Roxanne, Roxanne

Before I go into the archives and give y'all a good taste of where my mind is almost all the time, I have to say something that I missed the opportunity to get out in the intial post. Before I had the courage to launch this site, I was a writer for an urban blog based out of Chicago, called True Star. I was presented the opportunity by a very talented gentleman, Henr'i Collins. He took a chance without ever laying eyes on anything I had written and things like that just don't happen in real life. Someone offers you a paid position without physical evidence that you could do the work? In what world? But he did and I am forever grateful and humbled to have gotten my start there. All of the young people that are under the wing of TS now, I pray you realize just how blessed you are to be there. Aight enough of the sappy shit, let's chat. I'm a realist and the realism in me felt like I had to bring this gem back and introduce it again. Have y'all seen the movie Roxanne, Roxanne? If so, here's my take. If not, here's why you should. Yes, it's old, but it's still important.

Let the story of female rap icon Roxanne Shante be a lesson to all of us. Black, brown, white, red. Male and female. More than one lesson actually was portrayed . Even her talent, her quick wit, and hustler mentality had her caught up in all of the wrong things and couldn’t assist her in avoiding lifes tight spots. The Netflix special premiered on March 23, produced by Nia Long and Pharell Williams. In the film Roxanne Shante is taking on male and female rappers in her neighborhood and showing them what real talent looks like. If she had nothing else she for sure inherited the hustle. Her mom, played by Nia Long, has such a strong ambition to do well and it rubbed off on her older girl. Plagued by men and what seemed to be love, she turned into something none of her children recognized, leaving her four girls to lean on their big sister more than ever. The film hints on some of the most taboo topics being faced in the Black community.

The topics that no one wants to talk about. The older children being forced to take on the parental role with lack of proper preparation. The normalization of sexual predators. The lack of authentic love and support from the men in the lives of our mothers. The normalization of single motherhood. It hurt to watch this movie because I identified all too well with its toxicity. I am the eldest of three and my mother had two other children back to back. I felt obligated to raise them and be their mother figure because my mom was so busy trying to figure her own life out. I didn’t appreciate it and I’m currently in therapy right now learning to forgive her for those decisions she made.

I too was shapely at a young age and thought I knew the game.

Now that I'm in my twenties, I realize then I knew nothing. But that didn’t stop men five and 10 years my senior from making comments on my body’s development. I was young and the way things began to work out for me happened because men thought if they did nice things it would manipulate me into doing what they wanted. It never worked, but that’s solely because I wasn’t interested. A lot of young women aren’t so keen on the motives of men who care nothing for them and only want one thing.

In the movie, it shows Shante going through a rough patch with her mother after her life took a drastically unexpected turn. Shante is in search of a relief and life just won't let up. But somehow she finds a way to devote herself to her craft and even that goes south. All of the determination in the world turned her into a different woman. Landing the 16-year-old superstar in a position much worse than the one she started in. The lost of friends, family and self-esteem sent her into a whirlwind she couldn't get out of. This movie resonated with me so much. I recommend every young lady to watch it and take notes. It literally gets no realer than this.

Stand for something or fall for anything.

With Love,

Storie Stone

The Storie Will Be Televised