Black History Month; The Story of Jamila Gomez

Shalom;
Today, I am sharing the story of a lovely lady I met. A beautiful woman of colour who has an amazing story to share. Her name is Jamila Gomez and this is her story...

Born Beautiful

 

In Chicago, Ill., my father named me Beautiful. At least, that's how I was brought up to see myself. It didn't turn out that way, though. January 15th, 1982 was the date of my birth. I was told I was born prematurely, but hey, I'm here. The youngest of 3 girls. My mother had a son, but he was also born prematurely. At the time, resources to save him didn't exist. His name was Nathan. I didn't know him, but I love him.

 

Instant issues arose with my entrance into the world. My spinal cord protruded through my back and one of my eyes was crossed. I had a lot of fluid built up in my head. Turns out the spinal cord defect was Spina Bifida and the fluid build-up was Hydrocephalus. Surgeries to correct my spine, fluid build-up in my head, and my eyes immediately followed. My eyesight was fine after that. I wore glasses for a few years once I was old enough to until I was about 6. I never wore them again until my late 20’s.

 

Learning to walk was a challenge. When I finally learned to walk on my own, which was around 3 years of age, my right foot twisted inward. I had surgery to correct the twist. During the surgery, a pin was placed in my big toe to flatten it. To this day, I am unsure as to why the toe had to be flattened. Due to the surgery on my foot, I attended kindergarten in a wheelchair for the first half of the year and walker for the second half. I rode the “special bus” and everything. However, I did have one great friend. That was all I cared about. Walking without aid didn’t happen for me until I was around the age of 6. That is when the real problems arose.

 

Bullying was something my sisters and I were raised not to do. Therefore, we never did. But, oh, was it done to me! All people saw was this short girl who walked with a serious limp who had problems controlling certain things that normal people usually could. I won't go into detail, but I will say that the muscles below the waist were not strong at all. I dealt with laughs and jokes about that until high school. Yet and still, I was the nice one. Some people did like me. I had my close friends, some of whom I'm still friends with to this day. But I could not sit here and name each and every person who made me cry. There are just too many.

 

Remember I told you about the fluid in my head? To keep that fluid flowing, doctors placed what's called a shunt in my head. In the 4th grade, my shunt malfunctioned. I will never forget this as long as I live. My father was out of town, so it was just my mom, sisters, and myself. I had the most painful headache a person could ever have -- very migraine-like. I woke my mother up in the middle of the night crying. She gave me some medicine for it and let me lie in bed with her, but the pain didn't go away. It got worse, and so did my crying. Therefore, she decided to take me to the doctor. They did X-rays, and found that my shunt was blocked. I had emergency surgery to remove the part that was blocked and have it replaced with another part. The doctor said had I not gotten there when I did, the shunt could have burst and I wouldn't be here to talk about it. Thank you, Lord.

 

I didn't have another surgery until 6th grade when my right foot began to act up again. This time, though, instead of it twisting inward, it twisted outward. As a result, I had another surgery to correct it. A couple of years after that, the pin that was placed in my toe during the first surgery broke in half, and one half came out of my toe by itself, leaving a hole in my toe that got infected. That called for a third right foot surgery to get the other half of the pin out and clean the infection.

 

Since then, I've had other obstacles come my way that resulted in a total of 10 surgeries and a blood transfusion. You'd think being able to go through all of that would make a person stronger. I thank God everyday for life, but to be honest, my spirit was completely broken. I've never really been able to live the life I've wanted to live. Not to say that I can't, but fear has always been in my way. I may not be able to walk or run as fast as others, but I should be thankful that I can walk and run at all. So, why aren't I? I have to watch what I eat so certain issues don't flair up. One cannot imagine how abnormal I feel. It breaks my heart to watch other people enjoying things that I cannot. I try to get out of the whole ‘woe is me’ thing, and at times, it works. However, the older I’ve gotten, the more uncomfortable feeling sorry for myself has become.

 

Do I wish I were ‘normal’? Yes. But what good is being normal when I was born for a greater purpose? I am not supposed to be normal. I am supposed to be extraordinary. I am supposed to be awesome. I have realized that, through my story, I have the power and ability to uplift and encourage others who may have it much worse than I have could. When all is said and done, I want nothing more than to let people know that there is no limit to where they can go as long as they have air in the lungs and life and their bodies. For every day you live, you have the chance to do ANYTHING you want to do. It all starts with the belief that you can.

 

Jamila Gomez

Hijab, Snood and Cute Hats

Shalom:
This entry is in response to Rebeca Dion's wishing to know more about the Hijab.

Hijab means:  headscarf or headcovering in Arabic. While by many religious women, but known by other names, the hijab is known for being worn by Muslim women, usually married, but in many cultures by all women over the age of 13. Many more traditional women including a veil that covers the face except for the eyes.
The practice donning of the hijab among Muslim women is based on religious doctrine, though the Koran doesn't command it.
The wearing of the hijab comes from the Hadith of Sahih Bukhari.
 The Hadith, the "tradition of Mohammed," reveals the teachings of the prophet to believers. Bukhari's version of this text is generally regarded as the standard one, although numerous versions exist. In a very broad sense, the relation the Hadith has to the Koran resembles the New Testament's to the Old in Christian scriptures.
According to the Hadith, "My lord agreed with me ('Umar) in three things... (2) And as regards the veiling of women, I said 'O allah's apostle! I wish you ordered your wives to cover themselves from the men because good and bad ones talk to them.' So the verse of the veiling of the women was revealled" (Bukhari, v1, bk 8, sunnah 395).

The purpose of the headcovering is not to oppress women, but to protect their honour, an act of modestly.
The hijab is now known as not only the headscarf, but the whole of Islamic dress for all females. It is said that a woman who wears the the hijab will not wear tight clothing. But it isn't just Muslim women donning the hijab. Many black Hebrews and Christians women don the hijab as well, since the dress reminds them of our fore mothers, such as Sarah, Rebeca and Leah and Rachel. Of motherland Africa and Israel.

So why is a nice Jewish girl like me covering my hair, looking like a Muslim and causing mass confusion?
Like our Muslim sisters, Hebrew women have always covered their hair. Many a Hebrew bride even today is adored in such finerly as this lovely Jewish woman on her wedding day. Proverbs 31 speaks of us as clothed in strength and honour. Dressing our household in fine linen.

For the same reason, not to be seen as a single or loose woman, we covered our hair with covering that are very similar to the hijab of today. Our beauty, then as now is kept for the eyes of our husbands.
Growing up in a church home, my sister and I wore hats to church. Something I still do when going out to a worship service or running errands. We wore fine hats because we were going to enter the Presence of the King of the Universe, we wore hats to show our respect, to humble ourselves before Him.

Many religious groups, like the Amish, cover their hair, for the same reason. Plain and simple, to avoil vanity and keep ones focus on G_D and the duties at hand. For most, not all, our various head coverings are an outward sign of an internal, heart committed to our faith.

Because like so many of my sisters, whether, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Amish,  etc.I cover myself for my husband's eyes only. So that no man approaches me, thinking I am single and seek out my company.

I wear the headscarf  because as a righteous woman, I am Set Apart. I am Set Apart as a woman of G_D and as a wife. When I cover my head, I feel the Presence of the Holy One. Like my wedding band, the colourful that covers my hair tells all I am not just anyone. I am a daughter of the Most High and there is a measure of respect that comes with that.
 I cover my hair and my body so that you are drawn to my face and talk to me and not to my breast. So that when I stand up to leave, one is impressed by my mind and not how long my legs are.

I love the both the snood and the hijab, because there is an elegance that comes from both. Such beauty. Such class. We actually look like ladies. Men stand in our presence and hold out chairs. They open doors and offer us their seat. While many men would deem us high maintains, secretly these same men whisper to Mark, "I wish my wife carried herself like Laini."

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I cover myself, head to toe, because my husband looks the way I love. I never get tired of hearing, "baby, you look goooood!"

Does this mean every woman who covers herself is modest or holy? No. Many do so because they are required to cover themselves by the laws of their country or because of the rule of their. Many a young woman leaves her Amish, Jewish, Christian or Muslim home, dropping their bibles, prayer books, prayer shawls and prayer caps as they walk out the front door. Nor am I saying that women who wears jeans, mini-skirts and don't cover their hair are on their way to hell.
Like anything, this is a matter of choice.
For me, it is a beautiful choice.
Next post; why all the fuss about women who cover their hair????