I love the fast lane!

I haven't written anything since the 16th of January, because I have been so wrapped up in D.C.. I am loving everything about this city. Much more than Oxford. I love its people, places, and most of the environment. I am thankful for my roommate. He's a really cool fellow. We pretty much have the same sleeping patterns, and we like the same things. He's awesome.

As I have been immersed in this city, I am learning so much about myself. I know it is the place where I need to be at this point in my life. I love the fast-paced life. I love how I can be myself with out the stares and the blatant judgement. I am so thankful to God that I am here. Being in Oxford, I am so stifled, so oppressed and so uncomfortable. I love being uncomfortable, because it keeps me from becoming complacent. It keeps grounded and keen on the things that matter most in life.

Each day I go to work, I love it more and more! My supervisor is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I love her so much! She is teaching me so much and a daily inspiration to me. She is so fearless. More than that she is a mentor to me on how we can serve the world better. She's a constant reminder that we need to more and more inclusive to ALL people. We have just finished our Women & Leadership Retreat and it was great. I think the women really loved it, and I have heard wonderful things from the staff who staffed the retreat. Kudos to the Diversity & Operations department. :) Also I think the highlight of my job up until now was going to the Senate Hearing in Maryland for Marriage Equality. It was a blast! Seeing the Senators drill the opposition just made my day, because majority of them did not make sense. Below is the message that I shared with one of my supervisors within the Diversity department:

Donna,

First off, I would like to sincerely thank you for the opportunity to witness yesterday. It was an amazing experience! Just being within the Senate Hearing made me happy. Watching the many allies wear their “Marylanders for Marriage Equality” sticker also delighted my heart.

I think what I learned most from the Hearing, though we have people in opposition of us, there are so many allies out there - so much support. You do not find this often in Mississippi. There were so many people from all facets of life who came out to support  the Civil Marriage Protection Act. The governor himself even supports the bill. That made my heart smile.

I think the most compelling thing about the Hearing was hearing everyone’s story. Just listening to some of the people’s stories made me cry. In some of the stories I could hear my own story. That for me was the most compelling and most liberating.

As for the opposition, it only affirmed in my mind that most of their arguments were very fallacious. Many of them were irrational, discriminatory, and very bitter. And most of all, I feel for them. Looking and those people made me think that by them being in opposition, they were oppressing someone’s friend, someone’s family or even their own.

Again Donna, I truly thank you so much for the wonderful experience! It served as a beacon of hope in my life, and so I thank you so much!

Warmest regards,

Ray Mays

Diversity Intern

Human Rights Campaign

Ray.Mays@hrc.org

Classes are going well. I love the professors, and I am even enjoying the pop quizzes that Professor Anklam keeps me on my Washington new segment. It makes me more aware about the world. Kudos to him. Professor Clark's class is also interesting. I love his lectures, and most of all I'm happy that he doesn't use too much jargon.

The miscellaneous things that are going on in my life: well Susan Follet, an author who wrote a book entitled "The Fog Machine" wants me to read her book because I won the Student Diversity Award. I feel so honored. I accepted her invitation and I want the rest of the group to join with me to read her book. As for the group there is so much drama going on...  Enough said. The is a love triangle going on, there's room mate conflict, and people are cheating on their love one's. I need not to go on. Anyway, as for things in my life, they are getting better and better as time go on.

No injustice in my life!

So for the past four days, I have not made an entry. It's not that there hasn't been much going on, because there has, it's just I've been sort of busy but most of all I have been lazy. Very lazy. So I have started my new job and it has been one of the best things that I have done thus far. It has been absolutely great. This is EXACTLY where I need to be. The other day, I watched one of my favorite movies ever, Freedom Writers and it was so great. It compelled me to believe in myself again. To inspire to be greater than great. To never loose faith and give up. Yes, Yes, YES! Although I have seen the movie a thousand times, it touches my heart just like the first time. I'm so thankful to God for allowing me to believe again.

Today is MLK Day and so Mia and I decided to go to the National Mall and visit his monument. It was a moving experience. Keep fighting for justice. Never let injustice fester and grow. One of my favorite quotations by MLK would have to be, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"! Yes! This.is.why.I.live.

As for Washington, D.C. I am loving this city more and more everyday! Words can not express. I do not miss Oxford, Mississippi in any fashion. Gosh, I really don't. The fucking closed society. Like anyone knows, Ole Miss and I have have a love-hate relationship. Enough about that, D.C. is WON-DER-FUL!!!! It is completely different from Oxford. Obviously! I see so many interracial, gay and lesbian couples all the time. As in Oxford, one would get many stares. I hate that, but it is my goal to change that.

Be blessed, people!

Reflection Self Reflection

January 12,

Today was the first day of work. I'll write more... later.

Title Unknown

Wednesday, January 11

Reflecting on today makes me again so happy and grateful to be alive. I can not explain how immensely blessed we are. I still can not fathom the fact that we are living on Capitol Hill and doing really big things. I am so honored.

Anyway, as for my day I didn't do much of anything. I woke up, washed my dirty laundry and went to pick up my tailored suit. I'm so excited because it is my first suit that I purchased with my own money. I'm too happy.  After which, I came back to get ready open orientation that WISH (Washington Internship Student Housing) held for us. It was really good meaning the atmosphere was good, the food was excellent, and the hosts were amazing. We actually had a chance to meet the founders of WISH. The family was extremely nice. However, I was in no manner ready to mingle with anyone. I didn't feel like being social at all. (Maybe, next time)

I really want to go out and explore the city more and more. Something very interesting happened to me today. As I was exiting Union Station (a place where the Metro stops) a guy who held the door open for me stopped to shake my hand and gave me the nicest smile. Now, I wanted to stop him and tell him how much that made my day, but I didn't want to be awkward. To the man that did that, I thank you!

So, my boss emailed me today to tell me about me starting tomorrow. I am SOOOOO excited, yet I do not know what to expect. I don't know. All I know is I'm going to give this job my all. I have never wanted something so much (in regards to a position) and God has blessed me to have it, so I must give it my all. Being from small town Mississippi there were a lot of resources that I weren't granted and much information about the world I missed out on, but I do not want to hold that as an excuse. I want to work my butt off. Whatever it takes I want to make sure that our community the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and allies community have equal rights in every facet of life. We must be inclusive and the diversity has to be there.

“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.” - Maya Angelou 

What a greater world we would would have if we realized the strength in us all being very different and unique and embracing and celebrating that difference. 

We shall see what tomorrow holds. 

Day 2: One day before I start working

So, I've been so lazy and chose not to blog on yesterday, but I am determined to do a better job blogging. On yesterday, Monday Jan. 9, we had our first day of class and it was a day of introductions. It was cool. I would say. Professor Clark's seems like it will be a lot of work. A lot. Prof. Anklam, who is an editor for USA Today, seems like his class will be very difficult. I don't know; we'll see. Nothing I can really talk about regarding my class. I will be interested in how it goes. One thing I did want to point out is we will be focused primarily on the political side of D.C. Now, that is fine, because I do have to put into account where I'm living. However, I did bring out how in my goals here is to see the more cultural side of D.C. Yes, I want to experience the people here. I want to go out to shows, listen to the people's stories, dream with them,live with them,  sing with them, 'occupy' with them, and most importantly understand them. Anyway so that pretty much sums up my day.

Today! WOW now that was an adventure. It was fun. I spent a lot of money going back and forth on the Metro, but it was an interesting experience. So, I went out to find a salon in the outskirts of the city and to my knowledge the salon was or the address was made up. I don't know what the hell went on but it happened. I found myself in what most people would call the ghettos. Any it was a beautiful experience. As I was walking, I found myself having the 'us' and 'them' mentality, and I had to stop myself then. These people are just like me - living. I actually stopped and had conversations with many of the people. They were too nice. I actually laughed with one of the women, because she could tell I was not apart of the area. (It was cute!) I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

So, I remembered I researched some barber shops prior to me leaving. I at least wanted to get a shave before I started work, even if I did not get my hair redone. Anyway, I walked into Cut N Edge Barber shop, and it was such an awkward experience. I think the main barber who was Asian looked very confused when I walked in. I'm not sure if he cut many black people's hair or not but the vibe was not good. I think mainly because all of his customers had thin long hair and not kinky hair. Since the vibe was not good, I had to leave I just didn't know how. So I saw the sign that read, "Cash Only", so I used the excuse that I didn't have cash to leave. (I really didn't have cash) I abruptly left the store.

On the Metro I had to think that experience over. I came up with the conclusion that I had to put myself in the shoes of a white, asian, latino, etc. man who would walk into a black barber shop. How they would feel? How the barbers would react to them? or even the other black customers?  Or for that matter how a black woman would feel if she came to get her hair cut. How she feels when the barbers or customers stare at her. I had nothing to complain about. So I just took the experience 'as is'.

Finally, I went to the area of town where I would find a lot of Howard students. I knew if I were to enter that area, I would be sure to find somewhere that would be willing to give me a shave. Immediately, existing the Metro I met two young ladies who were extremely helpful. (Ladies, thank you!) I asked if there were any black barber shops around. They immediately pointed me in the right direction. I found a shop and it was GREAT. The atmosphere was so AWESOME and the barbers were great, too. Not as good as MS (that's me being biased but oh well!)

When I arrived home, Rebecca (the WONDERFUL Australian girl I met on the first day) wanted to go out and do something in the city. So, we found ourselves going to Ben's Chili Bowl (one word: delicious). It's one of the places in the city that President Obama visited. Obviously, it is famous for it's chili, and it was really good. After leaving there, we went next door to Ben's Next Door to hear Mania sing. She's a local artist who has a beautiful voice. The scenery was so great. There were mainly black people there, so I'm assuming it is a hangout spot for Blacks in the area. It was very class, laid back, yet chic. It was just good.

And now I'm here back at my place very thankful that I don't have a room mate, because I'm pretty sure I would be disturbing him right about now. It's pretty late, but I wanted to share my thoughts. I had to. Anyway, if you read this I'm thankful and stay tuned. Be blessed, be free, be you!

Intro

So, I have just begun to be settled in my new space on Capitol Hill and it AMAZING! I love it. The view is nice and it is in an ideal location. I begin classes on tomorrow and I hope to blog about my experiences thus far. My roommate Alex was suppose to move in on today but he didn't because of a mix up with WISH housing but oh well. It seems like I will have a room all to myself. (That's kinda exciting.) Anyway, I am about to shower and iron my clothes to prepare for tomorrow. I will be back. Stay tuned.