After six years of blogging on WordPress, I will be shutting this site down and moving to a webhost that better suits my needs as an “authorpreneur”. I will no longer be blogging here, but I still have PLENTY to say and places to say it. Please continue to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok!
Ms. Chantal Speaks on “Fitting”
Ms. Chantal Speaks On Being Gifted and Targeted
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Ms. Chantal Speaks.
2023 – Doing Things Differently
Kwanzaa 2022 – Day 7
IMANI: Faith
To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
It all comes down to this one.
This day focuses on honoring the best of our traditions, draws upon the best in ourselves, and helps us to strive for a higher level of life for humankind by affirming our self-worth and confidence in our ability to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle.
That sounded good, didn’t it? That’s why I copied it from an image on my feed. People try so hard to complicate the issue of faith, but it is not that difficult to understand. Whoever wrote this line for “The Santa Clause” said it best:
“Seeing is not believing. Believing is seeing.”
It really is. I am a witness, especially this past year. I have been at a level of poverty that I had never experienced before, but instead of wasting time with worry and stress, I doubled down on my faith. God has never left me or forgotten me. No one can make me doubt him, no matter what my other senses say.
I believe. Therefore, I see.
Kwanzaa 2022 – Day 6
KUUMBA: Creativity
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
This principle is my favorite.
Regardless of how yucky the world is, or how tentative my place in it becomes, I will always be committed to creating beauty in the image of my people. Creativity reminds us that God has gifted us with the ability to make the world around us better than when we found it.
No matter how poor I am or depressed I get, I can be uplifted by bold colors, wild designs, excellent ideas, and melanated greatness. Creativity keeps me here. New ways to express myself keeps my blood warm. The possibilities of being discovered and appreciated for my creativity is what keeps me moving forward.
That is why my standard is so high when it comes to presentation, especially in the church. Church plays, concerts, and dance presentations need to have the same level of excellence–if not higher–as professional productions. Creative Arts ministries are infamous for just sliding by with the minimum effort. I cannot accept that, which is main reason why I cannot be part of their groups. That and the inherent nepotism.
Creativity keeps me alive. I will give no less than my best in everything that I produce, even if no one ever sees it.
Kwanzaa 2022 – Day 5
NIA: Purpose
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
I don’t want to see another slave movie for as long as I live.
I don’t want to see another inner city/gang/pimp/prostitute depiction.
And I sure as shooting don’t want to see any more half-dressed, ghetto-rich women tearing each other apart on a so-called reality show.
“Collective vocation” means “everybody’s job”. It is our job as a community to present ourselves with the dignity and excellence of the kings and queens that we have descended from.
More “Black Panther”. More “Hidden Figures”. More “The Harder We Fall”. Less “Real Housewives”. Less “Love and Hip Hop”. Less foolishness. More dignity.
Kwanzaa 2022 – Day 4
UJAMAA:
To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
An author is an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur part is kicking my booty.
Writing the book, which was by no means the easy part, is just the beginning of the process. Getting people interested enough to want to read it and sell it to others who might want to read it…it’s easier trying to stand on my ear.
I have officially been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, so my not liking people is more than just a sound byte. I will spare you the details, but the bottom line is that social situations for me are like breathing carbon monoxide: a slow death.
Nevertheless, I persist.
Fortunately, I have Jenise, who has earned her MBA. By helping her through that process, I have gleaned more than a few helpful tips, because the workshops are not working for me. They should be, but they are not.
Nevertheless, I persist. Because I am not allowed to give up.
Kwanzaa 2022 – Day 3
UJIMA – Collective Work and Responsibility
To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems, and to solve them together.
Togetherness. I really only experience that with Jenise. We are joined at the hip, like Batman and Robin. We are Sisters from the Greatest Mister. We are artists, dance ministers, best friends, and family. I take care of her, and she takes care of me.
I help her run her outreach ministry and assemble gifts for her co-workers. She helps me with my many art projects and self publishing endeavors.
We will absolutely be that pair of old ladies bickering over minutiae, laughing at inside jokes, and causing people to walk wide circles around us.