Blake Brockington Suicide

18- year old Blake Brockington made national news when he became the first out trans teen to win homecoming king in a North Carolina high school. Brockington won after he raised the most money out of 12 other contestants, which was donated to charity. It was a feature that brought Brockington a platform to tell his story in order to motivate other transgender teens, but it also brought about a lot of hate from people both in and outside of Charlotte.

Unfortunately, while he went out of his way to fight for trans teens in general, Brockington’s own struggles weighed very heavily on him to the point where the beloved student took his own life earlier this week. The Time Out Youth Center, the Charlotte LGBT youth service agency where he found a great deal of support, confirmed his death on Monday. A lot of local and national LGBT communities are in great shock about the news of his passing.

Brockington did a great deal of activist work, not only for LGBT rights, but in efforts to raise awareness about police brutality through the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The teen was also the subject of a documentary that started filming last year called Brockington. 

National surveys show that 41 percent of transgender or gender nonconforming adults have self-reported a suicide attempt, compared with 4.6 percent of the overall U.S. population. Transgender men have the highest rate, with 46 percent reporting suicide attempts.

Cyberbullying is also being addressed at the wake of his death. "Keyboard Warriors" are what bullies that hide behind fake profile names and pictures are being called. They create profiles to make someone else's life miserable and the victim will never know it is them. Others do not waste time to create fake pages, just say vicious things from their own page and unfortunately, there are no consequences.

A GoFundMe page has been made in his honor and all proceeds will go to the Time Out Youth Center.

RFead more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article16655111.html#storylink=cpy

GoFundMe Link:
www.gofundme.com/blakebrockington

KSU Student Interview on Jason Harrison

I had the pleasure of interviewing Priscilla Almonacy, a student at Kennesaw State University who double majors in African Diaspora Studies and Sociology, about the recent tragedy of Jason Harrison. Harrison was a mentally ill man who was shot down at his home, in front of his mother, by a police officer who felt "threatened" by Harrison who was holding a screwdriver at the time.

Me:  

Did you hear about the incident before the video? And if you did, how'd you feel?

Almonacy:

I didn't hear about both the incident or video until early this morning. I saw a post about it (Ciara posted the wrong name on her Instagram so I googled it) and looked up the story/video.

Me:

Okay, after seeing the video, what was your first reaction? And how do you feel now?

Almonacy:

I cried. It's one thing to hear about or read about another black life being taken, but seeing it makes it more personal. I was, and still am sad and angry.

Me: 

How important is the "Black Lives Matter" Campaign to you?

                                                                                    Almonacy:

It's important in terms of awareness. Unfortunately many people don't know about the numerous deaths happening daily. It's also important to reiterate specifically to the white majority because black people (and brown people) are being killed by police officers and vigilantes at a higher rate than our white counterparts. However, it's now become a trendy thing to just say "Black Lives Matter", use the hash tag or put on a shirt. While awareness is great, implementation of policies is the ultimate goal. We need to create laws that end the terrorization of black people by police. We need to create laws that put these officers/vigilantes on trial. We need to create technology/training that gives officers an alternative to using their gun. Black lives matter is just step 1. The message is out already, now we need to take action to prove that black lives indeed matter.

Me: 

What can we as black people do to make a difference?

Almonacy:

Create our own spaces, and I'm not talking about our own TV network or award show. I mean police our own community, build our own businesses, plant community gardens etc. However personally, I believe black people aren't going to make ANY difference until they have self knowledge. Once we as a whole body of people understand and know who we really are, we can make a difference. Black history didn't start at slavery. We used to be Kings and Queens. Once we collectively go back to that mentality and unify, we can make a difference.

Me:

Okay last question, if you could say anything to Harrison's mother, what would you say?

Almonacy:

Honestly, just sorry. This shouldn't be happening period.

If you want, follow me on Instagram @theoriginalbougiehippie and I'm planning on relaunching my blog and possibly a supplemental YouTube channel so look out for me :)

Shawn Gilmore Interview

My task was to interview someone who either motivates me, makes me laugh, or does something career or personal wise that I'm too afraid to do and Shawn Gilmore just happens to fit into all 3 categories.

Gilmore is an amazing up and coming comedian who I had the pleasure to interview this past weekend and he's hilarious, handsome and has a good fan base. I actually heard about him through word of mouth and it was all good reviews!

Here's our interview:

Me: What is something you've done that you're proud of?

Shawn: I think the biggest thing I've done that I'm proud of is being the first person out of my household to graduate. It might not sound big but I have 3 older brothers that didn't graduate and I made a promise to my mom that I would, and so I did. 

Me: I can definitely understand that. Who has most influenced you in your life?

Shawn: Ummm I would say my older brother, he made me believe anything is possible. No matter what, he always told me to go hard when I do something. I always did comedy so I just went hard, now I'm getting noticed. 

Me: He sounds great. Okay, last question. What advice would you give to somebody trying to get into comedy?

Shawn: The best advice I would give is just to be yourself and not try too hard and you'd be great. 

Go check out more videos & skits by Shawn on social media! You won't be disappointed!

IG: highstandards27k

Twitter: Teezy2Times

50th Anniversary of The March on Selma

Yesterday I was able to travel to Selma and watch a documentary on Bloody Sunday and it was very enlightening.

I understand now why the generation before us frowns on this generation when we some of us say, "Why should I vote? I can't make a difference." Our ancestors were disrespected, tortured, jailed and killed for us to have the freedoms we have and we take advantage of it. 

The scenes I saw from what is known today as 'Bloody Sunday' made me tear up. Racism has not completely disappeared, but it is nowhere near what it used to be. To see the first black president of the United States, along with his family march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge was phenomenal. I can only imagine what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would say to this sight...

Crochet Braids Yaki .v. Marley Braid

Crochet braids are one of the most natural looking protective styles and I love them! 

People ask me what kind of hair I use and how many packs I use. 

Well I have a larger shape head than most, so I use 6 packs of hair and cut it in half. 

This is the Yaki hair. It's the cheap, 99 cent hair and I just wanted to try it out. The Yaki hair doesn't hold curls long but it does look good when they first come out. I would recommend buying it if you wanted to just wear it straight. 

These 2 are using Marley Hair:

Perm Rod results:

Braidout: