Random Monday Morning Musings

I thought this would be a great poem to share especially if you hate you boss or something. Vengeance can be very sexy and I mean it's Monday and the weekend should not have left us so quickly. Enjoy!

A Poison Tree

By William Blake

I was angry with my friend;

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe: 

I told it not, my wrath did grow. 

 

And I waterd it in fears,

Night & morning with my tears: 

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles. 

 

And it grew both day and night. 

Till it bore an apple bright. 

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine. 

 

And into my garden stole, 

When the night had veild the pole; 

In the morning glad I see; 

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

 

 

 

XOXO,

 

IslandGyal

Niklaus Mikaelson from the hit series The Originals. He's read this poem to the audience far too often.

Now I'm Back.

I am really sorry for being away but I have the most amazing nephew and family. Now that my parents and sister have left I think things are just about back to normal. I'm back in Rotterdam and writing once more. Thank you for sticking around! If you follow me on Instagram you will see my Joy sooner or later.

XOXO,

IslandGyal

Makeup Monday!

You must know that it was only a matter of time before I started talking shop! Yuh comin or wa?

So makeup is unequivocally one of my favorite things in the world and I have finally decided to write some reviews on some awesome products. Today I want to talk about an oldie but goodie and that is none other than the MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Gold Deposit. This summer has been all about the glow and I have found myself constantly reaching for this highlighter. It is one that flatters my chocolate skin in the best way. It is also long lasting and never breaks up or starts looking patchy. Just watch the video below and enjoy the glow.



Another talking point is definitely the lipstick in this pic. Miliani has done it again and has released eight limited edition metallic lip crèmes. My favorite for the summer is 07 Automatic Touch. Let's just take a minute to understand that this liquid lipstick is EVERYTHANG! I am not very comfortable with extremely bright colors and this is the perfect berry making it summer and fall appropriate though you should do whatever you want!

So for this look I paired up with MAC's Rebel which we all know is the perfect berry toned lippie. I off course lined my lips and since I could not find my MAC liner in Currant I went for my trusty Chestnut. I then topped it off with Milani's Automatic Touch in mostly the center of the lip. The metallic really brightened the lips and created more dimension.

 

On the subject of the lasting power of these products together...they are amazing! They lasted an entire day and I had BBQ food. I find all liquid lipsticks to be somewhat drying so I wore my EOS Mint lipbalm underneath it all and I felt great. Below you can find the entire look in natural light and of course SnapChat shows you everything. All in all I totally loved this look and will be doing it again with the addition of lashes.

All of that glow! #slay

 

XOXO,

IslandGyal

 

 

 

My Family is Here!

I feel as if there has not been a post from me in years but I have a fantastic excuse! My parents and sister are in the Netherland!

My parents arrived on July 14th and my sister on the 18th and we've been spending a lot of time in Leeuwarden because of the cutest pumpkin in the entire world Dempher Joachim Cassius Henry also known as DJ. Our family welcomed him on July 17th and we've been enthralled ever since. Please excuse my absence as I soak up his cuteness. See yall soon.

XOXO,

IslandGyal

At church the day before DJ's arrival

 

Killing the Magic

There is no way for me to begin this. I hit the backspace button so many times on these few words that I am shocked that we have arrived to the end of the second sentence. I think the first steps are always the hardest ones. #BlackLivesMatter Let's just do this!

I am a 23 year old living in one of the best cities in the Netherlands: Rotterdam. I am also a woman and I am black. Many people may not understand the gravity of what they've just read but to be all those things make me one of the least privileged people in the world and unfortunately I am one of many. According to Buzzfeed's privilege test I scored 33 out of 100 meaning that I am not privileged at all. I grew up on an island and I think that sheltered me from getting an even lower score on the test. I would love to begin this by saying that there has never been a time that I have been more or even that there has never been a time that I have been less but I cannot. You see not much has actually changed for my demographic and that is why I am writing.

In the wake of last week's shootings many have come out on social media criticizing the #BlackLivesMatter movement calling it the new KKK. A movement for equality and really the right to live and not be harassed is being called a terrorist group! For years black people have been told that they are free but we have always had conditional freedom. You can get angry but you are not allowed to do so in public because you should not come across as aggressive. I could tell you that slavery was an American problem and that the civil rights movement was theirs as well. I could point out that no black people are being shot by cops in the Netherlands or the Caribbean and I would not be a complete liar. That is probably the reason why most people outside the USA are unconcerned but let me be clear on one thing. If you are black you are at risk.

A sprinter born on the island of Curacao runs for the Dutch national team and he is very good. Churandy Martina actually won the European 200M championship this year but was disqualified because his foot was on the line. One would think that our country would feel sad about the fact that the gold was taken away but happy that he is so fast that he could win in the Olympics. That was not the case! When winning Churandy was referred to as the Dutch runner but when he lost he was suddenly the islander. That is the Netherlands I live in! Statian young men and women live in cities like Rotterdam and Amsterdam where being black is normal but also live in places like Leeuwarden where they are viewed as criminals. Let us not forget about the justice system problems we have in the Netherlands where blacks who are in the minority somehow manage to commit the most crimes and spend the longest time in prison. Sound familiar yet? I live in a country that allows people to say "all black people are from the ghetto in public", only to hear that the person is free to say what they would like. I am live in country that thinks that if a black woman is being harassed or even robbed by a black man that they must know each other.

Many consider peace as the only way and that we should not be too forward in our dealings. "Ignore the racists" they say. "They are idiots and a waste of time", I am told. "Don't retaliate because you will make your race look worse." All of this and still I have yet to hear a person say that the slavery rebellions in which black slaves slaughtered their masters was a bad move. How can we then think that in 2016 we should react with peace? How can we say that we should not fight IF we have to? I will not criticize black Americans for standing up for their rights, I will continue to criticize blacks around the world who do not. Progressive news stations like the Young Turks have been telling the truth about our problems as a race for years and yet it has taken the massacres of our brothers and sisters for us to start talking. Racism is not dead, discrimination breathes and slavery merely shapeshifted. Now ask yourself how much longer you are prepared to accept this life and do you want the same life for future generations?

The Netherlands will never carry Jackie Aina's ELF eyeshadow palette and I will never walk into an Etos and find my shade of drugstore foundation unless we do something about it. Unless we start demanding everything that we want. Until we stop working on July 1st (Slavery Emancipation Day) and allowing our children to celebrate Sinterklaas with Zwarte Piet nothing will change. Until you scream no more TOGETHER nothing will happen. At the 2016 BET Awards Jesse Williams called the black race magic it's time for us to tell the world that WE ARE REAL!

XOXO,

IslandGyal

Thoughtful Tuesday

I just wanted to share something that I found very interesting. This truly sums up the way I feel about white people who care but not enough.


Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." 

I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection." (King, 1963)

XOXO,

IslandGyal

No Statia Sunday.

I'm really sorry but in the wake of last week's shootings I cannot write anything about Statia when my race is suffering. I will be back on Wednesday with a post on the Black Lives Matter movement. See you soon!

XOXO,

IslandGyal