A Long Walk Home

As many of you may know, last week a Chicago Public High School Honor Student named Derrion Albert was beaten to death during a melee that occurred a block away from Fenger High School. From what has been said, there has been trouble brewing between a group of neighborhood kids, and a group of kids from a nearby housing project that take public transportation to the school. The neighborhood kids were attacking the commuting students on the bus stops after school while they were waiting on buses home.

On this particular day, a large group of students from both sides, as well as students passing by on their way from school were assembled in a street near the school. Some young people were swinging large railroad ties (2x4 style pieces of wood) at one another and fist fighting. Derrion Albert was one of the student watching the melee unfold, when he was struck in the head with a railroad ties, then continued to be stomped and beaten as he lay dying on the ground. A worker from the youth center in front of which this took place then dragged his limp body into the buildng, where he died. There was a single police car on the scene, but the officers did not exit the vehicle because they felt outnumbered.

The events were caught on amateur video (ironically, as though this event was planned or something) and more information on the story can be found here. There was a video that contains very graphic content, but I believe that the Chicago Tribune has taken it down. The video helped lead to the arrest of 4 young men, who have been charged with first-degree murder.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/boy-16-found-slain-on-far-south-side.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-teen_killed_roselandsep26,0,5094890.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-fenger-student-beating-29-sep29,0,7259806.story

I know I'll get plenty of backlash for this, but I would have been perfectly ok with the cops getting out and busting caps in all the hooligans wielding 2x4s. Yup, I said it! They may have been outnumbered, but as a fairly good shot myself, thats at least 12 shots between the two. More of they were packing 9s. I wont make excuses for these children's behavior. Despite their possibly poor upbringing, I dont know anybody anywhere who doesnt realize that if I hit somebody with this wood, they will be hurt seriously and/or die. I know people from the roughest parts of the city. Who have seen their friends killed one by one, have been involved in the violence themselves, and not one of them has said to me that they didnt know what they were doing was wrong. Yes, its sad that more parents are not involved in their childrens lives. In many cases, the parents are working round the clock to make ends meet, and may not be aware that their children are out here destroying our communities. Two of the young men involved in this melee HAVE NO CRIMINAL RECORD. So as much as I like to blame parents, these students knew that what they were doing was wrong. I hope they are punished to the fullest extent of the law, and incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives.

As a parent, I can only pray that my son is able to walk a few blocks home from school without being beaten to death. While everyone says parents should walk their child to and from school, I work til 4:30pm, and my son (who is in 3rd grade) gets out at 2:45. Fortunately, I have family that can walk him to and fro, but not everyone does. Does that mean they are bad parents? Does it mean they haven't taught their children right and wrong? Even from early adolescence, children start to form their own opinions and make their own decisions that go against what they've been taught. Small children lie, some hide things they know they shouldn't have, and get into other mischief. So by the time they get to high school, they are well aware of what they should and should not do. Cause if those officers had gotten out all politely trying to talk to folks, I believe they may have been ambushed as well. I could go on and on about this, but I'll stop. Wooo saaa.

R.I.P. Derrion Albert, so sad to see you go.

Come On Now 'Yeezy

(c)2009 - Chris Polk / Getty Images

Ok, so initially I decided not to blog about this, because I felt like it was too ridiculous to even be worth my time. But now, it's been irritating me so much that I can no longer hold in my words. For the few people on Earth who don't know what happened, here's the brief recap: Taylor Swift was at the MTV Video Awards and won an award for Female Video of the Year. During her acceptance speech, Kanye comes on stage, takes the mic from her, and then talks about how Beyonce had the video of the decade, hangs Taylor the mic and walks off, amidst boos from the crowd.

Though I believe that Kanye West is a musical genius, I think that this incident (amongst his others) shows me that he has the emotional maturity of a preschooler. He is constantly in need of attention, and though most would like to blame this on his mother's passing, he was this way long before. He is a brat who doesnt understand that there is a time and place for everything. He gets angry at the papparazzi for taking his picture, then goes and does some ridiculous ish like this to get attention. I'm starting to think the man needs to be committed, or at least undergo some SERIOUS counseling.

Fortunately, Beyonce was classy enough to allow Taylor to properly give her speech when she (Beyonce) won another award later in the night. Beyonce looked shocked when Kanye climbed up on stage in the first place, so it was nice of her to share her spotlight w/Taylor. But Yeezy? You're starting to look even more clownish than most people already think you are. And I'm standing on the line between not supporting your music, because I'm not a fan of your antics.

MsChiGyrl has spoken.

F**k Christian Louboutin! Yup, I said it! LOL

Ok, so anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fashionista. Not because I don't know who the hot designers are. Not because I can't afford them. It's because I prefer comfort over style. So I keep it hood casual when I'm not at work, business casual at work, and date casual when I'm on dates. I own 3x more sneakers than heels, have over 20 pairs of jeans, and so many tees, hoodies, track suits, sweaters, and jackets.

Recently I decided to stop my tomboyish, fashion victim ways, and start to girl it up a bit. Yet and still, more men approach when I'm rocking my Chucks and some jeans, than when I'm rocking stilettos and a dress. What's up with that? Still, I wont lose hope that this new style will be a good decision. I've given away and thrown away over 100 pounds of old clothes, and I'm still working to get rid of a few more items. Ive given away 20 pairs of sneaks, and still have a few dozen to give away before I'm done. (Of course I have to keep a few pair, just in case this mission fails).

So do we really dress for others? Or are we fly for ourselves? I know that I always give myself the once over to make sure my hair isnt sticking up, or that I washed all the eye boogers away, but for the most part, I wear what I think is cute and what feels good. I saw a high school classmate of my with some FLY ass jeans on. But they were so bright that I'd probably opt away from them for all the attention they would draw. My cousin has some absolutely fly heels she spent a ridiculous amount of money on, they look great, but she will admit they hurt like all get out.

So despite thinking, 'man I would be one bad chick in that right there', I'm taking baby steps. Maybe I'll like this whole 'dang, my feet hurt but these are some fly a** shoes' thing. I'll be sure to post pics of my journey from drab to fab. LMAO.

Real Love Never Goes Away

Well, you all are about to get to read about a side of me that I dont share with everyone often. So enjoy the read...

I've learned recently that it is entirely possible to love someone, but move forward into a relationship with someone else. I always thought I knew what love was, and what it felt like. But after I lost real love, I realize that I didnt have a clue.

Not too long ago I lost a man that I loved so much, because I allowed what other people said to me begin to cloud my judgement and make me doubt that they way he was treating me was genuine. I stopped trusting him, and as a result of snooping and spying, he walked out of my life. Initially, I was a wreck. I was drinking more than I should have, crying for what seemed like forever. I couldn't eat nor sleep, and probably looked like the walking dead, despite my best attempts to hide my pain.

This man moved on, and is now in a relationship. Initially, I was angry and hurt because it has only been a few months since we last saw one another, and I thought he moved on so quickly. I thought that is meant he never really cared about me if he wasnt feeling the hurt that I felt. Crazy and unusual things kept happening to me, which I guess was just God's way of keeping us apart. But him finding a new love was the wake up call that I needed to realize that for whatever reason, we weren't meant to be together, and it was only right for me to try to pick up the pieces of my heart and move on.

So I began to try to find ways to meet people. I had decided for the most part that I would stop taking recommendations from friends because thats what I'd been doing my whole life, and that wasn't working out so well. So I would smile more as I went through my day, and despite getting many smiles in return, I never got stopped on the street and asked out. I started partying like a rock star in order to get out and meet more people, but none reall caught my eye.

I even joined a dating website that some of my friends used to meet people. It was so highly regarded on the radio that I decided to give it a try. I hate that work and school take up so much of my time that I'm not able to get out there and mingle, but that's what's important right now, so I have to stay focused. Out of the many people who contacted me, I've only actually met one. And so far, he's a really good guy, with whom I have a lot in common. I'm taking things slowly, and will see if anything more than a friendship comes of it.

But the one thing that has not changed in the entire time since I learned that the last guy has a new girl is that I still love him. I wish him well in his new relationship, despite it not being with me. He deserves to be in love and to experience everything that love can offer him. He has been through a lot, and though he feels like he has to do it all by himself, I am glad that he is choosing to share the load he carries with someone else. Does me loving him keep me from being open to the possibility of being in love again? No, it doesn't. But it does help me to appreciate how real love feels, so that I can recognize it if I find it again.

Now my girlfriend's of course feel that I should be angry that he wasn't willing to work it out. That I'm crazy for wishing him well with this next woman. That I should continue to fight to get him back from her. But that isn't love. I love him enough to want him to be happy, and because of the petty thing I did that caused our separation, I can't blame him for feeling anything other than what he did. I hurt him because I didnt fully understand how he felt about me. That's my cross to carry. But I can say with certainty that I will love this man from now to eternity, but am more than sure that I will be in love with someone again when the time is right.