Thou Shall Not…

“The grass is always greener on the other side…” I grew up hearing this sayin’ so much, well it just sticks. It sticks like country kitchen neck-bones to your thighs. Ms. Jurnee Smolett-Bell in Temptation did not heed that simple advice, and her character, good ole Judith grew up in the South-walking down the dust roads to school and church. Judith was raised in a good Christian home…but it’s always the      preacher’s kid doing the evil works…

By: Sasha King

http://www.blackenterprise.com/small-business/chaka-khan-goes-from-10-time-grammy-winner-to-serial-entrepreneur/

You can’t say legendary singer Chaka Khan doesn’t know how to throw a party. Celebrating her sixtieth birthday on March 23rd with soirees in New York, Miami *and* Los Angeles, the 10-time Grammy winner is not only preparing to mark another milestone, she’s celebrating a new chapter in her 40-year career — one that includes the expansion of her entrepreneurial empire.

By: DesiBjorn

http://theangriestblackmaninamerica.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/the-worry/

Writer/blogger for The Root, Lawrence D. Bobo, coined the phrase “The Worry” that so accurately describes the anxiety of Black Americans today.

The Story

Bobo describes “The Worry” as the aprehension the growing Black middle class has about the current economic situation and it’s detrimental affects on the Black community. I cannot think of a more accurate term for the silent purgatory of emotion that many Black Americans are feeling right now. However, Bobo and I part ways on the details of “the worry.”

Bobo suggests that the Black middle class (he defines middle class as individuals with an income that is 2-4 times the poverty level) is afraid for the largest part of the Black community which makes up the “poor” “underclass” of American society. Perhaps this is true. I would not be so quick to believe that the Black middle class has concerns about the majority of the community (who are not “middle class”).

"There's a new me coming out and I just had to live, And I wanna give, I'm completely positive..." ©NEEMA

Minimalism…Really?

Minimalist. What is that, really? A minimalist is a person who has the ability to live on the bare necessity and still be happy. It does not mean you do not spend money, because as Master Minimalist Peter Lawrence stated…he eats organic foods and that can be very expensive. However, you do find ways to preserve your resources. This is a practice that I like, and I am currently reading more about. I want to walk in my room and breathe air, and feel a sense of freedom. However, I have felt congestion because I have so much frivolous stuff…

By: Matt Mossman   Photographer: Jared C. Benedict

http://allafrica.com/stories/201303200169.html?aa_source=mf-hdlns

Walmart's recent arrival in South Africa was in many ways like the company's arrival in any other market: contested and controversial.

By: Shia Iris
www.shilairis.wordpress.com

This is the abridged version of a story I once told. Let me know what you think.

Don’t be intimidated by the length of this article. It’s worth reading.

I grew up in a household where conditions were tough. I had 6 siblings (same parents) and we all had completely different personalities and ways of thinking. My mother was a stay at home parent for most of my life and was only forced to leave the household in search of a job after my father’s “cool” 1980’s drug habit started to get the best of him in the 90s. How he maintained a separate social lifestyle with 6 children and a wife under his belt for so many years, I don’t know. Now I know that my mother always knew and tried to fight it with him, but I didn’t know until I was nearly 13 years old. Apparently he had been using for my entire life and longer. I still cherished my dad because despite his pitfalls, he was always very cool.

When you hate women, you hate yourself...and can not get BACK TO LOVE!                           ©NEEMA

It’s Going to Be A Good Day…

Sweat profuse out the pores on my skin…I was not even hot, quickly searching on the internet under tags like fasting and sweat-I found out that sweating can be a sign of danger. This was only my second day on water as my only consumption to renew me spiritually, emotionally, politically, and physically. I registered the warning signs of sweating and quickly took a couple of swigs of spring water to re-liquefy my body and fight off dehydration. Afterwards, I took a light 30 minute walk around the block of my blossoming neighborhood. For the first time, I saw the buds popping off the trees, the green leaves hanging confidently, and the colors of reds, blues, and yellows bursting on the landscaped yards that comes with living in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood-I found the beauty in the little things while listening to Pandora’s India Arie station on my smart phone. Ready to tackle the day, I came home turned on the sizzling water in the bath-it takes a while to get it to the scorching heat that I like…threw my clothes any type of way in my room…stripped and headed towards a shower that was going to hit my body just how I liked it as I adjusted the shower head. At that moment I would have a soapy intimate experience with Dove-while continuing to listen to meaningful R&B artists like Joe, Jill Scott, and Maxwell.

Waking Gil Scott-Heron
The revolution will not be televised...
The revolution will not be televised...
The revolution will not be televised...
The revolution will not be televised...
The revolution will not be televised...
The revolution will not be televised... ©NEEMA