Monday, September 22, 2008

Stormy Weather

Excuse me in advance because this post is all over the place. I'm in a little bit of a funk this evening for some reason. Could it be that the economy is in such a state of turbulence that even the best minds in the country are stumped on how to straighten things out? Could it be that National Breast Cancer month is coming upon us? Though it has been over a year since I was diagnosed and my last surgery was this month and I am totally cancer free, I am still ambivalent about the fact that every magazine in the universe will be pink next month and have "Breast Cancer" plastered across the front page. I know we need the information (especially black women who suffer higher mortality rates), but for survivors these articles bring back bad memories and a certain amount of fear. Or could it be that I am really amazed that despite the fact that the economy is stormy as hell, people are dying in an unnecessary war, unemployment is rampant, our weather is freaky, health care costs are prohibitive and our children are getting dumber every year compared to our global peers- people won't vote for change because they can't get over the color of a person's skin? These people would die puking and stinking in the streets after losing their homes, healthcare and dignity before they would vote for a black man. What?! Could it be that I am seething over the fact that our black males are graduating from high school at a 35% rate in this economy and going straight to jail? Where are all of our successful men when you need them? At the club? I sure don't see as many of them in the community as I do at Happy Hour or the gym. Or could it be that I am really skeptical about the safety of almost every product that I use, because only God knows what potential havoc it may wreck on our bodies and our environment because of some toxic chemical or radiation level that our government has "determined to be safe". I can't quite put my fingers on the exact source of my funk, but I am praying for a silver lining in this cloudy period of our history and a brighter, greener, hopeful tomorrow for all of us. Thanks for listening.

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