Soon to be 18 year-old Casey Knowle’s video speaks volumes about the opportunity we have to set our country on a path we have been waiting so long to travel. At age 8, Casey appeared in a video originally shot for a railroad company advertissement. Clinton’s campaign legally purchased the video to make their TV advertisement suggesting that if the president of the U.S. received a 3AM call we’d all want Clinton to be the one answering the phone–because she’d protect us.

Casey says she resents Clinton’s “fear-mongering.” On YouTube.com, lsten and watch her explain why she fully supports Barack Obama. Go here for Casey’s own video. Check out ABC’s interview with Knowle’s here.

LaVora
mlavoraperry.com

Barack Obama’s speech on Tuesday, March 18 was a history-maker. If you’ve only heard sound bites or read excerpts, you owe it to yourself to experience the whole thing.  If you’re a parent, gather your children by your side, and let them be a part of this moment, too. They will remember later on. Please, stop reading this blog right now and watch the video of the speech.

Now, from me: Obama’s former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, did not lie in the video-taped sermons that prompted Obama to give that March 18 speech. The United States did drop two atomic bombs, unleashing horror unlike any humanity has seen since; the United States did start a war without cause, killing countless numbers of babies, grandparents, and other non-combatant Iraqis and our own young people/soldiers, and creating an ever-expanding breeding ground for terrorist groups in the process; and racism is alive and kicking in this country.

Regardless of how you feel about Wright’s presentation* and the fact that he spoke about “political” matters in church, in the video clips from the sermons that have been so controversial, these were the points he made.

From where I stand, Wright’s points are only offensive if you really believe:

1.) It’s okay to drop atomic bombs. Or at least it’s okay as long as the United States is the country that drops them.

2. Starting a war without provocation is okay. Or at least it’s okay as long as the United States is the country that starts it.

2.) Racism doesn’t exist in this country.

3.) Patriotism means ignoring the problems that weaken and can potentially destroy the very fabric of your country.

3.) Shooting the messenger is okay if the message is accurate, but ugly.

Personally, I believe none of the above.

In any case, what I like about Barack Obama is that he’s determined to help us all move beyond where we are and go where the U.S constitution promises we can be. I want to go there with him. And I want my husband’s and my children, and their children, to be able to live there.

*Jeremiah Wright’s presentation, by the way, was done in typical religious oratory style for a black American preacher. My father’s been preaching since before I can remember and I grew up seeing the same preaching style demonstrated by Wright in action more times than I can count. (Now,  I’m talking about the preaching style, not the context of his sermon, which, again, I believe was simply the truth.)

LaVora
mlavoraperry.com

I’ve wondered this since I was in junior high. Why do so many women automatically adopt their husband’s last names when getting married? I know the historical reasons behind this custom. Girls/women were considered their father’s, and after marriage, their husband’s, property. But where does this sexist little tradition fit into the lives of women/men relationships in the 21st century? In case you haven’t guessed it, the sexism thing is reason # 1 why my last name is Perry.

I’ve had people I’ve known for years–including family members–absolutely refuse to call me by my last name (the one on my birth certificate) and instead use my husband’s name. Referring to me as Mrs. (his name). I don’t want to mention my guy’s name only because I don’t have his permission to do that and doing so under these circumstances, I think, would be disrespectful.

I get mail from people who I’ve repeatedly told, “I never changed my name,” addressed to “Mrs. (My Husband’s name)”. Some people, it seems, to avoid calling me by my last name, have simply stopped addressing mail to me at all. It just comes to him now. Or to him “and family”. Like it would almost hurt to simply refer to me by the last name I’ve used all my life–the last name I’ve said outright is the only one I use.

Or people will say, after I tell them for the fifty-eleventh time, “my last name is Perry,” “oh, isn’t it Perry-(my husband’s name)? Now, for the record, this would be an understandable question coming from someone who doesn’t know me very well since my husband’s and my children do have hyphenated names (Perry-HisName). But since our marriage 15 years ago, I have never been hyphenated. Is this really that hard of a detail to remember?

Sometimes I wonder what those women who’ve chosen to change their names, and want me to join their club, would do if I all of sudden started calling them by their pre-married names. But I only wonder it. I don’t act on it. Because that would be just as rude as calling me by a name other than the one I’ve chosen and repeatedly asked to be called. So I take the high ground instead (at least in appearance). And have now, finally, thanks to blogging, written a short piece about something that has bugged the heck out of me for years.

LaVora
mlavoraperry.com

I tried to post the interview here, but I couldn’t get it to format correctly. So it’s on my website here. In it, I share info on how Taneesha Never Disparaging came to be among other things.

LaVora

Hi,

I’ve got new stuff on my website: “Guaranteed Public Humiliation,” Chapter 1 of my upcoming children’s novel, Taneesha Never Disparging. And the book’s table of contents. Check them out here:

Chapter 1: http://www.mlavoraperry.com/taneesha-chapter-one.htm

TOC: http://www.mlavoraperry.com/taneesha-contents.htm

Peace.

 LaVora

This week I received the proof pages of my first novel, Taneesha Never Disparaging. You can read a blurb describing the novel on my website.  It’s written for children.

While my husband spent the evening moving the last of his office stuff to a new space downtown, I spent the first hour of a rollerskating outing with our  three kids rollerskating with our three kids. The last two hours, after having fallen three times and nearly broken my wrist, I listened to mostly hip hop and some R & B while the mostly teen crowd skated, my kids included.

My children are not teens, but at the skating rink, I discovered a while back that “Teen Skate” really means “suggested teen skate.” So anyone can do it, even 40- somethings like me and not-yet-teens like them.

Tonight, I went back out there for a few more rounds, achy wrist and all (I iced it). But then I had to hit the laptop (I’d brought it–I had a plan), and start proofing my proof. Which means, I’m going over it to see that everything reads like I want it.

My kids kept trying to get me back out there. But I’d done my required 30 minutes of cardio for the day. I may have even hit 45 minutes. And the book was a’calling.

We’ll do it again soon, though. Obviously, I’ve let too much time pass since we did it last–hence the three falls, one in which I slid clear across the floor. But each time I got right back up and went out there again. I couldn’t let my kids see me quit just because I fell on my butt.

Anyway, the last time we went it was December ‘07. By the time we go again, maybe next week, I’ll be done proofing. But that’s no guarantee that I’m whipping around that rink for three hours. It’s fun, and I’m okay at it, really. What I like the most is when I’ve been on the floor for a few songs and my body starts getting into the music and I can just forget about falling and groove while the real skaters whip past me like pure rhythm in jeans and a tee shirt.

But three hours? I seriously doubt that that scenario is in my near future. I’m not trying to be a teen again. I like their energy though. It inspires me and gives me hope.

LaVora

It’s almost 4am. If I have typos, I forgive them.

 -L

Hi, We (the authors of TEENS SISTERS’ HEALTH) need high school or college age videographers, script writers, and actors, 18 or older, in or near Cleveland, Ohio to create TEEN SISTERS HEALTH videos. Build your resume, complete your senior project, gain experience. No $$ offered. Interested? Email us at email<AT>teensistershealth.com. (Replace <AT> with @ to send email. This reduces our junk mail).Thanks!M. LaVora Perry
www.mlavoraperry.com
www.teensistershealth.com