Song In Spite of Myself

Never love with all your heart,
It only ends in aching;
And bit by bit to the smallest part
That organ will be breaking.

Never love with all your mind,
It only ends in fretting;
In musing on sweet joys behind,
too poignant for forgetting.

Never love with all your soul,
for such there is no ending;
though a mind that frets may find control,
and a shattered heart find mending.

Give but a grain of the heart's rich seed,
Confine some undercover,
And when love goes, bid him God-speed,
and find another lover.

I, Too, Sing America

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.

Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed--

I, too, am America.

So for all the NOTINCLASS fans out there, here is a quote for you to marinate on

Enjoy...

Suffering raises up those souls that are truly great; it's only small souls that become mean-Alexandra Neel

Here are some of the books I'm recommending to all my readers out there..and to those that aren't, but are anxious to get started!

1. Kabul Beauty School-Deborah Rodriquez
True story about a women who goes to Afghanistan and starts the Kabul Beauty School to teach women their how to become breadwinners in their families, and also learning about life herself.

2. The Mis-Education of the Negro-Carter G. Woodson
The title is self explanatory.

3. Naked:Black women bare all about their skin, hair, lips, and other parts
-Ayana Byrd and Akiba Solomon
This is a collection of various black women from the editors Ayana and Akiba to Kill Scott discussing their experiences with their bodies, including issues such as low self esteem, colorism, and body acceptance.


4. The Fire Next Time-James Baldwin
James Baldwin's analysis and discussion on race in the United States

5. For Colored Girls Who have Consireder Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
-Ntozake Shange

Broken into twenty different poems, this play discusses abortion, rape, love, and other issues. If you have already seen it performed, then you have a responsibility to actually read the book!

That's it NotInClass community!

Until next time

I ran across this charm while searching for images of natural black women. Its an interesting piece.

And I Have You

Rain has drops
Sun has shine
Moon has beams
That make you mine


Rivers have banks
Sands for shores
Hearts have heartbeats
That make me yours


Needles have eyes
Though pins may prick
Elmer has glue
To make things stick


Winter has Spring
Stockings feet
Pepper has mint
To make it sweet


Teachers have lessons
Soup du jour
Lawyers sue bad folks
Doctors cure


All and all
This much is true
You have me
And I have you

This is an observation of the consumer culture we have in the United States.

It seems like the older I get-and I know I’m not old, so don’t start-the more you

can just simply buy rather than just let alone. For example, before the advent

of cosmetic surgery, people just had to accept what was given to them at birth

and let things work out from there. Now, if you feel inadequate anywhere in

your body, instead of boosting up a realistic self image of yourself, you can

just buy it! Got a small chest? Throw some Ds on that &*^! Don’t like your

butt? We can give you this augmentation to plump up your derriere!! Your

%$#@ not pleasing to the eye? Will just fix that right over here!! What

happened to just accepting who you are? Makes me fear that by the time I’m

old and gray everyone will start to look exactly alike to fit into unrealistic

societal views of beauty. No variation! Guys in the future will walk around and

be like, “I dont know which one I like since they ALL look alike." The

more I think about it, the creepier it gets, lol. Why aren’t there large collective

media effortput into creating healthy mindsets? Making money from other’s

weaknesses has so much wrong exuding from it. Getting off track.

Another side of my observation actually stems from a film I watched in my

Anthro 302 class detailing the commoditization of spirituality. Spirituality is an

aspect of self thatshould take a lifetime to develop and grow. It isn’t something

you should be able to buy in one weekend—nothing that can be exchanged for

profit/money. Instead of people trying to find out their paths with their own

research,experiences, personal growth and understanding, all one has to do is

pay the hundreds or thousands of dollars to get concepts in one weekend that

should take some time to understand. And again, someone is making a

ridiculous amount of money for this. Maybe I need to get in on this and start my

own little cult. It makes me wonder what collective mindset will result from this

mass commoditization of spirituality and false self esteem.

That too is a frightening consideration also...