Otis Redding... That's what I'm listening to right now. And since I left my favorite Otis Cd home, I had no choice but to go to Rhapsody.com and listen to some of my favorite songs. See now folks, I'm getting old, but Otis is still before my time. Don't know what got me listening to Otis. I really don't remember either of my parents being Otis Fans. Growing up in a mix household was definitely a different experience for me. My dad was never a soul music fan and my mom never listened to rock or pop music. So between the both I somehow got the best of both worlds. I just always thought it was ironic that my mom never really experienced "White America culture." My mom is from England. She often said that when she was growing up, where you lived depended on your wealth, not your race. She said all the poor people lived together.
When she first came to Baltimore she was in utter shock. Her and some of her Black friends went to Pimlico Race Track for Preakness. After learning that her friends couldn't go in the same door as her and her sister, she politely walked away and never looked back. She said,"if one of us couldn't go through the front door, then none of us would go through any door." I remember my mom explaining prejudice and the civil rights era to me. Not my dad. I remember my mom telling me I was black and that she was white and some people had problems with that. I thank God everyday that my mom never sugar coated other folks' ignorance. I wasn't growing up in a mixed world so my mom always told me the truth, unfortunately all some folks see is black and white. I never really had any hang ups. I always considered myself black. I looked black in my opinion, so that's what I was.
When I became a teenager, my mother hated the fact I was militant. What's really ironic is that I never really felt too comfortable around the "White Community." And neither did my sister, and she's all white. I think she feels like a fish out of water around white folks. That's just my opinion. My sister never grew up around white people. We always lived in all black neighborhoods and went to all black schools. She use to fight kids that called her white. In retrospect I think it's funny. My sister was born in Jamaica Queens. And when my mom lived in New York, she lived in Harlem, Spanish Harmlem, Queens and Jamaica Queens. I think my mom feels like a fish out of water around white folks too! That's crazy, but true. My mother has three sisters, and two of them married black men. So Yeah, I got a whole bunch of mixed cousins too. Infact, out of my mom's 4 kids, my sister is the only white one.
In retrospect, my mom took alot of social chances. My brother was born in 63, my sister was born in 69, I was born in 72... Right in the middle of the civil rights movement. People had to think she had lost her damn mind. I think I got my stubborness from my Mom. Cause both of us loved who we wanted to love and didn't care about what anyone else thought.
My mom was never one of those passive white women that you saw on Malcolm X. She didn't cut my dad any slack. And eventhough their marriage didn't work out, they were together for 12 years. At least they tried. That's all you can do these days.
I don't know why it seems like that love these days is different from our parent's era. To be honest, I don't think it's different at all. I think back then folks just tried harder. Tried harder to make it work, stuck by each other more, and tried as much as possible to hang in there for the kids. And because so many folks out here are impatient and looking for the impossible dream in a mate, I think we put too many expectations on each other. We think too long and hard about life and love. Maybe if folks didn't complicate love so much, it would be a lot easier to understand. Well at least I think so.
When she first came to Baltimore she was in utter shock. Her and some of her Black friends went to Pimlico Race Track for Preakness. After learning that her friends couldn't go in the same door as her and her sister, she politely walked away and never looked back. She said,"if one of us couldn't go through the front door, then none of us would go through any door." I remember my mom explaining prejudice and the civil rights era to me. Not my dad. I remember my mom telling me I was black and that she was white and some people had problems with that. I thank God everyday that my mom never sugar coated other folks' ignorance. I wasn't growing up in a mixed world so my mom always told me the truth, unfortunately all some folks see is black and white. I never really had any hang ups. I always considered myself black. I looked black in my opinion, so that's what I was.
When I became a teenager, my mother hated the fact I was militant. What's really ironic is that I never really felt too comfortable around the "White Community." And neither did my sister, and she's all white. I think she feels like a fish out of water around white folks. That's just my opinion. My sister never grew up around white people. We always lived in all black neighborhoods and went to all black schools. She use to fight kids that called her white. In retrospect I think it's funny. My sister was born in Jamaica Queens. And when my mom lived in New York, she lived in Harlem, Spanish Harmlem, Queens and Jamaica Queens. I think my mom feels like a fish out of water around white folks too! That's crazy, but true. My mother has three sisters, and two of them married black men. So Yeah, I got a whole bunch of mixed cousins too. Infact, out of my mom's 4 kids, my sister is the only white one.
In retrospect, my mom took alot of social chances. My brother was born in 63, my sister was born in 69, I was born in 72... Right in the middle of the civil rights movement. People had to think she had lost her damn mind. I think I got my stubborness from my Mom. Cause both of us loved who we wanted to love and didn't care about what anyone else thought.
My mom was never one of those passive white women that you saw on Malcolm X. She didn't cut my dad any slack. And eventhough their marriage didn't work out, they were together for 12 years. At least they tried. That's all you can do these days.
I don't know why it seems like that love these days is different from our parent's era. To be honest, I don't think it's different at all. I think back then folks just tried harder. Tried harder to make it work, stuck by each other more, and tried as much as possible to hang in there for the kids. And because so many folks out here are impatient and looking for the impossible dream in a mate, I think we put too many expectations on each other. We think too long and hard about life and love. Maybe if folks didn't complicate love so much, it would be a lot easier to understand. Well at least I think so.
