Being A Good & Culturally Sensitive Teacher

To be a good teacher that is culturally responsive, it is essential to do the following:

Be consciously aware of rigorous materials that support curriculum goals in multi-cultural themes and ideas.

Be aware of students’ backgrounds and ethnicities, when teaching all parts of the curriculum.

Offer rigorous learning experiences in the context of students’ cultures and understanding.

Know each student's culture, so you can step out of your comfort zone to relate to them and make the learning experience meaningful.

Provide rigorous instruction and resources that not only reflects the cultures in your classroom, but in the school, community, state, country and the world.

Teach with all students in mind. Be aware of each student's individual family backgrounds. Provide varied opportunities for students to feel connected to the curriculum.

Allow the students to make connections between the concept being taught and their own cultures.

Be aware of your own biases as you teach.

Be aware of your and your students prior knowledge and dialects.

Make students aware of people and cultures that are different to them.

Incorporating all cultures and backgrounds into daily instruction across all content areas is necessary.

Today's Quote!

Are you a dull pencil?

If you are, surround yourself with some sharp pencils.

So you can learn and do what they do to be sharp.

High Arsenic Levels In Some Juices!

Be warned! There are high arsenic levels in some apple and grape juices including the best known brands. In a study of well know brands, 10% exceeded Federal drinking water arsenic level standards which can negatively affect infants and children by affecting their development. Unlike water, there is no regulation for the arsenic content in juices.



On the Dr. Oz show, a third of the juices tested also had high levels of arsenic. The EPA & FDA advise that there a two types of arsenic, which are organic and inorganic. Inorganic arsenic is a known carcinogen, however, they are saying a small amount is of no concern, but they are now conducting more tests to see if there is a need to reduce consumer exposure to arsenic. They also say comparing apple juice to water is inappropriate because people don’t drink as much juice as they drink water. I say it depends on the person because some people do just that.




Better safe than sorry! Don't wait for the results of the FDA testing to protect yourself. No infant should be given apple juice. Dilute juices with water before consumption. If you add ¼ part water to your juice it still tastes the same, but is much healthier for your kids and you too! Also don’t give your small kids more than 4 - 6 oz of juice and 8 -12 oz juice for older kids daily. Also, alternate apple juice with other juices such as orange, cranberry juice etc instead A word is enough for the wise...


However, personally, I would not base my life on the FDA, EPA or Consumer Reports because you know after testing for a long time, they will then just say new tests have revealed…while you or your child has diabetes, cancer, heart disease, delayed development, and other severe diseases.

American Airlines files for Bankruptcy Protection!

Time’s they are a changin’ is what Bob Dylan sang so many years ago and that statement can’t be truer now with American Airlines’ parent company, AMR Corp., filing for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday.

The company says it was forced to file because of high labor and fuel costs and the weak economy.  Some are saying American Airlines will have to focus on terminating its underfunded pension plans and getting wage concessions from workers. Employee unions leaders say they'll fight to look out for the workers' interests.

However, I would caution that both sides while fighting for what they believe in, that a job where you get paid less, is better than no job at all and since the world is now smaller, and workers are available anywhere, to remember that and not push them into importing low wage workers from other countries.

Oh well, as we all know that the only constant thing is change and this is just another one of many that have already happened and many that will happen in the future…

Are You In The Market To Buy A New Car

Are you in the market for a new car? If you are this is a great time to buy because the model year switch out for cars occurs between Christmas and New Year. Below are some tips for you to use .

Email or call the dealership ahead of time to ask for a half hour or longer test drive time.

Go during the week when they’re less crowded. Don’t go on the weekend.

Bring kids 5 and older only.

Test drive at night so you can see how it looks and how it works in the dark.

Drive in a mall parking lot to see how the car handles and parks.

Test breaks by driving at 25 miles an hour and hitting the breaks suddenly.

Many cars aren’t coming with spare tires. Now they are options.

Check that the trunk space is enough for your needs.

Check the car’s telemetrics which is how cars work cell phones.

Drum Major's Hazing Induced Death at Florida A&M

Robert Champion

Robert Champion, a 26-year-old native of Decatur, Ga., died Nov. 19 following the Florida Classic football game in Orlando. He was part of Florida's A&M famed Marching 100, which is the school's marching band.  Many are saying it’s due to hazing and now his family wants to sue and raise awareness of the issue of hazing in college bands.

Although the death is unfortunate, it's good that the spotlight is being put on hazing, which is considered a right of passage many endure to become part of many “desirable” groups. Hazing should not exist, is illegal and should not happen, but it does and the practice thrives.

Being a person who doesn’t like kissing up to others, I never understood why people would go above and beyond themselves and endure tremendous painful and humiliating physical, mental and emotional torture to become part of a “desirable” group.

I believe most such people look like they love being in the group, but deep down inside they know the price they paid to gain membership is one they aren’t proud of. Fraternities and sororities are notorious for hazing. Many mercilessly taunt new prospects and take advantage of the situation to exploit others.

However, maybe I’ve always been an old soul, but when parents send their children to school to get an education so they can have access to better future job prospects I don’t believe they include that in what they believe they are signing their children up for.

However, I don’t feel bad for people who make a choice to go through the crap any fraternity is dishing out for them to become a “member” of a “brotherhood” or “sisterhood” gained from one’s humiliation, especially not a 26 year old man who is mature enough to know better.

I see them at Home Coming activities donning identical jackets, performing step dances, singing and greeting each other in their group’s unique way and acting like there’s nothing better in the world than being part of the group but I don't think it is really worth it.

However, to be fair, when many of them sign up when they are young and don’t know better, however, I ultimately believe it’s for people who don’t believe in themselves and have enough confidence and self-esteem to stand alone and must be in a group to have confidence derived as being part of the group. For example, male fraternities are known for how bad they sometimes treat girls when they get them in their frat houses at one of their popular frat parties. Guys who couldn’t hurt a fly on their own, all of a sudden get bold and do unspeakable things to girl in the emboldening company of their frat brothers. Girl's are not left out of this type of negative dynamics, girls who would be nice and easy going on their own, become mean girls who are mean to other girls in the emboldening company of their sorority sisters.

Personally, I just believe fraternities are a way for people to have power over other group of people who want to become part of something they perceive is so good and beneficial for them, and bigger than them and they use the power injudiciously. It is just a disguise for exploiting others. 

Being part of a frat and the initiation process is similar to being initiated into a gang, but it is white washed, spruced up and disguised as a fraternity because it exists on college campuses. Even God who gives us everything doesn’t subject us to humiliating things before blessing us, so how dare common human beings who are nothing but dressed up dust do that to each other? It’s preposterous.

Joining fraternities and sororities are prime examples of youth being wasted on the young. With age comes wisdom. Many of us adults already go through mild continous hazing in the work environment as slaves to ill-mannered bosses because of the pay checks we need to receive to pay our bills, but being a slave to membership in a fraternity or sorority is ridiculous especially since once you you leave the school, you all go your own way. 

Here’s the golden rule, if you have to be humiliated before being allowed to join any group, it is not a group worth joining. Although you may not see, understand, believe or acknowledge it initially, but in the long run you’ll see that it really isn’t worth it.

A word is enough for the wise.

Tolerance

Share our similarities, celebrate our differences.

Help Our Service Men & Women!

Freedom isn’t free. Members of the US Armed Forces have risked their lives, minds and limbs for our safety and security, but many come home with physical and emotional trauma leading to divorce, homelessness, alcoholism, depression, suicide and Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Disease (PTSD)

They have served you. Don't desert them now that they need you.

Visit www.ptsdusa.net to see how you can help.

Stop The Death of Horses on NYC Streets!‏

Draft horses are known for being tough -- but even they aren't tough enough to survive New York's abusive horse-drawn carriage industry.

Carriage horses work for an average of only 4 years, while Horses for the mounted police who receive better care can work for 15 years. The short lifespan is due to medical neglect, inadequate diet, long work hours in every kind of weather, and paltry living conditions while working in stressful city environments they're just not meant for.  And once they’ve outlived their usefulness to the industry, "retiring" carriage horses can be auctioned for slaughter.

The Coalition to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages is an advocacy group working to end this cruelty, and has started a petition on Change.org to support a ban on Horse-Drawn Carriages being proposed by New York State Senator Tony Avella in a petition calling on the New York state Senate to shut down NYC's abusive horse-drawn carriage industry.

Public outcry has peaked after the collapse and death of a New York City carriage horse named Charlie last month. Six other horses have been involved in traffic accidents or collapsed in the street since July. Now is the time to shut the horse-drawn carriage industry down.

 Please sign the petition telling the New York state Senate to outlaw horse-drawn carriages now.

 Thanks for being an awesome change-maker!

 The Change.org team

Picture of the Day!

A baby in a flower pot by Anne Geddes. Enjoy! 

Good Food Parenting!

If you bribe or force your kids to finish the delicious and nutritious food on their plate, you may be sending them and their bodies’ the wrong message.

People including kids have a biological wiring to know when they are full. When you force or bribe your kids to finish their food you are messing with that mechanism’s ability to send them the “I’m full” message and this can lead to being overweight or obesity.

You don’t want your kids to be overweight because kids are mean and can be verbally abusive and taunt your kids by calling them fatty, thunder thighs etc, which affect your kids psychologically.  If they become obese, obesity causes the hardening of the arteries, which is like bone formation in the blood vessel which causes strokes and heart attacks. Also, diabetes and many other illnesses accompany being overweight.


Another thing is that whatever you do, you are modeling your bad behavior for your kids, so if you are asking them to overeat, while doing it yourself, you are modeling the overeating bad behavior for them.


Below are some good food parenting tips:


Don’t offer sweets including deserts as rewards for your kids eating healthy foods because you are reinforcing that the vegetable or other good food is unappealing. Instead send positive messages about healthy foods and make them as appealing as possible.


Don’t serve too many snacks during the day. Limit snacks to 2 or 3 low calorie snacks a day. Crackers and pretzels have high carbohydrate content, so they aren’t always ideal. Yoghurt, string cheese, and humus are better protein options. Don’t give kids a snack 2 hours prior to a meal.


To encourage kids to eat good food, let them pick the menu but as a parent take control of what your kids eat to lay the foundation of healthy eating habits. For example, make low fat salmon, shrimp and pasta etc, but if they don’t like that, don’t let them keep eating macaroni and cheese. You can give them peanut butter

sandwiches, or a  healthy cereal, which are both low calorie options.

Don’t let your kids stay up late. Sleep deprivation messes up their hormones and leads to more eating because they have low energy levels that eating will seem to help.


Also, let your kids be active not sedentary. Let them walk and run. Don’t keep them indoors watching TV and playing video games all the time. Ultimately as a parent you should use your personal and best judgment.

Help! Famine, War, and Drought in the Horn of Africa!

The worst drought in 60 years has devastated communities throughout the Horn of Africa, leaving more than 13 million people in a state of crisis. In Somalia—where twenty years of war and violence has limited humanitarian access and destroyed the country’s ability to respond—the drought has led to an outbreak of famine.


According to UNICEF, as a result of this crisis, a child is dying in Somalia every six minutes. The millions suffering from the effects of this crisis are facing incomprehensible suffering. Left with nothing, many are walking more than 100 miles toward refugee camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.


Because the crisis in the Horn is so complex and because the scale is so difficult to comprehend, we have not seen people come together to respond in the same way they did after the earthquake in Haiti. Many who do hear about the crisis are left with the impression that we can’t successfully do anything about it.

But we can fight this famine. We were fighting it before it started. Through safety net programs, we have helped 7.5 million Ethiopians withstand the worst effects of this drought without the need for humanitarian assistance.


And as a result of Feed the Future investments, we have seen more than a 300 percent increase in grain yields in Western Kenya in just one year, securing the nation’s agricultural backbone and helping lower the price of critical staples throughout the region


But despite being the single largest donor of assistance in the region, we recognize we cannot fight the famine alone.

That’s why the FWD Campaign—in partnership with the Ad Council was launched —to highlight the uniquely devastating nature of the crisis and to ask people to help spread awareness.

FWD—stands for Famine, War, Drought: the three major crises that have led to this perfect storm of devastation in the Horn of Africa. But it also stands for our call to action—that people get informed, get engaged and forward this information on to their friends and families.

The FWD campaign is our attempt to make our world smaller—to connect people with the clear knowledge and understanding of exactly what is happening in the Horn—and giving them a powerful way to respond.

The campaign has three components. One is an effort that’s centered on using a strong online presence and social media to raise awareness. If you go to USAID.gov/FWD, you’ll see a number of new ways we’re using to inform and engage with people. We’re providing infographics, interactive maps and tool kits that people can use to learn about the crisis in simple, clear ways—and more importantly share that information others. And we’re partnering with Google, Facebook and Twitter to make sharing this information as easy as searching, updating your status or sending out a tweet

Finally, we’re also launching a text campaign with NGOs that are delivering critical assistance in the Horn. If you text “GIVE” to 777444, you can donate $10 to famine relief. To help get the campaign started, General Mills has agreed to match the first 2,000 text donations that come through the FWD campaign, up to $20,000.

But beyond donations, the most powerful contribution people will make will be to share what they learn. I ask that you encourage your friends and families to do more than donate. Have them visit USAID.gov/FWD and follow @USAID on Twitter so they can forward the facts.

Rude Kids & Overly Polite Parents!

Photo Credit: Bkhush

What’s this society coming to? I’m tired of encountering rude kids with an overblown sense of entitlement. They appear to have no home training or manners and think the world belongs to them.

Often after the kids have displayed their lack of manners for all to watch and wonder what kind of home they came from and what kind of parents raised them, then come(s) their overly polite, well-mannered and empathetic parent(s) in tow. All I can do is think to myself, where did they get this child from?

These kids never ask for anything politely. “May I” is not in their vocabulary. “I want” is their preferred choice of words. Then their parents who look so beaten down by carrying the weight of the whole world on their shoulders and appear to be psychologically broken and tired, offer an apologetic smile of appeasement and compensate by being overly nice and polite.

I had one 7 year old child screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs at his mother who asked him to say, “Thank you” after I gave him something.  Based on his body language and screaming antics, if she’s not careful, the boy will be physically assaulting her by the time he becomes a teenager.


I am not a parent yet, so I can't claim to know what it's like being one, but I do know that parenting should be age appropriate, and the bible in Proverbs 13:24 states, “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them.” However, the world says, “Don’t discipline them. Just talk to them.” And we wonder why many children misbehave the way they do...

Today's Quote!

Saw this sticker on a car and couldn't help laughing!

Featured Non-Profit: Civic Grind

Civic Grind is a network and clearinghouse for civically engaged and socially active African-American professionals in the Baltimore-Washington metro area. We cultivate a culture of philanthropy among urban professionals by inspiring volunteerism, and by connecting motivated individuals and businesses to community-based organizations, leading to stronger communities. Civic Grind provides a number of products and services:


■Hosts exciting and innovative social events that raise funds and awareness for non-profits and community initiatives


■Provides marketing, consulting, and training services to minority-owned businesses; promote business to consumer and business to business transactions within target demographic


■Helps develop partnerships between for-profits and non-profits that engage African-American and other minority professionals; this includes social events, volunteer and training collaborations, community initiatives, corporate social responsibility opportunities.

Why? Civic Grind was created because the problems in our community can be solved by the people in it. It can be seen happening every day. As dedicated organizations and innovative entrepreneurs making a positive impact on our communities, it is obvious that individual effort's impact can be increased exponentially when combined. Also, making connections, creating collaborations, building community is a prominent part of Civic Grind.

For more information, visit www.civicgrind.org

Picture of the Day!

American University Bear

Royal Thai Embassy Presents The Thai Film Showcase

The Grand Palace, Bangkok, Thailand

It is the winner of the acclaimed Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or (Golden Palm), the highest award given at the festival to the director of a feature film. The film centers on a man dying of kidney failure who is visited by the ghosts of his wife and son who prepare him for his journey to the afterlife and help him remember his past lives.

All three films will be screened at the Meyer Auditorium of the Freer Gallery of Art. Seating for films is free and available on a first-come first-serve basis. Auditorium doors will open approximately 30 minutes before each show.

The Freer Gallery of Art is located at Jefferson Drive at 12th Street, S.W.. The Sackler Gallery is located at 1050 Independence Ave., S.W. The two museums are connected by an underground exhibition space. The use of public transportation, including taxis, in Washington is recommended as on-street parking is limited.

For more information, visit Reincarnations: Films from Thailand

http://asia.si.edu/events/films.asp?trumbaEmbed=view%3Dseries%26seriesid%3D726828

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Today's Cartoon!

An exchange between two sheep.

One from the individualism school of thought 

 The other from the collectivism school of thought. 

Which one is better? Neither.

Both can be good or bad.

It all depends on the situation.

International Reporting Fellowship for Minority Journalists

For a second year, the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) http://www.icfj.org/  will offer the “Bringing Home the World: International Reporting Fellowship Program for Minority Journalists.”

Through this fellowship, journalists of color gain foreign reporting experience and an opportunity to cover important international issues that resonate with their communities.

Applicants must present a project proposal in their application, detailing the reporting project they would be interested in pursuing.

The deadline for submitting applications is January 6, 2012.

Click here   http://www.tfaforms.com/179173 to submit an online application.

Selected journalists attend an orientation at ICFJ’s headquarters in Washington, D.C where they will fine-tune their reporting projects and will gain new reporting skills to work overseas. Each fellow will also be paired with a mentor who is either a working or a former foreign correspondent.

Following orientation, fellows will report in the field for up to 2 weeks. Upon returning to the U.S., they will finish their stories and broadcast or publish them by August 31, 2012

ICFJ launched the International Reporting Fellowship program in late 2010 to accomplish several goals.

Over the years, minority journalists have had few opportunities to work as foreign correspondents. This program aims to level the playing field and provide reporters of color a new set of international reporting skills.   Additionally, in today’s media environment, with sharp cutbacks by many news outlets in their international coverage, journalists of color who lack overseas experience have little opportunity to report from abroad. At the same time, minority communities rarely receive coverage of global issues that directly affect their lives.

The Ford Foundation is funding the fellowship with additional support from the Brooks and Joan Fortune Family Foundation.

For further information, please refer to the program website

Debra Tillman is America's New Super Nanny!

Deborah Tillman

America's New Super Nanny 

.

After going through 7 child care providers in 3 months with the last one leaving her son in a dark back room by himself sucking air from an empty bottle propped up against a wall, former accountant, Michelle Obama look alike and now America's New Super Nanny, Debra Tillman new that for her sanity and son's safety, it was time to forgo her lucrative career and take care of her child herself.

At the time she probably thought, "We'll there goes my life," but in a divine twist of fate, what she probably thought ended her career has now made her a star. However, as we know, a person's path isn't that straight forward. After staying home with her now 19 year old son, she became an entrepreneur opening three child care centers. Below are some tips she shared with women who asked her for help on the Wendy Williams Show.


Question: I have 10, 9, 5 and half and 2 and half year olds that I have to go shopping with. They can become unruly. What do you suggest?

1. Plan where you are going and what you are going to do ahead of time.


2. Be prepared before you go.


3. Put the youngest two in a carriage


4. Feed your kids before you leave so they are not hungry.


5. Make sure they are not tired.


6. Make sure you spend no more than 3 hours at the mall


7. Get a listening bell to call them. They should understand that when they hear the bell ring, it means come to mummy.


Question: I have 2 teen daughters who tell me anything and confide in me. How do I control how I react so I don't come across as punishing or judging them, so they don't stop sharing with me or leave things out?


1. Don't go all cuckoo crazy.


2. Think of the worst thing they can tell you and practice your reactions and facial expressions in a mirror ahead of time.


3. Don't be afraid to voice your opinion(s) and ask them what the consequences of their actions will be.


4. Let them talk out their situations and come to the answer themselves.


Question: I have a 5 year old who sets me off because she talks back at me and plays my husband against me. It's a good cop, bad cop situation and she plays us against each other. She can get her father to do anything she wants. How do I get her to listen to me?


Don't allow the good/ bad cop situation. You and your husband should work together and be on the same page or else your daughter will use the divide and conquer method against both of you. You can get in her face, but don't shout and calmly tell her what you need her to do. Also, you can use the "Calm Down Corner" that you will see on the new season of The Nanny.

I personally believe that in this society, parents are often bogged down with so many other stresses, so they don't have the energy to effectively interact with their children and give them the much need care, guidance and discipline they need. I'm glad a woman came out to say she left her job to care for her son, which I believe is how it should be, even though in a perfect world, women should be able to find a job she can do from home.

I'm looking forward to the new season of Super Nanny. I'm sure it will be very entertaining with a "Sistah" on board and running the ship!

Today's Quote!

Gossips and rumormongers, please take note!

Leave Kim & Kris Alone!

With all the hoopla surrounding the Kim Kardashian / Kris Humphries 72 day marriage and the spotlight on other short lived celebrity marriages, one would think this hardly happens to regular people, but that’s not true. It actually does. There was a guy at a church I used to attend. He is an accomplished young attorney in Baltimore and he wanted to marry his equally accomplished college sweetheart from Howard University who he had had an on and off relationship with over the years.



For some reason, this cool guy decided to move nearer to God when he wanted to get married. So he began attending church and he felt he wanted to become a good man, settle down and have a family etc. He was on the right path but the first issue he ran into was that his future bride wasn’t into church. However, several times, he encouraged her to come to attend and she did, but she wasn’t into it and it showed.


When they had their pre-marital counseling sessions with the pastor, an audit of their relationship painted an unflattering picture. They were told by the pastor that they didn’t look like a compatible couple as they didn’t seem to have much in common to withstand the test of time and the hurdles the future holds, so he couldn’t marry them in good conscience.


Not one to be deterred by the pastor’s words since he was convinced that she was the one for him, they proceeded with the wedding plans. At the bridal shower, the girl’s mother who was his future mother in law and her friends and family began saying to the bride to be, “We will be here for you when he cheats on you.” We’ll be here for you he leaves you for another woman.” Those who attended the shower said they had never seen anything like it, especially since the guy had never been caught cheating on her during their relationship.


Still they both didn’t see the writing on the wall. To avoid dealing with the pastor who wouldn’t marry them, they had their destination wedding in St. Lucia in front of the few friends and family who attended. They then had their two week honeymoon and returned home to “wedded bliss” that lasted all of 2 weeks. Then they packed it all up. Their marriage which included the two week honeymoon ended after one month or 30 days.


So, considering the real life scenario above which happened to everyday people, Kim and Kris who are celebrities did a much better job of hanging in there to make it last 72 days and they at least were handsomely paid for the trouble they took to have their beautiful wedding. So let’s all let them be…

Happy Thanks Giving!

It's time to talk turkey, trimmings & sweet potato casserole!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving, the time a year that we take a minute to pause and remember all we're thankful for. I'm thankful for you. I hope

all your efforts have paid off in a big way this year. I hope the last eleven months have been some of the most successful in your history and I pray that as you end this year, the last days of this month and next month will not be different. Amen!

Michele Bachmann's Introduction Song on Jimmy Falon

Michele was introduced on Fallon's show on Monday with Fallon’s house band, the Roots, playing Fishbone’s song ‘Lyin’ Ass Bitch.’ This was totally inappropriate.

I don't like or dislike Michele and haven’t followed what she has been saying during the debates and on the campaign trail. However, as a woman, the disrespect of women especially one who hasn’t projected herself in a distasteful way is wrong. 

Love her or hate her, she is a conservative, intelligent and hardworking mother, woman, and politician who shouldn’t be introduced with such a song.

The disrespect of women in this society is becoming more and more pervasive and needs to stop. Any disrespect of women must be frowned upon and nipped in the bud, so that it doesn’t continue and desensitizes people to the fact that it is wrong because such will lead to more demeaning of women and even violence against women.  Also, such incidents will discourage other women from running for office.  

I say nip it in the bud or it gets worse. Just look at music videos these days displaying women as “walking bling.” Music videos weren’t always that way and because when the trend started it wasn’t nipped in the bud, we now have degrading short movies called music videos where women are paraded as often disrespected props AKA “walking bling” which are entertainment industry staples today.

Politics is a dirty game that many women often don’t want to play. The Minnesota Congresswoman, who summoned up the courage, is putting in the hard work and blazing her own trail by coming out of her comfort zone as a candidate for the Republican nomination and she doesn’t need to be disrespected like she was by the band playing the song.

However, thinking about the situation from a broader perspective, it's great that we are having this discussion about the unfortunate incident. It shows that women are now in more powerful positions dictating what stories are being covered in the media, and people are talking about it, which is a good thing.

Only One Week Remains for Submissions for the 43rd NAACP Image Awards!

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT BEFORE SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 43RD NAACP IMAGE AWARDS CLOSE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 "What Happens in Submissions, Wont Stay in Submissions" Social Media Outreach Helps Entrants Garner Additional Awareness November 23, 2011 -- Only a few days remains before the November 30, 2011 deadline for submissions for the 43rd NAACP Image Awards. Anyone intending to submit a piece of work for consideration in any one of the 53 categories is strongly encouraged to do so online at http://www.naacpimageawards.net. By submitting online this year's entrants enjoy a notable reduction in the time required to complete the entire process, including the ability to disburse payment online by either credit card or online check and instant confirmation and summary of submission(s) sent via email. Online entry also allows those travelling to conveniently access the site from any web-enabled device to complete their submission(s) and meet the November 30th deadline. Due to the extreme excitement about all of the exceptional entries, the 43rd NAACP Image Awards initiated the "What Happens In Submissions, Won't Stay In Submissions" outreach to help bolster awareness about this year's potential contenders by encouraging entrants to generate awareness about their projects through all creative means available to them. "This year, through the use of social media, entrants have garnered a notable amount of awareness for their projects via NAACP Image Awards social media platforms --- the level of Twitter and Facebook activity has been remarkable" said Vic Bulluck, Executive Director of the NAACP Hollywood Bureau. NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee Members, NAACP Members and anyone else interested in more information about submitted project can view entrants' posts on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/naacpimageaward and their tweets on Twitter by searching the hashtag #imageawards. About The NAACP: Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

Today's Quote!

As much as I try not to be negative,

the truth is that this doesn't always work out as stated above.

Natural Hair Sorority

The natural hair movement has inspired a group of young women at Howard University to take things a step further by founding their own sorority to celebrate their natural locks.

Founded on July 4, 2011, Pi Nappa Kappa is for natural hair women who pledge to "adhere to a high level of supreme and conscious living." The main goal of this natural hair organization is to free women of color from the stigma of wearing their natural hair and "educate, inspire, and uplift" people to flaunt their natural roots around the world.

There is no doubt that if you walk around Howard's campus on any given day, the number of young women who have ditched relaxers, which some jokingly refer to as "creamy crack," has increased. The reasons women make the transition from relaxed to natural hair differ. Some do it to feel liberated, some do it to have healthier hair and some make the transition to simply "try something new."

If you would like to become a member of Pi Nappa Kappa, the deadline is Dec. 9.

For the full article, visit
http://www.thehilltoponline.com/life-style/natural-hair-sorority-accepting-members-1.2674593?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=The_Hilltop&utm_campaign=The_Hilltop%20%20_201111212129

For more information, visit the website at http://pi-napp-kappa.spruz.com/​home.htm

9nice & Toni Payne

There’s a lot of wisdom to the saying that the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Or like father like son. So I was surprised to read what Toni Payne, a lady who was married to 9nice, a recording artist who was born and raised in a polygamous home with five wives and nine children said in an interview about the breakup of her marriage, her husband’s new child with another woman and her husband’s family. Below is an excerpt.

Q: What was ur reaction to the twins news when you heard it? Were u angry? Did u call him to ask about that news of a woman having a child for him?

 A: Yes I was understandably angry because from day 1 he knows I don’t want polygamy for my children if I can avoid it and also cos I felt he shud have divorced me first and married her before engaging in such. Like what example is he setting for his son? Lastly I felt if he would impregnate anyone it should not be the woman who broke up our home.

My question to this very intelligent girl who from what I have heard her do in the music business I admire is, “If a man’s father had five wives and he grew up watching his father and learning what it means to be a man from his polygamous father, why would you think he could be monogamous? Where would he learn that from? Even if he tried, he probably couldn’t pull it off because that’s not how he was raised.  And to top it all, he is a recording artist and we all know that male recording artists often have scores of female admirers and groupies trailing them everywhere, so a young virile male recording artist will have wandering eyes syndrome and cannot be faithful to his partner or be monogamous unless he has God in his life big-time.

I tell ya, girls slay me with their academic and business brilliance but dumbness when it comes to matters of the heart. Another thing is women can evaluate a family and say; these are not the kind of people I want to be involved with, but say their spouse who comes from that same family is different. He is not like his family. He is not like his family member at all. Of course he’s not like them in the beginning especially through the rose colored glasses of a woman in love that you're wearing. Marry him and see over time, just how much like them he truly is. A woman’s love for a man doesn’t change who he is at all. It’s best to accept people for who they are. For example, if I marry a man from a polygamous home, I know what I signed up for, which is to be in a polygamous marriage.

I remember years ago, I was approached by this guy who is from a well-known Muslim polygamous family. Luckily for me, not long before the encounter, I had read in psychology book that to a great extent we all repeat the actions of our same gender parents. I quickly began to think about it and noticed many things I did a certain way just because my mother did it that way and even ways I think just because that was my mother’s train of thought and I made concerted efforts to change.

However, for most people, who don’t take the time to develop themselves psychologically, they automatically do what their parents did almost automatically without thinking about it because it’s like second nature since they have seen it modeled in front of them all their lives.

I knew this would be the case with him in time.  Give him a couple of years and soon you’ll be hearing the speech, “You know I’m a Muslim man entitled to four wives and I’m from a polygamous home, I can marry as many wives as I like.” So, I quickly took myself out of the environment. People who knew he liked me were dumbfounded at my actions. Onlookers thought I was crazy, but I knew what I was doing.

I can’t say all sons of polygamous men become polygamous becaus that's not true either, but it’s better to be safe than sorry…

For the full Toni Payne interview, click here

Coke’s Trash in the Grand Canyon!

What can you buy with $13 million? If you're Coca-Cola, you can buy enough influence with the National Parks Service to cancel plans to make the Grand Canyon more environmentally friendly.

Plastic water bottles are the biggest single source of garbage in America's most iconic national park. So the National Parks Service had a plan: ban the sale of plastic water bottles in the Grand Canyon and invest in refillable water stations instead. The park was just weeks from implementing the ban -- and then Coca Cola stepped in.

According to the New York Times, Coca Cola -- which has donated $13 million to national parks -- asked the National Park Service to not ban the sale of plastic water bottles. Incredibly, the head of the National Parks Service bowed to Coke, and cancelled the Grand Canyon's bottle ban.

When a Change.org member who's dedicated himself to stopping plastic waste, saw that Coke forced the Grand Canyon to keep selling plastic water bottles, he started a petition on Change.org to bring back the bottle ban.

Plastic bottle waste doesn't just harm the Grand Canyon. Bottles can get swept up by the Colorado River, which runs through the park, and then dumped into the ocean. Countless animals and environments are forever harmed by plastic waste that originates in the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon National Park wouldn't be the first to ban the sale of plastic water bottles. In 2008, Zion National Park in Utah banned plastic water bottles. The National Park Service even gave the park an environmental achievement award for eliminating 60,000 plastic bottles from the park in its first year.

Supporters of the ban fear that the National Park Service is becoming increasingly dependent on corporate donations as its budget shrinks, making our national parks vulnerable to pressure from companies like Coke. It's important to show the National Park Service that people don't want Coca-Cola to call the shots in our nation's parks, especially when it comes to protecting the environment.

Please click here to add your name to the petition calling on the National Park Service to reinstate the ban on selling plastic water bottles in the Grand Canyon.

Thanks for being an awesome change-maker!