Just Like You...

THE WAY IT REALLY IS...


You know I was rather leery to check out this much talked-about show when I saw the commercials for the second series debut. And not because I'm not a Keyshia Cole fan. I love the girl's sound and her image is like a baby Mary J. Blige. But then there were the edited snapshots to lure viewers into tuning in on its debut. I saw black women, yet again, being represented as unruly chicken heads, yakking off at the mouth, finger pointing, fighsty...just plain rude and disrespectful! Those were the judgments I made, from a few commercial plugs. I my apprehensions kept me from adding it to my TiVo.
Then, reluctantly, with nothing else to watch one Tuesday evening I tuned in to all the hype. Much to my surprise, the episode began with Keyshia, her sister Neffe, and mother Frankie, having a therapy session! I couldn't believe it! I immediately started shaking off my hasty judgments and by the end of the episode, I saw something that I wish the man in the editing room had've portrayed on those commercial spots....love. There was a generation of wounds that were left unhealed and festering. Definitely a raisin in the sun. Poor Keyshia. Poor Neffe....and POOR FRANKIE! I felt so much empathy for the pain they'd experienced and still conflicting with. But somehow, they still hugged and loved one another. Keyshia Cole gained much more respect from me as a daring woman that is truly "JUST LIKE YOU" and I. I was compelled to even look at my own life and recognize the power of pain that had nearly destroyed myself and my family. But we have all perservered.
Keyshia's life is a bestselling biography. A television series is good, but let's face it...the producers show us what they want us to see! I'm sure Keyshia does have some executive play in all of it, but there's a man in the control room that wants to cut out the mushy stuff and hit us in the head with the festering drama. Frankie, Keyshia's mother, did not raise her. Luckily, shoot... thank God, a friend of hers took Keyshia in at three years old, while Frankie continued to do drugs and prostitute. But in no way, none whatsoever, do I say that in a self-righteous way. I'm reminiscing on my own quiet skeletons. The things that I'm not proud of and the stuff that still makes me cry. It does not rule me, but let's face it, making bad choices surely has its repercussions. Now, modern-day Frankie, drug free and determined to be a better woman, wants to experience the things she neglected her seven children from. Maybe she needs a few etiquette classes on being a lady, but the woman is doing a damn good job. I'm sure, considering where she came from, she is a butterfly. She came from standing on a cliff, about to jump off...but, that sweet & quiet voice, that speaks so softly, turned her around...and put her back on the "good and narrow". It's hard, but you do your best and be who you were destined to be!
So, am I ashamed of Keyshia Cole's family...No, I am not. I can relate to that kind of family...as dysfuntioncal as it may seem, its normal & tolerable when you're in it. I'm also thankful that Keyshia, unlike other celebs, allow us to see how real & similar life is for all of us. Being a Miss Goody Two Shoes may get you hella endorsements and camera time, but being real is a reality that none of us can put a price on. It gives us something that an autograph or concert ticket could never give...relatability and a soothing assuredness that you're not in this alone!

Kudos to Keyshia and God bless her entire family!