With Love, Songbird

from my heart, to my lungs, to your ears with love

Heyyy Red Stick! I miss you! November 20, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 1:48 pm
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Throwing up the duece to Atl for a minute

I’m headed out Sunday morning to The Red Stick (Baton Rouge). I miss home a bunch man. I miss my fam, my food, my sitting around aimlessly looking for something to do besides sleep. lol! I miss it all. I’m only staying for a week, which I don’t think is long enough..lol! I have a master plan for next year, I just pray that the Lord is in agreement with it. I’m going to write it down, make it plain. Anyways, I probably won’t be blogging at all next week b/c of the screwy internet at the apts, but hopefully there will be plenty to blog about when I get back. I’m also starting open mic when I get back to Atl which I am excited and nervous about. Ole well, how else will I be heard….can’t be scared…oh no, can’t be scared. I will have a whole section of my performances and let’s see how progress singing in public.

MUAH! :)

 

A must read! Enlightening! November 19, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 4:21 pm
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November 18, 2009
Why Heather Ellis wishes she were not a black woman
Posted: 07:07 PM ET

Heather Ellis is facing 15-years in prison for allegedly cutting line at a Wal-Mart store in Missouri.

Dr. Boyce Watkins
Special to AC360°

Heather Ellis is in trouble. The 24-year old preacher’s daughter has spent most of her life doing the right things: Going to college, getting ready for medical school and staying out of trouble. What Heather didn’t realize is that even when you do the right things, your margin of error as a person of color in America is virtually non-existent.

When I wrote my book, “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” the key point was that America’s justice system has a difficult time understanding that punishments must match the magnitude of the crime that has allegedly been committed. The actions that a “frat boy” can get away with 20 times during college can send an African American to prison for the next 20-years. America is a country that has, without question, consistently over-charged, over-searched, over-incarcerated and over-sentenced African Americans for the past 400 years of its existence.

Given its ugly past, the criminal justice system has very little credibility, and even police reports are subject to being questioned – especially in a town like Kennett, MO. My father’s a cop, so I know how all this works. Even when black men were lynched 100 years ago, there were always “witnesses” and police reports to say that he was a bad person. Fortunately, lynching does not occur anymore (although a black boy – Walter Currie Jr. – was burned alive by his white classmate in the same area as Heather), but the noose has been replaced with the long prison sentence as the most typical and most devastating form of punishment. As a result, black men and women are filling up America’s penitentiaries at an alarming rate, and it is destroying the core of the black family.

The idea that Heather Ellis faces up to 15-years in prison for an incident that amounts to her being a “bad person” and cutting line at Walmart is one of the most glaring reflections of judicial disparity that our country has ever seen. The crux of her charges, two felony counts of assaulting a police officer, are merely derivatives of the fact that she had been chastised for allegedly getting angry at those who refused to serve her after accusing her of cutting the line.

In a recent report, Dr. Christopher Metzler, King Downing, Elliot Millner and Dr. Wilmer Leon make the clear point that Kennett, Missouri has created both a pattern and practice of disparate treatment toward people of color. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the police of Kennett, Missouri search African Americans more than twice as often as whites (14% vs. 6%) even though they possess contraband at roughly the same rate (25% vs. 20%). Across the state of Missouri, African-Americans are searched almost twice as often as whites (12% vs. 7%), even though they are LESS likely to possess contraband (17% vs. 20%). Attorney General Eric Holder should get involved by conducting a thorough investigation of the entire Southeast Missouri judicial system.

Not only is there a problem in the broader justice system, there are variations in how police respond to African American suspects vs. those who are not black. Rather than de-escalating the situation and sending Heather home to her family, the officers decided that it might make more sense to send her to jail. That’s the norm for black youth, as we are now sending inner city school kids to jail right out of the classroom. Such a police state would not be acceptable in the suburbs, where young people are allowed to make mistakes.

My simple contention is this: Had Heather Ellis been a Duke Lacrosse player getting a little rowdy on spring break, I doubt very seriously that she would be facing this kind of prison time. America has a two-tiered justice system, where people of color are being given the bottom rung of the justice ladder. Our inability to let go of our racially horrific past is causing us to destroy our future. The Heather Ellis case is merely a symptom of a much larger problem.

The link to the article : Anderson Cooper 360: Blog

 

Makin’ it through! November 18, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 1:05 am
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My weekend was great! I had some company and saw some things around Atlanta that I was too lazy busy to see on my own. Plus I got a new do for when I go home Sunday for the Thanksgiving Holidays! I can’t wait to see the fam and eat a homecooked meal. Check out the flicks!

Sitting in front of MLK's House


At the burial site


Ebenezer Baptist Church

 

I need therapy! November 13, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 5:43 am
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Prayer! I need it! A hug! I want it! A dream! I got it! So ready to start the rest of my life tomorrow! Always feel like something is missing and I’m not complete. It’s time to fill that space. PURPOSE! There’s got to be a purpose for this! Let’s figure out what it is! :(

 

Today’s Word from Joel & Victoria Osteen November 10, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 1:58 pm
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Just the breakfast I needed this morning. I guess I better stay on my business!
CHECK IT OUT!

You Are Closer Than You Think

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
“So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit”
(Galatians 6:9, the Message)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria
God has put dreams and desires in every person’s heart. We all have goals we want to accomplish and situations we are believing will be turned around. Sometimes it seems to take longer than we thought. Sometimes things don’t work out the way we planned, and it’s easy to lose enthusiasm. Negative thoughts come to us that say, “It’s never going to change.” “You’re never going to get well.” “You’re never going to get out of debt.” If we’re not careful, we’ll get discouraged and end up just settling where we are. Many times, people miss out on God’s best simply because they give up too soon. They don’t realize how close they are to their victory.

Friend, don’t let that be you today! Don’t give up just because things seem hard. You are closer than you think! You’ve invested so much and you never know, just another few more days of believing, another few weeks of doing the right thing, another few months of staying in faith, and you could see that situation turn around. Remember, God is on your side! Keep standing and keep believing because you are closer than you think to fulfilling every desire He’s placed inside of you!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY
“Father God, today I come to You again, believing that You are working behind the scenes on my behalf. Give me Your strength to keep moving forward into the place of victory You have for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

 

My theory on: Why girls mature faster than boys…Part 1 November 7, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 6:39 pm
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Little Girl's Toys


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Little boy's Toys

Okay, so the other morning I got out of bed and started my usual routine. Get out of bed at 5am, say my prayers until 5:45, hit the gym for an hour, back to the room by 6:45, watch the last 15min of Fairly Odd-Parents, and boom 7am is Spongebob time. While enjoying my Spongebob and getting ready for work a few commercials came on the screen. It’s getting closer and closer to Christmas, so they are advertising toys like crazy. The first commercial came on and it went a little something like this…… “Boom Boom Bam, Kill the aliens that’s trying to invade the planet and earn the magical slim that makes you immortal”. Obviously that commercial was advertiing something to the little boys right! I mean slim, aliens, being immortal…that’s every little boys dream. Immediately following that commercial was another, which sounded something like this, “Dress baby, bath baby, change babies diapers. When baby is crying, give baby bottle with the magical dissappearing milk, like baby is actually drinking”. Needless to say this commercial was aimed towards the little girl.

I know that every little girl wants to do what they see mommy do. We wanted to bake, clean, cook, iron. I totally understand those types of toys. I know that the same applies to little boys with the tool sets, HotWheels cars, riding lawn mowers. I guess what I am trying to say is….Where the hell is my alien destroyer toys? Growing up boys never had the reality of “what they are created to do”. As far as I can remember, the most popular toys for boys were Super Soakers, Hotwheels ramps, Laser guns, and super hero capes. I’m sure I am missing a few, but no toys, that I can remember, had anything to do with providing for a family, wifing up a woman, taking care of a child, getting a job…etc. Even though this is not the case for all girls, I do believe that we were programmed at a very young age to cook, clean, nurture, and prepare for a wedding. Barbie had the bomb wedding. Who didn’t want all that Barbie had? I mean really?

I think that my point is we wonder why some men never adjust to being a provider, never want to settle down, hardly want to grow up at all while at the same time it comes so easily to women. A woman can be thrown in a situation where a baby is crying and she can competely soothe that child with hardly any effort while some men are damn near to a nervous breakdown. I thank God for that nurturing side that I have inside of me. I love it. I love being a woman, don’t get me wrong, but I do feel that to a certain extent, I was “TOLD” what to want. I often wonder that if the same type of non-realistic toys were offered to girls (of course in the bright shades of pinks and purple) would guys and girls be sorta on the same page? Most women are ready for marriage around the age of 26-28 in some cases, while I know guys 30-37 who are like “I’m not ready for that type of responsiblity”. I do admit that some of these issues stem from personal beliefs, issues, perceptions, which everyone are entitled to. I repect that! I still think that to a certain point we were coached by society. I find myself at work getting along better with 33-40 yr old men, as we talk about last night’s episode of Southpark or Family Guy, then 20-27 yr old women, who most of the time want to talk about the problems they are having with their man. Men never lose that inner child. I love that about men. Women are kind of pushed out of that dream world, I think.

No one is at fault here and this certainly does not apply to every man and woman. This is just my brief revelation as I go back to listening to Spongebob and Patrick conquer up a plan to get a Patrick some type of award.

I will think of something else I am sure and I will edit this, but it’s time to get back to work.

 

He sang, He impressed! November 3, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 4:36 pm
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As if I wasn’t already impressed. I bought my ticket 2mth in advance and it was well worth the wait. I didn’t know that we could bring camera in the Fox Theatre so I have no good pictures, but that never mattered to me. It’s stamped in my brain now, FOREVER. I couldn’t even get a clear image of his face, but I heard him. Man, did I hear him. What a voice! What awesome, well thought out lyrics! I was feeling all kinds of emotions about my outlook on music and what direction I wanted my own music career to go in. I pray to work with him one day. Something I learned at the show is that he has plenty of personality and a sense of humor, which is like putting crushed ice in my lemonade, everyone knows I love crushed ice…lol. Now I have a concert to compare to GCH, which lies on two TOTALLY different ends of the music spectrum, both really good and entertaining. I will attempt to see him every chance I can, I wish I could go back to Sunday night and watch it again. I was thinking the entire time that I wish I didn’t have to share this alone, just with myself. I really wanted someone to turn to and say, “Are you hearing this?” “Are you feeling what I’m feeling?”. There was just this drunk kid 18-20, who thought that it was so passionate of me to come alone. He said to me “I wish that I could tell Ray how much you love his music.”. That was funny b/c I didn’t realize the excitement had shown on my face so well when he mention anything about the music. I pray that someone feel as passionate about my music and voice as I do about Ray Lamontagne. He’s one of those artist I can see myself loving until the day I die. I don’t see him changing with the times, just getting better in them. Below are pictures of me before I went to the show.

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Quote Me! October 31, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 11:00 pm
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“The world can look like it’s crashing down on me, but I worship a God that created the world in 7 days.”

 

I’m sleepy October 24, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 5:40 pm
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Man shoot! It’s Saturday and I’m at work until 6pm. I thank God for my job and know that I should not complain, but I would much rather be in my bed right now. Mmmmmmm….bed!

I have all the right reasons to be joyful though. Me and my family are in good health, I have a job that covers all my bills, and ……I’m headed to the studio within the following week to start on my “With Love, Songbird” Mixtape, with some TRUE professionals (so I’ve been told and seen thus far).

Ya’lll just get ready to purchase your tickets to my show and turn your radio up when ya hear ya girl

WITH GOD, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE…..I believes that ya dig lil fig!

Aight back to work…MUAH!
OH WAIT…I thought that I would share this, even though I’m a girlie! >>>>>>>>>> The boy’s name Gabie \g(a)-bie\ is a variant of Gabriel (Hebrew), and the meaning of Gabie is “God’s able-bodied one; hero of God”.

 

Quote Me! October 22, 2009

Filed under: Gabie Denise — gabiedenise @ 12:22 pm
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“If you ever want to get off track, lose a sense of who you are and what you stand for, constantly question yourself and life…here’s what you do, stop praying and reading your Bible”

-Gabie Denise