SIDESHOW: Sometimes there are other ideas that I think would be awesome. So think of these as guest blog entries from other sections of my brain. (See all Sideshows here.)
Because I just saw this with my parents. For context I graduated high school when this movie was set. (Still felt all the nostalgia ya’ll these trends lasted a few years and they didn’t go away just because I was going to college). While this was my third time watching the movie, this was the first time my parents saw it. And when it was over, my mother immediately told me that I never had to be perfect for her. I never said a word to prompt this. But I appreciated it all the same. Because all women go through this. And this movie reminded my mom of that. And now I’ll always remember it too.
High Above - India.Arie I just saw some of the young ladies of the Dance Theater of Harlem performing on the View and I was moved to tears. The dancers of color, the song’s lyrics and melody…it all got me. I immediately went to YouTube and found this, the story is beautiful. This song will be on repeat. We really need to keep the arts alive. So many lives have been saved through music and dance, art in all its forms. I look forward to taking my nieces to see them in person as soon as I am able.
This video made me burst into tears upon first watching it a little less than a year ago. The song I still play as often as I can. My mom introduced me to dance. That was my thing when I was a little girl. I wasn’t shaped like most of the other girls but I moved just as well, if not better because I practiced twice as hard. My dance career came to end after one too many poorly organized recitals where my mom was forced to spend more time backstage helping other dancers get dressed than seeing me perform. I’ll never forget the day she told those folks off and stormed out with my hand in hers after a wardrobe malfunction caused me to miss my favorite, most difficult tap performance. My mom did not play! Anyway, now I just watch and enjoy from the audience.
Probably won’t be here for long but just wanted to acknowledge that yesterday was my birthday. I did celebrate it thanks to some dope friends but I also bawled my eyes out hours earlier. See, 3 days prior we had my mother’s homegoing service. 2 days prior to my 35th bday, I watched my mom’s casket be lowered into the ground. Today marks 2 weeks since she took her last breath and died, at home, peacefully in her sleep (just as she had wanted). 5 months before, she began at home hospice care. Almost 4 years since I left my job as a school social worker then newly hired afterschool program director, to care for her full time. Almost 8 years since she’d been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer (adenoid cystic carcinoma) and I moved back to Brooklyn. I have no regrets about the time I dedicated to serving God through my service to the most amazing mom I could have ever asked for…I am grateful for each moment that we were able to spend together. Most of us will never see our purpose so clearly defined but if/when you do, I implore you to walk in that purpose. Today is bittersweet. Every day for the last 2 weeks has been. Probably for the last few years. I know my mom is at peace. The beautiful weather on the days of her funeral service and burial confirmed that for me. However, as much as I may look at peace or try to convince myself that I am…I feel like a walking, talking ball of confusion. I’ve struggled to articulate my thoughts every day because they don’t fully make sense to me. I hate that. Therefore, this is the best explanation that I can come up with today. I know things will get better. I am just trying to allow myself the space to process, to feel every single thing and to breathe through it. I know I spent years processing, on this here tumblr, so I just wanted to leave this update here. Thank you for all your prayers, positive thoughts and well wishes over the years. (and you’re damn right I’m taking my ass back to therapy in the days to come. I’m aware enough to know that I can’t do this alone. I’m also grateful to have people in my life who will make sure that I don’t have to but that will also allow me to journey solo when need be). Definitely trying to learn how to live again…
There’s actually something very important here. Cass is clearly the better fighter, even when hampered by the loss of her body reading ability. When she is questioning Babs about it, and saying Babs sucks, that’s relative. Cass would absolutely have whupped Babs’s ass in combat.
But then we see why Babs was able to teach Cass a lesson at the end. It wasn’t martial arts. It was brains. She outsmarted a cocky opponent. She literally used Cass’s expectations against her and trapped her. This is Oracle and Barbara’s true strength. She is a capable fighter, but it’s that big beautiful brain that let her survive.
And if I’m not mistaken, Cass learns this from Babs and uses it to her advantage later. It just goes to show how critical Babs is as the mentor for Cass.
This is why Babs being Oracle as Cass and Steph’s mentor is superior to her being Batgirl. They don’t need someone on the field with them helping them beat up bad guys. The intelligence, the strategy, and the experience of beating ppl that are on paper better than you is more crucial and interesting and only seems to be viable with OracleBabs as a mentor. Love this page so much.
