Heavy Traffic in Morocco

Family Lost

Recently I watched a show on t.v. that focused partly on family history. It was hard to watch for me because I know so little about my family. So little in fact that I am hesitant to write about my lack of knowledge because it's some what embarrassing to me.

For whatever reasons my family has never really talked in detail about family history. So the extent of my knowledge stops at my grandparents. It also does not help that I lost my parents when I was relatively young. I don't think I was as interested to know about my family during that phase of my life.

So I am longing to find out more. What about me is directly attributable to my ancestry? What where the names of my ancestors? What part of the country did they live and where in Africa did we originate? I'm especially interested to know about my women ancestors and what do I have in common with them?

Honestly I'm not really interested in looking for my family history by checking certain records from the time of slavery. I don't want to have specific knowledge of the pain my ancestors may have suffered during that time. I just think it would be too much to handle. Is that wrong?

I'm really more interested in knowing about the details of general family personality. I want to know what my family passed down to me through time that I'm not even aware of.

How much do you know about your family? Do you have knowledge dating back generations? If so how did you get the information? Would you consider taking a DNA test to find out more of your family history?

There are times when I feel lost not knowing about my family history. I guess this morning is one of those times.

Photo Attribution: Familysearch.org

A Tribe Called Quest & Leaders of the New School - Scenario

There was a time when women could enjoy hip hop. It was a time when hip hop artists didn't call women names.

This song reminds me how much I used to like hip hop.

Como di lago

On being "Post-Black"

I read an interesting post about African American bloggers. The post was by Shelly of the blog BoringBlackChick. Here is an excerpt:

"The main thing though - and the thing I want to discuss here today - is that virtually every black blogger I have come across from the US has race and racial issues making up a HUGE chunk of whatever they write about: Black music & culture. Black on black crime. African American demographics/surveys. Black politicians. Media representation of black people. Black hair. Black people in education. Middle class blacks vs. "Low class"/poor blacks. House Negroes vs. Field Negroes. Black conservatives vs. black radicals. The state of the black family. Mixed race relationships/friendships.

You get the idea. Whether it's serious or humourous, intellectual or frivolous, it is very apparent that African American bloggers have race at the top of their agenda. Everything is distilled through an exclusively race-biased lens or is brought back to black/white racial politics."

Read the rest of Shelly's post here.

This and a previous post by me along with comments on that post have lead me to ponder being "post-Black" To me the definition of post-Black is when a Black person no longer primarily defines her or him self as being Black. It does not mean that one is saying that they are no longer Black, just that being Black is not necessarily the most important component of who they are.

Is this the direction that some Black people are trending?

When I examine my own feelings about race I consider two schools of my thought. First, that race is an invention of European Supremacists hundreds of years ago. And that my following this construct of race still leaves me under their thumb all these years later. And that if race is not real then I'm living my life being partly defined by something that is non-existent.

Second, I feel that over time, even though race is a falsehood, that cultural similarities have developed between people who have been classified of the same race. So that even if technically race does not exist, it exists in practice.

My question is, would it be in the collective best interest of African Americans and all Black people to disavow race as an identifying factor? Would we be better off discarding race as our primary form of identity?

Lets look at what might happen if we did.

We would need to look closer at people as individuals rather than having the crutch of race as a device to find a place within a group.

Also we would have to in many case redefine who we our in our own minds. If we have been taught and conditioned to use the color of our skin as an indicator of who we are then without that we will have to look deeper.

The larger society would eventually be forced to identify us in other ways. For instance if we refuse to answer questions about race on a job application, on a census report or on a government application for things such as a drivers license, then society would be forced to look for other ways to identify us.

Politically we might not be lumped into a group simply based on color. Yesterday I read an article at ChicagoTribune.com, where the headline read: Black voters focus on Clinton, Obama. My first thought when seeing that was that I'm Black and I'm not focusing on those particular candidates. The article did not differentiate between middle class Blacks, soccer mom Blacks, Single, married or evangelical Blacks, just Blacks. Those demographic categories are available to Whites, so why not us?

And on a spiritual note, I wonder if ,whatever Supreme being that you believe in, intended for us to live our lives being Black? How much of who "God" intended for us to be has been and is being lost in being Black? Shouldn't we have the freedom just to be human?

What are your thoughts? Do you see a "post-Black" era approaching. Do you hope that we are moving toward being "post-Black"? Do you think being "post-Black would be a good thing or bad?

As Shelly notes, we African Americans spend an inordinate amount of time being, talking and thinking about being Black. Just imagine what we could accomplish if we could use all that energy for other things.

Imagine what we could have done with all the seconds, minutes, hours , days, months, years and decades that we have spent pondering race since the first African was dragged ashore here in the U.S.

Dave Brubeck- Take Five

Miami at Night

Are you prepared for a financial speed bump?

I have been listening to and reading news reports lately that talk about a possible recession coming in the next 12 months. So I have begun to look at my overall fiances to see how and if I would be able to weather a financial storm

One thing that concerns me is that during any time of economic crisis the African American community is usually more effected than the larger population. Already we have seen many cases of African Americans, especially older African American women, being caught in the mortgage crisis. So if there is a general recession what might the impact be on Black America?

Also I read a post at the blog What Tami Said about being frugal and a post by Liz at Los Angelista's Guide To The Pursuit Of Happiness about the so-called black Friday shopping craze.

So I thought this would be a good time to take inventory. And after doing so I feel pretty good. I have been saving for quite a few years. In the last six months I have stepped up the pace of saving a bit. Only occasionally using those savings to splurge on something unnecessary.

I have cut back on my bills and cut out certain 'perks' that I felt I deserved.

Regarding bills, I cancelled my cable t.v. this past August. I was paying about $60 per month. Instead of just getting rid of that bill I decided I would truly save that money. So in August I opened a new savings account. Every month I take the $60 I would have spent on Cable t.v. and put it in that savings account. I know that saving $60 a month does not sound like much but multiply that by 12 and you have $720. And to project into the future that will be $3600 over five years.

I also add to my savings account in the following ways.

I've stopped buying lunch when I'm at work. I figured I was spending between $5 and $10 dollars a day, five days a week. Using $7 as an average spent per day, I have been taking my lunch to work and putting $35 dollars a week into savings. That's $140 per month and $1680 a year. Even when I subtract the $2 to $3 dollars I now spend taking my lunch to work, that's quite a savings over time.

Another 'little' thing I've cut back on is buying USA Today. I'm a news junkie so I have been a big fan of USA Today for a long time. I used to buy it Monday through Friday without fail. I decided that I would stop doing that and only buy it on Mondays and Fridays (unless there was a particular news item I really wanted to read about). Since USA Today costs .75 cents a day, that's $3.75 a week and $15 a month or $123 a year. So buying it two days a week costs $1.50. Saving me $2.25 a week, which adds up to $108 a year.

All those things that I've cut back on are relatively inexpensive. But when I add them up they amount to the beginnings of a nice nest egg.

The savings from my cancelled cable is $720 a year, averaging my lunch savings at $4 a day, that equals to $960 per year plus $108 a year saved by buying USA Today only two days a week. These savings total $1788 a year and $8940 after five years. Not bad.

Are you planning to save or are you saving for a "rainy day"? If so what strategies would you share about your savings plan?

Are you cutting back or cutting out anything? Are you worried about a possible recession?

I have one more thing I want to cut back on, Starbucks Frappuccino. I drink at least one per day and some days two. The 13.7 ounce size costs $2.19 each so that's at least $65.70 a month, not counting days when I have two. That's going to be my next cutback and it's not gonna be easy!

Every morning it sounds like Apocalypse Now

I wake up really early in the morning. Usually between 4 and 5 a.m. Not because I have to but because I love the early morning hours. I love the quiet and I don't like rushing to get out to work. So I take it nice and slow.

I live in an area that even during the day is very quiet and at night is an oasis of quiet. I really like taking a pre-dawn shower by candle light. Then having a cup of tea and taking my time preparing for the day. I usually post for my blog during this time and listen to what ever music suits my morning mood.

However lately at around 6 a.m. I have been assaulted by traffic helicopters that sound like a scene from the film Apocalypse Now. I live a few mile from a major freeway and these traffic helicopters fly around the area giving live traffic reports for local t.v. and radio stations.

The worst part is that they just hover. The just sit up in the air making noise. And I hate it. Some of the helicopters are so loud. The sound reverberates so much I can almost feel it.

I wonder why there is not a pool helicopter that takes live shots of traffic and broadcasts for radio? Why does there have to be 10 choppers in the air all at once?

This is so aggravating. I don't even know where to begin as far as making a complaint. And I'm sure it wouldn't make a difference.

So every morning I suffer through a helicopter onslaught worthy of a major motion picture. This makes me want to move away to some nice quiet rural locale where the only sound I would hear is crickets.

That sounds so nice.

NICOLE WILLIS & THE SOUL INVESTIGATORS - IF THIS AIN'T LOVE (DON'T KNOW WHAT IS)

This may sound like a song from the 70's but it's not, this song was released in 2005. It has a great retro sound and I love Nicole Willis. Do you like?

Montréal dans les vêtements d'automne

Click on photo for large view

Photo Attribution: Irena S.

Tell me if this bothers you...

I recorded yesterday's Oprah because Denzel (no last name required) was going to be on promoting his soon to be released film The Great Debaters. So I sat down to watch what turned out to be a very interesting show. They talked about the movie and showed clips from the film. Also some of the cast was on the show including Forrest Whitaker and Jurnee Smollett (remember her from Eve's Bayou?).

I WAS looking forward to seeing this film. It's about a group of African American students who enter into a debate against White students in the pre-civil rights era. Read more about it here.

What bothered me happened at the very end of the show. The film is being produced by Oprah's production company Harpo Productions. And Oprah decided at the end of the show to introduce the president of Harpo Productions who turned out to be a White woman. And according to Oprah this woman has been running Harpo for about the last 10 years.

That really bothered me on a few different levels. The first being that even when an African American person owns a company, they seem to want to be so magnanimous in their hiring practices. It seems that we are the only group that does this. I remember when Martha Stewart was released from prison they televised her speech to her employees. I noticed that I didn't see a Black face in the room.

Another reason this bothers me is that Oprah just recently did a show in which she and Bill Cosby sat around bashing Black Americans for not taking responsibility. So it seems to be kind of hypocritical to bash African Americans if you are not even going to make opportunities available to them if you can. And Oprah could.

I won't even talk about Oprah building a school for South African girls when millions of African American girls could have benefited from a 40 million dollar school.

I've seen this same sort of thing time and time again. If you have ever seen the MTV show Cribs you may have seen it too. All sorts of African American celebs and athletes have so many Whites on their payrolls. The flip side is that you rarely see African Americans working for White celebs. So the result, we are just out in the cold.

Does the fact that Harpo Productions is headed by a White woman bother you, especially since most of the films they make are "Black" films? Am I making too much of this? What do you think?

Update: I really have to say I have come away from this conversation on this issue feeling refreshed. I want to thank eveyone who commented today. Your comments were really thoughtful and insightful.

After reading the comments throughout the day and having 24 hours between me and the Oprah show yesterday, here is what I'm thinking.

I think that "long money is better than short money". To look at the President of Harpo Studios and to be upset that she is not a Black women may be the "short money" perspective. In other words it is the total picture that counts. And in the long run it's the success of Harpo Productions that really matters. Sure I would like to be proud of an African American woman running things, but an African American women is running things, Oprah. And that is the "long money".

So all in all, in the long run Oprah's overall success is a good thing, for me and for Black women in general. And as I was reminded, we, African Americans have lead the way when it comes to doing the right thing on race relations. So maybe Oprah was just doing the right thing and hiring the right person for the job.

Thanks!

Link-O-Rama!

Here are some interesting things I've found recently.

I found a bittersweet post at the blog Fabulous Is A Choice read it here. This is a great post by What Tami Said about living frugally in the face of excess. Read it here. Here is another great post by Tami on the blog Racialicious. It's about friendship in Black and White. Read it here.

I think we are all aware that there is an AIDS crisis on the African continent, but there is one much closer to home. This is from The Washington Post, read about it here. If you saw last evenings piece on The NBC Nightly News about Black women or plan to watch their series of reports, please read this post from Professor Tracey on the blog What About Out Daughters? Read it here.

Marlena Shaw - Go Away, Little Boy

La Luna hermosa Sobre España

Don't poke your eyes out!

I remember my mom on too many occasions to count, admonishing me not to poke my eyes out. I'm sure that chances are your mom told you the same thing. I'm also pretty sure that this particular warning crosses all social and economic lines as well. I bet Bill Gates' wife tells the Gates' kids to be careful so they don't poke their eyes out.

I don't recall ever hearing of a kid poking one eye out much less both. If there was a case of this happening I'm sure it would be on the news, if for no other reason than the newsreader would get to say, "I'm sure his mom warned him not to poke his eyes out".

Don't poke your eyes out may be one of the few universal things among mothers around the world. At this very moment there are probably untold numbers of mothers warning their kids not to poke their eyes out.

I suppose there are potentially a lot of ways a kid could poke their eyes out. The classic example would of course be with a fork or knife while eating and not paying attention. I wonder though, in some cultures people eat with their hands. So do kids in those cultures still get the warning?

If you have kids do you warn them not to poke their eyes out? Does it feel like you are channeling your mother?

Go Scary Spice!

I'm not really a Dancing With The Stars fan, but I'm a Mel B. fan. I've liked her since her Scary Spice days. I guess those days are back since The Spice Girls have reunited. I even have a few Scary Spice dolls. (don't laugh)

I will be watching and rooting for Mel tonight in the finals of Dancing With The Stars. She deserves the victory, it's been a rough year for her.

Go Melanie!

Dancing With The Stars, Starring Mel B. airs tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.


Update: Wednesday, November 28 - Mel B loses Dancing With The Stars final to Helio Castroneves

From the Times Online;

Spice Girl Melanie Brown lost the final of American TV show Dancing With The Stars last night.

The pop singer won top marks from the judges with her final performance of the Mamba, but viewers were behind Brazilian racing driver Helio Castroneves, voting him into first place.

Brown, known as Mel B and Scary Spice, had earlier said that to win would show she had been embraced by America and that would mean “everything” to her. But a gleeful Castroneves took home the mirror ball trophy from the US version of Strictly Come Dancing, leaving Brown in second place.

When Castroneves, and partner Julianne Hough, were announced the winners, Brown insisted she had “enjoyed all of it”.

Van Morrison - Moondance

Jamaican View

Photo Attribution: Remlin

I'm it!

Miriam of the blog Black fire, White Fire tagged me. She was apparently tagged by Attorney Mom of the blog Character Corner. My first thought is that this is the bloggers version of a chain letter.

Anyway, as they say, I'm game. The rules are as follows; First I am to list 7 random and/ or weird facts about myself. Then I am to tag 7 other bloggers and let them know they have been tagged by telling them so in the comments of their blog.

So, without further adieu.....(drum roll)

7 Random and/ or weird facts about moi

1. I used to be able to juggle.
2. I have flown an airplane on several different occasions. (even though I don't have a pilots licence)

3. I eat soy nut butter or sunflower seed butter almost every day.
4. I own over 5,000 Cd's. (they are in storage.)
5. I used to be a radio announcer
6. I have lived in 14 different cities (and counting)
7. I have never had Kool-Aid


And these are the blogs I'm tagging: Please note that I am bending the rules and tagging 8.

just lisa

Hochmah and Musar
Los Angelista's Guide To The Pursuit Of Happiness

What Tami Said

BoringBlackChick

TransGriot

Getting A Life

THINGS according to me

My hair, my self

(Angela Y. Davis)

I found this article on the blog Pop & Politics. As you know hair is a major topic of discussion in many parts of African America, here is an interesting take and one persons journey.

My hair, myself
By Vanessa Mizell

Swivel chair. Mirrors. Wads of my hair landing on the wooden floor thunderously, like the sound of an urban demolition. Or at least that’s how it sounded to me.

“When’s the last time you’ve been to the beauty shop?” asked the hairdresser, scissors in hand, disturbed expression on face.

I couldn’t recall. When was the last time I sat on one of those chairs? When was the last time the back of my head had been tossed in a sink then stuck under a helmet stove, then forged by the iron torch?

“I don’t remember. Maybe eleven years ago?” I finally responded as quietly as I could.
She paused mid-snip and looked at my face in the mirror. My eyebrows slanted upward as I released a contrived chuckle.

She shook her head and continued snipping away.

The beauty shop is the site of rites-of-passage for young African-American girls. You’re taught values while listening to women philosophize about relationships, love, family and especially the latest African-American celebrity on the scene. You don’t say much. You just listen. Feminist, poet and professor bell hooks wrote about the experience as she remembered it in a 1988 Z Magazine essay called “Straightening Our Hair”:

"The beauty parlor was a space of consciousness raising, a space where black women shared life stories—hardships, trials, gossip; a place where one could be comforted and one’s spirit renewed. It was for some women a place of rest, where one did not need to meet the demands of children or men. It was the one hour some folk would spend “off their feet,” a soothing, restful time of meditation and silence.”

Read the rest of this article here.

Have you heard of Kindle?

I was traipsing around online and found a very interesting new device. It's called kindle. To sum it up, it's like an ipod for books, magazines and newspapers. It has a screen that displays the reading material and you scroll to view.

I'm an avid reader so the idea of being able to download books (they say in just a few minutes) sounds great! Also it would be nice to be able to take several books along wherever I go. I'm already an itunes addict and this looks like another potential addiction.

The Kindle is made and sold by Amazon.com. They are also providing the content in that they will, from what I understand, manage the list of available downloads and sell the downloads to Kindle users. Which I see as a plus since I'm already an Amazon.com user. I have found Amazon to be pretty good in general. The device as you can see is not very big, about the size of a paperback book but thinner. Also you can download without being connected to the Internet, which sounds good. Apparently Amazon downloads to the device by using cell phone technology.

I read the customer reviews on Amazon and they look fairly favorable. My only question is regarding the availability of books by African American authors. That is a make or break for me since I really love to read books by African American women. Also it really would have been nice if an MP3 had been incorporated into the Kindle. Maybe that will come in future models, especially since Amazon is now selling MP3 downloads.

So now the question is, will my budget like Kindle?



Read more about Kindle;

Newsweek

Amazon.com

MarketWatch

Donell Jones : U know what's up/ featuring Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes

Quartier Latin-Paris

African-American Women: Where They Stand, NBC To Attack Black Women With (more) Propaganda

Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behaviour to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.

– Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell, Propaganda And Persuasion

I read about this at the blog What About Our Daughters?. NBC is doing a week of reports on the NBC Nightly News about Black women. And as anyone knows who knows anything about corporate media, any report about Black people is going to be negative. So starting Monday be prepared for an onslaught of negative stories about Black women.

As Gina at What About Our Daughters? points out, they will be doing a segment about Black women going to college in record numbers. But they some how manage to look at that as a bad thing, since more Black women are in college than Black men. I wonder if they will mention that there are more White women in College than White men?

Last week I wrote a post called African Americans Are More Likely To _______ (Fill in the black with some thing bad). I talked about the constant barrage of negative reports and studies telling us that everything about us is bad. I warned that a new week was coming so be prepared for the media attacks to continue. Well here it comes, don't say I didn't warn you.

Note: So-called studies about African Americans are never broken down by economic class. They just say 'African Americans are'. So this presumes that all the ills of the Black community are due to our inferiority rather than lifestyle.

I've hi-lighted some of the negativity indicators below in red.

From the NBC website

African American Women: Where They Stand

A five-part series to air beginning Monday, Nov. 26

Throughout the week of November 26, "NBC News With Brian Williams" will take a look at the issues facing African-American women across our nation in a new series "African-American Women: Where They Stand." The series will cover a wide-range of issues from their role in the '08 Presidential race, to the increased health-risks that they need to be concerned about.

Monday's installment will discuss African-American women's progress in the education field. Nearly two-thirds of African-American undergraduates are women. At black colleges, the ratio of women to men is 7 to 1. And that is leading to a disparity in the number of African-American women who go on to own their own businesses. Rehema Ellis will talk to educators, students and businesswomen about why this disparity exists.

Tuesday, Ellis will look at relationships within the African-American female community. Many agree the gender disparity in education and business among African-Americans is having an effect on relationships that African American women have. Some even say the implications could redefine "Black America's family and social structure." In the past fifty years, the percentage of African-American women between 25-54 who have never been married has doubled from 20% to 40%. (Compared to just 16% of white women who have never been married today). Ellis sits down with the members of a Chicago book club and talk about this difference and how it impacts them.

Dr. Nancy Snyderman will discuss the increases risks for breast cancer for African-American women on Wednesday. Mortality rates for African-American women are higher than any other racial or ethnic group for nearly every major cause of death, including breast cancer. Black women with breast cancer are nearly 30% more likely to die from it than white women. Premenopausal black women are more than twice as likely to get a more aggressive form of the disease. And, not only are African-American women more likely to die from breast cancer, but they're less likely to get life-saving treatments. Dr. Snyderman will profile one of the only oncologists in the world who specializes in the treatment of African-American women with breast cancer.

On Thursday, Ron Allen will take viewers to South Carolina -- the first southern primary state -- and ask the question: Will race trump gender or gender trump race? In South Carolina , black women made up nearly 30 percent of all democratic primary voters in 2004. This year, polls show a significant number are undecided, torn between choosing the first African-American or first female Presidential candidate. Allen talks with the undecided, as well the state directors for the Clinton and Obama campaigns, who happen to be African-American women.

To close the series on Friday, Dr. Snyderman will raise the frightening statistic that African-American women are 85% more likely to get diabetes, a major complication for heart disease. And, like breast cancer, more black women die from heart disease than white women. Dr. Snyderman will profile a leading expert and a unique church-based outreach program in South Carolina that seeks to spread the word about heart disease risks to black women congregants.

Mara Schiavocampo, Digital Correspondent for "Nightly News," will address two hot topics in the African - American community: interracial dating and the impact of hip hop music on black women (For those of you who attended NABJ this year, Ms. Schiavocampo won the Emerging Journalist of the Year Award). Interracial dating is a growing trend in the African - American community. An Essence.com poll found that 81% of participants approved of black women dating non- black men. According to a U.S. Census Bureau report in 2000, 95,000 black women were married to white men. In 2005, that number increased to 134,000. Schiavocampo will talk to experts about the trend and discuss how this defines the "Black family" of the future.

Schiavocampo will convene a panel of leading black men and women from the hip-hop industry for an engaging discussion on whether hip hop lyrics and videos positively or negatively affect black women. The roundtable also will address how these portrayals are affecting relationships between black women and black men.

NBC Website

Talented people I like...Staceyann Chin

Staceyann Chin is a fulltime artist. A resident of New York City and a Jamaican National, she has been an “out poet and political activist” since 1998. From the rousing cheers of the Nuyorican Poets' Cafe to one-woman shows Off- Broadway to poetry workshops in Denmark and London to co-writer and performer in the Tony nominated, Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, Chin credits the long list of "things she has done" to her grandmother's hard-working history and the pain of her mother's absence.

NYU, Pace, Willamette, Holy Cross, Harvard, Cornell, University of Illinois, University of New Hampshire, University of Miami, University of California at San Diego, Boston University, Grinnell College, these are only few of the "institutes of higher education" at which she has shared the stories surrounding her coming.Chin was the winner of the 1999 Chicago People of Color Slam; first runner- up in the 1999 Outright Poetry Slam; winner of the 1998 Lambda Poetry Slam; a finalist in the 1999 Nuyorican Grand Slam; winner of the 1998 and 2000 Slam This!; and winner of WORD: The First Slam for Television. She has also been featured by cable access programs in Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as many local radio stations including, WHCR and WBAI. The Joseph Pap Public Theatre has featured this young poet on more than one occasion, and Staceyann has enjoyed great success internationally, with much lauded performances in London, Denmark, Germany, and New York's own Central Park- Summer Stage.

In 1999, Staceyann took the American Amazon Slam title in Aarhus, Denmark. Denmark so loved the young writer on her American Amazon Tour that her personal history, photo and work graced the cover of the national Newspaper The Politiken as well as the controversial, and spicy, Ekstra Bladet. Since then, many more Danish Newspapers have voiced their opinion of the poet from Montego Bay, Jamaica: The Information, Retorik Magasinet, and Berlingske.

Various American publications, including the magazines A, Everybody, Mosaic, Curve, Venus, The New York Foundation for the Arts' (NYFA's) FYI, and Jane, as well as the newspapers, the New York Newsday, The Village Voice, and Drum Voices have featured Staceyann. The myriad of journals and Newsletters in which her work has appeared also include, The Shades Newsletter, GMAD magazine, the New York Blade, The Monsoon, and the Black women's magazine, Personal Personals.

Her individual performances warranted her work being published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Pittsburgh Daily. Her work was also featured on "60 Minutes." Her poems can be found in her first chapbook, Wildcat Woman, the one she now carries on her back, Stories Surrounding My Coming, and numerous the anthologies, including Skyscrapers, Taxis and Tampons, Poetry Slam, Role Call, Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies. Staceyann’s voice can be heard on CD compilations out of Bar 13- Union Square, Pow Wow productions and many more.

"Hands Afire", Staceyann's first one-woman show ran for ten weeks at the Bleecker Theater in the Summer of 2000. The same Off-Broadway Theater welcomed the 2nd Show, "UNSPEAKABLE THINGS" in the summer of 2001 before she took it to Copenhagen for a week long run. London, Helsinki, Sweden and Norway are in the line-up to see the new generation of the show.

Chin has also been the subject of on-screen ventures; from clips and interviews on NBC, CNN, VH1, and BET to performances on the CBS aired Tony Award show. The film Staceyann Chin was released in theaters in Denmark in 2001. It was also aired on the Danish National Television station. Between the Lines, a documentary that explores the notion of being Asian and woman and writer, is the latest to feature Staceyann.

In 2002, Staceyann was nominated for the Rolex Mentor and Protege Art Initiative where she was considered as a possible protege for Toni Morrison. She was also featured on the second and third seasons of the Peabody Award winning HBO series, Def Poetry Jam. She has since then gone on to co-writing and performing as one of the original cast members of the ground-breaking and critically acclaimed, Tony Award winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway.

Summer 2003 brought a remarkably successful whirlwind tour of South Africa: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and a quick visit to Soweto. October found her playing at dancer when she was asked to be the first poet commissioned to write and perform a piece with the prestigious Dance Africa Chicago. In short, be it Australia, Jamaica, Altoona, or Hawaii—Staceyann will pack her poems and travel there.

Still fighting for time to finish all the other projects she has begun: her much-anticipated memoir, the new one-woman show, CDs, the books of unfinished poems, The poet/performer/activist/entertainer is desperately trying to create some room to travel to see her sister and to breathe.

Text Attribution: Stacyann Chin.com

Songs I Love...Willow By Joan Armatrading

A Beautiful Picture...Svörtuloft, Iceland

Where did this come from?

I wasn't going to write about this but reading about other peoples experiences always helps me, so I thought I would share. On yesterday I went for a morning walk. I took my ipod an set out. It was a really nice fall day. The sun was shining, it was cool but not cold. There where not many people out. I saw just a few cars on the road.

During my walk I decided to go by a market an get a pumpkin pie. When I arrived at the market I was a little surprised to see so many people shopping. But I went in anyway. I knew where the pies where so I went and grabbed one and made a bee-line to the checkout. Fortunately there was a short line available. I paid for the pie and I was out the door.

On the way back home still everything was nice. I was listening to my ipod and then it happened.

I had a panic attack. Here is a little background. I've been having panic attacks since I was 15 years old. I vividly remember the first one I ever had. They started after my grandfather died. His death was totally unexpected. Also I had not at that point in my life lost a close family member before that. So it really sent me for a loop. There was a bunch of other stuff going on too. But the other things where just typical teenage angst kind of things. Since that time I've dealt with continued panic attacks. Later I added agoraphobia to my repertoire, but that's another can of worms I won't go into now.

Anyway back to yesterday's panic attack.

It came out of no where. I didn't remember feeling any particular stress about anything. Just bam! All the typical symptoms where present; quick breathing, racing heart and worst of all I was shaking, really badly. I crossed the street to avoid a group of people who where standing outside the local IHOP. At this point I was only about 5 blocks from home

Those 5 blocks though seemed like 25 blocks. My legs where getting really shaky, I thought about trying to sit down but I just wanted to get home, to safety. Even though I have been through this many, many times before it was really upsetting. I even started to cry. That only made it worse.

So I'm not only having great difficulty 'keeping it in the road' as they say, but I'm crying and trying not to drop my pie. The blocks just kept getting longer and longer. Then I started to get dizzy and more panicked. At that point I knew I had to pull myself together and do it fast.

I stopped walking, took deep breathes and reminded myself that this was only a panic attack. That I wasn't going to pass out, no one was even noticing what was going on with me and that I was just a few blocks from home sweet home.

That helped, the panic subsided some-what, but not totally. I continued to walk and a few minutes later I was only one block from home. That was the longest darn block I've ever seen. It seemed as though every step I took was moving me backwards instead of forward. At some point I almost dropped my pie.

My legs where so shaky. Once again I reminded myself that this wasn't real. That my mind was playing this trick on me and that I was okay but most of all I wasn't going to pass out.

Passing out during a panic attack is my greatest fear, even though it's never happened. But the fear of it increases my anxiety during panic attacks and makes them worse. It's the fear of being unsafe and not having control.

Finally those last few steps to my front door! I made it! My hands where shaking so badly it took 2 or 3 tries to get the key in the lock. Once inside I put my pie down and just collapsed onto the sofa.

I'm not sure what brought this on. I've been trying to figure it out. The only thing I can think of is, despite the fact that I seem to myself to be totally okay with not spending holiday time with family, maybe that was bothering me. I think the act of trying not to seem stressed about spending another holiday without family stressed me out.

Anyway after about 10 minutes on the sofa I was okay, except I started to cry again. Not boo-hoo crying, just quiet 'I'm sick of this' kind of tears. I went on to have a decent day. A friend came by later. She was having a great day so I didn't bring up my panic attack. We talked and ate pie, which was pretty good for store bought by the way.

After she left I just relaxed. On reflection I was a little disappointed in myself for not getting the panic attack under control more quickly. I figure that a panic attack expert like me should have it down pat at this point.

I'm sure there will be many more panic attacks. And in most cases I won't be home when they occur. So I just have to do what I've always done, handle them.

Anyway I'm fine now. I'm off work. I have a couple of movies I'm going to watch, a few phone calls to make and the chore of figuring out what's for dinner. In other words it's just another day.

Photo Attribution: The Simple Heart

Is Shopping News?

So yesterday I figured after a nice day of relaxation I would catch up on the news of the day. I turned on my local news (I don't have cable so no CNN or that goofy MSNBC) and guess what? Apparently nothing was happening except ...wait for it...SHOPPING! Almost the entire newscast was devoted to stories about shopping.

There was one story about people camped out at various locations in the area to be first in-line to catch the best bargains. There was a story about which stores had the biggest sales going on. There was a story about one retailer that was opening at midnight last night and serving pumpkin pie to customers. There was a story about gift cards and how much Americans spend on them every year and how much they are expected to spend this year.

And then, they interviewed people about what they planned to buy. Then they interviewed people about how much they planned to spend. AND THEN they interviewed people about ...oh you get the point.

Anyway I was really, really sick of hearing about shopping, so even though I normally don't pay much attention to the weather, I was glad to see it coming on. And guess what the weather person said? "Here is your Friday shopping forecast."

(Insert expression of exasperation of your choice here)

Angelina-Jolie Fish?

What I'm Watching Today...Johnny Was

I feel like watching a good action flick. This looks interesting. I like Eriq La salle and Lennox Lewis, so I think I might like this. Have you seen it? What did you think?

Beautiful...

The Art Of Being Thankful

(A beautiful fall day)

Some years ago I had very serious financial problems. So serious that I had to not just cut back but cut out a lot of things I was accustomed to. I wasn't able to eat in restaurants (except Wendy's, that dollar menu was a life saver), I wasn't able to shop for the clothes I normally wore, I had to move from my apartment which had an amazing view to a tiny apartment with a view of another apartment. You get the picture.

Thankfully I was able to do what many people are not able to, recover.

So as many of us count our blessings, I have a new perspective on the blessings that I count. I see the simplest things as a blessing. In fact I see my ability to live an increasingly simple life as a blessing. I desire small comforts.

I try to be kind. Being kind is a gift and I'm thankful for it. I wasn't always kind. I've never been mean but I had my moments of insensitivity.

I try not to waste food or energy or money. I'm not always successful but I try. I'm thankful that I have food, energy and money not to waste.

I'm thankful for the new perspective that I have. One that did not come easily, but through trauma. When I was 'broke' I began to see poverty all around me. I noticed what I had never noticed before. I saw people I had not seen before, people who had been invisible to me.

My experience taught me the true meaning of fear. I remember on more than a few occasions thinking I was going to end up homeless. It was by the skinniest of margins that I didn't. So now having a roof over my head has new meaning. My home is a constant reminder that I am truly fortunate. There were times when I cried myself to sleep because I didn't even know where my next dollar was going to come from. It's a daunting thing to have to give literally your last cent to pay the rent.

I always feel grateful when I can go into an organic market and buy fresh wholesome food. I remember when fries from Wendy's and a Frosty was dinner.

I am thankful to have my computer and my ipod and my DVDs and books and all the accoutrement that we, if we are fortunate, accumulate in our lives. Because I remember a time when I could almost fit everything I owned into a backpack.

I think most of all I am thankful for the two things that can't be lost through financial crisis. That's knowledge and true friendship. I found out who my friends were and I found out what having knowledge could truly do for me.

So on today, Thanksgiving Day, I understand thankfulness. It's wasn't an easily acquired understanding, but it's one I'm glad to have, I earned it.

What I'm Listening To Today...Alicia Keys

I was hoping to be listening to Alicia's CD and Amy Winehouse' Frank CD today but it didn't work out. Yesterday I checked online to see if BestBuy had it and their website said they did. So, I went all the way to BestBuy and guess what, sold out. I was really angry. What's the point of having a website if it's wrong? Oh well. I'll have to wait until Monday to get it because I'm not going anywhere near a store this weekend. All the crazed holiday shoppers are putting on their running shoes and getting limber at this very moment for a weekend of shopping. And I plan to stay out of their way!

So It's me and Alicia today. I'm going to try to not put No One on repeat too many times.

Are you warm and cozy?

My Holiday Begins Now!

I have to say first of all that I am not a big participant of the Thanksgiving holiday. This is partly due to political reasons, which I won't go into, and partly because most of my family is at least 3000 miles away. I have a sister that is actually more like 8000 miles away, she lives in Norway. So I won't be with family and although every year I'm invited to share Thanksgiving with friends and their families, I usually decline.

So on Thanksgiving Day I will be watching movies, I really need to catch up on my film watching. I'll be listening to Alicia Keys' new Cd. I may read a chapter or two in a book I need to finish. I will be going to a local deli today to buy some sort of already cooked food to eat, there is no way I'm cooking.

I plan on having a nice relaxed day. I may go out for a walk with my ipod, I really like walking on holidays. The streets are so deserted, few cars or people walking, it's really nice.

When I lived on the east coast it was Thanksgiving with family every year. That was nice and I suppose I miss it but I've become accustomed to the holiday being a time for "me". On tomorrow evening a friend will come over, we'll talk. She will tell me all about her day with family and I will live the 'family thing' vicariously through her. That will be enough.

I will definitely not being waking up Friday to shop. Shopping on the day after Thanksgiving is nuts. I have been thinking about going with a friend for a nice walk on the beach. The weather is supposed to be nice, so I think that will be fun. Then maybe lunch there on the beach.

What's your day going to be like tomorrow? Big plans or small plans like me? What ever you're doing I hope that you will be content and at peace and with people who love you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dennis Kucinich shares a 85% similarity with your beliefs

I guess this is my week for taking tests. I found a really interesting and potentially helpful website. The website, glassbooth.org, is designed to help voters learn which presidential candidates share their views on major topics.

I took the test and it told me what I already suspected, that the candidate I would like to see as president is Dennis Kucinich. Apparently Mr Kucinich and I share the same view on 85% of the issues the test looked at.

The test took a total of about 5 minutes or less, there are two parts. So, if you still haven't decided who you are voting for or just want to make sure your candidate is really the one, check it out.

Link: glassbooth.org

Zhane' Alum Strikes out on her own

This is a song from Jean (Baylor) formerly of the 90's duo Zhane. This song Morning Time is from her new album Testimony. Enjoy!

What I'm Watching Today...Norah jones

¡Puerto Rico hermoso!

Beyoncé spreads her "influence" to Japan

December 2007 Harper's Bazaar Japan



Photo Attribution: www.bazaar.co.jp/

Odds & Ends

Former heavyweight boxing champ Lennox Lewis

According to Sandra Rose the next edition of Donald Trumps' The Apprentice will include a celeb line-up including one of my favorite people former boxing Heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. I haven't watched The Apprentice in a while but I will definitely tune in to see Lennox.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, that Omarosa person is coming back to The Apprentice again (Donald must be desperate).

For all you Amy Winehouse fans, like me, you may have heard that Amy has a new album out. Well don't be fooled. It's not really a new album. Just new to us here in the U.S. The album called Frank is Amy's debut album from 2003. Although the album is not new, from what I hear you won't be disappointed. The album is very 'jazzy' and got great reviews. I plan to buy it on my next download binge. I'll let you know more then.

Have you seen the trailers for the two "Black" films coming out this holiday season? First there is American Hustle starring Katt Williams. Can't quite remember who Katt Williams is? Well he's the one who attended the recent BET awards with a noose around his neck. Snoop Dogg, who is currently banned from entering Great Britain, will also be in the film. Too bad he's not banned from the U.S. This is one film I won't be seeing.

The other film is This Christmas starring Regina King (the voice of the Boondocks) and R&B singer Chris Brown. From what the trailer looks like the movie does not really have a plot. Just a family gets together for Christmas and the hi-jinks ensue kind of a thing. I think I'll pass on this one too.

Do they make any Black films that aren't gangster films or comedies? The last one that I remember was Akeelah and the Bee. Oh, sorry I forgot about the Tyler Perry film. I did hear that was good.

Anyway I'm not excited about any films this holiday season.

On a better note I bought Alicia Keys' new album As I Am yesterday. I normally download music but on some occasions I still buy Cd's. This was one of those occasions. I love the song No Way.

I saw Alicia perform the song Sunday night on the American Music Awards. It was a good performance (except for the Beenie Man part).

I wanted to give a link to the youtube of Alicia's performance but this is what I found, "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Dick Clark Productions, Inc." Drats! Foiled again by Dick Clark.

Moving along to news. Have you heard that Brasil has made a very, very, very big new oil discovery off the Brasilian coast? I wonder if it will bring gas prices down? Read about it here.

This past weekend I took a test. You may have heard about it. It's a test to detect if you have a preference for White people or Black people. It's called the IAT (Implicit Association Test). My result was; Your data suggest that you have little or no automatic preference between African American and European American.

Apparently just 17% of those who take the test score no preference. I guess that's a good thing not having a preference right? I was really surprised. On one part of the test it asks if you think you would have a preference. I said yes, toward African Americans. According to the chart, only 2% of takers show a preference for African Americans compared to White people. And 27% show a preference for White people compared to Black people.

The test is given by Harvard University. Here is the (link) if you want to take it. If you do let me know how it went.

That's it for now!

Let me out of here!

I found this pic at the blog POLITOPICS. I think it's cute and funny.

What I'm Listenng To Today...The Police

Bridge + Fog + Toulouse = Beautiful

Photo Attribution: Choufi

10 Most Dangerous Cities

Here are the lists of the ten most dangerous and safest cities in the U.S. according to Congressional Quarterly. Many of the officials in the cities on the most dangerous list are not happy. So far none of the cities on the most safe list are complaining. I wonder how it is that Philadelphia didn't make the top 10 most dangerous? And what about Baltimore?

Top Ten Most Dangerous Cities

1. Detroit, MI

2. St. Louis, MO

3. Flint, MI

4. Oakland, CA

5. Camden, NJ

6. Birmingham, AL

7. North Charleston, SC

8. Memphis, TN

9. Richmond, CA

10. Cleveland, OH

Top Ten Safest Cities

1. Mission Viejo, CA

2. Clarkstown, NY

3. Brick Twnshp, NJ

4. Amherst, NY

5. Sugar Land, TX

6. Colonie, NY

7. Thousand Oaks, CA

8. Newton, MA

9. Toms River Twnshp, NJ

10. Lake Forest, CA

Photo: Detroit