The incident with too much rum on New Year’s Eve aside, I entered 1998, the year I would graduate high school,well. And once my last semester of school started at the end of January it was smooth sailing. I had more than enough credits to graduate, so I only took two classes. My first was […]
Tag Archives: black teens
September
22
Just Like Music:”Sittin’Up In My Room” 1996
posted by ExiledMind
In December 1995 the film adaptation of Terry McMillan’s bestseller Waiting to Exhale was released. There was much excitement and fanfare leading up to the release but I didn’t share it. The novel it was based on was critically acclaimed, but I was never too impressed by it. At the time I wondered if I […]
September
21
Just Like Music: “Back and Forth” 1994-Part II
posted by ExiledMind
In the first week of June 1994 my church planned to hold the dedication services for our new facility. Days before the dedication commenced I walked through the sanctuary, taking in the stained-glass windows and a pulpit large enough to accommodate ten ministers comfortably. The First Lady of my church, Sis. Wilson, stood at the […]
September
18
Just Like Music: “Back and Forth” 1994-Part I
posted by ExiledMind
The pessimism and moodiness that developed from being the child of an addict had settled into me by my thirteenth year. The Binge now seemed to be a permanent feature of life for my family. I reconciled myself to the fact that one day my mom wasn’t going to return after weeks of indulging her […]
Shades of Blackness: My Revolution Part I
posted by ExiledMind
“WOW…this is all…me”, I said as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I beheld something that I had not seen since I was seven years old: myself with a full head of natural hair. It was October 1996, the beginning of my junior year in high school. Tisha had continued to press her […]
Shades of Blackness: My School Daze, Part II
posted by ExiledMind
*A note before we continue: the attached picture is a real ad from the 1940s. Sadly the message contained in it was still being conveyed when I was a teen, as we’ll see in this post. “So D, when are you going to stop relaxing your hair?” Here we go again, I said to myself. […]
Shades of Blackness: My School Daze Part I
posted by ExiledMind
My story picks up in September 1994, my freshman year of high school. I’d suffered through much in middle school but was grateful as well. After six years of addiction, my Mama was finally clean and back in my life. My posture, so distorted by the emotional weight of my insecurity that I walked with […]
Shades of Blackness: Back In The Day
posted by ExiledMind
*Note: the names in this blog post are pseudonyms It was September 1985, my first day of school. My mother had washed and pressed my dress the night before but woke early that day to curl my hair. Once I was ready I stood at attention, ready for her to examine me. Stepping closer she […]
