Breaking Stereotypes
Our Hijabi Sisters are so Lovely. I would Love to do a photo series featuring all the gorgeous Hijabs that I see my Muslim Sisters wearing. Grace and Beauty.
Tag: Islam
Gratitude and Thankfulness
I’m so Grateful and Thankful for the Following:
Spring has finally come to New York City this week. The temps are hovering from the upper 60s to the upper 70 degree range.
My itchy scratchy skin rash is gone!! Hallelujah!!
My brother Stephen’s eye infection healed and he went back to program last Monday.
Always Thankful for my brother Stephen who is the Most Awesome Amazing Autism Guy in the World!!
My cat Sylvester.
For the Daily Press which is a Coffee Bar that opened up end of Feb/early March. They have a friendly staff and their Mint Tea is delicious as are their blueberry muffins and chocolate croissants!!
For the Friendly Staff at the Reviv Wellness clinic when I get my B 12 and CoQ10 Vitamin shots.
Both the staff at the Daily Press and Reviv Wellness Clinic always ask about my brother Stephen even though they have only met him once. Always happy to find Autism Friendly places. Of course Stephen has such a Winning Personality what’s not to Like?!! ❤
Especially Thankful and Grateful for being able to attend Palm Sunday Worship Service. Not only did I enjoy myself, I took notes and came away inspired and uplifted.
Giving Thanks to God for my Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim Sister-Friends who have stuck with me through thick and thin. God’s Love Manifests itself in all faiths and belief systems. I am grateful for these Wonderful Women and the opportunity to see God in others.
Sending my prayers and condolences to my Coptic Sisters and Brothers in Egypt who died or were injured this past Palm Sunday. Some of my co-workers are Egyptians of the Coptic faith. Keep in mind that the terrorist extremist evil-doers who committed this terrible sin DO NOT represent Islam no more than the KKK or the American Nazi Party represents Christianity.
Dictators, tyrants & the Totalitarian government of the U.S.A.
My girlfriend and co-worker is from Iran. Because of that resident Nazi illegally in charge of our country she will not longer be able to travel to Iran to see her siblings nor will they be able to travel here to see her and her husband. A College educated woman like myself when she was living in Iran she was a school teacher has been happily married to an American Christian for about 17 years.
My friend and I started together at the museum and we’ve always had each other’s backs. She has shown me nothing but kindness, understand and compassion. She has worked hard and was promoted to Supervisor during our nine years at the Museum. She is one of the best Security Supervisors at the Museum. She treats everyone fairly showing true leadership capabilities through service.
I’ve had the opportunity to meet her mother one of her sisters and her nephew. The most wonderful people in the world. My girlfriend’s Mom only speaks Farsi but when we first met she hugged me so tight and Loved me even though she knew of me only from her daughter’s descriptions. Now my friend’s Mom and one of her sisters live with her. The mother is nearing if not already 70.
Put yourself in their shoes and imagine how they must feel knowing they can never again travel to the land of their birth nor can her Mom see her children or my girlfriend ever see her siblings except via Skype.
All because they are Muslim.
Once the Muslim Registration begins I shall add my name and if this fascist government wishes to label me with a set of numbers like Hitler did to the Jews in Nazi Germany I shall take the mark. If my Persian girlfriend and her family must suffer I will suffer along with them. Then again as a Black Woman in America suffering and struggle is an every day affair for me anyway. I’ve been considered the “Wrong race and gender” since the day I was born.
They are coming for us. One. By. One.
January 28, 2017 |
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NYTimes.com » |
Breaking News Alert |
BREAKING NEWS |
| Refugees have been stopped and detained at U.S. airports under President Trump’s immigration ban, prompting legal action |
Saturday, January 28, 2017 8:15 AM EST |
| President Trump’s executive order closing the nation’s borders to refugees was put into immediate effect Friday night. Refugees who were in the air on the way to the United States when the order was signed were stopped and detained at airports. |
| The detentions prompted legal challenges as lawyers representing two Iraqi refugees held at Kennedy Airport filed a writ of habeas corpus early Saturday in the Eastern District of New York seeking to have their clients released. At the same time, they filed a motion for class certification, in an effort to represent all refugees and immigrants who they said were being unlawfully detained at ports of entry. |
January 27, 2017 |
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NYTimes.com » |
Breaking News Alert |
BREAKING NEWS |
| President Trump’s temporary ban on refugees establishes a religious test: Christians from Muslim nations will be given priority |
Friday, January 27, 2017 11:03 PM EST |
| President Trump on Friday closed the nation’s borders to refugees from around the world, ordering that families fleeing the slaughter in Syria be indefinitely blocked from entering the United States, and temporarily suspending immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries. |
| Declaring the measure part of an extreme vetting plan to keep out “radical Islamic terrorists,” Mr. Trump also established a religious test for refugees from Muslim nations: He ordered that Christians and others from minority religions be granted priority over Muslims. |
France
This is a very long two part post.
French National Anthem – “La Marseillaise” (FR/EN)
My blogging buddy K.B. who lives in Paris is safe, alive and well. He is grateful to all Americans for their prayers, encouragement and support.
I totally disagree with the hate towards France being spewed on Facebook!! Yes we all know that France was a Colonizer back in the 18th and 19th Centuries but the people alive today, the people maimed and killed in those horrible attacks have nothing to do with with what happened centuries ago. Yes we do need to learn and heed the lessons of the past. Colonialism and Slavery must continue to be taught in schools so we recognize wickedness and choose another path. On that note yesterday I left a group that I thought was about the positive because of the evil statements made against France. People who return hate for hate are little better than the oppressors.
Winston Churchill – We Shall Never Surrender (Full Speech)
Governments often make problems that make others suffer. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents went through racism and Jim Crow but they did not hate this nation, their country. As a Black woman I experience bias, racism and bigotry often but that does not give me the right to lump all white people in the same pot as an excuse to hate and spew venom. As a Christian I represent Jesus Christ so I can never do this. My spirit and soul do not allow me.
Love Train [Original 12″ Version] – The O’Jays (1972)
Many of those murdered in France and on the Russian airplane blast were innocent children. Hatred solves nothing. We cannot go back and change the past. Also keep in mind on 9/11 many French, European and other nations supported New Yorkers and Americans. Being Pro-Black does not give me the right to be anti-white or anti-European. Why? Because the Love of God and His compassion is in my heart. Most people of color have experienced bias and bigotry in some form but I refuse to deny aid, support or prayer to those in need. I pray for everyone. I’m still praying for the innocent Russian people killed in that airplane explosion. Hate is divisive. Please do not use this tragedy as an excuse to incite or fan the flames of hatred. I wholeheartedly and unashamedly support and stand with the people of France and victims of terrorism worldwide! Show Love to all.
#France #Paris #OneLove #America
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I Rise Above hatred, bias, bigotry & racism.
I know what it is to be treated with the wide brush of stereotypes.
Working with the general public can be a challenge and if you’re a Black Woman wearing a uniform, a uniform that designates a form of authority more challenges come your way.
My Great, Great Grandfather William Henry Halstead left his life as a Free farmer and joined the Union Army for the benefit of his enslaved sisters and brothers and for his descendants unseen and yet unknown. But maybe he did know that Stephen and I would reap the benefits of his sacrifice. My Dad Edward G. Palmer left City College and joined the Air Force to fight for an America that did not even consider him a man but duty and honor came first. Thanks to the sacrifices and Love from my ancestors my generation of Black Americans became the first generation to benefit from the Civil Rights Movement. I’m carried on the shoulders of giants.
My Mother, Grandmothers and Aunts rose above the indignities of Jim Crow.
Sadly some look at me and see only color or gender. I’ve been approached by white males thinking that I’m a drug dealer or available for sex. Obviously I had to set them straight. They needed to be firmly re-educated.
But I’m more than race, nationality or gender. Like most people on this earth Black, Brown, or white I’m a human being of complexity. That’s why I had to speak out against vile remarks being leveled at the French people. God created people. Humans created race & divisions.
I’ve come to think that the reason God placed me in the museum was to root out my preconceptions, illusions and delusions about people of other faiths.
Over the almost 8 years I’ve worked there the Ladies and Gentlemen I’m closest to are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu & Jewish. By being around and in close contact with co-workers outside of my faith I’ve learned a lot and mostly not to be judgmental. I’ve even visited their Houses of Worship and learned that these faiths are not so different from Christianity. If I had been born in Iran, Egypt, Bangladesh, India, I would be a practitioner of that faith. We are all people who want the same things in life.
One God. Many Paths.
Earlier this year I spent two weeks in the hospital. The reason I’ll keep private but the person who visited me and took me home is Gay. Again another lesson of acceptance. Every time I’ve prayed for help God sent someone from another race, faith, gender, or sexual orientation to assist me.
I could lower myself to the level of bigots, haters, slanderers & spew a fountain of venom and vindictiveness but I choose not to. I choose if not to Love everyone but to at least to respect all people regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. When I make mistakes or say the wrong thing I go back and apologize. Nobody is perfect but these errors in judgement provide me the opportunity to examine myself.
I’m sure as I make my way towards March 2018 and retirement God will have even more Life Lessons on my path towards Enlightenment.
Still Rising.
Live from Bodega Land, Brooklyn | Raggedy Man ~ Close Encounters of the Wrong Kind
Live from Bodega Land, Brooklyn
Raggedy Man ~ Close Encounters of the Wrong Kind
Every day before I get on the C train I buy my Daily News, Snapple and a snack. Today was no different. As I’m picking up my items for purchase some raggedy dentally challenged man is having a debate with a sister on being a gigolo. Snagglepuss was bragging on some dude who has a woman who works, pays his way, takes care of their kids and allows him to be lazy while he plays video games. The Sister said if a man wants to assume the wife role then he needs to perform wife duties; i.e., cooking, cleaning house, doing laundry, taking care of kids, etc…. not laying up playing video games. Pumpkin head didn’t like her answer still wanting to be King of the Castle without being a breadwinner. Meanwhile the Arab guys who own the bodega are laughing their heads off.
The entire conversation was so stupid and Mr. No Teefus followed me and the sister out the store trying to drag me into the conversation with “I don’t like these role changes. They ain’t no jobs out there!” I told him you need to stop being so lazy, get an education because there are jobs available. I wanted to add, “Yo’ funky ass needs to take a bath, cut or comb wiry shit you call hair and get some damn dentures and stop using sob stories trying to pick up women. Drinking and trying to con the Arab storeowners out of cigarettes, candy & soda is not an occupation. Neither is drug dealing and robbing working class people. No Negro you do not have the hook-up. You just a sorry toothless wonder looking like a decrepit Alfred E. Neuman!
Calling All Dentists! Please move to Brownsville & Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn ASAP! There is an epidemic of dentally challenged toothless men wandering the Hood in need of Dentures!
Espiritu en Fuego/A Fiery Spirit 