Youthful Life: X

"The very definition of 'blackness' is as broad as that of 'whiteness,' yet we're seemingly always trying to find a specific, limited definition." Issa Rae Where do you go when you belong nowhere? What is the place you can rest when the world wants you to be restless? What happens when others deem you unworthy of peace, when you existence is a problem, when your life is and of itself is a political issue? That is the dilemma of blackness. Blackness inherently has no significance but because of the ways we're socialized to respond, interact, and navigate race it comes with a lifetime of things to unpack. I had someone ask me if I liked being black last week. I had to explain to them that I love being black, and that I would not be me without it. Blackness is not a burden, a curse, or a summation - but it's how we treat black people, and blackness itself that makes existing, persisting, resisting while black an everyday challenge.  Oppress...

" America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds  herself to be false to the future." Frederick Douglass The American Dream is dead. Rather it never existed. Maybe it did, but even then it was not made for everyone to be able to attain it. What's a dream if its within reach for everyone? No it was, is, and always will be reserved for a select few. And to those who don't fit the selection criteria but somehow, against all odds (*read systemic and interpersonal barriers) make it  - the narratives are co-opted to reify the propaganda that the dream is only deferred not denied. This country doesn't want us all the make it. Our society isn't built for everyone to thrive. Our perspective needs people to trounce upon, to use, to throw away as disposable. We need people to other. We need them to be different. We need there to be a distinction between us and them. That is what we are founded on - blood, the ideals of the rich white-ma...

Truth - Sometimes have to break apart to come together, and other times things may not come together at all. Divided - a word that has been used time and time again to describe the United States as a society. Is it an accurate adjective ... perhaps, at times, but then again the appropriateness of it depends on your perspective. What does it mean to be American? Who gets to claim the moniker? Are we a nation divided or has nothing actual changed? The saying goes divided we fall, united we stand but what if division just might be the thing that saves us from ourselves? "Until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, social justice can never be attained." Helen Keller Division is objective ly not a bad thing. It in and of itself have no value attached to it. It's our viewpoints and our emotions that assign those values to it. Division let us separate out our issues and also gives space for us to make ...

Truth - Morality and ethics can both be clearly defined, stringent absolutes, and complicated ambiguous gray areas, depending on your ideological beliefs and personal contexts. In living in a society, there are some commonly agreed upon parameters and guidelines that we all accept, whether consciously or inadvertently. Those who operate beyond the bounds of what we deem legal, if caught, are supposed to deal with the established consequences laws, statutes, and orders that have been set in place. The challenge to that bureaucracy when that established system disadvantages certain people or may just very well be inherently corrupt itself. Are we for moral absolutism or are we more moral relativists? "Despite what they tell you, there are simply no moral absolutes in a complex world." Berkeley Breathed Last week  was an adventure and a half. At every junction I came to there were moral and ethical decisions to be made. How do I behave, what is best for not only m...

The 20s are all about doing more than you ever thought possible. It's a time to test your limits and surpass them. The only thing ultimately holding you back is yourself. No one has the right to ever hold you down. You are obligated and owe it to yourself to go above and beyond what you have dreamed for yourself. Success, prosperity, happiness, love, friendship, and everything in between belong to you because you go after it. You get off the ground because you jump. You leap and you take off into the air. You ascend because the shear power of who you are propels you. There's zero gravity when you decide for there be.   There is so much power is being vulnerable. Vulnerability is not a sign a weakness but rather a sign of astute strength. Those who are able to speak the truth of who they are and share their experiences are among some of the bravest in the world, at least in my humble opinion. It takes real guts, gumption, and god awful courage to talk about what you've b...

The 20s are all about pushing your limits. We as people are capable of doing far more than we ever think possible. One of the many things that limits us is ourselves, our will to try and our fear that we an unable. We are stronger than we think. We know more than we think. We are simpler than we think as well. There are common threads that unite us all, no matter how different we appear to be. We're self-centered because we see the world through our own eyes (is there any other way?) but we learn about how much we can push ourselves before we break. Freaks and geeks all agree, there's more to each of us than meets the eye.  #WeAreNotInvisible (UVM BSU Flash Mob) - (I'm in the black sweatshirt & khaki pants) One of the biggest differences between college and high school is the fact that your intelligence and your ability aren't actively used to separate you. I spent my primary school years with the same students who were all in my honors and AP courses. After b...

The 20s are all about making moves. There's something to be said about words and speech. Yes, they are both powerful in their own ways (says the guy who writes out his entire life) but they definitely have their limitations. Some emotions are so visceral that they cannot be described by words alone; they must be lived. We all have a call to action, and we choose in every moment of our lives to either answer or ignore it. The choose is yours, but action sometimes is better than words. *I'm unashamed to say that I've literally had One Direction's song "Better Than Words" from their new album Midnight Memories , solely on repeat for the past three days. I may very well be obsessed with it and it's literally just them listing off song titles to explain love - brilliantly simple or super lazy - either way I'm all about it.   *I'm taking this space this remember Nelson Mandela who was the example of what we should all strive to be. His selflessness,...