Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Laugh of the Day: Snow Day Adventures

Snow??
Across the south today, snow was expected in Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama.  Last year it snowed in these southern states, Atlanta specifically, and the Snowpocalypse happened.  With that in mind, schools were cancelled and offices announced they would be closed due to the impending storm.  In Birmingham, when I woke up this morning, I figured that nothing would happen because it wasn't even cold enough for snow.  It rained all day.  Essentially, my little brother missed school and my parents skipped work due to rain.



Disrupted Plans
I was planning to use this Wednesday to search for part time job opportunities around the city, so the rain played no role in my day's activities.  However, my parents urged that today wouldn't be a good day to search for employment because of the lack of open businesses that were fearful of the storm.  This led me to sit around the house and harass my kid brother all day.  During a session of roughhousing in his room, an interesting thing happened.

Roughhousing
It's important to note that my kid brother is now in 7th grade, that age when he can somewhat fight back during our skirmishes.  While we wrestled and bounced around his room, he retaliated to my shenanigans, causing me to stumble backwards a few steps into the window.  We heard the breaking of glass and stopped.  My butt broke the window.

After discovering the extent of the damage we caused (and our subsequent laughter), we devised a plan to fix the situation.  Using the top of a Nike sneaker box and duct tape, we were able to seal up the hole.  In the end, we told the parents what happened because it would have made more sense to tell them then, rather than wait and cause more drama for trying to hide it.

In my defense, I blame Alabama schools for canceling the day's activities, because if he had been in school, none of this would have happened.  Snow Days are always full of adventures . . . Even if it doesn't snow.

Just Because

As a child, my favorite VHS tape was NBA Superstars 2.  It contained highlights of the NBA's top players of the day with a great song to complement the plays.  Featuring Magic Johnson, Centers of the NBA, Dominique Wilkins, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley and more, my brothers and I watched this tape religiously. I woke up this morning with Patti Labelle's song on the MJ vid stuck in my head.  So here it is . . .


Magic Johnson's video is pretty great too.  I still watch these if I want to get hype before going to play basketball.


Watch these inspiring videos and have a great day!
Peace.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Everyday is Black History

Here at Brothers, we've been slacking.  I have been meaning to post something about the month of February and its significance but there's one problem.  The reality is that we should be celebrating black history every day.  If you're a person who is truly black and proud, Black History permeates each and every single second of every day of your life.

Black History is something you have to live and understand your importance and position in culture.  In a country where black men are murdered and imprisoned at alarming rates, we must all remember our ancestors that were enslaved, tortured, persecuted, and humiliated in order to improve our own lives.  While shopping at Barnes & Noble, I discovered this gem of a book with hundreds of quotations from Black people.  I read from it every day.



The video below shares some enlightening sentiments from Detroit Red aka Malcolm X.  I leave you with some words of advice via the great El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz!

"In the ghettoes the white man has built for us, he has forced us not to aspire to greater things, but to view life as survival."


Peace and Love
K. Plattinum