by Neo Blaqness | November 13, 2016 | Brown Girl, Poetry, Reflections | 0 Comments

That word
is the mark of slavery
and used to justify
every no good thing against us.

by Neo Blaqness | November 2, 2016 | Personal, Reflections | 3 Comments

You would think that because it has happened to me so many times in my life, that it wouldn’t bother me so much. Most times it does not

by Neo Blaqness | October 26, 2016 | Observations | 1 Comment

“One thing I want you to remember… when a man is convinced he is going to die, he will usually find a way to make it happen.”

by Neo Blaqness | October 15, 2016 | Ask Neo, Faith Matters, Letters | 0 Comments

You know we all seem so sure when we are in the presence of darkness. We usually don’t doubt it for one second. And yet how easily we dismiss the light of others in our lives or, worse still, allow others to throw shade who don’t got nothing to do with God’s purpose between you and somebody else.

by Neo Blaqness | October 11, 2016 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 2 Comments

We had no idea of knowing that those were the innocent days that we would never see again. A time in the hearts of hopeful children when race really did not matter.

by Neo Blaqness | September 26, 2016 | Ask Neo, Letters | 2 Comments

You have to be willing to accept for yourself that you are either a new creature in Christ or you are not. Nobody else can do that for you. And once you do accept it, nobody can separate you from what that means to your new life; not even by bringing up doubts based upon your old life.

by Neo Blaqness | September 22, 2016 | Reflections | 2 Comments

The same thing happens when we are ignorant of our history. The conclusions we draw are far from the reality of the pictures we paint in our minds.

by Neo Blaqness | September 11, 2016 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 3 Comments

After reading her text I was left with a question to myself: What is it about so many of us that we tend to take better care of others then we do our own selves?

by Neo Blaqness | July 14, 2016 | Society | 0 Comments

By indiscriminately fomenting discord at the appearance of every white cop involved shooting of a black person, the Black Lives Matter Movement risks riding in the same clown car that produced the birther movement which launched the campaign to de-legitimize the nation’s first African American President. Black Lives Matter clearly does not know how to pick its battles, nor control the narrative of its goals,

by Neo Blaqness | June 7, 2016 | Ask Neo, Letters | 2 Comments

Over the years the corner was my comfort zone, kept me cool, calm and collected. Kept me safe and content. I was a slave, my fears were the whip that kept me in line, kept me quiet.

by Neo Blaqness | June 4, 2016 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 2 Comments

For five years I had the honor of being a trustee to his growth- imparting to him everything that coursed through my veins. And although my blood does not flow through his, I never realized before how immaterial to him that had become.

by Neo Blaqness | May 14, 2016 | Observations, Personal, Reflections | 1 Comment

Now I was being presented with REASON. But was it reason enough to choose to live. What would really change by turning back toward life?

by Neo Blaqness | May 12, 2016 | Observations, Personal, Reflections | 0 Comments

It is the ultimate judgement upon its life that a soul will awaken to see the fruit born of substance that it added to existence still being remembered by those yet alive.

by Neo Blaqness | May 5, 2016 | Observations, Personal, Reflections | 0 Comments

When we sleep, it is not for the sake of our bodies, but for the sanity of our minds. As long as we get proper nutrition and rest from physical activities, the body itself can manage without sleep, but a lack of sleep will eventually drive us insane.

by Neo Blaqness | May 3, 2016 | Personal, Reflections | 0 Comments

When Christians are taught that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, it is a beautiful saying. But there is a science to prayer in the same way that some religions chant to reach a certain state of mind.

by Neo Blaqness | April 29, 2016 | Personal, Reflections | 0 Comments

Mid morning came and I signed off on the papers also giving my friend authority to make decisions for me. She walked alongside my gurney toward the O.R. up until the waiting room where they told her they would come to her in about an hour to join me in recovery.

by Neo Blaqness | April 29, 2016 | Personal, Reflections | 1 Comment

I knew not to chance it. I was warned the last time that I had been only millimeters from emergency back surgery. The nature of the situation was such that the discs could slip into the spinal cord and trigger life threatening signals to my brain and throughout my body.

by Neo Blaqness | April 28, 2016 | Observations, Reflections | 1 Comment

People will always try to entice you to live in their past. But you have to be wise enough to know there is no future on that path.

by Neo Blaqness | April 28, 2016 | Society | 0 Comments

when a white woman tells me she is into black guys, I consider it the most racist thing she could ever say to me. It is not a compliment. It is as stereotypical as watermelon and fried chicken, as if all black guys are the same just because of the color of their skin.

by Neo Blaqness | April 28, 2016 | Observations, Reflections | 1 Comment

When dad whooped us, we knew exactly why because he never came out of his feelings with it. It was never personal except to drive home the point. There was no hug later. There was instead an expectation that he would not have to do it again.

by Neo Blaqness | March 20, 2015 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

by Neo Blaqness | March 14, 2015 | Personal, Reflections | 0 Comments

by Neo Blaqness | February 26, 2015 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 0 Comments

I bless God for you being a mentor, a counselor, a big brother and so much more.

by Neo Blaqness | January 17, 2015 | Faith Matters | 0 Comments

I was startled to see her half smiling but her eyes were swollen. I think she had been crying. She said “I seen you in this store shopping late for a long time now and you always have a smile and everybody says how safe they feel when you come in to shop at night because we get some pretty creepy people in here. Please don’t think I am crazy but could you pray for me?”

by Neo Blaqness | January 8, 2015 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

My son is getting married. Oh did I mention he is a big white boy from the south I met shortly after my divorce when I just needed time to find myself?

by Neo Blaqness | January 4, 2015 | Personal, Reflections | 1 Comment

by Neo Blaqness | December 30, 2014 | Personal, Reflections | 1 Comment

by Neo Blaqness | December 23, 2014 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 0 Comments

I don’t know if you realize how much of a endangered species a brother like you is compared to all the crap we usually have to put up with so I can’t blame a sister for trying

by Neo Blaqness | December 17, 2014 | Ask Neo, Faith Matters, Letters | 0 Comments

He never was violent toward me. He was always respectful. But he was so spoiled by his mama that he was lazy. It felt like other than me having a baby I was the man and I was taking care of a woman.

by Neo Blaqness | December 17, 2014 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 0 Comments

I don’t know how you do it and keep a positive mind or a good heart because I know I am not the only one who do what I did. I guess I can only be thankful that you keep doing what you do

by Neo Blaqness | November 25, 2014 | Society | 0 Comments

Still, the question remains. If all the accusations are true, why Cosby? And why now? The most obvious answer is social media being the great equalizer against a once insurmountable power. None of these women would have had a chance to appear credible before the age of the mass community verdict which yields even greater weight than an actual court case.

by Neo Blaqness | November 7, 2014 | Ask Neo, Faith Matters, Letters | 1 Comment

The thing you need to understand first is that religion and faith are two different things. Religion requires a name and a book. Faith requires only a yearning for the wisdom of God and a willingness to accept it. Jesus said I will leave you a comforter- an inner spirit to guide you to all truths.

by Neo Blaqness | October 30, 2014 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 0 Comments

Caregiving was at times challenging for me because, in never having given birth to any children, I was new at not only now parenting, but at my child actually being my mother. Wow! Thank you for in a sense having co-parented with me through countless phone calls and emails.

by Neo Blaqness | October 27, 2014 | Family | 0 Comments

One of my spiritually adopted kids has been having a hard time adjusting to college life. Not so much the classes but with how negative and cruel some young people can be.

by Neo Blaqness | October 21, 2014 | Ask Neo, Letters | 0 Comments

I remember when I was in high school a Jamaican acapella choir came to perform and they sang a song that basically said that if you want to be happy it is better to marry a girl uglier than you. We all laughed about it. But the truth is, just like there are a lot of women who cannot handle the fact that my work exposes me to many women, there are a lot of men who avoid the drama that comes with a woman that is either too beautiful or too vain.

by Neo Blaqness | October 18, 2014 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 0 Comments

Do you even realize how potent your words are to a sister like me who has never imagined a brother like you existed? I have to keep telling myself this is only the internet but that excuse does not work when the words I read are so real. I don’t want you to think I am a stalker but I am so in love with the person that you are. You are my daily breath of fresh air after dealing with the majority of the male bull sh*t on this site. I would have already closed my profile by now except for the fact that I check every day at lunch to see if you posted something new.

by Neo Blaqness | October 18, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

But the man whom I thought was my father was just the opposite. A womanizer and sometimes even a thief- a non churchgoing heathen

by Neo Blaqness | October 18, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

How I ended up at that record player is an interesting story. I was too young to swim with the big kids so my dad would sit me in a tiny row boat tied to the pier. I would watch everyone swim. During one picnic my older sister thought she saw a water moccasin and yelled “SNAAAAKE!!!”.

by Neo Blaqness | October 17, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

All this leads me back to one day when he was sitting with his friends who were drinking beer- dad only drank pop. They were always finding something to bet each other on. Somehow the subject got on the subject of catching ducks.

by Neo Blaqness | October 17, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

At the time he was working as a custodian at an elementary school on a military base. Each year there were electronics that got broken and they would throw them out instead of fixing them. Dad got permission to start bringing the broken stuff home. Pretty soon I had a little shop in the bedroom I shared with my other brothers. I was hardly 10 at the time fixing record players and reel to reel tape decks..

by Neo Blaqness | October 17, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

How can you tell a child that nothing is wrong when it is a child a discerning as me? I was a bright shining reminder of everyone’s sins. It would have been easier if everyone had simply told the truth.

by Neo Blaqness | October 17, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

He just grumbled and said “ok as long as you hear me now get this cleaned up so I can take a shower.” Well it messed me up so bad that I didn’t even feel like watching the movie. I was determined to make it right so I got right to work on that bathroom.

by Neo Blaqness | October 17, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

I hated my turn. Because that always meant I was going to get stuck on the sand bar. It was a place in the middle of the bay that was only a few feet deep that boats knew to avoid. It was where dad would kick me off the boat if I missed a crab. I would have to watch him drive and dip alone and then he would come pick me up.

by Neo Blaqness | October 17, 2014 | Family, Fatherhood Stories | 0 Comments

Those were the days where most of us black folk used to tape all our music off the radio and would be so mad when the announcers talked over it. After a while we knew which deejay to call the radio station and ask for the song and we had the nerve to even tell him we were going to record it so could he please be quiet? Wow. Those were the days.

by Neo Blaqness | October 16, 2014 | Ask Neo, Faith Matters, Letters | 0 Comments

I have the same problem with ALL promiscuous people regardless of their sexuality. It breaks my heart that they cannot love themselves enough to see how beautifully and wonderfully made their lives are. Some of your profiles make me weep when I see you half naked looking for love. But then how can you expect gay and transsexual people to act any different when half of us hate on them without even wanting to know who they are?

by Neo Blaqness | October 12, 2014 | Observations, Reflections | 0 Comments

by Neo Blaqness | October 4, 2014 | Ask Neo, Letters, Personal, Reflections | 0 Comments

by Neo Blaqness | October 4, 2014 | Ask Neo, Thanks Neo | 0 Comments

I am a church going lady but if I had to pay you for every time you called me out and stepped on my toes I would be broke. Sometimes it is easier to go hear a sermon than to read some of your answers to people. Not because you are mean, even though you do bring it when you need to, but because you are real.

by Neo Blaqness | October 2, 2014 | Personal, Reflections | 0 Comments

by Neo Blaqness | September 29, 2014 | Ask Neo, Letters | 0 Comments

Nobody owes you anything that you do not first owe to yourself and what you first give to yourself, no man can take away. I always say, I might die broke. I might die alone. I might die with people calling me everything but a child of God. But I will die with DIGNITY. I will not compromise who I am just so somebody else can make me feel like somebody. I am somebody because God made me somebody.