thatblackgirlblogging

The Queen of Soul: Her Castle and Monarchy in Jeopardy

Today's news about a foreclosure notice being filed on Aretha Franklin's home over back taxes and fees is just one reason I am worried about The Queen of Soul. While she spends time quibbling about how Beyonce introduced Tina Turner at the Grammy's she should be watching what was going on around her own castle. But when we all see Aretha these days, we all don't want to say what is on our minds: Just seeing her is cause for concern because she is looking dangerouly unhealthy. It is the proverbial elephant in the room nobody wants to notice.
Yet every time we hear or see a clip of Aretha when she was at the top of her game we know the truth. And it just makes us all sad because we want to help and we don't know how. Its like watching someone you love kill themselves one bite at a time. Now I am not the skinniest sister in town but I do know that we put our very lives at risk by carrying around extra weight. And we're more likely to be diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and breast cancer. Yet we still hear the stories about what the Queen eats before and after a concert. If we happen to be in the audience at one of her shows these days, we are crossing our fingers that she won't seem out of breath after singing one song. And we hope she'll sing more than one. Then we hear she's cancelled another concert and we're worried again.
I wonder if Aretha even recognizes how far she is moving from the Queen she wants to be. Or is she surrounded by yes men and women who continually bring what her heart desires no matter how it may negatively impact her. My wish is that we could call in the Royal Guards to save the Queen.
Seriously folks, what can we do? Right now we need to say a little prayer for her.
">Aretha singing "I Say A Little Prayer."

What To Do When You're Mad at the World

It's ironic that I'm following my last post—where I pointed out that everyone thinks we're angry when we're strong—with this fact: Sometimes we're mad at the world. Yeah, you know it's true. You've seen a relative, friend or stranger when she has passed the point of no return, the moment someone got on her last nerve. If you're smart, you know the only thing you can do is get out of the way. Quickly. When any of us becomes that angry all reason temporarily leaves us and anyone who crosses our path is fair game.

The scarier thing is that sometimes we don't know what pushed us over the edge. Most of the time it is a combination of events, issues and perceived slights. And because there are usually a variety of factors, we're not sure who to direct this anger at. Oftentimes, it is the next person who does the slightest thing wrong. That person bares the brunt of our anger.

But what if you started to learn what your triggers might be. For example, what if feeling like you're not being heard is a flash point or you continually get duties dumped on your plate is the problem. Whatever your prompt, if you act the first time you are bothered by that action instead of letting it build up to volcanic proportions, you're much less likely to explode. And if by chance there is a burst of anger, it will pass quickly and not boomerang onto any innocent bystanders.

If you do have one of those mad at the world moments don't let it linger on for too long. Because when you go over the edge you do have to clean up after your irrational self. Collateral damage is okay every once and awhile, but if you're angry too often you're liable to lose friends and be a bad influence on people.

But when you're ready to laugh about your Angry Black Women status pick up this book. The Angry Black Women's Guide to Life
http://www.amazon.com/Angry-Black-Womans-Guide-Life/dp/0452285127/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204690161&sr=1-2">The Angry Black Women's Guide to Life