The Dean's List

I originally wrote this as an op-ed in May of 2000 for the local newspaper, the Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, NY. I was a member of the Board of Contributors. I have many that I will add to my blog site over the coming weeks.  I chose to post this one because even though I wrote this 17 years ago, I'm sad to say that not much has changed!  Racism Is Alive And Well - (originally published May 2000) I know some of you may say, "oh here we go again!"  Another Black person complaining about racism"!  Please let me explain before you throw the paper in the recycle bin (or hit delete): From the day I was born, racism has always been my shadow.  My mother, White, the youngest of fourteen children born of Italian immigrants.  My father, Black, an only child born in Winter Park, Florida.  My mother originally followed the family tradition of marrying within her race.  She had three children and divorced.  She then met my father.  ...

Dean's Dream Trip Those of you who know me know that I always lived a very active lifestyle and one of the things that I loved to do was travel. The last trip I took was in September 2013. I started a new position, was taking care of someone who was ill and moved into a new place. All of that activity led me to November of 2014 where my life totally changed. So here I am in 2017....4 surgeries later, a back brace, cane and a spine full of titanium! I haven't worked in over two years (a first since I was 16) and living on monthly disability checks which amounts to a fraction of what I usually make in a month. I've been saving my pennies over the last year to enable me to do something to lift my spirits.  Once I received the OK to travel, I decided to fulfill a lifelong dream...... For as long as I remember, I've always wanted to travel cross-county on the train, in a sleeper car. I had the money, but never had the time. I was always in a rush to get to my desti...

Originally Published November 24, 2008 I headed out the door in plenty of time to catch the bus. I was so very happy that it was Friday - finally an end to a horrible week. As I had done all week, I cried as I walked up the street. How could it come to this? How did I end up back in Rochester, in the snow, and walking to the bus stop with my hot little car parked in the driveway? Why had God done this to me? I hate life! I boarded the bus and turned up my iPod so I could drown out everything. It was now Al Jarreau's responsibility to help me get through the hell aka bus ride I had to endure. After about five stops, the bus began to fill up. I was sitting in the front of the bus. At the next stop, a woman got on with a book bag over her shoulder and was carrying a baby in a front loading baby carrier. It was a very cold day, so she had zipped her own coat around the baby and had a blanket over the baby's head. I got up so she could have my seat. She only stayed on the bus...

Originally Published November 22, 2008 Me and Kemet Have you ever had a day, week or a month where everything goes wrong? Well, I'm coming off of two of the worst weeks I can remember in a long time. I started out on such a high from the election. Beginning on election night, every time I would see or hear about President Elect Barack Obama, I would cry tears of joy! I spent most of that week helping my daughter get prepared for a once in a lifetime trip to California  (I will share more with all of you in January about this trip - mums the word) . By Thursday, she had everything she needed and was all set for her trip that Saturday. I am very proud of the things my daughter is doing. I cried again - this time they were tears of pride. I retuned home from work on that Friday to find out that my dog, best friend, son - Kemet had been sick most of the day. I rushed him to the Emergency Vet Hosptial - the news wasn't good. The Wake Up Club's Liz Medhin rushed to t...

Originally written in 2008 The year was 1979 - I was 16 years old and had just been hired by WDKX as an intern. My first week on the job, Mr. Langston gave me 10 tickets to the Parliment Funkadelic show with opening act the Sugar Hill Gang. Needless to say, I was a big hit with all of my friends that I invited to go with me. That was one of the perks about working at the station. I was able to attend all of the concerts that came to town. But at 16, of course I was only interested in going to the hottest shows at the time. So understand my hesitation to go see Al Jarreau. Who? Why would I want to go see him? The afternoon drive host on WDKX at the time was Marge Bell. She kind of assumed the role of my big sister. She asked me to go see Al Jarreau with her at the Auditorium Theatre. I asked her, "Who is that?" She told me that he was one of the best performers in the business. Even though I didn't believe her and didn't want to go, I went anyway to shut he...

This is a blog I wrote in 2012. Reading all of the Beyonce hate since her performance on the Grammy's on Sunday, I blew the dust off of this one....And since it's Valentine's Day, I want to spread love..... I was elated when I heard the news that Beyonce would be the half-time entertainment for the Superbowl in February!!!  That last few years haven't been too good (in my opinion). While browsing the blogoshere, I've been overwhelmed with the number of people who, for lack of a better word, have been "hating" on Bey!!!  99% of the people bashing her are black girls/women!  I am not the biggest Beyonce fan.  I don't have all of her CD's, I don't jam to all of her songs while riding in the car, and I wouldn't stand in a line for hours to buy a ticket to see one of her concerts, even though I did see her in concert in Phoenix a few years ago and she was AMAZING!!!! I am a fan for the following reasons: She is a beautiful ...

I have tons of stories about working at a radio station at such a young age. I was 16 years old and working at WDKX Radio as an intern. One of the air personalities was Marge Bell. She instantly became like a big sister to me. Wherever she was, I was tagging along.  She told me her favorite singer was performing at the Auditorium Theatre and Mr. Langston had given her tickets and backstage passes. She invited me to come with her. I hadn’t heard of this artist, but I was always open to try new things. The singer was Al Jarreau! I had no idea that he would become my favorite singer of all time! Most people know him as the guy who sings, “We’re In This Love Together” or the theme from “Moonlighting.” True fans of his wouldn’t count those songs as favorites from his extensive discography! Combine jazz, pop, R&B and gospel, and you have Al!  The only vocalist in history to net Grammy Awards in three different categories (jazz, pop, and R&B, respectively), But m...