______ING WHILE BLACK: WEDDINGS WHILE BLACK

Hello All!!!
So, I was at a wedding with the hubby on Saturday, when we had one of those funny experiences that only happens when you're one of a few minorities at a big event. It got me thinking on the crazy experiences I encounter as a black girl that grew up in the suburbs, so I thought I'd lay those out for all to see...and thus "____ing While Black" was born. 

I plan on doing a slew of these entries. Such as:

Weddings While Black
Driving While Black
Cheerleading While Black
And so on, and so on.

Most of these will be experiences I've had growing up, and I may take a few from friends I know. But they all promise to be fun. With that being said...

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The hubby and I were so excited to celebrate the union of some good friends. It was a small and swanky affair, with only about 60 people in attendance. The ceremony was lovely, the drinks devine, and we'd just settled down for dinner. In looking around, we were two of three Black folks in attendance, not something all together uncommon for us as we tend to hang out with lots of different people. But it was when the DJ perked up with a few catchy tunes that we ran into our awkward terrain of the night.

To dance, or not to dance.

See, it's commonly thought that black folks can, and enjoy to, boogie. It's like folks feel it's in our blood. Like there was something about the way we were bred that infused us with the "you can dance" gene or something. And while that's meant to be a compliment to us, it's also a huge stereotype. And one thing that young, educated Black folks don't want is to be stereotyped. 

My husband and I spent - I kid you not - a good 15 minutes discussing whether or not we were going to hit the dance floor because:

1) We did not want to be the first ones out there
2) We didn't want to be known as the Black folks that brought the party
3) As stated above, we didn't want to feed into the stereotype

In the end, we did take a turn or two around the dance floor.

Even though it was a funny and awkward moment, I will say this...if they'd played the Wobble, nothing would have stopped me from hitting the floor. It's my favorite wedding line dance song!

Happy reading and writing, y'all!

BULLYING STOPS HERE: GETTING MY NIECE TO SEE THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BULLYING COIN

Hey All!!!
Late last week I found out some really horrifying news from my sister. She told me my niece - my sweet, always helpful, ever loving niece - has been hanging around with the wrong crowd in her after-school program and they've been mean to other kids. When I found this out, it broke my heart (almost as much as her telling me that she wasn't the biggest fan of reading, but I digress).

As someone who's vertically challenged, I spent a large part of my middle school, and some part of my high school, years being picked on. It was a difficult time, and one I would never want to inflict on anyone else. I was so upset when I first heard this news that I didn't know what to do.

After throwing out all of my ideas on strict punishments ("No birthday party for you!"), I decided that maybe the best way to handle this is to build a bit more empathy in my niece. So I'm on the lookout for ways to show her what it's like to be on the other side of bullying, and to encourage her to use her size (she's bigger than most of the kids her age) to protect others and not the other way around. I remember that there's a documentary on bullying in America, so I'm going to pull that out, and try to find a few children's books on the subject. Any suggestion y'all might have are more than welcomed.

I just want to show her that J.K. Rowling really did have it right in Harry Potter, when Dumbledore stated that, "...sometimes you have to choose between what is right, and what is easy."

Happy reading and writing!!!