For the love of ... BEER

...and I'm back like I never left!

Okay I haven't wrote a blog since my post about the child prostitutes in New York, and I’m sure that left you guys some what depressed. But in an attempt to bring a little sunny-side up to my blog – tonight's topic is about a beverage that I have grown very fond of due to my days at the hillbilly scholastic halls of Georgia Southern University --- BEER!

One night I was up on Twitter (@miabonics) and a bruh from Chicago was talking about wanting to try a new beer; I instantly suggested a beer that one of my professors hipped me to: Blue Moon! Then I tweeted a poem to my poetic muse about beer and she suggested that I do this blog. I'm almost certain I was drunk when I made this up...

oh beer how we love thee. from malted barley, wheat, & maize! the lagers, stouts, and ales. i'll even take draught, but rarely ya hear?!

See what I mean? But I digress. Here is a list of my favorite beers...let me repeat that...MY favorite beers...therefore, if you don’t like it (or beer for that matter) *in my HATEthalamew voice* I don't give a shit!

1. Stella Artois
First of all...the bottle/label is a freaking beauty. Second...Belgians make fine beer & this one tops the list.

2. Blue Moon Brewing: Belgian White
This is a wheat ale...but it's a Belgian wheat ale; therefore, it is made a slightly different than some wheat ales (the main thing being that it is unfiltered – this is explains its cloudy color). It's made with white wheat, oats, coriander, and orange peel.

3. Sam Adams: Summer Ale (April – August)
This is also a wheat ale and I've heard some people say they don't like it because of its seemingly overpowering wheat taste. But to me, the citrus-ly notes pair well with the wheat – makes it a perfect summer drink.

4. Sam Adams: Cherry Wheat
As much as I HATE cherries, I actually like this beer...a lot!

5. Blue Moon Brewing: Honey Moon Summer Ale (May – August)
It took awhile for me to like this because it does have a sweet aftertaste. But I think I really enjoy this beer because of its rarity. Not only is it only available in the summer (duh), but they only make small batches of it – so once it's gone, it's gone!

6. Heineken
You know the deal – this is just the typical party beer

Awhile ago a friend put me on to going to breweries and I went to the Crescent City Brewhouse in New Orleans. If you ever go – be sure to sample ALL of their beers (like me ... trust me, they'll happily oblige): Pilsner, Red Stallion, Black Forest, and Weiss Beer. I plan to go to Capital City Brewing Company in D.C. so I’m accepting offers for date night so we can all get white boy wasted. Happy drinking! :-)

P.S. If you didn't know, I'm 1/4 Irish. My great-grandfather's father (last name O'Nery) -- basically, my mother's great-grandfather -- was Irish immigrant who carved out his little piece of the American dream in Richmond, Virginia. Just a little #factaboutMia since we are talking about alcohol & all. ;-)

Very Young Girls

Thanks to my insomnia I found myself up watching David Schisgall's documentary film about child prostitution and sex trafficking in New York City entitled "Very Young Girls" on Showtime. After watching the film I began thinking about the many females (friends, family, and associate) that I knew who were sexual exploited, who are still being exploited, and I see what it has done to them in terms of their perception of life, love, and self-worth.

I'm sure you've all heard the basic storyline:

Pimp to Girl: You're gonna go out there to that car, ask him if he's a pimp or the police, charge him a price, do what you gotta do and jet.
*30 minutes (or so later)*
Girl: I got $500
Pimp: Hand me the money *counts it*
Girl: Can I get it back?
Pimp: You can't get shit! This is money for me to take care of you. Whatever you need, I'll get – as long as you bring me my money. You're my ho...my moneymaking ho.

Now if this was a Thai, Chinese, Indian, Russian, or Nigerian girl smuggled to the states made to work in some type of brothel she wouldn't be classified as a prostitute – she would be portrayed rightfully as a victim of sexual exploitation & human trafficking. The feds would prosecute her captors and she would be granted protection – as outlined under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. But sadly, many girls who go through the aforementioned scenario are U.S. citizens. And in the states, instead of understanding that many of these girls are forced into this life, these girls are treated like the criminal, not the victim – charged with being a prostitute. My question is – what makes these "international" girls (non-citizens to put it frankly) a victim and these girls from Brooklyn, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, etc. a criminal?

Watching Schisgall's documentary actually brought tears to my eyes because when you listen to those girls tell their story, it really shocking how much they endured at 13, 14, 15 years of age. The documentary also features a nonprofit organization, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), which was founded by Rachel Lloyd to help young victims of the sex trade. In the documentary Lloyd mentions the fact that the song "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" won a Grammy – but that the true reality is that it is hard out here for these young girls who are constantly raped, sold, physically and mentally abused by men who are old enough to be their father.

I remembered when I was about 13 I had an ex-boyfriend of mines who would offer money if I did something for him. Just out of fear of getting caught, I always turned him down. After awhile I guess he got tired of my "faking" ... the last I heard of him, he had been shot & killed. As I got older – I realized that had I said "yes" my life would have probably turned out completely different. I can count on both of my hands young girls that I knew growing up who might have been dealing with issues at home, issues with their self-esteem, issues with their body image, or just wanting someone to love them – and then came along a snake that fed on all those insecurities and turn them out.

Maybe you can relate, maybe you can't. Either way, I hope that you'll peek the documentary and be compelled to speak out.

Related/Mentioned Stuff You NEED To Check Out:

NY Times Blog: A Look At The Harrowing Lives of Child Prostitutes

GEMS: Girls Educational & Mentoring Services

"Very Young Girls" (2007) - Preview

Church Keeps Me Single...Apparently

Generally I'm okay with opening my mind to other ideas, thoughts, and analysis. The beauty of the human race is that each of us are uniquely created and in a general sense we all look at the world a little differently. However, today I came across a blog that left me a little upset. So I thought well maybe I'm reading it the wrong way, and I shared it via Twitter. Many of my "followers" expressed distaste for the blog and so did some their "followers."

The blog title "The Black Church: How Black Churches Keep African-American Women Single & Lonely" was enough to peek my interest. And the reason I refuse to comment on the author's actual blog is because some of her responses to individuals who refute or disagree with her rubbed me the wrong way – so I'll do what I do best, rant on my own blog page (lol).

First – the reason you should be going to church is to praise, seek, fellowship, and worship God. Your main agenda should not be "I'm going to church to find a husband." And since the author claims that she does not go to church or follow "organized religion" (which is the dumbest term I’ve ever heard), I am going to assume that just maybe (just maaaybe) she didn’t know that.

Second – no REAL pastor is going to tell you that your husband that God has intended for you is going to just plop down in your lap. Just like you had to go out and market yourself to get hired to start your career – you have to market yourself to find a mate, which means having a life outside of church. That is not to say that you act holy & reserved on Sunday and drop it low every other day of the week. But God never said he didn’t want you to enjoy life (if I remember correctly – He said that we shall have life and have it more abundantly).

Third – the author cites an article from the PEW Forum on Religion & Public Life and she attempts to break down what the statistics from the article mean for black women. From reading her blog post and reading the actual article, I find it extremely hard to understand how she came up with those interpretations (yeah, Statistics & Research Methods taught me a little something, something ... lol).

Fourth – if you are lonely & single...nine times out of ten...that's your own doing. If you're foolish enough to believe that if you just pray hard enough God will give you a man when you haven’t done anything - baby girl, I hate to break the news to you but that is simply not the case. That's like believing that if you pray hard enough you'll get an A on that exam when you have not studied. Besides if you read the Bible you would know that very rarely did God just give out stuff to people who were not ready to receive it. If you're foolish enough to take the words of your pastor or any human being for that matter then honey you are just as naïve as they come.

Out of everything else in her blog she does correctly address the fact that there are not a lot of Black women who are leaders in the church – but she does not highlight the fact that their numbers are growing. However, this is NOT a unique situation in this country. She is also right when she states that it's not the building that really defines a church, it's the people and the experience. A lot of traditional (I call them "old timey") churches are all about structure and rules. Because of that, many people nowadays attend churches that follow the charismatic movement – in other words they do everything and allow many things that are not allowed/tolerated in the "old timey" churches.

The blog as a whole seems like a misguided attack against church and religion as a whole -- although the author claims that her intentions are not personal (yeah right).

As for me, when it comes to dating/marriage, I don't consider myself narrow–minded (i.e. my future husband does not have to be Black or even from this country). But the one thing I will NOT compromise is my faith. If he has never set foot in a church, read the Bible, does not pray, or believe the same as I do, then I'm sorry – he is not the one for me.

Anyway – that's the end of my rant. I browsed around to look at some of her other blogs and they all seem to echo the same tone. Now you go read the blog and tell me what you think!

Stuff Mentioned:
How Black Churches Keep African-American Women Single & Lonely
A Religious Portrait of African-Americans (PEW Forum article)

Re: Blog

I got a comment on Facebook about my previous blogpost ("Eye for an Eye"). Blogger for some reason would not let him post the comment so I am sharing it with you all. He also has a blog in which he discussed the topic of the death penalty, specifically in St. Kitts (eye-opening story by the way). Anyway -- here's what he had to say:

Hey Mia,

I just tried to post the following comment on your blog. I was unsuccessful. Feel free not to post it if you want. Well written blog. I enjoyed reading it.

Cheers,

Richard

My comments:

Well written post. I wrote an essay my freshman year at Howard about the death penalty. It was the only paper I earned an 'A' on from Dr. Bates, who had to be the toughest English professor at HU. There is no justification for the death penalty whatsoever.
Moral: Your essay addresses this.

Economic: The cost of death row is prohibitive.

Justice: How is it justice when it takes so long. This is not justice and more than that all studies done on the subject show that the family of victims are far better off if the case is closed and life imprisonment is the sentence than if the case drags on and execution is a result. The fact that Larry King was interviewing victims relatives over 20+years after the crime illustrates this.

Deterrent: Hardly! States using the death penalty almost all have correspondingly higher crime rates than those without it. This is the best apples-to-apples comparison since comparing different countries introduces socio-economic variables to crime that cloud the comparison.

I wrote a blog about the use of the death penalty in St. Kitts last year (click here to read).It's barbaric and the blood of Ronnie Gardner is on the hands of every Utahan and maybe even every American, including me. That's what I find most problematic.

Having said this, if I had to choose a method for my own execution, without a doubt, I would choose firing squad. My second choice would be guillotine. Quick. Least painful. People criticize the Saudis for beheading people. I think it's horrific but it is probably more humane than lethal injection and definitely more humane than electrocution or the gas chamber.

At the end of the day, we as a society need to figure out what constitutes justice. In the case of Ronnie Gardner, this was not justice. It was a state-sponsored murder.

Continuing ....

Hey Tamia,

I didn't even comment on the disproportionate use of the death penalty for minorities who commited a crime against whites vis-a-vis other situations as well as for poor vis-a-vis wealthy convicts. Ronnie Gardner actually is a compelling example of this. (Look at the guy's upbringing...tough.) I was at Howard during the OJ Simpson trial. I was telling classmates for months before the verdict that he would be exonerated. People didn't buy my arguement which revolved around the premise that Amerika is first and foremost a classist society. Within each class, the society is stratefied into race/gender/etc. Had OJ been rich and white he would never have been tried aka Jean Benet-Ramsey's parents. Had he been poor and white, he would have been convicted and sentenced to life or something like that. Had he been poor and Black or Latino, he would be on death row right now. Using this, I basically thought he would get off regardless of any evidence presented in court. (While I'm not debating the merits of the OJ case, I was merely using it as an example of the classism that exists in Amerika.)

What boggles my mind is how many in minority communities, especially Black and Latino communities, (as well as poor white communities) support the death penalty. It's like a deer supporting hunting season. Huh? That's just another example of how the right-wing has succeeded in getting people to vote against their own interests in the name of religion and religious fanaticism.

I'm glad you enjoyed the blog on St. Kitts. Thanks for posting my comments.

Cheers,

Richard


...what can I say, another person after my own heart! Thanks Richard!

Eye for an Eye vs. Thou Shall Not Kill

I know some of you have heard the news about the convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardener who was executed in Utah via a firing squad. Now without any reference to what he did, I am staunchly against the death penalty for several reasons. For people who support the death penalty, the phrase "eye for an eye" is always tossed around – so let’s start there:

Exodus 21:23-25 (KJV)
"And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."

Many people interpret the aforementioned scripture in terms of revenge, but the intent of the law of retribution was to ensure that the punishment corresponded to the crime in order to control the punishment inflicted on the guilty one. It is important to note that this law, along with many other levitical laws (as recorded in the Old Testament) were in place BEFORE Jesus Christ. That is not to say that we are to completely disregard the Old Testament (i.e. we still follow the Ten Commandments because when God came to us as Jesus Christ in the New Testament we were instructed to keep all of His commandments), but the traditions/customs that were in place following the exodus out of bondage were no longer necessary. Jesus was sent to earth to save us from ourselves – and He loved us so much that He took the ridicule, He took the abuse, He got on the cross, He died for us, and He rose again. He paid the ultimate price so that we would not have to. From a spiritual standpoint, this is why I do NOT agree with the death penalty. In following the Ten Commandments – God said to us: "Thou shall not kill." Just because Joe Smith killed Jane Doe, does not mean any person, any state, or government has the "right" to extract punishment in the form of taking that person life (execution) as well. Just as Joe Smith will face God's judgment so will everyone else who had a part in his execution. I don’t care if Joe Smith raped 10 girls, sodomized 50 boys, and blew up an airplane. He will be judged by God & God's wrath is greater than anything that we could ever do to Joe Smith. Please don't confuse me with those idiotic Islamic & Right-Wing radicals who preach that God is vengeful because that is simply not true. However, when it is all said & done – each of us will have to stand before God and account for everything that we have done. Are we perfect? Of course not. But does that exclude us from accountability? No.

The second reason I do not agree with the death penalty is from a criminal justice theoretical standpoint it is incredibly faulty & useless. Many states ended the death penalty after various FBI & independent investigations found that there were people on death row who were innocent, convicted with false evidence, and other various unjust circumstances. Look at the state of Illinois: several death row inmates had been found wrongly accused, convicted, and sentenced – a situation which forced the then governor George Ryan to issue a moratorium on capital punishment in 2000. Punishment for crimes should deter would-be criminals and I don't think there is a soul who would argue against the fact that our prison system is not doing a good job in that area. But if deterrence is a goal: some one explain to me why do all the states that happily support the death penalty have high felony murder rates? Obviously your method isn't working. If deterrence is not the goal, doesn't that make you guilty of supporting the very same crime that the prisoner just stood trial for? What makes you better than them?

People have said "what if they kill your parents, friends, loved ones - then what?" Honestly you never know exactly how you are going to react to any situation until it happens to you. But I know one thing, I would have to have it in my heart to forgive them. The one thing that I respected about the Amish community after what happened to those little schoolgirls in Pennsylvania is that as hard as it was for them – they forgave Charles Carl Roberts IV for what he did. They weren’t quick to pass judgment and they didn't allow themselves to hold any animosity to him or his family. Was that easy? I'm sure it wasn't. But in their response to many reporters – they did it because that's what God commanded them to do.