It's cold out...

I was FREEZING on my way to work . Today I did a good dead .  Honest truth , I felt warmer after I did what I did . I am not feeling the homeless people out in the street at all. It is going to be a brutal winter and we need to help them out as much as we can . Especially those that are disabled and can not be employed . Think about this .

Its almost 1am

I am up watching the Tyra banks show. Tonight's segment is on women and domestic violence. This month is domestic violence awareness month. I am really sensitive about this subject. A couple of years ago my high school girlies and I lost a close friend to domestic violence. Though at the time of this crime , Eva and I had grown a little distant, her death affected me a lot. Eva was my first friend in high school. Her parents we're cool with my parents and she would come chill at my house during weekends. I had a lot of good times with her and my friends can say the same. It's crazy how when someone is gone you remember every detail of the good times. I have the worst time remembering anything these days. However, from time to time I find myself thinking about Eva , little things here and there remembering every single detail. Tonight while watching the Tyra banks show and listening to the girls tell their stories I started thinking about Eva again. Honestly there is not a day that I don't think about her.
Growing up I also witnessed acts of domestic violence against two teenage girls from my block . They were older then me. I must have been around ten or eleven. This situation taught me from young to never let a man put his hands on me. Eva's situation taught me to be extremely careful with who I date. Honestly, the first time a guy makes me feel uncomfortable , I cut him off. I take it as a sign . I might be paranoid and might go overboard with it sometimes but I refuse to put myself in that situation . I am scared of getting caught up. Some warning signs of domestic violence are as follows:

• uses force or violence to solve problems; quick temper; cruel to animals; over-reacts to little problems and everyday frustrations.
  
• abuse of drugs and alcohol.
  
• jealous; wants to keep tabs on where you are at all times; prohibits you from pursuing other relationships.
• become angry if their wishes are not fulfilled.
  
• have strong ideas about traditional roles family members should adhere to.

If you or someone you know is being abused please get help.

I told you so...

People are definitely going hungry in our city. In 2007 3.1 million New Yorkers found it difficult to afford food for themselves and their families. Those hungry people include women, children, seniors, the working poor , and people with disabilities. On top of that , they can not afford the healthy foods causing diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Want to help? You can help feed the hungry in two different ways.

From now through January you can feed hungry New Yorkers through your local supermarket. It is called Check-out Hunger. It is very simple. All you have to do is shop at any of the supermarkets listed below. Choose a coupon priced $1, $3 or $5. The Cashier person will scan and that is the amount you have to donate. Don't be cheap, think about the hungry, seriously. Some of the participating supermarkets are : Shop Rite, The Food Emporium, Fairway , and Pathmark.

From October 20th through December 31st NYC Goes Orange. NYC's skyline will go orange and it will not be because of Halloween. Orange is the color of hunger awareness. Through this period of time , individuals and companies alike will be finding ways to raise funds and awareness to help those that can not afford food. If everyone does their part the world would be a bit more of a better please. I am asking , do your part. Hopefully someone from the Olive Garden will read this and do their part too.

GRRRRRR...

I just hate waking up turning on NY1 and hearing more sad news about people killing people. Too many people crying over a lost one. What the hell is the point ? I just never understood the point of taking away another person's life. If you are reading this and you are thinking about using a taser , a gun, a knife or what ever to hurt someone I would like you to think about it first. Think about the family this person would leave behind. Put yourself in that person's shoes. Think about the consequences you will face . Put the weapon down ... thanks .

P.S. If you are feeling insecure as if life is unfair , the only person that can change that is you . Do not go out there making someone else miserable because of your misery. It's just not right and it is not what we were put on this earth to do. Learn to forgive... I'm not saying forget ... but just dust shit off and things will be better for you. and if it's all about money issues , go find a job or hustle or something ... we all have money issues right now. If you have not tuned in ... the US is in a bad economic state. so chances are you will be hurting someone that might not have anything in his pocket . How sad would that be if it were you ?

Do it because you want to do something Good

Hey Help out my boy Mike and his crew:

Dear Friends, Family, and Colleagues.
As many of you know I am about to embark on a cross-country tour with a talented art collective/mural crew called The Trust Your Struggle Collective. I will be supporting their mural tour with workshops and technology assistance in the form of the tour's own blog and web promotion

The Trust Your Struggle Collective is a group of visual artists, educators, and friends dedicated to social justice and community activism through the medium of visual art. The collective is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City. They work in conjunction with several other collectives and groups to produce art exhibits and community based events.

In the year of 2006 the collective completed a tour in which they painted political and socially conscious murals throughout parts of Latin America. The tour, entitled Trust Your Hustle Mural tour was a two month long traveling mural project. . The collective traveled to communities that they felt were misrepresented, repressed, and forgotten by the majority and engaged it's residents in mural projects. The collective is currently preparing to create a national U.S. tour based on this model. The 2008 Trust Your Hustle Mural tour will take place from July to August. It will begin in Brooklyn, New York and travel through Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin, Albuquerque, Phoenix, and L.A. The tour will end in San Francisco, California with a culminating exhibition at the Galería de La Raza

The goal of the Trust Your Struggle Collective is to work with groups of people who are striving to make a positive change in their environment., The tour facilitates an exchange of culture, visual art, and political education. All murals are created in collaboration with local artists, cultural centers, youth, activists, or graffiti collectives. The 2006 tour took the crew through the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Another integral component of the mural tour is to help facilitate mural/art workshops as well as panel discussions in the communities where the mural is to be painted. The workshops and panel discussions exemplify their commitment , to the power of n the human connection through the arts. In the past, Trust Your Struggle Collective has facilitated workshops and participated on panels a the following institutions: Virginia Tech University, Trinity College in Connecticut, University of the Arts in Boston, and Casa de Artesana and University of San Carlos, both in Guatemala.

We are still in great need of fiscal donations. Driving across the country with the ever growing cost of gas is going to be a feat in and of itself. Anything from $10 to $1000 will help. Donations can be made at www.trustyourstruggle.com via credit/debit cards and paypal.

Thank you in advance for your support,