The Help

Last night, I saw the movie The Help.
I actually said that I would NOT read the book or see the movie. But on yesterday, I changed my mind. Now, I am left with my own thoughts regarding the matter.
Why did it have to be a big deal? To read or not to read? Or any deal at all? Well, here are a few of my thoughts:

• I am a Brown Southern Girl. Home Pride. I am super-sensitive to anything that attempts to tell stories about my world. There...I admit it.
• I have an amazing family. A black family. African-American, if you will. I am in awe when I hear stories about my great-grandfather, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and older cousins. Many of whom were living during the Civil Rights Era. But their type of struggles, survival and accomplishments are rarely a part of the enlightenment.
• As a Brown Southern Girl, I really want people to see more "Part Twos". Or just a different viewpoint of our story.  In print.  Or on the Big Screen. Yes, Black Folks in Alabama actually owned land before Civil Rights. Black Folks owned businesses in Alabama too. Some Black Folks in Alabama were "the help" while they saw their children off to places like Tuskegee Institute, Howard University and Harvard Law. Some Black Folks from Alabama were Colonels in the Army with wives as homemakers....during Civil Rights. 

I don't want to spend too much time touting the accomplishments of my own family......but maybe I should. Hmmm. If I want more books and movies out there speaking to my kind-of-family history, maybe it's my responsibility to write them. Instead of being slightly annoyed with media/hollywood, maybe I should write my own book. Maybe this is what it's all about? Getting a fire in my own belly! Now, that's food for thought.

And just in case you're wondering.....I actually enjoyed the movie :o)

Happy New Year

Wow. Kristen is an 8th grader. And Emanuel is a 3rd grader. It's hard to believe that my kids are that big. Yep. It's true.

So the start of the 2011-2012 school year has been lots of fun. I love shopping for school supplies, getting new school clothes (uniforms....yay!), meeting teachers, learning schedules, etc. and so on. But don't get me wrong...I also feel tired from the earlier wake-up, confuse pick-up times, and spend more time than necessary tracking down the "5 inch, blunt tip, Fiskar scissors". Whew.

But it's a back-to-school tradition kind of thing. And I love it.

Homework is in full swing for Kristen. She is sitting on the deck working on her laptop. Emanuel is having  his first after school playdate. So cute. If only I could capture the feeling that I have right now and save it for next month. Oh well.

For today, I am enjoying the start of a new school year.

Just Do It

Today is the day. My first post. I must admit that I am still quite skeptical about this endeavor.

To blog, or not to blog, that is the question.

Well, that's not a very deep question, is it? So I have decided to get over it and just do it. Blog.

At first I thought about limiting my posts to a certain topic...like travel or food.  But I have decided to allow myself to be completely random. Random is  a very different approach for me. But here goes....

My 1st step: Choose a title.

This step was not too hard because I wanted something that easily described me. If you know me well, you understand my choice. Brown Southern Girl. I absolutely LOVE being from the South....Alabama....Phenix City, that is. And the brown part? Well, of course I love being brown! But I also find it fun and quite  unique to describe a person using the color of their skin. Admit it. We all love it when kids describe a friend with the name of a crayon. Or maybe it's just me. I loved it when Kristen described a friend using the color "sienna". And when she would color a family portrait, she would always use the same color crayon for me and Emanuel but yet a slightly different shade of brown for herself and Sterling. As adults, we try to use every adjective imaginable to describe a person....while carefully omitting color. So there you have it, I'm brown (with a little bit of yellow undertones) and I love being a southern girl.

My 2nd step: Find a box of crayons and get a better description for "brown"!