The "N" word

I have questioned the usage of the "N" word myself lately, wondering why it is still so widely used when its origins are so negative.

I plan to watch the documentary, The N-Word (2004, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417003/) in a few days when it arrives from Netflix.

My friend told me there was a documentary about the word when I told her about a situation I witnessed on the bus where a girl was freaking out because of the interaction she had with these teenage boys on the bus--this girl got upset at them calling her "bro" and I said she was silly to take it so literally, I said "bro" is so commonly used, it's kinda like how "nigga" is used a lot. My friend said she had to disagree... And as the words left my mouth I realized that of course, that's not exactly what I meant. "Bro" is by no means the same as the "N" word.

So what is the deal with the usage of the "N" word? When I listen to our hip-hop/rap music of today, much of which I love, and it is flooded with the word, repeatedly... I wonder, since it is generally not acceptable for people that are not black to freely use the "N" word, but it is so embedded in many song lyrics... How exactly am I supposed to really feel a *special connection* with an artist whose songs I don't feel comfortable singing out loud?!

And I wonder how many people only practice using it because many people around them do, and if they thought about it enough, they would realize how much better it would be for the word to not be used in everyday conversation.

Although its usage is substantially more confusing than others, the "N" word isn't the only expression in our modern language that has negative origins yet is still commonly used... What about calling women bitches/cunts, or the phrase "That's gay" (which makes no sense in most contexts that is used for)?

Americans everywhere could do everyone, including themselves, a favor in developing a little more tact and class, and compassion for their fellow man (or woman!) regardless of where they come from, what deity they worship, their skin color, language spoken, etc. I personally think it is really important to retain our differences and recognize them, and let our cultural heritage follow us through life in many ways. Our differences are what make us individually beautiful--and our ability (or potential ability) to accept each the differences of others is what makes us all really one and the same.... human...!

www.abolishthenword.com

The Holidays

~*~

Holiday times bring forth warmth, love, presents, good food, drinking, and usually a substantial amount of drama. Come to think of it, in the past year, I can't think of a time that was not kind of overly dramatic. Ce la vie, I guess.

My Thanksgiving was mostly pleasant; my best friend hosted Thanksgiving dinner at her and her boyfriend's home for the first time, and I must say she is quite the lil Suzy homemaker. There were a bunch of different things to eat, and you were happy and full whether you ate meat or not.

A tofurkey sort of looks like an un-cut hunk of lunch meat that you'd see in a deli case.... it's just this spherical shaped thing. I don't know how I feel about it.

The next big things to worry about are final exams and projects, what to get people for Xmas, and of course, the mistletoe dilemma.

Do you ever-

-not talk about things or bring them up, or even try to not think of them out of fear of jinxing it? I do that. I also don't share things because people are judgmental and I usually don't want to hear their words of disapproval. There are only a small number of people that I feel I can share just about anything with and not feel like I am going to be immediately judged. That's probably not even true. Because everyone is judging, all the time.

Sometimes I wish I could be like Hiro on Heroes. Stop time. For how long? I don't know, at least long enough to go make myself a sandwich, have a drink, take a picture and read a newspaper article and then contemplate my next move without having to deal with a bunch of other people. I mean, sometimes I think,

What's with people??

They can be so cool and give you random fun positivity, and they can be such &#!%^$#@!&%@!! And a good way to put it would be that I have had a lot of the two extremes lately.

A few people have made me feel different degrees of horrible, but many others helped me get through all the drama and have shared really good times with me. Family and friends are so important, and when it's good people, your friends become the family you didn't have before and life can be awesome.