A Return to Arms aka An Inside View of Intersections and How All Black Lives Matter

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I rated this book:  * * * * *

A Return to Arms is the story of Toya a black lesbian activist trying to navigate her way through both life and the passages of the Black Lives Matter movement. Her life is a daily struggle of a young person trying to convince the rest of America that Black Lives Matter while attempting to convince the Organization, Rise Up of which she is an active member, that ALL Black Lives Matter. That women, queer people, children, men, single, straight, asexual, all of the intersections of Black Lives must Matter.

As Toya navigates her way through the rising tension and societal that arises after the killing of an unarmed teen by a police officer and the subsequent unrest she deals with the uncertainty of her relationship with another activist who believes that the cause must come before anything else, even her love life.

I hate spoilers so I hope you can get the gyst of the story from what I’ve written above but in two sentences: A Return To Arms is a love story, Love of self, love of community. And a story about the measures so many under represented activists go through to demand equality both in their communities and in the world.

I’m a Sheree L Greer stan. I LOVE everything she writes. I’m sharing that with full disclosure mostly because during a conversation with Sheree about why I don’t really like to review books by people I love, I worry that that love will interfere with me giving an honest unbiased review and she advised me to do the review as authentically as I could, “You call yourself Authentically Adrien be authentic.” Or something like that. Anyways,  This book is phenomenal. It is her best work. It is the work that I sit back and wait patiently to be dissected by  major blogs. It is the book that should land her on the New York Times Bestsellers List. (If it doesn’t you hating)

From the opening paragraph through the last sentence THE LAST SENTENCE I was hooked. I followed Toya’s story like my life depended on it possibly because I am Toya, Black, Queer, Woman, Activist. But also because Toya is so well written. I read somewhere once that an author’s job is to make you feel something and OH did we Feel something. We felt ALL the things. Including the music. I couldn’t quite pinpoint the words to the soundtrack of this book but I could feel the rhythm in the center of my back. I could sense the tempo under my palms as I inhaled this novel from tense movement to sexual moment to heartbreaking earth shattering moment.

I lived through these characters. I understood every single one of them and I even empathized for the characters that I hated. Sheree’s writing makes sure that you understand and relate to both antagonists and protagonists alike. It took me to the different settings and left me with vivid guttural images of the protest scenes. If you have never been to a rally you can officially make that claim after you read this book and I hope that it will help you to understand the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement if you don’t already.

Be prepared to have some interesting dialogue after you read this book and if you know Sheree personally and you text her in the middle of the night to say things like “Seriously? I hate that dude.” or “OH MY GOD.” Let her know that you didn’t get the idea to do so from me.

 

Purchase A Return to Arms Here.

Read more by/about Sheree L Greer Here.

I received this book to review in exchange for an advanced copy of the book. (Ya’ll know I like books!)

Dear America Please Educate Your Children

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Reasons why you can’t solely depend on the education system (public or private) to educate your children:
People think the Black Panthers were an anti-white, racist, cop killing organization. 
People are unaware that there is proof that the government was found guilty in civil court for the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

People still think that Africa is a country. 

#Get #In #Formation Google is practically free. 
 
S/N: Black, white, or otherwise do your research and don’t comment craziness on my post.  

 

I Hate People

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I hate people. I’m not supposed to say that. I’m not living in the world of the ordinary and so I suppose I am supposed to love everyone… but for real, authentically; and that’s who I proclaim to be, I FUCKING hate people.

WHY:

People are selfish

People are inconsistent

People only show up for you when they can gain something from you

People are people

But as I reflect on this I realize that we create these relationships with people. We teach them how to treat us, we let them know what they can expect from us, we accept their bullshit and we keep going back for more. We are addicted to whatever good feelings they give us so no matter what they put us through we keep playing their game.

So what then? It is statistically improbable that you can live an amazing life all alone and never depend on another person for anything. Name one person whose life you admire. Now look up their support system. Not one of those people is able to live that life without a significant amount of encouragement and support. We as people need people to survive.

Ok so now what Adrien, You’re going back and forth you hate people but you need them. What are you even talking about?

I’m talking about loving people as they are and making the necessary changes you need to survive. You can love your mother and be free of whatever pisses you off about her. Tell her what that is and get over it. The same goes for your best friend. Your aunt. Your mailman. Whoever. Have a conversation where you let them know what the issue is. Let them know that you’re not blaming them, you’re just informing them of what doesn’t work for you. From there move on. Strengthen your relationship or if that relationship no longer serves you let it go. There’s nothing wrong with ending a friendship that is no longer working for any of the people involved. Hell, Beyonce just fired her whole damn management team.

Oh yeah, And this is my When I get rich “You wasn’t with me when I was shooting in the gym.” Post

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The Face You Make When You Say Something Crazy On The Internet

 

12 Commandments of Happy Adrien

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Cleaning my office I found a list of commandments that I created for myself while reading  Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. I’m posting them here because I find a lot of inspiration from others and maybe you do too.

  1. Be Adrien
  2. Let it GO!
  3. Act they way you want to feel.
  4. Do it not.
  5. Be Polite. Be Fair.
  6. Enjoy the process.
  7. Spend Out
  8. Identify the problem.
  9. LIGHTEN UP.
  10. Do what needs to be done.
  11. No calculation.
  12. There is only one life. LIVE IT!!!

The Doll Maker Book 1/100

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Last year I challenged myself to read 150 books. I had no idea that I would decide to chase my dreams, change my major, start multiple new businesses, or just be all around ridiculously awesome. This year I’ve taken that fact into account and am challenging myself to read 100 books.   
 
  
Book 1: The Doll Maker by Richard Montanari which I gave 3 *** 

  
It’s a decent book with a good plot line. Sometimes authors go really far to prove to you that their characters are super smart. If you do that you have to make sure that they don’t make really stupid mistakes. If you don’t your audience spends too much time annoyed that someone so smart would do something so out of character. 

S/N

I found out that this book is number 8 in a series. I wasn’t inspired to go and find the others. 
#JustMyTwoCents #AmReading #GoodReads

Don’t Let Me Go- Yay For Diverse Books

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Mrs. Hyde crafted a remarkably realistic novel. 

The characters were well developed and relatable. I cared about every single character and all of their nuisances and I could barely stand to be away from their apartment building until the story was over. 

The diversity of the cast was so realistic. I get really tired of reading books where the characters don’t reflect the community that they live in. This is not the case with this book. I can’t recall another book with such a diverse cast of characters who were so thoroughly researched and represented. 

The plot line kept me interested and invested from beginning to end. 
 She handled such sensitive subjects as suicide, drug abuse, racism, and advanced age with such grace. 

I’d recommend this book to anyone who feels alone. There is always a community waiting to accept you. 

Cancer Fucking Sucks

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An aquantiance of mine passed away this morning after losing her battle with cancer. Her mother told me over the phone because I was supposed to be meeting up with her to give her the donations the community collected at Oral Fixation. She says to me, after I tell her that I’ll bring it Saturday, “At that point all that I can do with it is get flowers or something.” And of course I say the stupid shit that people say “I’m sorry for your loss.” Like my apologies or money  for flowers will make up for the fact that tomorrow is Christmas and she has to prepare to bury her child. Like my apologies can make up for the fact that her grandson is now without a mother. 

That’s the part that gets me. The reason I just walked back out of work and sat down in my car; her son. I bonded with Shawna over that fact that we were both raising preteen boys. I admired the strength with which she excelled at this. Something so many people seem to struggle with, raising boys, black boys, in today’s climate. I admired her and I wanted to be more like her. Now I think of how quickly something can come in and turn your entire world upside down. I think of all of the many children who would give back all of the gifts in the world to have five more minutes with their mothers. And I weep. Knowing that my tears mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. 

I’m angry. At cancer. At the thing that keeps taking loved ones as if it will never get its fill and I say Fuck Cancer, knowing that that too means nothing. 

It’s Not Easy Being Me

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It’s not easy being me.

Some days I don’t want to be me.

Sometimes the burden of proof is too heavy. Too hard. Too exhausting.

You get tired of explaining that your intentions are pure.

That you’re not angry.

Not a bitch.

That you’re happy. And loving. And caring. But you can have all the actions to support those things and people will still see the versions of you that they want to see.

 

 

On Why I Am NOT Here For Arming College Students

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I have said this before: I am a college student. I sit in classes with adult sized children who don’t want to fully participate in class until they realize that they are going to fail then get pissed with the professors for “failing them”. Who then try to manipulate those same professors into passing them because, you know, life is so hard for most college students.

I have witnessed deplorable amounts of entitlement portrayed in some very interesting ways including throwing things and refusing to leave classes “because the teacher is being unfair” to them, though they are the one’s who have exhibited some kind of behavior which warrants their removal from class.
I have close friends who are professors who have quite a few stories about how angry college students behave.
 
I have witnessed drunk, drugged, and angry students act out; in college classrooms.
 
In this country we don’t have a great history of young people bringing guns into school. Illegally or otherwise.
For Example:
  • Columbine was angry entitled children shooting up a school because they were pissed off.
  • In March 2015 Christopher Sean Marcer Hill shot and killed nine people; fellow students and a teacher at the college that he attended.
  • February 2008 Steven Kazmierczak killed 5 people at the college that he attended.
I could literally do this all day but I won’t, the information is out there and very easy to find. Google Shootings at schools in America and be extremely saddened by the amount of results you receive in 0.6 seconds.
 
Some people see these instances and say oh if the other people had guns they could have protected themselves, even though gun ownership data concludes that “Owning a gun has been linked to higher risks of homicide, suicide, and accidental death by gun.”
 
And that’s what we want in our schools? As a student and the parent of a student that is the furthest thing from what I want in our schools.