Revisit Old Posts (Braces)

Before



After

So...two years ago, I was hemmin' and hawin' about getting braces.

I had this baby tooth you see and...blah..blah..blah.

Well, the point is... I did it!

Two years of hiding my smile, working on boosting that personality so that nobody could see that big ass gaping hole in my mouth where my baby tooth used to be.

And I know what I said, but really, it was worth every single penny. Dime. Dollar. Thousands of them.


Who give a shit if you're poor if you feel like a million bucks?

OK. I wasn't exactly poor.

I budgeted. Planned. And used the hell out of my Flex-Spend account.

The HELL out of it.

Cost: $8,000 for clear ceramic

And there's no "Black Factor" in this. Busted teeth are universal.

And yes, I'd do it all over again. Even the "rubberband stage", which, was a bitch.

However, the pain is lessened when you've got a stupid hot orthodontist.


I'd give you his info, but he doesn't practice anymore.

BUT I can brag because I got to look up lovingly at this for about two years...

IKR?!!

Cheese.

-Nyree

Do This Kinda Ish

Can I get an amen?

(Do you have any idea how my mother would have beat the black off me for something like this? Somebody CLEARLY has seen "UP" too many times...)

Hold Our Men Accountable

 

These are the men in my family. I won't shout them out, but here they are.
Young and old. Wise and stupid. Rich and poor.

And I love them. Truly do.

But right about now, I'd like take each one in an interrogation room, and beat the shit out of them with a phonebook.

(DAMN NYE...what's with all the hostility?)


Well, let me tell you a little story.

My nephew CJ was just stabbed a couple of weeks ago.

Yes. As in... with a knife. Plunged into his body four times by some other black boy that wanted him dead.

For what?

It all boils down to... somebody's pride/feelings got hurt. Yup. This bitch wanted to end my nephew because of some feelings.


And since this happened, I've waited for the men in my family to stand up. You know...go get that young brother (nephew) stand in front of him, chest heaving, black man to black man ... and punch him dead in the chest till the shit is scared out of him, warning him that if he doesn't get his shit together, he's either going to die or go to jail.
And we may be the ones to put him there. Because if we don't, somebody in the street will.

Because that's the truth.


So I waited. And I waited. And waited some more.

You can guess what happened.

NOPE. Not a one of them has stepped up to the plate. Not. A. One.



Why is it that only black women seem to subscribe to "It takes a village to raise a child?". When we all chip in, borrow each other’s EBT cards and take turns babysitting, why do black men get a free pass?
Why in the hell do we let them off the hook?

It's our fault. ("Our" meaning "The women in my family".)

It's our fault because we don't hold our men to a higher standard. Period.


Recently, I ended the third chance (you read right... THIRD) chance I gave a dude I dated.

Now, according to everything that my mother, Aretha Franklin, and the black woman code of "Oh no that mutherfucker didn't!" says, he shouldn't have gotten chance-the-first. But... he pulled the card.

What card Nyree?

Lets see..

Bad father figure
Single parent household
Good boy gone bad...
Traumatic event
I Got Big Dreams And I Need A Woman To Believe In Me

And the next thing I knew, I was home singing Badu's "Otherside Of The Game"... "which is the craziest "oh please excuse him...he's got it hard because he's black." song ever made.

And I call bullshit.

Do you remember the song?

She's pregnant, dude has a college education and he's slinging rock and she's worried about "Me and baby got this situation...see brother got this complex occupation..."

(Eye-roll...)

Now here's the question. Why in the hell would you not tell this dude to get his shit together? WHY??

Instead of telling him "HEY..Get a real JOB...,” we tell him...

"See I ain't trying to run your life...but I want you to do what's right..."


Now, one day, while thinking about my own dysfunctional fucked up situation, I'm listening to this song, and I'm thinking... wait a minute.

Why in the hell didn't she just tell him to get his shit together?
Why didn't I TELL HIM to get his shit together?

Here's my theory...

We feel bad about what happened.
(You know. Slavery and that whole "emasculation" thing.)

So we coddled and spoiled the shit out of them.

We feel awful that they had to stand by, and watch us take over our families, and survive and take the roles from them that they couldn't possibly fill thanks to the situation they were placed in.
And we never forgave them for "letting" it happen.

Or let them forget it.

I simply can't imagine the pain and humiliation black men must have suffered for generations, living in a world that wouldn't allow them the self-respect and honor of being a man.

And not only should we consider the disrespect they felt from those in power for over 500 years, but from US. (As in “black women”.)

"Nigga, you ain't shit."
"I can do bad by myself."
"I don't need a man."
"Ain't nothing going on but the rent..."
"What have you done for me lately..."
"Don't you ever for a second get to thinking you're irreplaceable...'


And in turn, the best defense is a good offense...

"Bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks"
"Money, hoes and clothes, all a nigga knows.."
"I ain't saying she a gold-digger, but she ain't messin' with no broke nigga.."


(Ouch. My head hurts.0

I sat for a while and meditated on this and when I came back, the answer was there. ... and simple.

Forgiveness.

Easy. Quiet. Forgiveness.

Let me explain...

Black women, we have to forgive black men for not being there for us the way we need them to be.

They COULDN'T. Period. They COULDN'T. Forgive that.

Black men, you have to forgive us for doing whatever it took to preserve the race. We had no choice.

Forgive us.

And with that forgiveness, know we are more than ready to give the reigns back.

In the face of a new world, a black man in the White House...guess what? The ride is over.

Let me be the first to say...(tap into the mic... is this thing on? Can you hear me? Good.)

"YOU NO LONGER HAVE A FREE PASS. WE ARE THROUGH. STEP THE FUCK UP." ... love, Black Women.

Let's take a look at our excuses again...

Bad father figure - What the fuck ever...so did...umm... THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!
Single parent household - Uh...DITTO
Good boy gone bad... - The President has "blunt lips". He still smokes Newports. Seriously.
Traumatic event... - Both parents dead. Rev. Wright. Bill Ayers. Need I go on?
I Got Big Dreams And I Need A Woman To Believe In Me ... - Michelle. Muthafucking. Obama.



Now, as for my nephew... (sigh) I don't know ya'll.

I got some info from Job Corps, but I know that all the pamphlets and brochures in the world won't fill in for his father bringing his ass up here from his nice, warm home in Maryland to save his son who, only a few weeks ago, was two inches away from being six feet under.

And that's where the rest of the men in my family come in.

We women can't do it. And you know we can't. It's different coming from us. And you know what I mean.

So I'm not asking you. I'm not begging you.

I'm DEMANDING that you take your rightful place in this family. Step up and be men.

We gladly will let you.

Frankly, we're tired of the job.

Really tired.



And to quote Jill Scott... "The Fact Is...We Need You."

Even Know Who This Dude Is

Who the fuck IS this?

I know this ad says it's LL Cool J, but that's bullshit. I KNOW LL.

I saw LL hump a couch while croonin' "I Need Love..." and that shot me directly into puberty.

Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Be the couch Nyree. BE the couch.

I sat in Dapper Dans trembling in awe when he rolled up in (insert hot jeep at the time), sporting a black hoodie, drawn in tight around that mishapen head of his (which I thought was adorable).

He was coming to pick up his (insert knock off label gaudy-ass suit here) and didn't even give me another glance as I sat near my friend Angie's reception desk.

But why would he? I was clearly underage and spectacularly NOT fly.
I mean, it's an art to be THAT not-fly.

Like...you know the team on "Ugly Betty" works extra hard to get America to look THAT not-fly.

That's how I looked.

But that didn't stop me from swooning... or wishing for X-Ray vision so I could see his abs through that hoodie.

THAT dude in the picture is not the same dude I saw when I got old enough (meaning reverse-not-fly) to
land my lucky ass in an "Uptown Records" party, back when Diddy was "Puffy" and was still getting kicked out of
Andre's office.

LL walked right past me...fitted Yankee crispy topping him off...and in a moment that would be on mental repeat for two full months... Cool James himself caught me in an eye lock, licked his lips, winked...and kept it moving.

Done.

Fucking. Done.

I mean, I WAS an "Around The Way Girl". My earrings most-fucking-definitely "Jingled". And nobody killed a running man like I did. I could recite "Illegal Search" and "Milky Cereal" to the "coco-puff!"

"Booming System" was on stolen car repeat in my neighborhood and "6 Minutes Of Pleasure"... um.. yeah.

OK...I'm not going full blog post here. I'm just sayin'...I loved some LL. And that dude...

THAT dude? Man listen.

Hate Michael Jackson...(and we never have.)

Nope. Not once.

No matter what you believe, let's be clear about that.

Even if we should have.

That's the thing about us. If you're ours, you're ours. (Unlike OJ. He's not ours anymore. But that was on him. Anyhoo...)

Listen...

Mike was like that fun yet crazy, self loathing uncle that always came to the family reunion, got drunk and wanted to take all the kids on a "hike" through the woods.

He was all skinny and malnourished. He was "touched", as the old folk liked to call him.

And all the adults would say shit awful about him, while keeping a side eye fixed on him, like.. "Lawd, somebody go get them kids away from Mike. You know he still on parole."

Uncle Mike showed up to the family reunion, not really wanting to be there since he knows you talk about him, but made it a point to be there since he’d rather hear the chatter than be home alone. Again.

We all talked about him. That's what black people do to family when we love you. And thank God he showed up this year, because if it wasn't for uncle Mike, we might not have had something to talk about.

"Chile... you heard he done went through all his money right? He won't give that Beatle back his songs. Don't believe what they say, uncle Mike is grimy."

And uncle Mike WAS sorta grimy. He didn’t do anything to you personally, but you’ve heard stories.

Then one year, you bring your brand new boyfriend to the reunion and the minute uncle Mike starts walking towards you, you cringe. Shit. You forgot to explain uncle Mike, and now it’s too late. All the new boyfriend sees is this high water, surgical mask, lace front having skeleton dressed like a sea admiral who everyone seems to tip toe around.

"Who's that?"

"Oh, that's my uncle Mike," you say. Then whispher,"He's been through a lot. He got burned doing a Pepsi commercial once."

Then you get quiet, and put on your best smile because he’s watching. He comes over to say "Hi" in that soft, non-threatening way of his, and in spite of yourself, your smile becomes as genuine as a ten year old's on Christmas….because uncle Mike still has that effect on you.

“So what happened to him?” your boyfriend asks. Sigh. Where in the hell do you begin?

Depends on who you ask. Truth be told, Sweetie, everyone has a different reason why uncle Mike is so completely fucked up, but we don’t know for sure.

His father pushed him too hard. He got too famous too young. He was molested. His nose was too big and his brothers teased him because they were jealous. The assumptions go on and on.

But uncle Mike wasn’t always that way.

You were little, and can’t remember much, but you do remember how uncle Mike was neck and neck with Mickey Mouse as your favorite.

You remember back in the day, when your parents used to blast "Off The Wall", from beginning to end. And you danced and sang each and every word and begged them to play it over and over and over and over and…well, rock the night away.

Eff "the Thriller dance". Everybody knows that. Do they know the hieroglyphic steps to "Remember The Time"?

You remember how the whole family gathered around the TV because uncle Mike was gonna be on "The Grammys". "Motown 25" changed your life.

Shit. With one song, a song that wasn’t even in the original play, he single-handedly saved “The Wiz”.

He was the only singer whose videos were a worldwide event. They drove you insane, and scared the shit out of you. Uncle Mike took you there before anyone else, like nobody else.

Then you got older and listened again, with a grown-folk ear. “Lady In My Life” and a bottle of Cisco cost you your virginity….but you won’t tell HIM that.

You knew your uncle Mike was special, but how do you explain that? He was so damn special that he couldn't even handle it. You can't even imagine how big that burden is.

But you’ve got other people to introduce the new dude to, so you stop explaining.

The family is standing around, playing catch up. Some are over by the food table; putting a heap of mac and cheese on their plates, others are yelling at each other over a game of spades...it’s a perfect day. Till you glance around to find uncle Mike.

Damn that’s sad. He’s just off in the corner, feeding his…

“Is that a lama?!” your boyfriend asks.

“Yeah. It is.”

Nobody says anything. We’re used it. We’re FAMILY.

Everyone is just waiting on the day that uncle Mike just... gets...BETTER But they’re all glad he’s there. If he’s around, then we don’t have to wonder about him and what he’s gonna do next.

"We love you Mike," you overhear uncle Jermaine say. You glance over to catch them in a real hug. Wow.

Uncle Mike returns the love, but we all know, he doesn't believe it. It's not the first time he's heard it, and he didn't believe it then either.

If he did, he wouldn’t do that just "disappear" thing …and that’s usually when you'd hear about him doing some seriously questionable shit.

"Uncle Mike married Elvis daughter."

"Uncle Mike is carrying a monkey around with him...and Webster."

"Uncle Mike done rubbed all the black off him."

“Uncle Mike been letting little boys sleep with him.”

"Uncle Mike lost his house."

"Uncle Mike moved out of the country."

But then he'd show up and everyone would be so damn happy to see him, we'd forget about all that craziness. And for a hot minute, around all that love, we all hope that he'd just let it all go, and join the family again. Come on back uncle Mike. We forgive it all. Family dude. FAMILY.

But then he'd just walk off into another corner by himself …again.

The minute you weren't paying attention, too involved in the spades game or something, you look up, and realize uncle Mike has quietly slipped out without saying a word to anyone.

"Why he just leave like that?” asks boyfriend.

You shrug. That’s just uncle Mike. “Did I tell you about the time he…”


And then you stop short and suddenly get reeeeal quiet... because... aww shit.

Aunt Latoya just showed up.

...And that's a whole other story.


(...Goodbye Uncle Mike. We'll miss you.)