I saw the movie last night and I loved it, yet it left me sad. Sure it was funny. I loved the cast, the jokes, and even the location.
So why so sad?
I don't have close friendships like that. I went to, at that time a predominately white college (Arizona State University) and the few black folks there were very standoffish and mean. I was born and raised in Chicago. I grew up with all types of people living on the south side in Hyde Park. I had several friends and quite a few black girlfriends.
Once I went to college, everything changed. I learned to be alone. The few black men there were all into white women. I struggled to find myself, so I put everything I had into school and making money. I had five jobs in school. I was in debt because I spent money in the hopes that would attract the friendships I lacked. Many of the women I was around all came from rich families. For the most part they ended up at ASU because their grades, nor their parent's money would get them anywhere else. I tried to keep up with them.
I joined the black student union. I attended one meeting. Not one person spoke to me. I even tried to join the only black sorority (at the time they weren't housed on campus or sorority row - hence all white school, all white rules.) and I didn't have a car. I walked around moving from clique to clique waiting for a chance to connect. That connection never came.
I was a swimmer. I was the only black swimmer on the ASU team (male and female). I only hung out with the athletes including the football players. I endured the endless jokes from the coach about me getting a tan, watermelon and fried chicken. I was young and alone, so I laughed them off and went on my way. After a year, the loneliness and the jokes took its toll on me and I quit. My grades slipped and I became more and more detached from any resemblance of community. The black men hated me and the white men only wanted to sleep with me.
I graduated and moved to Los Angeles hoping to find friendships like I had in Chicago. Here I am twenty years later and I still don't have those friendships. I gave up years ago. I find comfort in being an individual yet I get angry at myself for not trying harder to trust and allow people in my closed world.
Maybe a friendship like theirs in the movie could still happen for me. Somewhere in my being I still have hope. Lord knows I love to have a good time and laugh. #FlossyPosse #GirlsTrip
Thursday, July 27, 2017
Girls Trip, a Reminder of What Never Was
Lisa has a unique way of bending reality with her words. With her criminal justice education and entertainment industry work experience, she’s able to tell a true story from an angle that makes you think. Her pilot Transmigration revisits Jonestown: same ending, wicked twist. Her pilot I See gives a shocking, fictional look at an ongoing, unsolved murder case inside the LASD.
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