TOP FIVE THINGS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT KWANZAA

TOP FIVE THINGS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT KWANZAA

1. KWANZAA was founded in 1966 by Maulana Karenga as a result of the Black Power Movement & a year after the racial motivated riots in L.A. Karenga said, Kwanzaa was started as,

“a necessary minimum set of principles by which black people must live in order to begin to rescue and reconstruct our history and lives.”

2. KWANZAA is not a religious holiday. It means "first fruits" from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza."


3. KWANZAA is celebrated with seven principles, each holding it's own significant meaning:

• * UMOJA - UNITY: to strive for & maintain unity in the family, community, nation & race.
• * KUJICHAGULIA - SELF DETERMINATION: to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves & speak for ourselves.
• * UJIMA - COLLECTIVE WORK & RESPONSIBILITY: to build & maintain our community together & make our brother's & sister's problems our problems & to solve them together.
• * UJAMMA - COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS: to build & maintain our own stories, shops & other businesses & to profit from them together.
• * NIA - PURPOSE: to make our collective vocation the building & developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
• * KUUMBA - CREATIVITY: to do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful & beneficial than we inherited.
• * IMANI - FAITH: to believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our leaders & the righteousness & victory of our struggle.

It starts December 26 and ends January 1.


4. KWANZAA'S official colors are RED (the stuggle of the African people), BLACK (earth) & GREEN (hope & future).


5. KWANZAA had it's first full length film, "The Black Candle," featured in 2008. It was narrated by Maya Angelou and directed by M.K. Asante, Jr., which features interviews with rappers Chuck D., founder, and NFL star Jim Brown.

Art(ists): Nikko Gray

Nikko Gray, London born, deserves some buzz and it is my pleasure to introduce you all to this lovely songstress. Although she is not new to the music industry she is making some moves to have her voice heard (as she should).

Her voice is unique, captivating and soothing (which makes me want to repeat any track she’s on over and over again). You can hear her latest on Aalyiah’s revisited album.

LOVE IT!

Nikko Gray is definitely on my list of rising artists to watch!

http://www.myspace.com/nikkogray

www.facebook.com/NikkoGray

http://www.Twitter.com/NikkoSoul

Know this ..

"what you resists persists."

MY QUOTE OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL OF THE DAY:

"CHANNEL THOUGHTS OF SUCCESS! & NOTHING WILL STOP YOU FROM THAT SUCCESS!"

Umm .. So this is what we teach our children??

???

IGNORANT.

I AM LOVING THE BLUEPRINT 3!!

From Empire State of Mind w/ Alicia to On To The Next w/ Swizz Beatz && my favorite track A STAR IS BORN!!


Album was everything I thought and more!!

Any thoughts, comments??

President Obama is really someone to watch. I've decided from now on I am going to keep all newspaper articles about him over the course of his presidency. Should be interesting to keep up with him throughout the years.

I feel as though he is doing good things, but for whatever reason he keeps getting knocked for any and everything (including his speech on education) -underlying racism maybe-.

Nonetheless, his speech was FABULOUS and INSPIRATIONAL! But according some republican, he is spreading, "socialist ideology." Whatever everyone is entitled to their opinion, but c'mon . . . He makes it seems as though Obama is out to brainwash our children. I am just saying children nowadays are already brainwashed by far worse things than a president giving a speech on education.

Check out the speech:

I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MESELF

Opens tomorrow! Go support Tyler Perry! I sure am! Should be funny and touching at the same time.

Fascinations . . .

One of my many fascinations is LIGHTNING. Over the last few days that's all it's been doing. HOT and HUMID during the day then the STORMS come at night. I was TERRIFIED of lightning when I was younger, but now not so much. l0l

It's beautiful

EAGLES!!

WE WANT VICK!!

AND WE GOT VICK! (Good asset to the team)




Okay so if you don't know by now I am a PHILADELPHIA EAGLES FAN!! Yep. I am a chick who loves && actually understands FOOTBALL (favorite sport to watch)!

Meteor Shower Tonight

This is going to be sight to see. The annual Perseid metteor shower is expected to put on a good show this week for those willing to get up in the wee hours of the morning and wait patiently for the shooting stars. In North America, the best time to watch will be between midnight to 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, but late Tuesday night and also Wednesday night could prove fruitful, weather permitting. Have your redbull on hand to stay awake.

Quote of the Day!

AGREE???

I went to D.C. at first for the Kid Cudi concert, but it was SOLD OUT!!
&& did not have a plan B so just decided to explore the city...
Best time I've had in a while.
Ran into many intresting people and places.

Can't wait to go bacK!!

Pick a Side Now!!!

With the new season of Jon and Kate Plus 8 kicking off this past Monday night, the time to pick a side has come. Are you Team Jon or Team Kate?

Check out the videos below and make up your mind!!!

Team Kate


Team Jon

So now that the King of Pop is dead and gone who is going to replace him??
(drumrollll)










According to Kanye West, HE IS the replacement. Big shoes to fill ..

This is what he had to say:

“You know everyone loves and respects Michael but times change. It’s so sad to see Michael gone but it makes a path for a new King of Pop and I’m willing to take that on. There’s nobody who can match me in sales and in respect so it only makes sense for me to take over Michael’s crown and become the new King,” said West. “First there was Elvis, then there was Michael, now in the 21st century its Kanye’s time to rule. I have nothing but respect for Michael but someone needs to pick up where he left off and there’s nobody better than me to do that. I am the new King of Pop.”

Before you believe what you read, keep in mind this came from a source (Scrapetv.com) which states: All content herein should be considered rumour or truth based solely on your perspective.

American Idol Comes to Town

The top 10 American Idol '09 finalists will be performing at 7:00pm tonight at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. This is their 17 stop on a 50 city tour which started on July 5th. I am looking forward to be going to this concert. I went last year and saw David Cook tear the roof off the building. I think Adam Lambert will tear off said roof and blast it in the universe this year. Here's the complete list of the American Idol summer tour.

Pretty Wings ~~

WHO is obsessed with Maxwell's "Pretty Wings" as much as me?!?!?

I love his voice.. soothing.. tasteful.. beautiful.. Maxwell's "Pretty Wings" is a CLASSIC.

Listen&&Love

Pretty Wings - Maxwell

Jamba Juice Buy 1 get 1 FREE!!

Jamba Juice has a special going on. Buy one get one free!!!!! Click the picture for the coupon.

&& Another One

Life’s a game but it's not fair,
I break the rules so I don’t care,
So I keep doing my own thing,
Walking tall against the rain,
Victory’s within the mile,
Almost there don’t give up now,
Only thing that's on my mind is who’s gona run this town tonight,
Heeeeey, heeeeey, heeeeey
Who’s gona run this town tonight...

Lovinn this. CD to drop September 11

Aug. 5 Cudi Concert

KID CUDI CONCERT!

Am I excited about this concert?? Yes and NO. Going with a friend who absolutely LOVES his music.. but I am tryin` to hear a new artist out for once so I'm down. He's not typical and that's what I like.

D.C. is the spot August 5. Should be an interesting night.

GUARANTEES in Life??

So WHAT ARE THE GUARANTEES if LIFE??

My co-worker pointed out TWO that I can't disagree with:
-Death &&

-TAXES!

Any others??

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

I have an obsession with The Soup.

I was flippin' through the channels && saw what looked like a talk show so I started watching. Not only did I laugh the entire episode, but I was already wanting to see the next episode!

This isn't necessarily a favorite clip of mine but it opens up your eyes to the unnecessary (CIRCUS OF MEDIA) coverage of Michael Jackson's death. I didn't realize it until I saw this clip:

Regret?

Why is it that things should never be regretted??

Regret is such a confusing emotion to me. On one hand I want to be able to say that I have no regrets, but I do. When I woke up this morning so many things I regret were running through my mind. Regret makes me think if I would have done this differently, then my life would be better in some way.

Shoulda, coulda, woulda .. it's all unhealthy I guess.

I remember my 11th grade math teacher telling our class that things happen for a reason, but the reason hasn't revealed itself yet. She told me personally not to let anything deter me from reaching my goals.
By regretting things perhaps I am keeping myself in a bind and not moving on. I am letting my past control me, when I have no control over the past. What I do have control over is my future. In a way I guess it's okay to feel guilty or sad about decisions in the past, but there's no sense in wishing you could take it back because you CAN'T.

LIVE & LEARN!♥

By the way Happy (cookouts & parties & fireworks day) 4th of July!!

Do Men Like Bitches??

It's the summertime and that means READING!! when there is not a DAMN thing to do. Recently I finished,

Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl - A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship by Sherry Argov.

Overall, I enjoyed the read. Before reading this book I felt like I was too nice when it came to guys and reading this booked confirmed that. I was the one who always felt like guys were taking my kindness FOR weakness.

Basically it's a book about how MOST men prefer confident women who have dignity and won't become anyone's "doormat." [[I mean what man wouldn't want a confident woman?? Confidence is such an attractive quality!!]]

Throughout her book she has ATTRACTION PRINCIPLES in which women should follow. Some of my favorite include:

Attraction Principle # 8: The biggest variable between a bitch and a woman who is too nice is fear. The bitch shows that she's not afraid to be without him.

Attraction Principle #98: Truly powerful people don't explain why they want respect. They simply don't engage someone who doesn't give it to them.

[[iBLOG now!!]]

I have a truly remarkable friend who is grieving her son's death. He is going to be six June 19. Although, I never knew her son personally he is truly an ANGEL. Dealing with the death of someone is never easy, but I want her to know:

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it."

Helen Keller

&& you will.