You Can't Stay Friends With Your Ex

I recently was talking to a guy who told me that him and his ex Tiara* we're "still friends." I asked him how often they talked and he said, "every now and then." I asked if he still had feelings for her. He said, "I'll always have love for her, but I don't feel the same way I used to about her." And with that, I was done asking about his past.

He and I quickly became part of one another's lives--spending weekends together, spending nights in each other's rooms, going out to dinners, etc. I was happy, he was happy.

One day while I was in his room, I noticed a pink set of earrings. "Whose are those?" I asked.

"Oh, those are Tiara's*. I have to give them back to her."

But those earrings weren't there the week before. They weren't there two days ago. Had he cleaned his room and found them under his bed? Had he set them aside to give them back to her as a last gesture of the end of their relationship? I didn't press the issue any further, his answer was enough.

I continued to spend time with him but I kept noticing little things. He was always texting on his phone, and anytime I spent the night at his place he would step outside of his room to make a phone call. He would sometimes cancel his plans with me hours before saying, "Oh, Im sorry something came up but I'll make it up to you later."

It took me months to realize that his ex was still in the picture. Although he constantly claimed that he wasn't in love with her anymore, his actions showed differently. They still hung out on the weekends, and anytime he wasn't hanging with me, he was hanging with her.

One day I finally found the guts to break it off with him. It hurt, but I knew it was for the better. She still had a piece of his heart and I was trying to be with someone who wasn't willing to be with me just yet. As someone who was hurt by the "me and my ex are just friends" bull, I'm writing this to let you know that if someone says that line to you, RUN! There's no way that someone can remain friends with his/her ex. IT DOES NOT WORK.


Love & Lines,
Shelbbzzz

*name has been changed

Graduation, Please Hurry Up

This has probably been my worst semester in college as far as academics go. "Senioritis" struck me late in January and I wondered why I was even going to my Stats class. (Why do I have to take Statistics if I'm not a math major? I swear I'll never need to use the equation for relative risk a day in my life)

The English department has yet to send out information about graduation but I BETTER be on that list. I can't bear to spend one more semester at Pitt (Even though I LOVE college). I MUST get out. It's time to move on...away from stress, away from classes, away from people I hope to never see after graduation, away from Port Authority buses, away from college food ( I gained threee pounds after eating union food for three weeks..THREE WEEKS!!!) and away from stupid rumor-driven phone calls in the middle of the night regarding false--whoa...sidetrack...lol But anyway, it's time for me to sail on.

My countdown offically begins today and I'm pretty sure I'll be one of the happiest people alive on May 2nd, 2010. (YESSSSSSSSS)

49 Days til graduation,
Love and Lines,
Whit

BHM - Black Facts 2.25

1.
1999 - White supremacist John King sentenced to death
White supremacist John King, one of three white men accused of chaining James Byrd to a pickup and dragging him along a Texas road until he was decapitated, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. If his death penalty is carried out, he will be the first white Texan executed for killing a black since slavery ended....
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2.
1998 - I Believe I Can Fly
R. Kelly's hit single "I Believe I Can Fly" win Best Male R&B Vocal, Best Song Written for TV or a Movie and Best R&B Song Grammy Awards.
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3.
1987 - NAACP leader Edward Daniel Nixon dies
Edward Daniel Nixon, former president of the Georgia NAACP, died at age 87.
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4.
1980 - Robert E. Hayden dies
Robert E. Hayden, poet and poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, dies
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5.
1978 - Death of Daniel ("Chappie") James Jr
Death of Daniel ("Chappie") James Jr. (58), retired Air Force general and the first Black promoted to four-star rank, at the Air Force Academy, Colorado.
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6.
1975 - Death of Elijah Muhammad
Death of Elijah Muhammad (77), leader of the Nation of Islam, in Chicago. He was succeeded by his son, Wallace D. Muhammad.
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7.
1971 - President Nixon meets with Congressional Black Caucus
President Nixon met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and appointed a White House panel to study a list of recommendations made by the group.
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8.
1964 -
Cassius Clay becomes world heavyweight boxing champion.
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9.
1948 - Martin Luther King,Jr. Ordained
Martin Luther King ordained as a Baptist minister
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10.
1839 - Seminoles
Seminoles and their Black allies shipped from Tampa Bay, Florida, to the West.

Black History Month Facts of the Day

1.
1966 - Kwame Nkrumah ousted in military coup
Elected leader and first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, ousted in military coup while he is away on a peace mission to Vietnam.
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2.
1940 - Heavyweight boxer Jimmy Ellis born
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Jimmy Ellis was born James Albert Ellis in Louisville, Kentucky. Ellis won the World Boxing Association title after beating Jerry Quarry in April 1968.
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3.
1868 - House of Representatives voted, 126 to 47, to
House of Representatives voted, 126 to 47, to impeach President Andrew Johnson.
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4.
1864 - First Black Woman to receive an M.D.
2/24/1864: Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born in 1833. She worked from 1852-1860 as a nurse in Massachusetts.
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5.
1811 - Bishop Daniel Payne born
Bishop of AME Church Daniel Payne born

BHM Fact of the Day

1. 1995 - Melvin Franklin dies
Bass Singer Melvin Franklin of The Temptations died of complications following a brain seizure in Los Angeles. He was 53.
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2. 1979 - Frank E. Peterson Jr.
Frank E. Peterson Jr. named the first Black general in the Marine Corps.
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3. 1965 - Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough President
Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough president, the highest elective office held by a Black woman in a major American city.
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4. 1929 - Baseball catcher Elston Gene Howard born
Baseball catcher Elston Gene Howard was born in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1965, Howard signed a $70,000 contract with the NY Yankees and became the highest paid player in the history of baseball at the time.
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5. 1925 - Politician Louis Stokes born
Louis Stokes, former mayor of Detroit, Michigan, and member of the US House of Representatives, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Stokes was the first African American elected to the House from Ohio.
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6. 1915 - Reconstruction congressman Robert Smalls dies
Robert Smalls, Reconstruction congressman, dies in Beaufort, South Carolina.
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7. 1895 - William H Heard
William H. Heard, AME minister and educator, named minister to Liberia.
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8. 1869 - Louisiana governor signed public accommodations
Louisiana governor signed public accommodations law.
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9. 1868 - W.E.B. DuBois born
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (W.E.B. Du Bois) was born on this day.
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10. 1868 - Dr.William Edward Burghardt DuBois
On this day Dr.William Edward Burghardt DuBois, educator and civil rights advocate, is born in Great Barrington, Mass.

Blog Under Construction!

The Blackline blog will be undergoing massive construction over the next few days. When it is revamped, you won't be able to turn away.

Bear with us,
Love and Lines,
Blackline

And the Winners Are....

Congratulations to Blackline's Man & Woman of the Year!!! Miss Christina Royster and Mr. Q'Ryan O'Quinn!!! Our winners were honored at our Black Love/Black History Release party this past Thursday! Thanks to all those who came out, it was truly a success! we look forward to seeing Mr. Quinn and Miss Royster on the cover of our next issue!!!

Late 911: Save Haiti

So I’m sitting in my room listening to Public Enemy’s 1990 album Fear of A Black Planet. The volume on my laptop is as high is it can go so I can drown out the sounds of the girls yelling in the hall and find peace. It is Monday the 18th and I pick up Friday’s paper that I’ve been meaning to read. The headline: “You will not be forsaken” sits somewhat elevated on top of the graphic picture of a young girl with her long bony hands thrust up into the air in desperation. She stands their, still, letting all of the pain, grief, and wonder concentrate inside her veins as she opens her arms up to the sky and lets out a chilling “Why?” as she stands in the midst of broken concrete, wood, and who knows what all else. The culprit, a massive earthquake. The price, over 50,000...in people.
I remember checking my Yahoo after class earlier this week and seeing the pictures of the Haitian people and the many headlines about the earthquake but I refused to click on them. I couldn’t bring myself to look at those pictures. I couldn’t find enough muscle in my body to be able to stomach looking into the eyes of the victims of this tragedy. I couldn’t but I’m glad everyone else wasn’t like me. Coincidence or irony or whatever you want to call it its Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it is now that I decide to read the paper about the earthquake in Haiti and as I’m reading it track 3 of my favorite Public Enemy cd comes on, 911 is a Joke. As I read I hear Flavor Flave’s distinct voice and up beat rap “911 is a fake life saver. A get up, a get get down 911 is jokin your town. A get up a get get down late 911 wears the late crown.” And I think he can’t be more right. It takes my back to a couple years ago to Hurricane Katrina when 911/the government/Fema/ and all other lackadaisical aid plaid the biggest joke of all: pretending that they were going to do everything to help the people in New Orleans as soon as possible. That cracks me up still, but there is no smile on my face. Now the world again stands amazed at the power nature has and is reminded of how fast and how drastically nature can change the lives of so many people. Sorry police, no jokes this time, real aid is needed as was before but time 100.
Obama has pledged $100 million, Wyclef Jean has a fund going, and so do various other groups. We must help out in any way we can. I know we are all college students and we’re struggling, but anything is better than nothing. Even if its just helping to raise awareness about this catastrophe that is still aid. Don’t have the mind set that ‘I don’t have to do anything now, there are a lot of people helping out. My little donation won’t make that much of a difference.’ because there are probably hundreds of other people thinking the same thing. If everyone thought like that nothing would ever happen. In the motto of Gloria Richardson and Malcolm X’s direct action civil rights group ACT, I ask of you to do just that and act.

How you can help in Pittsburgh:
WorldVision is sending pallets of relief materials and medical supplies. Donations can be made at www.donate.wordlvision.org
Brother’s Brother Foundation- Haiti by visiting www.brotherbrother.org
Functional Literacy of Haiti at www.flmhaiti.org
Unicef by calling 18004UNICEF or going to www.unicefusa.org/haitiquake
The International Rescue Committee is deploying an emergency response team to Haiti. Visit www.theirc.org

Darah Patterson

Blackline Presents: Woman & Man of the Year

If you know a friend or fellow student who is accomplishing great things (stellar GPA, amazing community service, major successes, etc) NOMINATE him or her for Blackline's Woman/Man of the Year! (Or, nominate yourself :-) )

Here are the rules:
1. The nominee must be a junior or senior to qualify with at least a 3.0 GPA.
2. The nominee must be an active member of at least two campus organizations.
3. The nominee must be willing to attend an interview during the week of January 17th, 2010-January 24th, 2010.

Email blackline.bas@gmail.com with "Nominee" in the subject heading. In the email list the nominee's name, email address, and a few sentences on why your nominee should be Blackline's Woman or Man of the year. Deadline for nominations is midnight on January 15, 2010.

**Each nominee will be featured in the next issue of Blackline. The winners will receive a spread in the magazine as well as an award at our release party on February 11, 2010.

Love & Lines,
Blackline