Obama Won, Now What?

This morning many of us awoke, with smiles on our faces and hope in our hearts; still on our Obama high, and rightfully so. We came together and made sure our voices were heard. We exercised our hard fought right to vote and re-elected a man that we believe will steer our country into the right direction, and yes, that man is black.

Ever since we first elected President Barack Obama, black people have been able to believe that we really can do anything if we put our minds to it, even become the President of the United States. But we mustn’t forget that our civic duties don’t end with the re-election of our black President. In fact, we must continue to fight for what is right in our communities even after President Obama has vacated The White House.

There were so many people that voted for the first time when President Obama ran in 2008, and it is imperative that we as a people continue to vote going forward. As was proved last night, our votes do count.

While it is inspiring to see a family we can relate to in The White House, that should NOT be the only motivator for black Americans to vote. It is my hope and the hope of many others that going forward our interests in politics remains heightened and that we, as a people continue to take an active interest into policies that ultimately affect our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

So, we’ve re-elected President Obama, now what? Now is the time to take the steps in our own personal lives to ensure a better America. Now is the time to work hard to achieve our dreams. And now is the time to come together as a country, help one another and always do what we can to make sure our voices our heard. FOUR MORE YEARS!

Life Is A Fashion Show

There’s always so much chatter about how we ladies dress and for whom we are dressing for. Well, I’m here to settle it once and for all fellas, we dress for ourselves and sometimes for each other. That’s right, when I’m putting together a super kyndafly look; I’m doing it to look my most fly and well, for the accolades of my fellow fashionistas. Not to say we don’t appreciate when a gentleman values our innate fashion sense, but we are usually looking for applause from the same sex.

It’s kind of how you guys like to one up each other when playing video games or doing shots, we participate in an unspoken fashion competition. Basically we like to live our lives as though they are real life fashion shows, whether at work or a night on the town. And we can’t wait to strut down the runway (also known as the street or hallway). In fact, there are so many purchases that are so pleasing, so much so that I can’t wait to incorporate them into my wardrobe and show it off for my girls. And while each of us always wants to be the most fly, we can’t help but compliment our fellow kyndafly chicks on their fashion hits.

This phenomenon is no better represented than with the plethora of images uploaded to social media networks on the daily showcasing us ladies in our best fits. What better option is there to share a fabulous look with all your friends? So fellas, while you often reap the benefit of seeing us in our best looks, know that deep down, it’s really something we do it for our friends and ourselves. I think Drake said it best, “And you don’t do it for the men, men never notice, you just do it for yourself, you the f*****g coldest.”

Happy 40th Birthday Title IX

It’s been 40 years since Congress signed the legislation, Title IX (nine, for those of you that are Roman Numeral challenged), which broke the gender barrier in sports. In fact, according to www.titlenine.com, in 1972 there were 30,000 girls participating in high school sports, and today there are over 3,000,000.

Those numbers were nowhere more evident in this year’s recent Olympic games.  The U.S. Women athletes won over half of the total medals, and 66% of gold medals. Without the contribution of these fierce young ladies, our country might not have garnered the most medals at the games.

However, while there are significantly more girls and women participating in sports, all things are not equal. Besides the WNBA, there are no other professional sports leagues for women. And even with the WNBA, there have been challenges filling seats at the games. Additionally, women are not paid equally in other sport’s jobs.

Which is all very interesting when you consider how high ratings were for the Olympics, especially for women’s events. Women’s gymnastics, volleyball, basketball and soccer were must see events during. Not to mention women’s tennis and swimming. There’s an interest in watching talented female athlete’s excel, therefore hope does exist for spectators of women’s sporting events.

At one point, women athletes were happy just to have their own uniforms, but those days are long gone. Women will continue to fight for equality in sports as they do in other areas. But, as we ladies continue on this journey of equality in life and sports, let’s bask in the glow of the U.S. women’s athletes’ performance at the 2012 games!