Welcome to Inner City Blues!

Welcome to my blog!

After having written my thoughts and observations for a number of other sources, I have decided that it is time I take the reigns and unleash my ideas and opinions in a forum of my own choosing, of my own design and of my own creation.  There will be expressions of many emotions, as life is a series of emotions triggered by events; our emotions are not only our responses to these events, but when properly channeled, emotions are the catalysts for change.

It was true in 1955, when after 14-year old Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi, the Civil Rights Movement that was already underway became fueled anew with a vigor and determination that can only be inspired by pain, anger, and the desire to protect children from matyrdom.

It was true in the 1970's when after decades of being told they did not fit the "standard" of beauty that was America, African Americans ignored the conventional chatter of exclusion and reconstructed the narrative for themselves, proclaiming themselves BEAUTIFUL, regardless of what mainstream ideals of beauty were being touted as the ONLY ideals of beauty that were acceptable and "American."

It was true in the 1980's and 1990's when an emerging genre of music offered an alternative, yet real, view of what was really going on in the lives and communities of the poor and ignored.  When politicians and others wrote them off as a volatile and violent counterculture personally responsible for their own despondency,  they pointed to the crude and often systemic social inequities that contributed to the conditions in which they lived.  Their language was vile, but so are poverty and prejudice.

It was true in November 2012, when after four years of coordinated attempts by one party to destroy the legacy of one man was felt by over 600 million, that majority arose from the shadows and the pain to say, "apparently, you did not HEAR us four years ago, some lessons must be relearned...two terms!"

And it will be true in the decades to come.

I hope that I cannot only share my emotions and insight, from my perspective, but that I can offer ideas and reasons as to why you need to continue to have your voice heard as a voter, as a citizen, and as a human being.

Take Care,

Aisha

Next Blog: Shook Ones, Part II: What We Can Expect From the Right in a Second Obama Term