LIVity

Since I've entered my end of the semester crunch time, I've been on the train at all hours of the night trying to get home from school. No matter how late I've been on the train, there's always some middle schoolers on it too. The fact that they're hanging out with their friends on a school night is a direct indication of what the school system is not doing. Did you know that in the last two to three years at least 300 D.C. public school teachers were laid off?? I don't know how to fix the school system's problems but I'm guessing that having a sufficient amount of teachers is a major part of it. And...in order to keep teachers you have to pay them. Did you know that the D.C. Council rejected a proposition to take $75 million from the stadium project and give it to D.C. schools and libraries?? Did you know that 33 percent of D.C. residents are functionally illiterate?? This is a classic example of misplaced priorities.

Okay, I'm going to attempt a more personal entry once again (I hope I don't bore everybody to death this time around). Last spring, I was hanging out with a group of about 15 people in which I was one of two persons of color. As our time together was coming to an end, one of the group members began quoting Dave Chappelle. He got to a line that contained the word, n***a...you can imagine the tightness in my chest while I waited to hear if he would say it. I'm not going to go into the rest but let's just say the night ended and I was not a happy camper. My point in recounting this story is to remind everybody to simply think before they open their mouths. It's one of those principles we're taught early on by our parents; obviously some people need a refresher course. The world would be a much better place if people were more sensitive towards others. And to all of my many extremely talented friends who have the potential to be in the public eye, always think about the consequences of your actions. You never know who your audience will be so it's better to keep sensitive topics confined within a safe space. Going back to the Chappelle example, it is all fun and games until something like what happened to me happens.