Aaron Hernandez (Football Star Charged)

Former Patriots Tight End Aaron Hernandez 

Opening: The case against Aaron Hernandez is unfortunate. Too often we see rising stars fall into negativity and loose it all. As I have been following the case very closely I have heard from legal analyst that Aaron Hernandez was arrested on Wednesday, June 26, 2012 because police say they have enough evidence to press charges against Hernandez for First degree murder.

Evidence: Text messages, gum, and a shell casing are just some of the evidence presented during the arraignment. We know that there is evidence in this case that may point Aaron Hernandez to the murder. Now it’s the defenses job to place doubt in a jury’s head. Since there still has not been a gun found it makes the prosecution’s case a little more difficult.

Media Reaction:  There are people on both sides of this case. Some believe Aaron Hernandez indeed murdered the victim and others do not believe it. I came across an Instagram post which read “That’s what he gets for committing murder”. But there was also a post that read “Thoughts and Prayers go to both Families.”

This is an unfortunate case all around. Whether Hernandez did it or not his life and career will never be the same neither will the lives of the victims’ family. Odin Lloyd (the murdered victim) is gone and his family has to mourn his death for the rest of their lives. And Hernandez’s family has to deal with a grueling case against a relative. There’s a very good lesson to be taken from this. Watch the company you keep. Hernandez may have or may not have murdered Oden Lloyd but there was enough reason to link him to the murder. If you know the people you hang out with are involved with illegal activity or may have dangerous personalities or a dangerous lifestyle STOP hanging out with them. Keep them at a distance. Yes, it’s nice to have people to talk to and hang out with but you have to be careful. Not everyone has good intentions and their defaults can drag you down with them. So remember to be safe, and think smart. If your gut is telling you no listen to it.

Stay tuned for more developing coverage on the case. My news network of choice is WHDH Boston. (local Boston news network) 

Graduation and Congratulations

Congratulations to the Class of 2013!!! We did it no matter what level of education you are graduating from this year you have made an immense accomplishment. This is just one step to greater things that are yet to come.

This has been an extremely long journey. But I always knew that I could not give up. I wanted to succeed. Although I do not like to give negative people satisfaction but they were one of the many reasons why I wanted to succeed and why I still want to accomplish so many goals. Getting a higher education level degree does set the stage for so much more. I am in no way saying that without a degree you cannot be successful but I am saying I think that it is an amazing stepping stone.

Yes I am proud of myself and all of the graduates of 2013 but I can’t help to wonder how many more students will attend schools that fail them. Or grow up in environments where they do not have the opportunity to flourish. I would think to write letters to congress and ask others to help these students but instead I plan on taking action and trying to help these students. With the help of awareness as well as the help of the community I hope to see many more students from inner city and urban communities as well as other impoverished neighborhoods attend higher education institutes and be successful in their goals.

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2013. We did it no matter what level of education you are graduating from this year you have made an immense accomplishment. This is just one step to greater things that are yet to come. With a change of the date one day a student may right these same lines down, but hopefully then students are being encouraged rather than dismayed. And hopefully there will be 1000+ more students who will graduate with a college degree than there were now. Together we can make my vision, and I hope so many other people’s vision, possible.

So just don’t be successful but be a platform for success. Remember those who have worked hard to get you where you are today. Good Faith. And God Bless

Vitiligo

I wanted to be white once.

Growing up in Bath, Maine I was the only black kid in my class.  I remember the first time I knew I was different.  We were learning about slavery. If looks could kill. The glares from the white kids in my class stung. They stared as if they were apologizing for what their ancestors had done to mine. I looked at my left hand resting on the desk. I noticed how dark it was. That was the first time I realized I was black. The first time I neglected the blood of my great-great great’s that ran through my veins.  The first time I covered my ears and eyes to all Dr. King, Malcolm X and Rosa Parks had done to make it possible for me to be the only black child in a white classroom. 

Still, I wanted to be white.

You should see my white friends attempting to run their hands through the tough terrain I call hair.

“Shawnee how do you get your hair to curl like that?”

“Shawnee, how do you get your hair to look like that when you braid it?”

They called it curls, I called it naps.  As I looked at their long, straight, silky hair, I asked them the same question in my head. The texture of my dark, kinky hair would never allow it to flow like theirs.  

I just wanted to be white.

I guess I had a serious case of vitiligo. I wanted skin that glowed as the sunlight glistened off of it.  Skin that tanned. Sometimes I would scrub my skin extra hard hoping I had a layer of white underneath all this dark.

I guess I had vitiligo of the soul. I would perfectly pronounce my words and let them carefully roll off of my tongue. Oreo- that’s what my cousins called me. I was black on the outside and white on the inside.

I just wanted to be white.

Race has been a major influence in how I view the world.  Growing up as a black female in Maine, white was my reality. As I got older, my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother helped me cope in a society that kept telling me that white was the only way to be  beautiful. My mother would always tell me I was beautiful. My grandmother let me know that “beauty was skin deep.” My great-grandmother told me stories on growing up in the 1920’s when black people were hated, beaten, and discriminated against, and how she was still “black and proud.”

Vitiligo really took its toll on me. It almost won. Almost. I realized that society is not just black and white- it is everything. Just because something is the “norm” doesn't mean you are abnormal because you are different. Everyone is beautiful-despite what society may try to say. Looking in the mirror, I see a beautiful person. Now, I have a case of confidence. Confidence? Yeah, I like the sound of that.