Preach sista' preach!

Now usually I dread my morning subway ride to work because if I don't get a seat, I can't get my extra 30 minutes of sleep and I'm totally grumpy. But today proved not only to be an excellent seat day (I got the edge seat with a bar and wall space to lean my head against...it's the simple things..), but the first car was also blessed with an education from the African lady above (Stripped shirt).

At first I was slightly irritated to be woken up from my slumber; my immediate thought was that it was simply another homeless person on a tirade, but this time with a strong African accent. She was kinda funny dancing around so I started to listen to her. She was basically talking about how horrible slavery was and in so many words how it was white people's fault, "They took my people from my country and this country was made with whips!" she yelled in the face of a seemingly conservative blonde, blue-eyed girl sitting across from me. "I came to this country 12 years ago. It's been 500 years and we still see it. I went to college, I have skills. I even learned English but can you speak my language?" she said as she started yelling in what sounded like Ibo to the coming and going passengers entering and exiting at West 4th.

In all her crazy talk, run-on sentences and ramblings, she had a few valid points. Why do we try to make English the universal language and force it upon people when even for those whose first language it is can speak it in so many different ways? I'm not really with the hymning and hahing about slavery in 2008 nor am I about blaming whitey but seeing this woman's passion, as an African immigrant was truly interesting. She even at one point said, "African-American? I don't know what that is I was taken from Africa and America does not know me." The poignancy in the mouth of mental illness is truly remarkable and a testament to how the brain works.

Even more hilarious in her speech was the fact that she took the time to be a germophobe as well....