Isn't it funny....

Six years ago, a teacher of mine encouraged me to go into Graphic Design. I have since gone to college and am one summer class away from having that Graphic Design degree. Now with the type of field I am in I can A) work for a company out in the "work force" or B) Work from my home as a small business or freelancer.

Since I was 8 (and probably even younger than that), I have wanted children (and we ain't talking one or two). And as time goes by, it has been impressed upon me more and more to stay home with said children when I have them. As a parent out in the work force it would be hard to spend time with my children in the fashion that I would want to or homeschool them as I have wanted to do for a while. But being that I possess a major that would allow me to be at home with my children, I would be able to both things well.

God is good.

Oooh....Interesting...

http://www.theblackgop.com/

No reps from MD or SC yet...hmmm....

"Thoughtful Thoughts"

My boyfriend wrote this little blurb on his LiveJournal. I don't know what's funnier. His blurb, or the responses.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/dmon_onizuka/9830.html

My Curry

Curry has a lot of ingredients, I have a lot of different things I would like to talk about.

Bethel AME, Summerville: Mom says the police are doing an investigation. Pastor has been fired and kicked out. If they find out even one person, one person was involved with setting the fire (besides the Pastor) then they will get no insurance money of any kind. Even if they do get the insurance money, members of Bethel will have to wait a good 2 years at the most to begin rebuilding. The investigation could take that long.

Car Sticker: I hate abortion. I really do. It cheapens human life and a lot of women do it for SELFISH reasons (Drudge Report, anyone?). I was driving in my car with my boyfriend and saw this little gem, "I (heart) my abortion provider." The first thought that came to my boyfriend and my minds? Slut. Just as bad as those Planned Parenthood shirts that have "I had an abortion" on them. That is so distasteful. I would order one of those shirts that say "I had a baby", but I've been smart enough to keep my legs closed until marriage.

"If It Hadn't Been For Feminism...": This is a bunch of crock. People give Feminism more credit than it will ever deserve. And that "2000 years of patriarchial rule" junk that some spout is so untrue. In colonial times women owned land and then in owning land they were able to vote, women held jobs and were able to make their own decisions. Only when married did a woman not vote, because her and her husband were seen as one, being of one love and one mind. It was only after the "Enlightenment" period that things changed and women were looked at as "fragile, docile creatures". Hardly 2000 years if you ask me. The Bible has also been twisted into being a way to keep some women "in their place". Notice I said "twisted". And as far as "in their place" I have no idea where that is, seeing as how the Bible regards women (Eve ain't the only one they talk about). Remember Queen Esther or the "Proverbs Woman"? Prized and praised. Some other verses you may want to see about women in the Bible: Deut. 21:15-17; Gen. 34:12; Ex. 22:17; Ruth 4:11; Prov. 14:1; Num. 27:7,8; 36:8; Gen. 48:5,6). Courtesy of Ladies Against Feminism.

One of My Articles on Feminism: This one right here. It got used in a Sociology class my visiting friend from South Carolina attended at her college. I had printed it out the day before yesterday for her to read it, but she said she had already heard it in her class. I was floored. Small world. Some of her classmates used it in a presentation about "-isms", and no they didn't claim it as their own. They weren't able to debate it in the class though. (Darn... ;_;)

Graduation: I unofficially graduated from college yesterday. I was able to participate in the main graduation (my name was in the book!) with the presenting of all the schools (School of Liberal Arts, School of Business & Management, School of Engineering, etc.), but I was not able to participate in my school's one. I have one more class to take in the summer which I could have taken this semester past had I had known. The College of Liberal Arts was off the chain. We screamed so long the director of the ceremony had to ask us a good 3 times for us to be quiet, just for us to sit down and do it again. Another school that was across from us when called picked up chairs and held them in the air. Funny. Invited 5 people, 2 my parents, 4 showed. The one person I counted on being there the most, HUGELY disappointed me.

My Godmother's Neverending Quest to "Convert Me": I am a Republican. I have been that since I was four or five. Please don't try to talk or insult me into becoming anything else (i.e. a Democrat). It's not going to happen and I have a thing for proving people wrong time after time again. The Republicans are not flawless in my eyes, by no means, but the Democratic Party, unless they do some SERIOUS rennovations with their beliefs, will never win me over. I certainly won't be converted by someone who can't get their history right. The DEMOCRATIC PARTY was the party of slavery.

Black Slave Owners & "African-Americans": I'm so happy I at least know (personally) two other people who know there were black slave owners. My boyfriend, one of my friends from South Carolina and I were in Barnes & Noble the yesterday and my friend happened upon a book about black slave owners...from South Carolina. There were also black WOMEN slave owners and one of them, from what the book was saying, may have had a Rose (my friend's last name) or two. This is what I don't get about reparations. We might as well be paying ourselves. On the other topic of "African-Americans", I don't call myself African-American. I am not from Africa and as far as I know, I cannot trace my family back to Africa. For all I know, my ancestors could have been chillin' in Jamaica, the Bahamas or the Dominican Republic. My friend and boyfriend share the same beliefs and don't call themselves African-American. We are BLACK. Charlize Theron is African-American. I am not.

Homeschooling all the way! :D

I want to homeschool my future children. With the way a lot of public schools are going, it's becoming a constant thought. But a lot of people (people I've read about or people who know my plans) sometimes bring up that tired question, "What about 'socialization'"?

Psst. Come here. It's called Home School Associations and Conferences...

The following post is by a member of a forum I go to. She helped out at a homeschool conference. These poor "unsocialized" children! We must put them in a public school!


This past week I worked as a page at a homeschooling conference, helping to run sound and introduce speakers. There were about 100 other homeschooled kids who were helping to run the conference, ranging from about 11-20, I being the eldest. In all of those kids, there were no great troublemakers and with the exception of a few oddities, most seemed to be really good kids - friendly and helpful. The people who ran the conference center later complimented us as a group, saying that we were some of the nicest people they had worked with. The homeschooling family who ran the sound and taped the sessions said that we were some of the best people they had ever worked with (my sister and I were even offered a job with them. haha - what a great family!). Godfather's Pizza complimented us as well, saying that they had never served such a nice group of people - not just a nice group of young people, a nice group of people, period.

I am not able to be around these kids very often, so it was refreshing to be around such nice, friendly kids. The "socialization" problem was a continual joke during the conference, because it was so obvious that there was no socialization problem. Homeschoolers have far more opportunities for positive socialization than public schoolers - in fact, there are so many opportunities that the hard part is limiting them to a manageable number!

Doug Phillips of Vision Forum Ministries was our keynote speaker this year, and an excellent speaker, as always. There were a few feminists who said they would not attend the conference if he was the keynote speaker, but we had him anyway. He posed some great challenges for families to have a multi-generational vision as they seek to raise up godly, strong men and feminine women. It was encouraging to hear such a strong message going out to a good sized audience! I am not sure how many people attended the two-day conference as a whole, but the room for the keynote could hold about 1000 people, and we had people standing in the back.

Anyway, I thought ya'll might like to hear about these families who are raising their kids right and are seeking to make a cultural difference. Homeschooling conferences can be a great place to meet likeminded people, and it really is encouraging to see such a large number come together with common family and cultural goals.

I love you, Bethel AME

I'm hurt.

I'm angry.

I'm frustrated.

I've seen it on the news before, a church burned down. Though I felt for the lives touched, I couldn't honestly know what they were going through. But now the church I'm staring at on the TV is different from all the others. That burning/burnt church on TV and in the pictures is MY church.

For 12 years, Bethel AME, Summerville was the church I went to. It is the Gleaton family church (Gleaton [grandmother]---> McDonald [mother]---> Beasley [me]). When we first moved to Summerville (I'm a D.C. girl), Reverend Gadson was the pastor. He was blind/had a lazy eye, was old and he mumbled (which doesn't keep a seven year old's interest very long). Next was Reverend Washington, who was a lot younger, much more engaging. Then there was Reverend John Paul Brown whose son (unfortuantely) stole my first kiss (on the lips) on the education building porch. When I started going to college there was Reverend Paisley. And now there's Reverend Hunter, whom I've only met once (or twice). Wanna see a little piece of history? If you look hard enough, a part of the concrete walkway to the educational building bears the words (though small and accompanied with trademark smiley face) "Jade was here 2000". Both good and bad memories are housed in Bethel's now burnt down walls, including that first memory of "scrawberries" and "screets".

My mom called me a few days ago to talk to me. "They burned down Bethel." she told me before getting off the phone. "Who?" I asked. She didn't know, but she had told me the pastor, Reverend Hunter had been arrested and charged.

A day or two later. I saw my church, burnt extra crispy on FOX News Channel and remember thinking, "I should not be able to see that Pepsi machine." I was angry that day. I wanted to back hand whoever did this to my church and I was spitting mad.

Yesterday I cried. I saw pictures of my church burning as the Fire Department tried to put out the blaze. I called my boyfriend as tears streamed down my face. MY church had been burnt down. MY church. I so badly wanted to be on Main Street at that moment, but I was 900 miles away at work. It hurt.

To see the church you grew up in a burnt, almost unrecognizable state hurts and it hurts even worse that the pastor (THE PASTOR) may be the one to blame. The Bethel as I knew it is gone. It'll be rebuilt. It'll have to be. But gone are the pews where I used to lay my head on my mother's lap. Gone is the choir loft where I used to sing, Gone is the educational building where my grandma had a birthday party, surrounded by family and friends. Gone is the church I once pointed to proudly and said "That's MY church!".

MY Church



Site credit: Joel
Another blog about this: LaShawn Barber's Corner