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Janay Ealey
Bio
Greetings, my fellow readers!
Writer.
Social Media Manager.
Student.
Stories (43/0)
Nikolas Cruz and Salvador Ramos
Rachel Corn once said that teenage boys cannot be trusted, and their intentions are not pure. Yes, it is mean to say, but sometimes I must agree. It is not generalizing teenage boys to put them in the category of dangerous because during my teenage years, I have encountered many of them who were troubled, silly, kept to themselves and struggled with their academics. It is the ones I continuously see in the headlines and the mainstream media that match the quote perfectly. I was not born in the 90s, but Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold changed the perspective of teenage boys. Why do you think they were best friends? Birds of a feather will flock together. They must have sent out a sinister, disturbing, and criminal-like energy within their own. Since that massacre took place in 1999, it seems like the innocence in our young boys is gone. Nikolas Cruz and Salvador Ramos represent the dark side of teenage boys. I never knew how much alike these two were. If I could create a pie chart comparing these monsters, you would be surprised because the list goes on and on.. They could have been the best of friends despite Nikolas being a part of hate groups. They were known for their violent and aggressive behavior towards their peers. They were disliked by their peers, sharing terrible stories about them. Their girlfriends feared them. Some behaviors that they exhibited towards their girlfriends reminded me of my father. I just know that the American people were not that stupid to believe that the verdict would be the favor of the parents. It was never going to happen because change has not happened in this country. The jury never thought about the victims but more about what Nikolas wanted: the life sentence. As soon as he called for mercy, the jury should have said: NO, YOU ARE NOT GETTING WHAT YOU WANT. “They did it because he was white,” says my mother after hearing the news. She purses her lips, standing by what she says.“If that were a black boy, it would been different.” I disagreed with her statement because I do not think she knows that his biological brother, Zachary Cruz is black but that is not the point. The verdict was not about color. It is about how easy it is for society to fall for the villain because of the belief that every antagonist has a history. Whenever authors want to write a great villain, it would usually include a compelling backstory that explains their motivations and actions. For example, Lotso in Toy Story 3 appeared like a bear that was soft, and you could cuddle him at night, but he had this evil streak. Underneath that demeanor, he was afraid of rejection. He used to be a beloved toy who was accidentally left by his owner and after going through so much to get back to her, he found out that he was replaced and that made him angry. That anger turned into hatred for new toys. Why do you think the defense team used his backstory to garner empathy? Everyone goes through stages in their life, and it can either make them or break them. My mother was in an abusive relationship for seventeen years. In her adolescence, no one fought for her. She only had her children. These past events made her into a strong woman, but it did not turn her into a monster. After everything, the opposing team used against him, it was not enough to wake the jury up. There were things I knew about him and others I did not know he did. You must understand that it is all about influencing the jury to be on either side: the criminal vs the victims. Lawyers select certain jurors for a reason. We should know this by now when we are summoned for jury duty. If they used that technique for Nikolas, do you not think they would have done the same for Salvador Ramos? He would have had a convincing case for the death penalty if he were still alive. Teenage boys must always be watched. The four of them make me paranoid to have a boy.
By Janay Ealey12 months ago in Criminal
The Minaj Capsule
Nicki Minaj once said that she does not see herself as a female rapper anymore but only as a rapper. I know that this has been said over hundred times, but I will say it again: this woman has succeeded in a genre that is dominated by males. She is not like any other female MCs in the hip-hop game because there is one ability that she has above them all: a musical chameleon. She has blended one genre with many genres into her catalogue that was meant to be singular and that no one could take further. That is one of the reasons why Nicki Minaj is hated. As a black woman who grew up in 2010s, she was the main female rapper. It is not that they were not other female rappers but to me, she seemed to be the one who was working her ass off. She was doing everything she could to ensure she was here to stay. I could never resonate with other female rappers because they did not have a powerful presence on a record. Her style was something that I could listen to, replay it in my head and it can become timeless. I share some similarities with the fierce lyricist such as writing, being a drama student and working to perfect our craft. Every record that Nicki has laid her voice on has proven her strength as a woman to hold her own. Unfortunately, I only have one album in my room: Pink Friday, her debut album after the mixtape era. (2010) Do not worry, all four albums will be on my shelf soon. I grew up in the era of streaming, so I am used to sitting near my computer or using my phone, wearing headphones, and clicking the play button on a playlist called The Minaj Capsule. The description of this playlist is a collection of her greatest and versatile hits from every genre such as Hip-hop, Pop, R&B, Electropop, and the list goes on. A playlist with over three-hundred songs with every single, every feature and every remix. It is sad to know there were songs that never got that much radio air. Here are her best songs: Moment 4 Life featuring Drake. Roman’s Revenge featuring Eminem Fly featuring Rihanna Runnin featuring Mike Will Made-It, Asap Rocky and Asap Ferg The Night Is Still Young The Boys featuring Cassie Right By My Side featuring Chris Brown Pills N Potions Come on a Cone Plain Jane Remix with ASAP Ferg High School featuring Lil Wayne Clappers featuring Wale and Juicy J Bang, Bang featuring Jessie J and Ariana Grande Bed of Lies featuring Skylar Grey Starships Senile featuring Lil Wayne and Tyga Here are her underrated songs: Girls Fall Like Dominoes Va Va Voom We Go Up featuring Fivio Foreign Up in Flames Low featuring Juicy J, Young Thug and Lil Bibby Idol featuring BTS Seeing Green featuring Lil Wayne and Drake Bussin featuring Lil Baby Swish Swish featuring Katy Perry Whip It Hard White Feeling Myself featuring Beyonce No Broken Hearts featuring Bebe Rexha Realize featuring 2 Chainz Here are her most memorable songs: Moment 4 Life featuring Drake Superbass I Wanna Be with You featuring Future and Rick Ross Hey Mama featuring AfroJack and Bebe Rexha Where Them Girls At featuring FloRida Out of my Mind featuring B.O.B Starships Stupid Hoe Turn Me On Only featuring Lil Wayne and Drake Anaconda Right Thru Me I Am Your Leader featuring Rick Ross and Cam’ron Beez In the Trap featuring 2 Chainz Bottoms Up Featuring Trey Songz Here is her worst song: Come See About Me Any Barbs out there, tell me what are your favorite songs from Nicki? What are your least favorite songs from her? What songs by Nicki do you think are underappreciated? Do you agree or disagree with my list? Are there any songs that I am missing? Leave your answers in the comments.
By Janay Ealey12 months ago in Beat
Robb Elementary School
It has been over a year since the attack at Robb Elementary School that occurred in May. It is said that other than any other month, May wants us to feel more alive. We should feel like we are up in the sky, and no one can bring us down but on May 24th, it was supposed to be a good day until I discovered something that I did not think would happen. “What is wrong?!” whined my mother, she could not process what she was seeing. To her and everybody else, it was coming out of nowhere. “Stupid boy done shot up the damn school!” she yelled. I can hear her frustration in her voice because our walls are not soundproof. I can tell when she is watching the news because she always these angry outbursts while saying how she feels. I did not find out about the shooting through the mainstream media but another form of media. Social media is a curse and blessing. When I opened TikTok, the first video on my For You page was about the massacre. I scrolled down to the next video and then next... Videos of people sharing their sorrowful messages about the victims, mothers were asking themselves whether that could have been their child after they have dropped them off at school, and others were writing angry messages about the tragedy. I will admit that I did not cry on that day, but I only felt this sharp pain in my stomach. It does this turn whenever I hear terrible news or when someone brings up something bad, I have this uneasy feeling. It is like when you become numb to an ongoing tragedy that has happened in America for the longest time because this is not our first, and this is not even our second. I wanted to mention other videos that I saw on my timeline on that day. These posts were Christians spreading spiritual messages about the shooting and it gave me the inspiration to draft this story. As I put these videos together, it was like a debate between the spiritual and psychological worlds. Some Christians were pissed at America for doing the one thing that they knew was a big mistake, fifty-eight years ago. In 1962, Engel v. Vitale was a landmark where the Supreme Court ruled that prayer in public schools was a violation of the First Amendment. They believed that ever since the Lord’s prayer was banned from our education system, these school shootings continue to happen. Christians believe in the power of prayer, and they could be right about what happened on May 24th. It could have been the work of the enemy because it seems to me that he likes to pull strings of teenage boys but when you say spiritual, you are telling me that the fate of children and adults were sealed. You also say that this day was meant to happen and there was nothing that could have prevented this. On the other hand, any mental health expert will say the complete opposite. I watched a couple of videos and read articles of psychiatrists and crime psychologists doing their analysis of the shooter and I see it from their perspectives because of the pieces that I put together. There is nothing to justify the murder of twenty-one people, but I understand the warning signs and power of influence within school shooters. (As I stated in one of my previous articles) A man had admitted that back in 2003, it could have been a school shooting and that perpetrator was his friend. One day, the boy asked him if he wanted to be his partner in the shooting and he told him no. He told his mother about the disturbing request from his friend and my mother let the school know. The school sent the boy to counseling and he never saw his friend again. Imagine if he did not tell someone about this, who knows if this boy could have gone solo and who knows how many kids could have died. He never said the state nor the school because he wanted to keep it anonymous. Do you all understand the timing for these tragedies to happen? We live in a country with over fifty states. Anything can happen at any time. It breaks my heart that parents will never see their children grow up to be the amazing adults that they would have been. Sometimes life can grab a knife and stab you in the gut, leaving you to bleed because it does not let you take a tragedy and rewind everything, so it could have gone the way you wanted. Once it happens, it will stay like that forever. The mother of one of the victim's regrets leaving her daughter at the school, and she should not feel like that as a parent. School should be a place where parents should not have to worry about the danger presented from inside and outside. Parents should not bury their children when their children are supposed to be burying them. My conclusion: the danger was headed to that school and in that one classroom and it took this long to show itself after gathering the information that is concealed from the public. Those children knew someone that they did not know was connected to the danger. May the victims at Robb Elementary School rest in peace and fly into the light. Question of the day: Do you think this was spiritual or psychological?
By Janay Ealeyabout a year ago in Psyche
How Coraline Brought Memories a Certain Candy
“Do not raise your children the way your parents raised you; they were born for a different time.” - Bill Vaughan Last weekend, I was in my mother’s bedroom with my little sister while she was fixing her hair for school. I was bored being in my room, so I went into hers. My little sister turned on Coraline. Remember the movie about the little girl who kept entering a secret door to see her other parents? I cannot go into full detail because it is not my favorite movie. I know it is based upon a book, but I have never read it. There is a scene in the movie where Coraline meets Miss Spink and Miss Forcible at their apartment and she sits on the couch. One of the ladies offers Coraline a bowl of candy. This candy was light pink and green and had stripes on it. “Hey! That is the nasty candy that we had back then,”my mom said. She is in disgust and anger, just thinking about that candy because there were not any good memories. She tells me this story about how the elderly women in our family became bougee when they started moving on up because they grew up dirt poor. My grandmother, Vera, was raised on a farm with her father who was a dog groomer so that is why she always had dogs. Our grandmother thought that candy was the thang in the eighties. She had no candy other than this one. It was always stuck together and unwrapped. She would make her eat the candy, not even asking her whether she wanted it. Whenever she had the chance, she used to go to the bathroom and spit out the candy, watching it go down the drain after flushing it. “Eat that candy girl!”my mom said, mimicking the voices of my grandmother. “How does that candy taste?”she said, her mouth scrunched. “Oh, there is not anything wrong with that candy.” “That candy was disgusting.” “Why did she keep offering it to you?” I asked, my voice shaking after laughing so much. “I do not even know myself,”she replied. I could not believe what she was telling me. There is no way that candy was that terrible to where she pretended to like it so she can find ways to get rid of it. She would also sit on the couch like Coraline in that scene and pretend to keep it in her mouth. She could never say no to her. My aunt Evelyn never had that candy. She always had peppermints. My mom grew up in an era where it was a certain level of power between children and adults. Kids did what they were told to do because if they did other than that, they would be disciplined, and I do not mean the regular discipline. The discipline in black households: beat with extension cords and slapped hard in the face. I was born in the early 2000s, so I was in the era of Skittles, Reeses, Starbursts, Gummies and Jolly Ranchers. Every time I went to the dentist, they would never find cavities except for my sister. My mom does not know the name of the candy in Coraline but remembers exactly how it looked and that is how she was able to recognize it. It was like torture, and she had to be obedient. This was a story that I wanted share because it surprises me how much my mother can recall from her childhood. If any of my readers are from Generation X and they know the name of this candy, let me know in the comments. Question of the day: What is your favorite candy and what do you like about it?
By Janay Ealeyabout a year ago in Families
The Death of Ms. Jacky Oh
Yesterday, Ms. Jacky Oh (one of the stars on Wild n Out) died at the age of thirty-two because of the number of surgeries that she had on her body. I counted to at least five or six. Any of my readers can correct me if I am wrong in the comments. (The surgeries will not be named because I do not think it is important for this story.) One of the surgeries I did not know was possible and I could not believe women get those procedures done. I should research more in the world of plastic surgery but let’s get back into the story: I will not say that women do not have the right to do what they like with their bodies because I agree with this statement. The saying my body and my choice does not apply to women having the right to terminate their pregnancy. It is also about the right of women wearing whatever they want and having any sexual relationship as they please. If a woman decides she wants get work done, then it is her choice, but she must be careful about the choices she makes once she goes under the knife. Your body is a temple that you must take care of. In my family, we cannot eat and drink from everybody cause our bodies are built differently. People may not see the pattern with these women, but I have always seen the big picture. Whenever a woman is headed to the top, she must change herself. In her mind: I am in a different world; the pressure is on me, and I have money to make sure that I look like the perfect image. People do not handle these three things in what you think they can. A conversation about the passing of DC Young Fly’s girlfriend between my dad and my aunt only proved the black community’s hatred towards mixed-raced couples and that sparked this story. My issue with their little talk is the irrelevant opinions of this situation. Ms. Jacky Oh’s death had nothing to do with DC being in a relationship with a woman who is not fully black. So, what if she is a light skin woman with a possibility of interracial parents? That is not the problem. The problem is women changing their appearances because their old selves are not the ideal for their new world. The entire time, I was giving my father the side eye because I was like You have a younger daughter (my little sister) who is a lightskin and she did come from mixed parents. She came from two black parents. I can tell when he listens to Dr. Umar Johnson who I never seen with a black woman on his shoulder, but he is strong about black men keeping his genes alive by being with a woman of his own kind. Anyway, it is sad that this woman lost her life because of her choices. No child should have to lose their mother. I will say this one more time: These women are listening to backlash of cosmetic surgery; they do not care enough to listen. You can listen to advice, but you do not have to care about it. It is an addiction that you can never stop with these women unless something must change in this country, and I do not know what it might be. This is the second story about a mother who has died in the exact same way, but the other mother only got work on done on her butt. Be cautious about what you do to yourself because being careless will not make yourself any better.
By Janay Ealeyabout a year ago in Humans
The Little Mermaid Review
On June 2nd, I went to the movies with my mother and little sister to see the Little Mermaid. I should have written this review on that same day, but I was distracted. I was listening to the soundtrack on Spotify as soon as we got back home. My first thought after watching the movie was the ridiculous complaints and unnecessary outrage when I first heard about it. There were naysayers making it seem like this remake was going to be bad. Conservatives were proclaiming that the Little Mermaid was a woke agenda by the radical left and Hollywood. Silly memes that people created to white-wash POC characters in black films which I thought was comical. When it comes to the premise of this movie, I never agreed with any of that. The Little Mermaid is not about wokeness. It is about being woken to who you are and what you want to be. It is about realizing that there is more to life than staying where you are. This is about a girl and a boy who are in different worlds that they were forbidden from and at the end, those worlds came together. Many girls auditioned for Ariel, but Halle Bailey was the chosen one. Her performance told me this one sentence: I could’ve half-assed this role and not gave a damn about what others think but I understood the legacy and importance of this character. My mom was shocked in the theater and whispered: Is this heifer really singing this? I had to explain to her that 90% of the movie are her vocals. The casting director must have said that everyone in this film will not be a POC so let us mix and match the characters. The actress who played Vanessa, the human girl that Ursula uses to trick Prince Eric did a wonderful job with little screen time. While I was analyzing the scenes in movies, I can see that they were trying to stay true to the original: The tone, most importantly. The naysayers who made a big deal about the remake need to get it through their heads that it was difficult to make. CGI appears much better on the big screen than looking at the phone or computer. This is a live action vs an animation and that is why I respect the remake because it tried their best to bring back something that children and adults loved. There was more humor in this one than the original. I loved the design of the mermaid costumes on Ariel’s sisters. Melissa McCarthy did her own thing as Ursula. She was still a villainess with a mixture of humor. They did an excellent job of forgetting the original looks of the sisters and giving them some spice. That is what I can say about her performance. To the reader, trust me on this: The movie was not ugly, bad nor terrible. It was good and there were some things I did not expect to see. I am still obsessed with the star of this film, that is why I am not talking about the other characters. She was the Little Mermaid, and I could not imagine the voice of another girl but hers. I know the OG Little Mermaid fans still love their queen, Jodie Benson but Halle Bailey won me over. If you do not want to take my word for it, then see the movie for yourself. For me personally, I would not take what those two groups have said about this movie because they were wrong, and they know they were dead wrong. That is why you do not the negative chatter anymore. Alright, I am heading back to listen to the soundtrack for the tenth time. No, I am kidding...
By Janay Ealeyabout a year ago in Fiction
AI Writing Isn't Real Writing
My mother likes to call me the tech girl of our family. I was always better at than she was. I was born in 2003 so I grew up in an era of technology. People say that technology has changed our lives for the worst. I would say that it changed our lives for better.
By Janay Ealeyabout a year ago in Futurism
Nikolas Cruz
I know the American people weren’t that stupid enough to believe that Nikolas Cruz was going to receive the death penalty. He’s a school shooter. School shooters will get leniency because simply they are young. As a woman who is the age of twenty, I’m going to keep it real. My mother believes that he didn’t get sent to the chair because of white privilege.
By Janay Ealeyabout a year ago in Criminal
What does Bullying Have to do with Politics?
I saw an article on my feed yesterday when I was doing research on the Parkland shooting. My dad used to work near that school, and he remembers seeing the memorial. I know that the terrible massacre happened back in 2018 but I tend to get obsessed with tragedies like school shootings. Once something happens, I have to find more about it. Even, the shooter himself.
By Janay Ealeyabout a year ago in Humans