Daddy Lessons
Hi and welcome to another blog post written by Jamal Davis Neal, Jr.!!!
Thank you for following my blog thus far and making it through these warm summer months to read another one! ;) This one is a little late because life is hectic and I'll give you an update on that in a second, but I also found this really cool feature that lets me keep the dates I really wanted these to be posted on!! SO let's just pretend that it's 7:00 PM on June 30th haha
So anyway, an update on my life:
- I'm working at Abbott's a bunch and it's... ...alright....
- I'm hanging out with friends a little less than I'd like and that's sorta not okay...
- The warmth is getting to me and I'm sweating all the time and that's fine :) this is fine
- I deleted my problematic finsta account for a VARIETY of reasons, some of which are touched upon in the first post on my new Secondary Instagram account @thepositive_jdneal. I'm really proud and happy about my Secondary Instagram account because I wanted to change the negative aesthetic I was developing on my finsta into something much more me, much more uplifting, gracious, and positive, and it really just makes me happier.
- Vacation Bible School is in two and a half weeks and I've been busy planning that and getting it ready at Union Baptist Church (if you have a child between grades K-5 and would love more information on how to attend and have a great time at VBS please visit vbs.ubcmystic.org)
- I GET TO SEE JANE IN ABOUT TWO AND A HALF WEEKS AND I'M LEGITIMATELY TOO EXCITED ABOUT THAT OH MY GOODNESS
- I go back to UVM for RA training in about a month and I'm kinda excited about that
- I finished my Development Psychology course today and I believe I'm going to receive an A- and honestly keeping up with that while working makes me really proud and I'm really happy about that. I also really enjoyed the course and all that I learned. BUT ALSO??? THIS JUST IN: Apparently I got an A actually!!
- Beyoncè and Jay Z released EVERYTHING IS LOVE and honestly everything is love- I'm in love. APESHIT is my anthem for Summer 2018 so I'm living!!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...
Alright! Onwards to the content of my post!
"Daddy Lessons" is the 6th track on LEMONADE- the middle of the album. In Beyoncè's first move into country music, she experiments with some of her Texas roots and honestly SUCCEEDS at doing so. The song has powerful brass and bluegrass sections, with interpolations in the lyrics of her dad teaching her how to shoot, and "swearing on the Bible"
It leans heavily on Beyoncè's childhood roots in Texas and touches on her relationship with her father, Matthew Knowles who was her manager up until 2011's 4 album.
This section of LEMONADE is titled Accountability, and emphasizes a recurring theme of the similarities between black fathers and husbands: "Did he make you forget your own name? Did you get on your knees daily? Do his eyes close like doors? Are you a slave to the back of his hand? Am I talking about your husband or your father?"
It touches on aspects of the problematic and toxic nature of hypermasculinity in black male caregivers.
But what does Accountability mean for me?
What does it mean to be responsible?
For the longest time, I felt like I was responsible for the people that I called my friends. I know I've touched upon this a little bit (maybe) in previous blog posts, but I had an extremely toxic and problematic friend group that I associated with in high school. It didn't start out anymore toxic than any other typical relationship in high school, but it was really around Sophomore year of college that it really became quite problematic for me.
Despite going 282 miles away from Groton to attend school at UVM, I always felt responsible for these friends. Always felt like my "brand image" followed them wherever they went and did anything stupid or anything like that.
Thankfully, I'm not longer friends with half of the people from that group and I've learned that I'm only responsible for my damn-self and crafting my own aesthetic and my own image, which I hope you've seen portrayed how I want it to be portrayed through these blog posts.
Sorry for such a short and late post, but I feel like I've said what I needed to say.
Hopefully the next one will be longer and on time. :)
Thanks for reading!
It leans heavily on Beyoncè's childhood roots in Texas and touches on her relationship with her father, Matthew Knowles who was her manager up until 2011's 4 album.
This section of LEMONADE is titled Accountability, and emphasizes a recurring theme of the similarities between black fathers and husbands: "Did he make you forget your own name? Did you get on your knees daily? Do his eyes close like doors? Are you a slave to the back of his hand? Am I talking about your husband or your father?"
It touches on aspects of the problematic and toxic nature of hypermasculinity in black male caregivers.
But what does Accountability mean for me?
What does it mean to be responsible?
For the longest time, I felt like I was responsible for the people that I called my friends. I know I've touched upon this a little bit (maybe) in previous blog posts, but I had an extremely toxic and problematic friend group that I associated with in high school. It didn't start out anymore toxic than any other typical relationship in high school, but it was really around Sophomore year of college that it really became quite problematic for me.
Despite going 282 miles away from Groton to attend school at UVM, I always felt responsible for these friends. Always felt like my "brand image" followed them wherever they went and did anything stupid or anything like that.
Thankfully, I'm not longer friends with half of the people from that group and I've learned that I'm only responsible for my damn-self and crafting my own aesthetic and my own image, which I hope you've seen portrayed how I want it to be portrayed through these blog posts.
Sorry for such a short and late post, but I feel like I've said what I needed to say.
Hopefully the next one will be longer and on time. :)
Thanks for reading!
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