She couldn’t wait any longer!!!Refusing to look at me until I gave her treats.There was some impatience while I took her picture. She was getting treats, but having them in front of her was too much.Give me.
Beau will go down in history as the best Valentine’s present ever. Three years ago today, she came home with me. We have been through so much in the past three years, but I wouldn’t change a day of it. I love her with my whole entire heart. She is my world. If you know me or met me, you already know this. She is at the heart of my life and my happiness. I don’t know what I would do without her.
For as obsessed as I am with Beau, it’s a surprise I have never made her homemade dog treats. I did this year!!! She LOVES them. They’re completely safe for puppers and humans. Dylan tried the dough and the biscuits. He says they taste like peanut butter and pumpkin, which makes sense. Even if you’re not celebrting adoption day with your dog, the puppers in our lives deserve some Valentine’s love too. Honestly, they probably deserve it more than the humans in our lives. I love the humans, but I love the dogs more. Beau is perfect, so I made her some homemade dog treats and cut them into hearts because she cares so much… I don’t usually do hearts, but it’s Valentine’s season!!!
Some heart shaped dog treats!!!
Dog Treats Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup Peanut Butter – safe for doggos 1 cup Pumpkin Purée ⅓ cup Vegetable Oil 2 Eggs 2 ½ cups Whole Wheat Flour 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°
Mix peanut butter, pumpkin, oil, and eggs until well mixed.
Add in dry ingredients. It will be a stiff dough but very oily.
Roll out on a floured mat. For little dogs roll it thinner. For bigger dogs, roll it thicker!
Cut out into whatever shape you want!
Place on cookie sheet. For a smaller biscuit, bake for 12 minutes. I baked mine for 15 minutes. For a hard biscuit make until there is no give when touched.
Let cool.
Then generously hand out to the dog in your life!!!
Worth A Read Yes Length 320 Quick Review “Not Racist” is inherently racist. We’re all racist, but some of us are actively fighting against racism in the world and within ourselves, and that’s called antiracism.
I didn’t know who Ibram X. Kendi was until this book. Now I’m a fan. I would love to go to coffee with him and discuss racism, history, and the meaning of life. He seems like the kind of guy who will point out how you’re being an asshole and let you grow from it because he spends How to Be an Antiracist pointing out the times he was a racist and grew from it. These are my favorite people; the people who acknowledge their growth by admitting the reality of their pasts. If only all of history could do the same, the world would be in a much better place. Books like this one are a step in that direction. It calls attention to history at large and personal to demonstrate and juxtapose how the two intertwine and affect each other. History is an amalgam of individual’s choices for good or bad, and all of those choices converge to create society, thought, and policy, which in turn influence individual choice for good or bad.
Kendi doesn’t state anything revolutionary. If you’re tuned into policy, psychology, history, anthropology, sexuality, philology, African/African-American studies, sociology, gender studies, feminism, ethnic studies, etc., you’ll be aware of most of the topics and ideas in How to Be an Antiracist. The difference is in the wording. Kendi writes clearly and effectively, saying what he means even, especially, when it makes people uncomfortable. I had to stop taking notes and writing down quotes because there were so many poignant moments of blatant honesty. He names things as they are instead of finding a polite way of identifying racism, “Only racists shy away from the R-word – racism is steeped in denial.” As a writer, linguist, and reader, I’m a words person. I like them to be exact, and Kendi is the same. I love that Kendi does not like the word “microaggression” because of its inexactness. As an advocate, I have always used the exact words to describe things because anything else gives room for people to make excuses and shirk personal responsibility. Kendi calls racism racism, especially when it makes people uncomfortable. I’ve always believed people are uncomfortable because they can see themselves in it.
How to Be an Antiracist is told through personal anecdotes, world history, policy, and culture. Kendi points out what’s wrong with society, policy, and everything by pointing out the ways he has had to face and overcome his own racism while breaking stereotypes, destroying myths, and shedding light on the truth.
The book is pretty much summed up in the quote, “We know how to be racist. We know how to pretend to be not racist. Now let’s know how to be antiracist.” For more clarification on the term antiracist and the title, this quote speaks for itself,
“The opposite of “racist” isn’t “not racist.” It is “antiracist.” What’s the difference? One endorses either the of racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an antiracist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an antiracist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no inbetween safe space of “not racist.” The claim of “not racist” neutrality is a mask for racism.”
How to Be an Antiracist is intellectually stimulating and emotionally draining. Racism is rampant, systemic, cyclical, institutional, and ingrained in culture, history, religion, and policy. So many lines felt like a punch to the chest. I will never have to live in a world where my skin is viewed as a crime and a threat. I will never be able to comprehend that kind of pain, but Kendi’s words cut, making me ache to hug the pain away for every person who has been wronged, forgotten, abused, and left behind. I was also left to question, ‘What would I have done in that White person’s shoes. Would I make those same racist choices? Or would I have been better, done better?’
Not only is Kendi a brilliant writer and scholar, he is a role model. Everyone has internal biases, which is a nice way of saying: we’re all racists. It’s hard to confront the ugly parts of ourselves, but society can’t move forward until we do so. Kendi is setting an example and a new standard for the way allies, advocates, and activists create change. He does so from the very first page in his introduction where he calls himself out for his racist ideas and misconceptions about the community he belongs to.
People often think books about racism or Black culture are antiwhite, but that, in and of itself, is a racist idea. As How to Be an Antiracist states, “The only thing wrong with White people is when they embrace racist ideas and policies and then deny their ideas and policies are racist.” Calling attention to racism is just that: calling attention to racism. It doesn’t matter your background, ethnicity, education, intelligence, skin color, we are all capable of being racist, but we are all capable of combating that and being antiracist.
Memorable Quotes “Internalized racism is the real Black on Black crime.” “Racism itself is institutional, structural, and systemic.” “The Black child is ill-treated like an adult, and the Black adult is ill-treated like a child.” “Racist ideas make people of color think less of themselves, which makes them more vulnerable to racist ideas. Racist ideas make White people think more of themselves, which further attracts them to racist ideas.” “The use of standardized tests to measure aptitude and intelligence is one of the most effective racist policies ever devised to degrade Black minds and legally exclude Black bodies.” “Racist ideas love believers, not thinkers.”
Some of my favorite books are written by black authors. The first book I read by an African author was The Palm Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola. It completely opened my mind to a new voice, culture, and world.
Black authors have done more to open my mind than any other demographic. I would not be the person I am today without these authors, their stories, the characters, and the challenges they gave me to face in the mirror and the world.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie… I’ve read all of her books, and they are amazing. Americanah is absolutely stunning. I can’t recommend her enough. She has a uniquely African, American, female, human voice, which creates empathy and understanding by bridging the differences and finding the commonalities.
The Palm Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola was my gateway book. Before it, I had always gravitated to the European classics. Tutuola opened my eyes to a more diverse world of literature, and I’ve never looked back. It’s an amazing novel. You should read it.
One of the first novels I read by a black woman after discovering Achebe was Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. It is an incredible novel, and I fell in love with Hurston’s prose. She was incredibly talented, witty, and amazing. Anything she wrote is gold.
A few years ago, Yaa Gyasi was all over the place because of her debut novel Homegoing. It is absolutely worth the hype. I love the book and reviewed it, here.
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a great writer. I really love his essays. They are incredible and insightful. 2019 saw the publishing of his first novel, The Water Dancer, which I’ve just read and I’m in the process of writing a review.
The playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, is best known for A Raisin in the Sun, a play depicting segregation in Chicago and the Black Americans living in it. It was the first play by a black, female author performed on Broadway.
Alexia Arthurs has an amazing and unique voice. I can’t wait to see what else she brings into this world. Her collection of stories How to Love a Jamaican is wonderful. I reviewed it, here.
I love memoirs, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a phenomenal memoirist. She’s had a challenging and tragic life, but she overcame it and created good in the world through her activism and writing. I highly suggest any of her memoirs, but Infidel: My Life is particularly incredible.
I recently discovered Nella Larsen and her novella Passing. It was published 91 years ago, but it still holds so much up in today’s world and provides insight into the days of years gone by. Read the review, here.
I read Moi, Tituba, Sorcière… Noire de Salem or I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé in college. Some of the scenes in the novel have stayed with me ever since. It’s an amazing and heart wrenching novel in the original French and just as powerful in the English translation.
Regina Porter’s debut novel The Travelers is fantastic. It’s an amazing snapshot of American history. I reviewed it a few months ago, here.
Worth A Read Yes Length 224 Quick Review A heartbreaking history of Africans’ struggle to gain humanity, recognition, rights, and the hope for equality in America from 1619 through the 1940s.
The Black Book is absolutely soul crushing and devastating. I read it through tears and fought back bouts of nausea. It is incredibly affecting. I have too many feelings and a lot of guilt during and after reading. I can’t get the words or the images out of my mind.
Tony Morrison prefaces the book with an incredibly powerful piece. It took my breath away, and I was only on page one.
History is white-washed more often than not. We have a tendency to romanticize and paint a much prettier picture than the realities people endured. This is particularly atrocious throughout American history and the treatment of the black community. The Black Book is dedicated to an honest history and depiction of life and society. Though it’s not a happy picture, it’s a picture deserving to be told and heard and taught. If history is not learned, it’s doomed to be repeated. We cannot repeat the history contained within these pages.
The book contains first pictures, news articles, poems, songs, advertisements, excerpts, laws, myths, patents, facts, sports, legends, religion, and so much more. History is being told through the lens of the time period. There is no explanation. The editors give the reader the information and allow them to take away what they will. Although, it would be hard to read it without having a horrible view on history. The editors do not edit or politically correctisize (it’s a word now) the word usage. Racist words and expressions are kept to reflect the times and the hatred the black community faced.
Death is better than slavery was a recurring theme throughout. There are stories of men and women fighting back, running away, supporting one another, and standing up for themselves and their community. For all the awfulness throughout The Black Book, there is more time spent highlighting the successes and brilliance of the black community than the nightmares imposed by the white people who dictated society.
There is no part of society that has not been touched and improved by a black person. Throughout history they have fought for the basic right to exist and fought their way into every sphere of culture. Not only were they a part of these spheres, they excelled when everyone told them they couldn’t and weren’t allowed. The Black Book is a testament to black excellence in the face of oppression, violence, and subjugation. For the few who found success, changed culture, opened minds, and affected the law, there are thousands upon millions more who never received the chance. History is a horror, but it can teach us to learn from the mistakes already made.
I have no doubt, you will be haunted by The Black Book if you take the time to read it, and I highly suggest you do. I finished it with tears in my eyes and hope in my heart. The world is changing. Not as fast as it should, but it is changing. Maybe someday, The Black Book will be a distant memory, but that day is not today. We can still feel the echoes of history loudly in our culture.
Memorable Quotes “Steal away, steal away, steal away home. I ain’t got long to stay here.” “They failed to ask my name and called me negro.” Henry Dumas
That’s a really weird thing to say. I remember thinking that was so long ago and simultaneously so far away. Yet, here we are. Life has a way of chugging on like a train on a downhill slope.
The 1920’s were known to be roaring. Even though prohibition took up the entirety of that decade, it didn’t seem to stop the party. If people followed the rules and didn’t drink, I have a feeling The Great Gatsby would have been a lot less interesting. It will be interesting to see how this decade plays out in a new century. We have 3,621 days left to find out.
This post is only 33 days late, but it’s not like the past is going anywhere.
I was in Iowa, my home state, for New Year’s Eve. During the day, the family and I spent the day in Des Moines bopping around the capitol building and East Village. It was a lot of fun and made for some great photo opportunities.
That evening, I wanted to grab a quick picture or two in my flapper outfit. I headed to Iowa State University’s campus. I was so excited because Beardshear Hall was unlocked. We (not-so-much) snuck in and had a full blown photoshoot. It ended up being the perfect location. Built in 1906, it’s beautiful. The vintage architecture was the perfect backdrop for my vintage outfit. I even brought along my grandmother’s vintage fur cape. It’s ridiculously over the top, but then again so were the 20’s, and I have almost no reason to wear it.
In true roaring 20’s fashion, we rang in the new year at a real speakeasy. I’m not kidding. In the middle of nowhere Iowa, I was at an illegal I don’t even know what to call it, but it wasn’t legal, there was food, a live band, and a bunch of people enjoying the evening. We had food and listened to great music. I watched my parents dance the night away. The audience was far older than Dylan and I, but it was a lot of fun anyways.
I would love to say the start of the 20’s have been roaring for me, but that would be a lie of enormous proportions. I have worn my gorgeous 20’s outfit twice. Once on New Year’s Eve and once for a 20’s themed party at a ballroom studio. Here’s to hoping I have more opportunity to party it up and make this decade incredibly memorable.
I think I have more pictures than things to say. I absolutely love 20’s fashion. I think it’s gorgeous. I also really enjoy the fact it’s not form fitting, which makes it really comfortable for dancing and having fun. I really went all out. I found my flapper dress on Amazon. It’s actually very comfortable and high quality. The shoes and opera gloves, I already had. I found the jewelry on Amazon too. It really was amazing dressing up in vintage style. Someone saw the pictures I took and thought they were really from the 20’s. Best compliment ever!!!
Pictures from the speakeasy in Iowa on New Year’s Eve.
bisous und обьятий, RaeAnna
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Holy crap. I can’t believe it’s February already. I feel like I haven’t done anything productive this year. Oh well, there are still 336 days left to turn this shit around.
Back on topic: There are so many amazing heritage months during the year. Every year, I try and focus on one or two because I can’t focus on them all. Damnit! The very first year, I spent February celebrating black women for Black History Month. (Last year, I focused on Asian American Pacific Heritage Month and LGBTQIA+ Pride Month.) It was wonderful. On Instagram, I talked about a different amazing black woman every day, focusing on lesser known movers and shakers throughout history. I only read books penned by black women. These women are/were incredible. They have been the backbone of this country for centuries. Well, not just this country, but that’s a much longer story. They deserve far more recognition than they have ever gotten. For as much as I knew before that month, I learned so much more. It started amazing conversations, which I would have never had otherwise. I expanded my mind and my heart. I love being a nerdy blogger because my focus is on educating myself and pushing others to do the same. I read books about a variety of things from memoirs by comediennes to novels to nonfiction. You can’t know something until you know it, and there was so much I didn’t know. There is so much I don’t know. It’s why I keep reading: to educate myself, to be better, to do good in the world.
I push a very intersectional feminist agenda. I didn’t have a huge following back then, but I knew from the beginning I wanted to use whatever my platform was to showcase incredible humans of diverse backgrounds and voices. Not to speak for them, but be a channel for which their voices could be heard or realized or found. It’s hard to know something you don’t know, which is why I try to showcase the divergent world in which we exist. It’s so easy to be caught in our own bubble, but outside our bubbles, a world seethes with an indescribable amount of individuality and intersection. We are all humans. Our existence is uniquely our own, but it also overlaps in so many fascinating ways. We are more alike than we are different. But it’s impossible to experience the unique overlapping of humanity trapped in our own spheres of being.
That first year blogging and Instagramming was enlightening. Racism exists. It’s rampant. It’s horrible. It’s everywhere from our grandparents to the media to our own internal bias. For as much love and support as I received, I also encountered a great deal of dickweasels. I lost over 500 followers because I was highlighting black women. I heard “There are incredible white women too,” or “What about black men?” I wasn’t saying black women were better than anyone else. I was saying we, as humans, are all beautiful and fascinating, but let’s bear witness to an overlooked and left behind and oppressed group of people because they need and deserve love and acceptance and have the right to be seen. I may have lost 500 followers, who I didn’t want anyways if I’m being honest, but I gained over 1,000 new followers. I heard so many comments of support and awe. It’s not about the followers; it’s about what those numbers represent. Hatred exists in the world, but I have found kindness and compassion weighs heavier. People want a better world. People want to do better. People want to grow. People want to give and receive kindness.
This year for Black History Month, I’m not just focusing on women. I’m reading books by black authors. I won’t be highlighting a person every day because honestly, it was a lot of work and research, and my job has been keeping me very busy lately, and I don’t have the time. I truly wish I did. I hope to expand my mind and those of everyone who cares enough to follow along on this journey. I’m still completely baffled people care what I have to say, but if you’re listening – in this case, reading – I will be using my voice to raise awareness and advocate for change, peace, kindness, love, acceptance, tolerance, and a beautifully colorful world. Although, I try and do this all the time, so Black History Month really isn’t all that different than any other month. It’s just a more one directionally focused month.
So far there are only seven books on the list, but I might try and sneak an eighth in there since there are eight book review days in February. If you haven’t noticed, I post every Tuesday and Thursday. Send me your recommendations if you have any!!! What I’m reading this month:
