BLACK INFLUENCE WORLDWIDE EDITION: MUSIC

2/4/2019
Currently sitting here in Chinese New Year traffic on my way to the beach. Meanwhile, my family is back at home suffering in Arctic weather. It’s difficult to travel anywhere during Chinese New Year. My original plan was to go back home (Jersey), but my adventurous self was curious to see Chinese New Year first hand.
I live in a small, indigenous town. It’s an entire different vibe from the capital city Taipe, or what the media shows. It’s more raw here, very authentic. I’m also on the southeastern coast, that means I’m close to the beach, and it’s HEAVEN. The air is fresh, and so is the food. I got lucky.

Some mornings, I go for a swim at a local pool. One time (a few months ago), I spotted a beautiful image, that made my whole day.


IT’S A BLACK MUSIC TING!

I smiled when I first saw this.I’m not sure if it was an old music store, or just grafitti (the building was abandoned). Everyone all over the world loves Black Music, how can you not? Seeing this image in Taiwan also had me thinking what I’ve been thinking all along. Everyone loves our music, but they don’t want to hear it from us or give us our credit. I’m a music lover, listening to music is one hobby that I absolutely love. I love all genres, but nothing beats the music created by us (Black/African Americans). I’m an Old Soul, not just with music, but TV as well. I also love underground music, since mainstream has an agenda to dumb us down. Plus, I left mainstream music alone about 13 or 14 years ago. 

Nothing beats our music, we’re the originators. It’s a damn shame that we don’t receive credit for our accomplishments, I mean Rock and Roll was stolen from us, as well as R&B and Rap. This society wasn’t built for us, and now they want to take away one of the only things that keeps us together and having a good time….our music. Society has the world fooled when it comes to American music. 

There’s abosolutely nothing wrong with loving Black Music. I’m glad that the world is influenced by our creativity but, gives us our recognition and appreciation, come up with your own sh*t and stop stealing ours and saying that it’s yours. Due to the society we live in, we have to continue to fight just to inform the next generation of all the greatness accomplished by Africans worldwide…..Our current mainstream artist need to get a clue and wake up.

P.S- I’m just sayin’ my opinion that’s all!

BLACK INFLUENCE: WORLDWIDE EDITION.

IT’S FEBRUARY, SO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS: IT’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH. I LOVE CELEBRATING AND EMBRACING WHO I AM. FOR ME, BEING BLACK IS EXTRAORDINARY. WE ARE THE ORIGINAL PEOPLE, AND WITHOUT US AND OUR VARIOUS CULTURES, THIS “NEW WORLD” WILL BE DULL AS F*CK. YOU WILL NOTICE THIS, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU TRAVEL AS A BLACK PERSON.
BEING BLACK IN TAIWAN IS KINDA DOPE. I LIVE IN A SMALL TOWN SOUTHEAST OF THE ISLAND, SO THERE AREN’T AS MANY FOREIGNERS THAT VISIT LET ALONE LIVE HERE (AND THE FOREIGNERS THAT ARE HERE DON’T LOOK LIKE ME OF COURSE). SURPRISINGLY, THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN THE SWEETEST. OF COURSE, THERE ARE MANY STARES (WHICH I ALWAYS EXPECT WHEN TRAVELING ANYWHERE)BUT, THEY ALWAYS SAY WITH A HUGE SMILE (IN THEIR BROKEN ENGLISH): “HELLO!”, “HOW ARE YOU DOING?”, “WELCOME TO TAIWAN!”, “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!” YOU ALSO HAVE THE ONES WHO JUST STARE, AND ARE PROBABLY TALKING ABOUT YOU OUT LOUD IN THEIR LANGUAGE BUT, THEY FEEL MY SELF CONFIDENCE, WHICH MAKES THEM CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT THEY SAY. 
YOU’D ASSUME THAT I WAS THE ONLY BLACK PERSON IN THIS SMALL TAIWANESE TOWN….NOPE!THIS PAST NOVEMBER, THE WEEK BEFORE THANKSGIVING, THE TOWN HELD ITS ANNUAL FOOD FEST. THE WHOLE CITY ATTENDED, IT WAS EXTREMELY CROWDED, YET BEAUTIFUL. THE VENDORS WERE FROM ALL OVER ASIA, AND EVEN EUROPE. THE VARIETY OF FOODS WERE AMAZING. BUT AS SOON AS I ARRIVED, I SAW ANOTHER SISTAH FROM ALABAMA, AND SHE SAW ME AS WELL. I CAME ALONE WHILE SHE WAS WITH SOME FRIENDS. WE IMMEDIATELY INTRODUCED OURSELVES, AND I JOINED HER AND HER FRIENDS…..
EVER SINCE THEN, WE’VE BEEN STAYING IN TOUCH AND MEETING UP WHEN WE CAN (WE’RE BOTH BUSY AND LIVE ON THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF TOWN).

FOR BOTH OF US, IT’S A RELIEF WHEN WE HANG OUT. WE TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING. IT’S A RELIEF HAVING CONVERSATION WITHOUT CONSTANTLY EXPLAINING YOURSELF DUE TO THE IGNORANCE OF OTHERS. HOW AMAZING IT MUST BE FOR TWO SISTAHS FROM JERSEY AND ALABAMA TO MEET IN A SMALL TOWN IN TAIWAN, AND SERVE AS AMBASSADORS FOR OUR PEOPLE. COME ON FAMILY, LET’S SEE THE WORLD, WE’RE EVERYWHERE.


IMAGES VIA: 

http://gossipfromthegirlfriendgatherings.com/tag/travel/ & 
https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-cartoon-globe-image9942853

DON’T BE SELFISH.

MY “NEW YEAR RESOLUTION” FOR 2018 WAS TO MAKE SH*T HAPPEN! IF I REALLY WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH A GOAL, WHETHER IT WAS READING A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF BOOKS, OR GOING TO AN EVENT SUCH AS THE CURLFEST IN BROOKLYN (WHICH I ATTENDED), I MADE INTO A REALITY. 

ANOTHER PART OF THAT RESOLUTION WAS TO FINALLY MOVE FORWARD AND START BUILDING MY CAREER. I TOOK THE STEPS, AND DECIDED TO BEGIN IN THE HEART OF ASIA, TAIWAN. THIS WOULD BE MY FIRST TIME ANYWHERE IN ASIA. THE FIRST THING THAT CAME TO MY MIND ABOUT TAIWAN WAS, RICH CULTURE AND SWEET PEOPLE (WHICH THEY HAVE). I CAN SEE WHY IT’S THE HEART OF ASIA. 
I WAS EXCITED WHEN I ARRIVED IN TAIWAN. BUT IT WAS FAR FROM EASY TO ADJUST, ESPECIALLY FINANCIALLY.
I WAS SO READY TO MOVE FORWARD, THAT I IGNORED SOME REALITIES, ONE BEING THAT I HAD LITTLE SAVINGS. I DIDN’T THINK ABOUT MY SAVINGS, I WAS JUST READY TO MOVE ON.
THANKFULLY, I HAD MY FAMILY’S HELP, LOVE AND SUPPORT. THEY SAW WHAT I REALLY WANTED. BUT I REALIZED THAT MY ACTIONS WERE SELFISH. IT’S EMBARASSING TO ADMIT BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE SELFISH, OR SEEN AS A SPOILED BRAT. I’M MORE THAN GRATEFUL THAT I’M STILL HERE IN TAIWAN, AND I HAVE MY OWN MONEY AND A BIGGER SAVINGS BUT PLEASE, DON’T BE SELFISH LIKE I WAS.

P.S- THIS POST IS NEEDED TO SHOW EVERYONE THAT THE TRAVELING PROCESS ISN’T ALWAYS HEAVENLY.

PASSION…LET’S GO!

TRAVELING THE WORLD HAS BEEN MY ONE AND ONLY LIFETIME GOAL. AS A KID, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE WORLD, THE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, CUSTOMS, CELEBRATIONS ETC. LIKE MANY OF US, I WAS ASKED, “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?” FIRST, I WANTED TO BE A TEACHER, THEN AN ASTRONAUT, A RAPPER, AN ATHLETE, COLLEGE PROFESSOR AND EVEN A MISSIONARY. NOW WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT, I REALLY DIDN’T HAVE FULL PASSION FOR ANY OF THESE CAREERS. WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO DO WAS TRAVEL THE WORLD. I NEVER THOUGHT OF HOW I WAS GOING TO SUPPORT MYSELF. I JUST WANT TO SEE THE WORLD.

SEEING THE WORLD HAS BEEN MY ONE AND ONLY PASSION, AND IN MY SHORT LIFE, I HAVE TRAVELED TO VARIOUS PLACES, AND CURRENTLY LIVE ABROAD AND I LOVE IT!. 
I CREATED THIS SPACE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE MY PERSONAL TRAVEL EXPERIENCES, FEELINGS AND OPINIONS. 
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING, I HOPE YOU WILL GROW THIS SPACE WITH ME.
LET’S GO!!!