, the horrific acts of violence, and the newest billboard hits flooding the Facebook and Twitter news feeds.

With people spending 50% of their time on social media, it is very hard to tell what was derived from your own intuition and what was a result of someone’s post.  The bandwagon effect is real and is one of the oldest forms of human interaction.  It is an observation of social behaviour in which people tend to go along with what others do or think without considering their own beliefs or values.

The more lonely or socially incapable a person is, the more likely they will follow the bandwagon.  Facebook is an excellent example of the bandwagon effect.  A story is most likely to go VIRAL if there are key names leading the way such as famous personalities, musicians, and big brands.  Social media makes it very hard for an individual to gain importance through their own beliefs because the key to social media, is that what becomes VIRAL is what is considered important.  In the real world, for the survival and quality of our lives, standing up for our “gut feeling” is necessary.

In order for a person to live without regret, or to live the life THEY see fit, they must follow their intuition.  However, when the internet has found a way to be a part of half of your day, and 55 million people share status updates each day, how do we even hear what the voice inside is saying to you.

The fact is that Facebook and other social media networks are about following the leaders of the world.  The ones with the most followers are the ones that we follow and that we admire.  If they say it is a good idea, then chances are we will share that good idea to our friends on social media. We are entering a world where people spend most of their time socializing online, where, it is not the one with the voice of reason that is heard, but the one with the most popularity.

We have to remember that social media was derived by pop culture, it is a key player in creating followers around the world.    If you are trying to lead an individual path for your life, don’t spend too much time following the masses.   The moral of the story is, Listen to your gut because if you don’t then you are living someone else’s life.

The Process of Progress

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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When was the last time you can remember writing down a goal, setting up a path to it’s success, and moving forward in CONSTANT pursuit?  How many people actually ignore social media and the lives of others in order to focus on their own life?  Unfortunately, in the age of information and social media, we are buried in a world of IRRELEVANT CONTENT.

The clouds grow thicker with the more posts shared online that it is easy to become distracted with someone else’s dream. You can be perceived to be progressing in your life via social media, but the question is, ARE YOU PROGRESSING OR REGRESSING?  If I am sitting still, how can I move forward? Progress is simply forward movement toward a goal. The only way to progress is to look inside YOUR mind for what it is you are trying to accomplish.  You can’t progress if you continuously make excuses for your delay.  Progress is a process that many people don’t have time for these days.

The fact is they do have time, they have plenty of time, they just choose to idolize someone else’s forward progression. I urge people to take a good hard look at what they want to stand for at the end of their journey.  Social media and the internet can either be a tool to aid us in our successes, or a diversion to our life’s plan.  Without the process of progress we will not accomplish anything. Instead, our minds will be used as a storage bank for the stories of others. Your progress can be simple, but if you are too distracted with the abstract world, the real world will pass you by.  THINK ABOUT IT!

The Opportunity of Life

Posted on by serenitisparkles

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I often look back at the life I have lived and wonder why I was not yet taken from this world.  I was not one to stay on the safe side and there were plenty of opportunities in my past where death could have become me.  But, for some reason, I am able to sit here and type these words.  I have witnessed loved ones pass away, however, I continue to grow and live on.  I’m sure everyone has witnessed a story, much like there own, where the outcome for the other person was death.  Car accidents, illness, and violence are things that can happen to all of us.  Some of us are still here, and others not.  So why am I still here?  Why do I get the chance to feel one more day?  I realize that the answer is very simple.

LIFE HAS GIVEN ME AN OPPORTUNITY.  Everyday that I am breathing I have the opportunity to play a part and create my story.  I have the ability to experience the most beautiful moments that life has to offer.  I have the opportunity to chase a dream, to love someone, to fear something, and most of all, to inspire someone.

So why do so many people live under the dark cloud of negativity? Why do so many never take chances and wait on death?  It is as if some people know the end is coming and make the decision to stop living because it’s over anyway.

But it’s not over.  As long as you are here on this remarkable planet, living in this incredible moment, you should have hope.  Life gives us the opportunity that so many have lost.  We have the opportunity to enhance who we are and what mark we will leave on this world.  Life is the most important opportunity in our existence, for without it, we can no longer experience.

Being witness to so many young people, my peers, who have passed on, makes me appreciate my moment that much more.  There was once a friend that I went to school with.  We were born on the same day, the same year, at the same hospital.  We grew up and went to the same school.  He is gone and I am here.  I can’t answer why, all I can do is become the best ME that I can be.

My message for everyone who has the ability to read these words, is, never stop LIVING.  Never believe that it is over for you, because as long as you can breathe you can change and thrive.  If there is ever a moment you feel as if the world is to heavy to bare, remember that if tomorrow comes and time passes, things will balance once again.  If you feel depressed about your life, realize there is someone who never got another chance.  Understand that there are people who are now faint memories, but you are here and real.  Life is our greatest possibility, so don’t be afraid to ROLL THE DICE.