Leaderboard

Man I wouldn't want to be you right now. You have a lot of work to do converting the site. If I could help with the coding I would. Keep pushing and you know I'm pulling for you. I'm still waiting on you to build me a package to buy for my books. I just don't know which way to run with this. When time permits let me know what to do and it least I can invest both financially and with my patronage.

Hey, I have gaps in my teeth and although I've had the money to get them fixed, I never have. I was able to find a beautiful wife with these teeth and I'm able to eat at incredible restaurants with these teeth. I have always been self conscious about my teeth and as confident as I am, I still realize that people value "a perfect" smile over an "imperfect" smile. After years I've gained considerable confidence and I smile with the best of them. I now realize that a smile is infectious no matter if it's raggedy or not. According to society I am not handsome because of it, but according to my wife it doesn't matter. You even have rappers who are discussing the perfect smile now. The song also discusses what you guys are going back and forth about. I thought I'd add it here.

May I again remind you Troy, that contact lenses are not about improving your vision so much as they are about replacing the glasses that people are too vain to wear. Crooked teeth are not an ailment, they are an impediment that has little to do with improving one‘s health. These options are “cosmetic” changes that apparently make people feel better about their appearance, and nobody ever criticizes women about them the way they chide African American ones who when it comes to their hair, are accused of "mimicking European standards of beauty imposed upon them" - the choice of words you use to advance your point. I could similarly put my spin on the situation and say that black women straighten their hair because, like all women in this country, they want to wear it in a popular American style. Why is it so much emphasis is put on self-acceptance but few have a problem with women wearing make-up, - something that isn’t natural. Whatever. I don’t think black women have an obligation to justify an alternative hair choice because they are not conceited enough to think they are perfect the way they are. You make it sound like hair is an extension of one’s psyche, and a session on the psychiatrist couch is in order to reveal why black women reject their locks, insisting that they have low self esteem because they want to conform to Caucasian standards. But actually, it’s as much about wanting to conform to popular standards. And incidentally, this can entail sistas "consciously" copying white women since they are who so many brothas are "unconsciously" attracted to. And it’s not as if what black women do their hair is a big deal. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. You can go to the drug store and buy a kit for about $7.00 and in no time at all with a minimal amount of fuss, tint or dye your hair to a shade that changes your natural color. Or is getting your hair permed a monumental undertaking for a black women. You can do it yourself or have a hair dresser do it. This treatment will last about 3 months and doesn’t call for anymore upkeep than an Afro, considering all of the things that women do to maintain this “natural” coif. Also you can buy synthetic hair extensions at a beauty supply store and attach them yourself.(it amuses me how braided extensions seem to get a pass, as if this expensive, time-consuming choice is an authentic style.) Wigs, of course, are not that expensive and are low maintenance. In its natural state, my hair is wavy and frizzy. I can simply wash it, put some pressing oil on it, and straighten it with a hot comb. When I used to do this, self-hate was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted my hair more manageable. When Afros became popular, I wore one because they were all the rage, not because this elevated my self-esteem. I can only speak for myself when it came to there being a connection between what was on my head and what was in my head. My hair was a part of my total look and this persona was a manifestation of my individuality. I never felt a need to apologize for not being Afro-centric. I was who I was. I dressed the way I pleased and did whatever I felt like doing with my hair, and this included hiding it under wigs. The only time my self esteem was affected was if I didn’t do well in school or didn’t move up on a job or didn‘t get a guy I had eyes for. Whatever the circumstances, I refused to let someone else define or shame me. And I don’t think I am that unusual. In the present, tresses are becoming a fashion accessory. I keep in mind that a woman's hair is "her crowing glory" and as a queen in her own right, she can do to it whatever makes her feel royal. When it comes to the root of her motivation, I'll leave the psycho-babble to those who think black women should adhere to the taste of their critics..

Wow! I read the article and I do agree that 'we' tend to give White women a pass and view them as being fragile should be be called out or exposed for doing something cultural offensive. Even though, I am pretty critical against wrongdoings that I see in regards to White women, I too find myself sometimes willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for certain issues, that I find myself wondering why I do that. And, I kind of know the answer, it's deep seeded and I believe comes from a pre-conditioning and from the feeling of suppression and White Supremacy being masked behind White men as taking the wrap for issues that have been exposed. I believe we have been conditioned to overlook White women and view them as being off limits no matter how they show themselves as being just as active about racism and White Supremacy as the White man. And I really have a lot of emotions about this topic because I have had to deal with issues that I have been faced with that makes it hard for me to ignore now. This issues just strikes a tune with me because I constantly have a burning question in my mind concerning 'the reaction' of Ms. Dolezal being exposed in comparison and contrast to so many other issues, one that would include Black people have downplayed Ms. Stanely Dunham. I'm trying to wrap my head around how the presidents mother could have been given a pass to be able to be considered a foundation of our Black race and culture when every thing that I read doesn't show anything credible! She has been given credit, but she didn't live the life of a Black woman or African or African American. So, what is so different from her and Ms. Dolezal? In fact, Ms. Stanley Dunham moved in on another Black woman! The president's father was married at the time the president was conceived. He was 'a money train' sitting in a college class on some kind of scholarship or something at a time when Stanley Dunham's parents left the continent to move to Hawaii to seek a better life. During the 60s when the Civil Rights Movement was in swing, she was not apart of any movement that I read about that aligned her to the plight of Black people at that time. The write-up throws down the presidents father, but builds up his mother and in my opinion, GIVES HER A PASS, but she is just as negative as what his father as been portrayed to have been. She was not embracing the Black plight, rather, she was looking for relationship that gave her economical gain. I just don't get it. Ms. Dolezal is by far rare in her actions to have a passion to align herself with the Black race for gain when things are going well. I mean, the very epic film of a White actress portraying the part of a well documented Black woman just screams to this issue. NO, Cecil B. DeMille did not cast a Black woman to play the part of Zippora, but he chose a White woman! I think too, that many White woman possess some kind of imbalance when it comes to the plight of Black women in many ways that we have been made to 'not see'. Many of them hide behind White racist men, but it just doesn't seem natural for White men to be racist against Black women, and not White women too. i think many of them hide their racism and want to be portrayed as being passive, but that is not true.