Afro Poet & Critical Thinker

And don’t allow the cloudy judgement of others to dictate your steps, live fully, and love wholeheartedly.

The dining expericne here was nothing short of superior, pictured here was a complementary watermelon salad straight from the cooks. It wasn’t even on the menu, but it tasted amazing, I’d never think to add spice to a sweet watermelon, but the contrast was pleasant. The pink drink shown was one of the day’s drink special, a watermelon drink, topped with a delicate spice, completely refreshing. I shared the bowl a vegan version of their ‘Sweet Potato Green Chorizo Chilaquiles’ a hearty and flavorful dish! The layers were coated with a light sauce, and a nice crunch with the ingredient topping the bowl (I can’t recall what it was). Our dining experience was exquisite, and the service didn’t fall flat either. Our server was attentive, informative, and welcoming. One of the owners even came out, and gave us a free cup cake to celebrate the restaurants first birthday July 4th, 2020. The entire experience here was great, my best in NOLA to date, thank you Palm & Pine for having us, and for tailoring our local dining experience.

At the top there are three stone-built seats, if you look over the top of the mountain (where I learned I was scared of heights lol) you see nothing but trees and the Hudson River, amazing view.

I’ve promoted these books before, and I’ll promote them again. These books are pivotal reads for the minority in America, and can single-handedly change your life or thinking patterns. Their all relavitevly easy reads, Malcolm X being the longest, but also possessing the most interesting story line. The other two are more informational, however all three are equally amazing. “We Real Cool” has a free PDF via WordPress, open a google search and type in the title of the book followed by pdf and it’ll populate. Please educate yourself, especially my men of color! Check them out, you won’t be disappointed.

I’m currently studying Journalism and Mass Communication and taking the class Digial and Media Literacy. This weeks assignment was to take three days out of the week to disconnect from technology, that included social media, television, radio, and texting 😳, unless of course it was work related. Interestingly I’ve recently started taking these breaks from social media where I delete the apps from my phone and avoid their use. Within the text book for my course Potter, J.W. (2016). Media Literacy (8th Edition) the author explains how we’ve become autonomous when it comes to use of technology and media, meaning we’ve become accustom to continuously incorporating media into our lives. Weather that be through social media, news updates, television media, etc. More and more people are becoming addicted to using their smart phones, and it becomes a natural reaction to open your phone and click an app, or looking down in your phone in a room full of people. Not the best of practices and I think it takes away from the things that truly matter at times. Not that I’m against technology or social media, it’s certainly become an integral part of our lives, and when used objectively it’s a great way to stay updated. It’s just good to disconnect from these things and recenter yourself at times. Media is certainly not a necessity, let’s face it you can miss a day of news or Instagram and Facebook post. It’ll certainly make your interactions more meaningful. I think we should all take these breaks every now and again and see the effects that media have on you! Let us also not forget that everything in media isn’t always absolute truth, there’s always an angle or narrative in a reported story. It may not be visible to you but always inquire about everything you take in.

My final reason for becoming vegetarian is my personal want to be healthier. I am still new to this lifestyle as I’ve been eating meat and meat products all of my life. What I’ve come to realize is that the food of my culture lacks the nutrients that are necessary for our bodies to function proprlerly, when they are introduced a lot of the time their dowsed with seasonings and butters. I read a lot of labels now and realize that almost everything has meat or pork in it from candy to potato chips, its quite disturbing. The goal ultimately is to eat more foods that are natural and containing nutrients. I consume more fruit, nuts, grains, and vegetables then ever before. It’s not easy and I still have my variations of vegan soul at times. I do tend to stay away from processed foods, fast food when I can, and anything with meat in it, including eggs, dairy milk or cheeses. After three months of just changing my eating habits I went from two-hundred and eighty-three pounds to two-hundred and fifty-three pounds and I’m very proud of my progress. I’m hoping to continue my journey and aide it with more frequent activity. It’s not easy but my health is worth it!

“We Real Cool” by Bell Hooks

This deserves a full thesis.

Sad to see why this conversation has spawned but it’s exciting to see the birth of development. I wish more of our urban entertainers took a step back from the glorification of fast money, drugs and street life, disrespect to our women and separation amongst each other. It’s time now to promote education, research of our history, development within our communities, and amongst ourselves. It’s time we be more accepting of each other and cease the notion that we have to shun one another to be cool, it’s time we promote respect to our women and men and handle them with love and grace. These things are not obselete but we can certainly use more of them. It’s time we stop poisoning our neighborhoods and bodies with drugs, the very drugs that are placed in our neighborhoods to keep us stagnant. Healthy well being begans internally. It’s time now to build amongst ourselves and create a sustainable future for our younger generations. The wait game is over, America continues to show us it’s ideal of us every time a police officer gets off for murdering a minority for little to nothing without repercussion. Rest in Power to Nipsey Hussle, I wish I would’ve taken more time to listen to your message while you were alive.

We may have been enslaved in America but this is not the start of our story. We were not born enslaved, do your research and find out about your true history and heritage the parts they didn’t teach you in grade school in America.