To Be Loved Well

(From Yvonne Michele Anderson's "Babygirl Blog")

Ladies,

I once dated a man who dared to call me a "prostitute", who once pushed me full force against a wall, and once told me, "if you don't marry me, you'll never marry anyone else"...

On the exterior, he was corporate multi-national "metrosexual" (he spent more time grooming himself than I did...), always smiling and polite in public.  On the inside, he was as imperfect as any human being, and, in fact, very insecure...much more than anyone in his public life would ever know.  And in our relationship he was abusive, and he did not have respect for women.

He was very insensitive to my sexual needs and responses as a woman, and completely ignored foreplay, and didn't care if I had an orgasm, etc...A very selfish lover...He once told me that "womens' vaginas are dirty"...learning that he was disgusted with womens' bodies made me feel very, very uncomfortable...

We once went on a romantic dinner, and he told me that "it's been a long time since I've dated a blonde woman..." (not that I have anything against blonde people...), it just clarified for me that he viewed woman as objects, and that I (not being blonde), was an object with which he was not satisfied...

He criticized the way I dressed, the way I looked, the way I cleaned the home (I personally HATE doing laundry...but love to cook...LOL!), the way I chose to live.  He constantly found me to be deficient to his mother, his sister, or his cousin, etc...He told me that we would live in the house that he designed as he designed it, and that we would have our first child when I turned 33, and that we would have four children.  I thought couples were supposed to build together and learn to live with and negotiate each other's imperfections...this was not a healthy relationship in my eyes, to say the least.

He did not like my friends who were not friends "in common" (one of 7 years whom I ultimately lost because of this relationship) or his friends, and refused to meet them, with the exception of one of my friends of many years, as I insisted he do so on a business trip.  She ultimately admitted to me that she thought some things about his behaviour to be red flags, and she was right.

I am a very open and tolerant person who cares about religion - I believe in God and want to create a spiritual life together with my spouse.  He did not appreciate religion, and made fun of me for wanting to build a spiritual life within our couple, and because of doing so, missed out on an important part of who I really am as a result of this fact.

And then he bought me a book "about men"...since I did not always agree with him, I certainly must have been deficient as a woman...since I did not always agree with him, I certainly did not understand men...The fact of the matter was that he could not deal with a woman who was independent - who did not do exactly as he said when he said it, or think exaclty as he thought...

The kicker came when he, a handsome African man who had largely grown up in Europe and the US, expressed the sentiment, "Well, some black people are just 'niggers'...", insinuating that certain unworthy African-American people were among this group, although I have now forgotten exactly in what context.  After 9/11, he made derogatory statements about Middle Easterners generally, as a group, insulting their intelligence.  All a result of his own insecurities.

Abuse begat resentment and pain, and everything went downhill from there...

After being pushed against the wall, I moved out of the apartment which we shared during the course of several months, after having dated for many months long distance (difficult to see the real truth of a relationship jumping across the pond every now and then...). 

He gave me an excel spreadsheet asking me to reimburse him for (pretty much insignificant - 14,000 francs, about 2,100 dollars at the time) expenses which we had agreed he would make on my behalf during the course of our relationship, as I was still a student at the time.  I paid him back every cent, being a proud person, and also an independant woman not to be beholding to any person who does not treat me with respect.

This relationship ultimately lead to my coming to terms with other painful experiences which I had had as a woman, sparked by this man's emotionally abusive behaviour.

 I cried for a long while...healed myself, learned from the experience, and then quietly moved on.  I am the happier for it.

We all deserve to love and to be loved, and to be loved well.

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Everybody needs a Home...

EVERYBODY NEEDS A HOME

In the summer of 2004, I had the chance to travel to Syria for a wedding. A friend of mine from graduate school married a Syrian man, a medical doctor whom she met at a university conference. A difficult choice, as all of her family was not immediately supportive (her father lamented the fact that she was marrying a Syrian...), and also, without saying, one understands the difficulty of the politics - they are obvious.

I went to Syria because I wanted to support her; she is a very good person, and so is her husband. I did not think about the danger or politics; I only thought about my friend. In hindsight, I realize that to travel to Syria as an American, and a person who had studied Judaism and had very close ties to the Jewish community (at that time I had not yet decided to convert), was risky. But I would not trade the choice that I made for anything. It was a true learning experience, to see places older than places in the entire world; to see places that many only read about in religious texts and history books - and to remind one that there are good people all over the world, regardless of the position of the government of the country in which they live -

I recently read an article by Marc Perelman in Forward about the old Jewish Quarter in Damascus with memory, because I got to see remnants of the Jewish quarters in Damascus and Aleppo, as well as the Great Synagogue site. There are still Stars of David which exist in the facades and in the construction - which I found amazing. There are really signs of Jewish life in the architecture, although Jewish life is no longer...

Later in a Hebrew class that I took this past year, I had a Hebrew professor who gave the class some artwork from Syrian Synagogues. I had actually been doing some research on Jewish history in the Middle East, and I had found out about a photographer who had also done research on the Syrian Synagogues in 1995, after almost all Syrian Jews had left the country. The photos are extremely beautiful:


http://www.isjm.org/country/syria/sss.htm


The teacher (whom I like very much, actually) and my research inspired me. I would like to make a documentary about what is left now of these places...the old Jewish quarters and the synagogues in Syria.

I think it would be a good historical record - a memory of more peaceful times, when Jewish life thrived side-by-side with Muslim life in the Middle East. Perhaps it could be an inspiration for a more peaceful future - at least, this would be my hope...

Maybe one day there could be Jewish life again in Syria...and those old Jewish homes would not have to be locked up or sold, but Jewish people could live there again, in peace...

I know such a hope seems far away...but I prefer to hope than to give up hope -

Now these friends have two babies, which is lovely - hope for the future -

Can we dream of a modern global Golden Age, where Jews and Muslims can live together in peace?

It is like a negotiation – either everybody wins or everybody loses...there is no in between.

As Black people, we understand Israel...African-American and Afro-Caribbean peoples are black people who were taken into slavery by warring tribes in their home countries in Africa, sold by Europeans into the slave trade, and who since have never really had a home, because in North American and Caribbean history for many, many years, black people were considered "non-people" and alien...and traces of this still linger today -

As Jewish people we also understand the pain of being "homeless", after the Exodus from Egypt wandering the world since the loss of an ancient Biblical home, now scattered all over the globe in order to survive, and never truly having a home in modern times in a historical since...until 1948 -

When we open our hearts, both Black people and Jewish people can also understand Palestinians, who understand the pain of being "homeless", as well, as a modern injustice to one people resulted from doing a modern justice to another. It is the result of human imperfection. How do we now do justice to all without forcing anyone to become homeless again?

I believe in peace (under no circumstances is terrorism or any form of violence against civilians justified). I believe that Israel has a right to exist, just as does Palestine. Everybody needs a home – Jews and Palestinians.

I want justice for Jews AND Palestinians. I am a political liberal who believes in Israel. I believe in God, and I am practicing my Judaism while having respect for all religions. I believe that a modern-day Israel and a modern-day Palestine can exist side by side peacefully.

Everybody needs a home.


(ORIGINALLY POSTED ON JUNE 3, 2007). Copyright © June 2007 Yvonne Michele Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

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Cecilia Sarkozy - First Lady in Cowboy Boots

P.S.: Cecilia Sarkozy is not stubborn...she is simply intelligent...a woman who demands to be respected by her husband, regardless of whether or not they are in the public eye -

About time we had a modern first lady on the throne, throwing a good left to the political right...LOL!

As much as I admire Hillary (and think that she would make a great presidential candidate, as I am a Dem!), I think she put up with a bit too much from Bill, too many situations that were publicly embarrassing for her; I would have appreciated more a woman who stood up for herself a bit more (enough was enough!) as first lady.

Thus, my appreciation for a "real" couple (be it one on the political right) a bit more honest about their "real" problems to which everyday people can relate...

All things in due moderation...I do understand having to create a united front (hopefully both publicly and privately) as first couple (thus my surprise that she was not at his side just after his victory), BUT the woman should not be forced to accept publicly embarrassing situations, unfair treatment or to be "less than" in this unified front simply because the couple is a public couple...and thus my appreciation for Cecilia -

Although I do not think it appropriate to embarrass one publicly unnecessarily, I do think it important to stand one's ground. As men can stand their ground publicly without repercussion, why should not women be able to do the same?

It is a difficult choice, when to be gracious, when to stand one's ground in a public couple, I imagine. Whatever the case, I appreciate the first lady (or first man!) who presents a strong equal and respected partner -

Both Sarkozy and Royal represented modern couples in this sense...one thing I felt was nice about this election...

IMO...

Is the concern that she is not stately enough? Or does her heritage stress that she is a creative personality, and that creative personalities are often more independent, and perhaps, at times, a bit more difficult?

In terms of her "stateliness", public opinion allows for men of all sorts of backgrounds to arrive at great heights. Why cannot a woman do the same thing? Ronald Reagan was a B film star who became President; Bill Clinton was born to a very poor family in the American South, and later became President (a self-made man)...Why can't Cecilia be a fashion model who becomes first lady, or be a self-made woman?

This is where I think that there are often double standards for men and for women. Just because she has a strong, independent personality, or comes from a creative rather than a political background, does not make her "inappropriate" - And just because she was a fashion model does not mean she is not intelligent (quite the contrary, she seems to have also contributed majorly to his political career at times...) -

In fact, what is disenheartening is first wives publicly accepting or remaining silent about disrespectful behavior on behalf of their husbands - and this is where I had less respect for Hillary as first lady. A woman who demanded to be respected should not have publicly tolerated so much of the behavior that she received from Bill (although he was an excellent president, and I can separate his public and private life!). Once an issue becomes public, it is necessary to respond publicly, not only in words, but also with action...as a public figure.

It is a mistake to think that a woman is not supportive of her husband if she is a strong personality (actually, how far would Bill have gotten without Hillary, honestly?) or refuses to accept inappropriate treatment, whether such be in public or private -

I actually think that it is nice to see a first lady who is a woman with her own personality, someone who is independent and has a life of her own...Yes, she should be supportive of her husband (and I was shocked that she was not at his side after his victory), but she should also demand to be respected as an equal, and publicly without regret if need be - and this is what Cecilia does, as well -

There is obviously a lot going on in this couple, which played out in the public eye. Being supportive, and being respected should not be mutually exclusive in a modern couple - whether or not they are in the public eye -

Respect in a couple is earned and shared by both members - man and woman. And if the husband wants to disrespect his wife publicly, then I would expect her to stand up, and vice versa! This is the type of first couple I want to see -

Time to kick the presumption of "accepted" or "hidden" mistresses to the curb on behalf of the men, and appreciate powerful/self-made men who don't mind being with a powerful/self-made women who demand to be treated with respect and as equals (and will fly New York if they aren't...LOL!)...

Princess Diana was like Cecilia...she wasn't havin' Camilla...! Powerful men got to step up now to the reality that their modern partners command respect! Prince Charles should have been allowed to marry who he really loved (Camilla), anyway...it would have saved Diana much pain and suffering -

Women are powerful, independent equals, and modern first couples should reflect this!

I do think that she will have some trouble with social convention - but if he loves her, then he must understand that being thrust into the public eye is not easy, as well - and is being forced upon her because if his position, and tolerate her kickin' around in Cowboy boots from time to time, as long as she doesn't wear them to a State dinner in the Conciergerie...

Being a relatively private person myself, I can understand this. I would not like to be such a public figure - it would be very difficult for many people -

Marriage for love or social standing or convenience? Always the question for public figures, it seems -

Fact is that social standing or convenience does not weather the storm of public pressure or public opinion in the world of modern media, where love will -

Charles and Diana realized it and played out this realization publicly, and so did the royal family, in the end -

Look at the number of powerful men marrying "commoners" today (among them, the Japanese royal family, as well...). I think powerful men may appreciate the character in the independent woman who has made a life for herself; and that powerful/self-made women demand that these powerful men treat them with respect, and such honesty is appreciated -

The same may work in reverse for powerful women like Ségolène -

This is a new millennium, let us hope that love prevails! I believe, in the end, that such is what God intends...for us to marry and have children with the one whom we truly love, and who respects and appreciates us for who we really are (wearing cowboy boots, or not...LOL!).

The story of Ruth and Boaz is actually quite appropriate on this theme during this week of Shavuot - (of course, the themes treated by this story are much more complex than that, BUT marriage for love is a central one)...

To embarrass someone publicly and without reason is a primary no-no, but to see women who are public figureheads standing up for themselves when such is warranted is refreshing...

Then again, perhaps my spirited nature gets me into trouble from time to time (though never trouble unjustified!), so take everything I say with a grain of salt...LOL!

17:40 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

God Bless the Child...

Just for posterity...words to a song that have served me well in life, my whole life through...:

Them that's got shall get
Them that's not shall lose
So the Bible said and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

Yes, the strong gets more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don't ever make the grade
Mama may have, papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

Money, you've got lots of friends
Crowding round the door
When you're gone, spending ends
They don't come no more
Rich relations give
Crust of bread and such
You can help yourself
But don't take too much
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own
He just worry bout nothin'
Cause he's got his own


Sung by Billie Holiday
Words by Arthur Herzog, Jr.


My truest-bluest supporters (and my first investors in ReelNATION and BOLD WORLD outside of myself) are my family (much love!), and I thank them for helping me to get my own!!!!!

Believe in yourself!

(ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MARCH 14, 2007). Copyright © March 2007 Yvonne Michele Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

18:01 - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Have the confidence...

...2 be who YOU are,

...AND DON'T LET NO-BODY TELL YOU DIFFERENT!!!!!

PEACE.

23:27 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

If you have dreams...

...you can shoot for the stars - don't shortchange yourself!

Finding a mentor is KEY...

And that is what is always more difficult for women and minorities to do in work places...and why they often do not advance in them as gainfully as others.

Let me break it down for you, and I have no qualms about being direct: if you are a victim of discrimination or other unfair treatment, you have the courage to say something about it, and your opponent is more powerful than you (because people who are less powerful than you usually can't get away with it...!), then you will be known as the "bull in the China shop", the person that's "difficult to work with", a "troublemaker", "not of good character", or counted among the "black people who complain all the time" (and here, I quote, I am extremely sad to say...), and pitted against other fellow minorities who will be held up against you as "models of success", because YOU WILL BE REPUTATION MANAGED in every way possible (including getting people to call into question all kinds of things about you, in order to throw people off the trail...!) by whomever it is you have chosen to stand up against.

You have two choices: say something, or say nothing.

I chose to say something on three occasions in my life; pick and choose your battles. There are HUNDREDS of other occasions that happen in my life each and every day that I choose to just let slip by...or else I would not survive.

Look for your mentors. Ask them to PLEASE STAND UP!!!!!

DO NOT LET PEOPLE FILE YOU AWAY AND MAKE YOU FEEL THAT YOU HAVE TO SETTLE FOR LESS IN YOUR LIFE - YOU HAVE THE SKILLS, PERSONALITY, DRIVE, AND TALENT THAT IT TAKES TO BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE (Read the book: "Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?" by Reginald F. Lewis)...THANK YOU!

Whatever you want to be - good luck!

(ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MARCH 9, 2007). Copyright © March 2007 Yvonne Michele Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

08:35 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

EVERYBODY LOVES A COMEBACK KID -

"...don't forget, there is a class system involved in our relative democracies in North America. Don't forget who you are. You can't throw your weight around if they have all the money and you don't..." - OK...I read that quote on the Message Board on IMDB...

Does that mean people who are born with money or have lots of money are the only people who can make money, or contribute to our society, or build things that are important, or stand up for themselves...? Do poor people have to grovel their entire lives...? Excuse me, but I think the days of feudalism and human chattel property and caste systems are o-ver...

I personally admire more the person who starts with nothing, and builds something wonderful...and the person who starts with something, but is gracious about what he or she has...and uses that privilege to help others who are struggling to make it, who uses that privilege to help the underdog without being condescending -

It's easy to inherit and "throw your weight around", but what you put out there in the world, comes right back at you one day...

Folks who rest on their laurels and "throw around their weight" like some kind of self-appointed dictator don't hold a candle to the folks who find their own way and use power responsibly - like Mohammed Ali or Rocky Balboa...the best stories are the stories about people who begin with nothing or the cards stacked against them in whatever way, or people who have everything and lose it and have to make something new again out of nothing someway, and overcome setbacks to fight their way TO THE TOP and become the CHAMPIONS OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT well-loved and celebrated by the GENERAL PUBLIC, not just an elite...

And so when things get tough, I call myself "Rocky Ali"...it's a joke that I use to bring out the fighter in me...got my boxing gloves, and my trampoline...

EVERYBODY LOVES A COMEBACK KID -

And P.S. - You can be whatever you want to be...

(ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MARCH 9, 2007). Copyright © March 2007 Yvonne Michele Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

08:26 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Art and Politics

Having an economic stake in what you create is a political choice...

I'm a creative woman with a Harvard Law School degree, an MBA from a top-notch European business school, and years of work experience under my belt...

And despite all of this business experience and training, despite the fact that I have started my own company, I still get the..."You should be an ARTIST, and not a PRODUCER...who's gonna give you money?"

THIS CRAP HAS BEEN HAPPENING TO BLACK ARTISTS FOR YEARS...!  

Men and women who toiled away, entertained, created, gave of themselves, and then ended their lives with almost NOTHIN', because they did not have a sufficient property stake in all that they gave of themselves.

It's time for that crap to end, which is why I choose to use my business experience and training to be a PRODUCER AND an ARTIST...try to take my piece of the pie without putting your time in, and I'm gonna kick your A-- to the curb (just did it...as a matter of fact...and will do it again if I have to)!

It is, indeed, a political choice...and I can still be a creative woman, and run a business, honey - especially with 5+ years of professional graduate school...!

Ya'll gots yours, and now it's times for me to gets mine, and we can ALL be happy!

All the creative business women, all the creative artists out there who are gettin' taken advantage of, wave your hands up in the air and say, "I wants my piece of the pie!  I'm hungry!!!!!"

Down for working hard to achieve our goals, down for working together in a mutually beneficial relationship, but NOT down for being taken advantage of...this is the new millenium...where women can be moms and own businesses and artists can have their food...!

It's time for a REVOLUTION...
Can you dig it?

And I say this from the bottom of my little multi-cultural heart...

Peace out!



(ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MARCH 5, 2007). 
Copyright © March 2007 Yvonne Michele Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

16:19 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Keepin' it Old School...

Keepin' it Old School...
"I bring truth to tha youth, tear tha roof off tha ol' school..."

Tupac Shakur, one of the most intelligent young, black artists of our generation...a person whom I respect immensely, for no matter where he came from, no matter what life brought his way...he spoke his mind and commanded respect.  As a very wise person once said to me (and here, I give her many props!), he did not let himself be manipulated, and he kept his head up...a young, black man who picked himself up from a life into which he was born with very little, and spoke his mind freely, and in doing so, educated the world, and truly grew deeper into himself as a human being before his own death...

See and understand the wisdom:

"I am society's child, this is how they made me, and now I'm sayin what's on my mind, and they don't want that...

...This is what you made me America."

"I'm tired of being a nice guy...I've been poor all my
life, but don't know quite why, so they label me a lunatic, could care less
- death or success, is what I quest, 'cause I'm fearless..."

"We ain't meant ta survive, 'cause it's a set-up...and even though ya fed  up, ya gotta keep ya head up..."

"If you know in this hotel room
they have food every day, and I knock on the door.   Every day they open
tha door to let me see tha party, let me see that they throwin' salami,
throwin' food around telling me there's no food. Every day, I'm
standing outside tryin to sing my way in:  "We are weak, please let us in.
We're weak, please let us in..."   After about a week, tha song is gonna change
to, "We're hungry, we need some food." After two-three weeks, it's like,
"Give me some of tha food! I'm breakin down tha door." After a year it's
like, "I'm pickin' the lock, comin' through the door blastin!" It's like,
"I'm hungry!"

"There's
gonna be some stuff u gonna see that's gonna make it hard to smile in the
future, but through whatever you see, through all the rain and all the pain,
you gotta keep your sense of humor. you gotta be able to smile through all
this bullshit."

"You gotta make a change.  It's time for us as a
people to start making some changes...let's change the way we eat, let's change
the way we live, and let's change the way we treat each other. You see the
old way wasn't working so it's on US, to do what we gotta do to survive..."

"All good niggers, all
the niggers who change the world, die in violence. They don't die in regular
ways.  Motherfuckas come take their lives..."

"We talk a lot about Malcom X and Martin Luther King
Jr., but it's time to be like them, as strong as them. They were mortal men
like us and everyone of us can be like them.  I don't want to be a role
model.  I just want to be someone who says, this is who I am, this is what I
do.  I say what's on my mind."

"I know it seems hard sometimes but remember one thing.
Through every dark night, theres a bright day after that.  So no matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep ya head up.... and handle it."

"I ain't racist, but lets trade places..."

"Let me say for the record, I am not a gangster and
never have been. Im not the thief who grabs your purse. I'm not the guy who
jacks your car. I'm not down with the people who steal and hurt others. I'm
just a brother who fight back."

"My music is not for everyone.  It's only for
the strong-willed, the [street] soldiers music.  It's not like party music...I
mean, you could gig to it, but it's spiritual.  My music is spiritual.   It's
like Negro spiituals, except for the fact that I'm not saying, "We shall
Overcome."  I'm saying that "we are overcome..."

"And the raps that I'm rappin to
my community shouldn't be filled with rage? They shouldn't be filled with
same attrocities that they gave me? The media - they don't talk about it, so
in my raps I have to talk about it, and it seems foreign because there's no
one else talking about it..."

" 'Cause if God wrote the Bible, I'm sure there
would have been a revised copy by now...'Cause a lot of shit has changed...I've been looking for this revised
copy.  I still see that same old copy that we had from then...I'm not disrespecting
anyone's religion - please forgive me if it comes off that way - I'm just
stating my opinion."



"I don't advocate senseless violence of any human being. I'm the one who's been beat down. But I will not be a victim again..."

"The Only
Thing That Comes to A Sleeping Man is Dreams..."


I heard a rumor I died,

Murdered in cold blood, dramatized.

Pictures of me in my final state.

You know mama cried,

But that was fiction .

Some coward got the story twisted;

Like I no longer existed.

Mysteriously missin'...

I'm known worldwide baby ,

I ain't hard to find."


"If you walked by a
street and you was walking a concrete, and you saw a rose growing from
concrete, even if it had messed up petals and it was a little to the side,
you would marvel at just seeing a rose grow through concrete...

...So why is it
that when you see some ghetto kid grow out of the dirtiest circumstance, and
he can talk and he can sit across the room and make you cry, make you laugh,
all you can talk about is my dirty rose, my dirty stems and how I am leaning
crooked to the side...u can't even see that I've come up from out of that..."


"Don't ever stop!  Just push until you hit the top!  And
if you try, at least you know you gave your all...Be true to you, and that way
you can never fall...!  Be true to you, believe that there is no one bigger...!"


If you have never seen the documentary "Tupac:  Ressurection"...go see it, and read what he wrote!


(ORIGINALLY POSTED ON FEBRUARY 23, 2007). 
Copyright © February 2007 Yvonne Michele Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

16:15 - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Keep 'Ya Head Up!

Keep Ya Head Up...
by Tupac Shakur

a little something for my god son Elija and a little girl named Koreem

Some say tha Blacker tha berry
Tha sweeter tha juice
I say, tha darker tha flesh and tha deeper tha roots
I give a hollar to my sisters on welfare
Tupac cares, but don't nobody else care
I know they like ta beat ya down a lot
And when ya come around tha block brothers clown a lot
But please don't cry, dry ya eyes
Never let up
Forgive but don't forget girl keep ya head up
And when he tells you you ain't nothin
Don't believe him
And if he can't learn ta love ya, you should leave him
Cuz sister you don't need him
I ain't tryin ta gash up, but I just callem how I see 'em
Ya know what makes me unhappy
When brothers make babies
And leave a young mother ta be a pappy
And since we all came from a woman
Got our name from a woman
And out game from a woman
I wonder why we take from our women
Why we rape our women
Do we hate our women ?
I think it's time ta kill for our women
Time ta heal our women
Be real to our women
And if we don't
We'll have a race of babies
That hate tha ladies that make tha babies
And since a man can't make one
He has no right ta tell a woman when and where ta create one
So will tha real men get up
I know your fed up ladies
But keep ya head up


Chorus
Eeewww child things are gonna get easier
Eeewww child things are gonna get brighter

Eeewww child things are gonna get easier
Eeewww child things are gonna get brighter


I remember Marvin Gaye, usta sing ta me
He had me feelin like black was tha thing ta be
And suddenly tha ghetto didn't seem so tuff
I thought we had it rough, we always had enough
I often huffed and puffed about my curfew and broke tha rules
Ran with tha local crew and had a smoke or two
And realize momma really paid tha price
She nearly gave her life, ta raise me right
And all I had ta give her was my pipe dreams
Of how i'd rock tha mic and make it to tha big screen
I'm tryin ta make a dollar out of fifteen cents
It's hard ta be legit and still pay tha rent
And in tha end it seems i'm headin for tha penn
I try and find my friends, but they're blowin in tha wind
Last night my buddy lost his whole family
It's gonna take tha man in me
Ta conquer this insanity
It seems tha rain will never let up
I try ta Keep My Head Up and still keep from getting wet up
You know it's funny when it rains it pours
They got money for wars, but can't feed tha poor
Sad there ain't no hope for tha youth and tha truth is
There ain't no hope for tha future
And then they wonder why we crazy
I blame my mother, for turning my brother into a crack baby
We ain't meant ta survive, cause it's a setup
And even though ya fed up
Ya got ta Keep Ya Head Up

(ORIGINALLY POSTED ON JANUARY 8, 2007). Copyright © January 2007 Yvonne Michele Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

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