The BLACK Pearl Taboo

             There was a time when I was an English major in college, striving to become an investigative journalist for The New York Times. I was taking four English classes and one business class to go towards my minor. It was in one of the English classes that I had a certain professor. She was an older woman with a deep love for literature. She was engaging and relatable, but also maintained a firmness in her expectations for students. She was understanding of the fact that the school system had failed many any of us, so she made sure to give our writing grace. I'm not so sure that the grace extended the other way.      Sometimes, some professors seem to have an image of what intelligence looks like premade in their mind. What it might present as. What it may sound like when it speaks. In our modern society, however, it is apparent that intelligence can take on many forms and appearances. It may show up in the kid wearing a fray...

  [8:26AM] 7/1/25    "I prayed "The Prayer" a good minute ago, and it has come to pass. I have lost 5 people, 4 of which I was not particularly close to, but we were cordial and on good terms, or at least I believed that to be the case. I know that God doesn't move without reason, so I desire to know, what was the reason? In what ways were they bad for me? Or was I bad for them?       Lately, I've been taking a lot more notice of my faults and places that I fall short as a person. No one is perfect, so being flawed doesn't make you a bad  character. But I can't help but wonder if I've worked myself up to be on a pedestal that doesn't actually represent me. Accurately represent me. Every part of me. Not just the cute overview I'm programmed to give. Maybe I've become so caught up in trying to sell myself to other people, that I didn't consider that me, as a product, isn't everything. I can't do everything. I can't be everyth...