Miss. Needy vs. Miss. Independent

The other day the image on the right hand side of your screen managed to hit my Facebook news feed.

The post triggered a memory from a conversation I had with an old family friend that turned into a heated debate about independent women.

My family friend, who I'll call Bruce, is on his second marriage and is now mulling around the idea of a second divorce. "I've decided to just call it quits and pay alimony."

That's two women and two children he's taking care of. I asked him what the problem might be. "It seems that I only date needy women." I quickly corrected him and told him that he was attracted and drawn to needy women. "When you've settled your heart and mind after your divorce you may want to consider dating independent women," I advised.

Resolution for 2014: Stick to the Plan

It’s that time of year again, resolution time. People are sharing their annual goals on social media sites and pushing #resolutions2014 into the trending topic list. So far I’ve seen the following:

·         New Year, New Me

·         Get a new job

·         Limit my time of Facebook

·         Exercise

·         Get better friends

·         Get rid of toxic friends

·         Travel

·         Take care of me

No, these aren’t my resolutions for 2014 but I’ve seen these and a list of others in my newsfeeds leading up to 2014. (Ok, well two of those were mine from 2013. I now have better friends and I keep the toxic ones at a distance.)

I recently told a friend of mine to write out his resolutions. “I must admit that putting it on paper surely put the things that are important to me into perspective,” he wrote in an e-mail.

More Than a Selfie

When the story of President Barack Obama taking a 'selfie' with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt during Nelson Mandela's memorial service hit my LinkedIn Pulse feed I was taken aback. The headline, which came from Mashable, read -- "Dear Obama: Funerals Are No Place for Selfies." My response on my @TamikaCody Twitter account … -- Remind me again on what the definition of newsworthy stories are. 

Apparently this was a big story for the social media world. Tons of comments questioning the behavior of President Obama started to trickle in on my Facebook feed. "Do you think President Obama was being disrespectful taking a selfie." Other organizations were more concerned about the look on Michelle Obama's face. "Michelle doesn't look too happy," one commenter wrote. 

The more these rants appeared in my social media feeds the more irritated I became.

Spoken Word Special: Dan's Love Story

Daniel Cruz

Music moves me. Art moves me. Words move me.

I recently found one way to support my addiction for the arts. Every Wednesday night, from 8 o'clock p.m. to 12 a.m., a group of singers, musicians and poets share their talent at Trend Coffee & Tea House open mic night in Montclair, N.J.

On Nov. 27. 2013, Dan, a young Montclair local, took the stage at Trend's open mic and shared a moving, inspirational poem.

Introducing Daniel Cruz ...

Know an emerging artist you'd like to see featured on Art of Cultures... E-mail your submissions to TCsViews@gmail.com or Tweet me @TCsViews

Oh SNAP!

Is it me, or is there an overwhelming amount of racist jabs on social media these days?

Throughout the month of October 2013 I saw one too many racial insults in my Facebook news feed. One post in particular got more than 50 comments. The gripe was about Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards being accepted in hair salons.

At first I wondered, “Why would food stamps be accepted at a hair salon?” As I read through the comments I realized that I wasn’t the only one who was thinking the same thing. “Does (the owner) have the business listed as a salon/food store,” one Facebook user asked. “You are selling food at the shop now???” Those comments made me realize that I wasn’t crazy and in fact, there is no correlation between food stamps and hair salons. But then the comments started to get repulsive and in my humble opinion, flat out racists.

Some comments went from taking cheap shots at women who prefers to wear protective hair styles, “O shit weaves on EBT?” One FB user took their best shot of mimicking Ebonics, “Girls got to get her hair did.” After reading the comment about “bringing in the China man to do nails,” that was my cue to log off and shut down my laptop.