Thinking On My Feet! /Touring with my TOMS

Where haven't they been? From lush greens of Vermont to City College bathrooms, to the burgundy carpet of my church. These shoes are so comfortable and so I decided after receiving them that I would wear them everywhere. Now they are worn and I was too embarrassed to bring them with me to Chicago. Not to mention my mom almost threw them away, even though I've only had them for a little over a year.  SO why am I blogging about my old faded TOMS?

1. Because I(actually a friend) bought them (for me) in men's size. I've been walking around in the feet of men. Should I have felt more powerful or more accomplished because I could fit into a size 9 men but not a size 10 women? or should I have chosen the red size 10 women despite the discomfort of my two left feet? I'm not over thinking here. I'm just reorganizing my thoughts and assessing them with those of my patriarchal society.

2. Because they are expensive(for a college student who doesn't work--circumstances may vary), but comfortable but then they " give a pair of shoes to a child in need." $44 for a pair of comfortable shoes is definitely worth it. But is it expensive because another child receives a pair or simply because of the capitalist nature of our society? Also, who qualifies as a child in need? Do homeless American children in need receive a pair as well? Do special communities/ethnicities/races of children receive a pair? How does this distribution work?

3.Because they are called TOMS! TOMS is a short form for Tomorrow to fit on the label according to the owner. But where does the s come from?(Granted it would have still been masculine without the s, hence the s makes it plural-many more Toms) And now I'm reminded every time I wear these shoes about a man, not an industrious women, not an innovative women who wants to save children in need. I'm definitely, not reminded about Tomorrow. This shadow of patriarchy!!!

Now, I'm not discouraging the sales or purchasing of TOMS or asking that the founder change the name of his brand. He is entitled to chose whatever name he wants. I'm just thinking through some ideas here. If you can afford these shoes, it might be profitable to buy them. But always think about what you wear. And if you already have a pair or decide to buy a pair of TOMS,  don't put it through two much stress like I did.

And where are these shoes made again?

Here's a link to the website if you want to learn more about these shoes :
http://www.toms.com/corporate-responsibility/l
Below are some picture of my TOMS. 

Coal by Audre Lorde

Hello readers!

 

I'm currently in Chi-town, (Chicago) attending summer school and doing some research on West-African women in the diaspora. I've been looking for other creative texts to use in my research and also just to keep me thinking. Now I have to learn not only to be a consumer of knowledge but also a producer of knowledge which basically means you don't only accept the knowledge given to you but you also question it. How am I being a producer of knowledge? I am questioning the cultural differences between African American women and African women who grew up in the native West African countries and then migrated here ( and Europe) as adolescents. This matters not only to me, but to future posterity and  any one else who feels the need to be identified not just by name but also by culture and maybe race. This poem speaks to the heart about the color's of our skin and how it primarily affects our identity. If you haven't heard of Audre Lorde then you should!

Coal

I

Is the total black, being spoken

From the earth's inside.

There are many kinds of open.

How a diamond comes into a knot of flame   

How a sound comes into a word, coloured   

By who pays what for speaking.

Some words are open

Like a diamond on glass windows

Singing out within the crash of passing sun

Then there are words like stapled wagers

In a perforated book—buy and sign and tear apart—

And come whatever wills all chances

The stub remains

An ill-pulled tooth with a ragged edge.

Some words live in my throat

Breeding like adders. Others know sun

Seeking like gypsies over my tongue

To explode through my lips

Like young sparrows bursting from shell.

Some words

Bedevil me.

Love is a word another kind of open—

As a diamond comes into a knot of flame

I am black because I come from the earth's inside   

Take my word for jewel in your open light.

Feeling a Little Grey?

In the beginning, God spoke light into existence. There is a light that shines brightly like the sun, yellow, big, and blinding. Then there are the stars which are like silver disco balls hanging in the navy blue sky. Then comes my favorite type of light which extends from curves of the moon. The moon's light does not pierce the iris like the rays of the sun. It is grey like the softness of water. The moon borrows light from the sun and might not be as potent as the sun. However, it can still be seen and has its own spotlight during the night. When you're feeling a little "grey" just remember that you are an extension of a greater happiness but  for now, you're just borrowing someone's light: very soon you will have your own light.

I sincerely believe that God has woven various lesson for mankind through nature. The story of salvation can clearly be seen here. Like the moon, human beings are in a world of darkness but our greatest source of light comes from the sun(Jesus). We borrow our strength and our wisdom from this light and become like the moon.  Even in the greatest amount of darkness one can still identify the moon. It's just that simple. What's your source of light?

Fashion Tip: Grey/silver/ash works like black thus always(all generalizations are FALSE including this one) wear bold colors when you wear grey.

Strength

The Meaning of True Love

Yellow and Blue

So one day I was walking up the hill to my school(that long hill!!!) and I kept thinking about why people matched blue with yellow. Why would anyone decide to match blue with yellow? My school uniform was once blue and yellow. I thought the colors blended well but never thought about why they did. Then I looked into the sky: the sun is yellow and the sky is blue- a "natural" revelation. How could I have missed it all this while???? We can't possibly create anything from something we have not seen before right?  Lesson of the day: Pay attention to nature.

This revelation led me to my next shoot. I was looking for anything yellow and blue. Fashion-wise I would mix my yellow+blue with either silver(rain) or white(clouds). Be mindful that the sky can also become colorful, black, red, violet etc.. so don't forget to add a pop of color to  your blue+yellow outfits.

Here are a few shots of the blue sky and the sun! Good morning.

My favorite soda!!!!!!!!

 

The Word!

Here is a simple prayer that I say every time I'm feeling like I can't bear it anymore. I memorized it in nursery and primary school because I attended Christian oriented schools which required these prayers in the mornings. My favorite line is the verse 1 which says "the Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want". The key word here is WANT. There are things we NEED in life. They are necessary. It would be very difficult to live without them. But here in this psalm it asserts that God shall provide both our needs and wants. Like the time when I wanted an iPad and he gave it to me(at no cost) and all those other big and little things he keeps giving to me. 

Try this prayer (everyday) and see God answer every need and want in your life!

I Love my Love with a V by Gertrude Stein

Not Another love poem Afua!

Well it just happens to be that I really enjoyed the poems people shared in my poetry class and this one was one of my favorites. I have read it a couple of times and I still don't really get it. It seems only Ms. Stein and her lover will be able to decode this poem. Maybe that's why it was written in that manner in the first place. What letter do you love with?

 

I Love My Love with a ‘V’ by Gertrude Stein

I love my love with a v

Because it is like that

I love my love with a b

Because I am beside that

A king.

I love my love with an a

Because she is a queen

I love my love and a a is the best of them

Think well and be a king,

Think more and think again

I love my love with a dress and a hat

I love my love and not with this or with that

I love my love with a y because she is my bride

I love her with a d because she is my love beside

Thank you for being there

Nobody has to care

Thank you for being here

Because you are not there.

And with and without me which is and without she she can be late and then and how and all around
we think and found that it is time to cry she and I.

Black and White.

I asked a couple of ladies in my church to wear their definitions of  black and white and this is what they came up with. My original idea was to represent light and darkness, similarly to the way the beginning of the world was created. White being the light and black being the darkness. It really amazes me how every day God tries to bring light into our darkness in the subtlest ways. It may be a smile, a cancellation of class(yaay for students) or a phone call from a long time friend.Here are some of the shots..

My Favorite Shoes(Black)

Although I enjoy the dynamic nature of colorful shoes, I am madly in love with black shoes. I own about five pairs of black shoes and all of them are essential for different occasions. These, however, are my favorite shoes. They are comfortable, sleek, and appropriate for any kind of occasion.  They are not too high or too low : they are just right!

The Second Coming

Sometimes we need to take some time off to consider what life is really about! Food for thought! 

THE SECOND COMING
by William Butler Yeats
    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.
 
     Surely some revelation is at hand;
    Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
    The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
    When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
    Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
    A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
    A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
    Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
    Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
   
    The darkness drops again but now I know
    That twenty centuries of stony sleep
    Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

I Carry Your Heart With Me by E.E. Cummings

Why do I love this poem? I don't really know. I read it once in my poetry class and I absolutely enjoyed how romantic it was( It still is). And then I told my self I would read it at  my wedding because it's so warm.

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

By E. E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)