Starting Your Dreams Later In Life and Embracing the Detour

Jenee Darden speaking at Creative Mornings I know it's been a while since I've posted anything but that's because of my job. I'm working as a reporter covering Oakland and I host an arts segment on the radio where I get to interview amazing artists from around the Bay Area. Plus I'm publicizing my book  and building my speaking career!  You know what's funny? I thought this would all happen by the time I was 27-30.  Nope. That wasn't God's plan for me. I'm finally beginning to do the things I've wanted to do and I'm almost 40 years old. Some people reading this who are 40 will say 40 is still young. But some younger people reading may think 40 is nearly ancient. But I'm writing this post for those who like me, thought their career and personal dreams would come true much early in life. I'm here to tell you not to give up.  You know, death inspires life. A number of my relatives and friends have passed away, ranging in

Kids NEED to Hear Pres. Obama's Message

I grew up in a bi-political family. My father is a Republican. My mother is a liberal. If the first Pres. Bush or Pres. Clinton made a speech about going to college when I was a kid, my parents would tell me to listen to both. Sure, they would make some snarky comment about the president they didn't side with politically. However, they would've wanted me to get the message. GO TO COLLEGE. Sitting at home all day at 18, drinking Kool-Aid and bumming them for $5 was not gonna happen. Knowing my parents back in the day, they would've told me to repeat what the presidents said and I how I felt about their speeches. That was back in the 80s and early 90s, before the red and blue state division looked more like a Bloods and Crypts rivalry. Not allowing children to hear the President of the United States speak about staying in school is absurd. All of this because people are paranoid Pres. Obama will inject his politics. First he was trying to kill old people with his health care plan. Now he wants to brainwash our children. God forbid an educated black man who is the leader of this country would encourage children to elevate their minds and pursue higher education on the first day of school. Would the opposers be more comfortable if he was pop-lockin', doing the running man and telling yo'mama jokes on air? Wait, let me put my race card back in my pocket. We don't want to go there.

Look at all the trouble his speech could cause--some kids may try to be better students or even listen to their teachers. Maybe tonight, a child will take their homework more serious than before. That's an evil move Mr. President. And he picked the absolute worst time to do it. American students are severely behind in math and science compared to other countries like China. Some U.S. cities have high school dropout rates above 50 percent. I remember when people still respected the president even if they didn't agree with him. Whether we liked him or not, he was still our leader. Preventing children from listening to Pres. Obama's message tells me some of these kids are growing up in households where they're not taught to "agree to disagree." Mommy and Daddy are conservatives so I can't listen to a liberal president deliver a universal message? I thought this was the UNITED States, not Divided States. How are children supposed to learn to communicate with others they disagree with? Instead, kids are learning not to respect the president who has a different political position from them.

Speaking of position, Van Jones quit his. Not a shocker. He stepped down from White House Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I'm surprised the Obama Administration didn't know Jones signed a petition in 2004 questioning whether the U.S. government allowed the 9/11 attacks to happen. Well, now that the Special Advisor for Green Jobs is gone, the country is safe and Glenn Beck can sleep better now. After all, signing a silly petition and calling someone an a-hole is way more dangerous then igniting paranoia and lying on the airwaves that our biracial president is a racist. Pres. Obama loved his white mother and grandmother, but he's a racist? And telling children to go to college is bad? Maybe if I hear it a few more times it'll start to make sense.


Read Pres. Obama's speeh here

Comments