Attend one or all seven Days of Kwanzaa at the Shrine. It is fun for the whole family! It is free and open to the public. A great way to support local Black vendors.
Would love for you to share your comments here after you attend any of the Shrine’s Kwanzaa celebrations.
Dont just do what others are doing to fit in or because it’s a trend. Do your research. More times than not you will find it is not new. Just new to you!
As I talked to Kristen, my friend in Phoenix, about the movie Green Book, She asked if I heard about the slavery connection to saggin’ pants. Well here it is:
Not a prison trend. Not A Trend That Started In The 80s Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the sagging trend was introduced by rappers like Ice-T and Too Short. Then, Kris Kross took things to a whole new level. Although the trend started in prison systems and correctional institutions around the country, soon, black youth on the outside began adopting the fashion trend. However, it’s much deeper than something you see on television in this day and age.
‘Breaking the Buck’
If you haven’t heard of the process of “breaking the buck,” you’ll never look at a man wearing sagging pants the same. According to diaryofanegress.com, the process was a heinous act used during times of slavery to break down defiant male slaves. During this brutal process, the slave owners and Overseer would make an example of the slave in front of the entire slave congregation by beating him relentlessly. But unfortunately, that’s not the worst of the punishment. Then, they would cut down a tree and force the battered male slave over the tree stump with his britches removed so he’d be exposed for the entire slave congregation to see. “Buck Breaking” The slave master would then make an example out of the slave and promise others the act would be their fate for defiant behavior. The slave owner would then remove his own clothing and savagely sodomize the slave in front of his family – wife and children – and his friends. But sadly things didn’t stop there. Slave masters were also known to invite their associates from other plantations to participate. Then the owner would make the slave wear his pants below his bottom letting others know that he was broken. It is also noted that the defiant slave’s male children were required to be front and center while the horrific acts were taking place in an effort to break them down mentally at an early age as they witnessed their father’s humiliation. Sadly, the process was successful. In fact, the disturbing process evolved into a “Sex Farm” practice where slaves were put on display for the twisted sexual desires of homosexual slave owners.
Read the full article at: https://www.theblackloop.com/many-think-sagging-pants-started-prison-come-place-much-worst/
In the segregation-era film Green Book, Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali stars as Dr. Don Shirley, a real-life world-class black pianist. In several scenes, with the grace that Ali always seems to exude no matter who he’s portraying, his fingers fly across his piano keys in a way that look so masterful you can’t help but wonder, “Is that really him playing the piano?” The question is a credit to Ali’s acting, since no, he isn’t the one pulling those notes from that Steinway piano. When we’re not lost in the fierce concentration on Ali’s face during those performance scenes, it’s actually the fingers of film composer Kris Bowers that we’re riveted by.
Green Book follows Ali’s Dr. Shirley on a a concert tour that extends from New York to the Deep South, with Bronx-born Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) as his chauffeur and bodyguard. The two abide by the “Green Book,” which serves as a guide for African-Americans to what establishments are safe to visit, as they navigate the long road trip together. While Ali’s depiction of Shirley’s piano-playing is virtually perfect — seriously, it’s hard to believe he isn’t a virtuoso himself — Bowers revealed all the work that actually went into capturing the pianist’s style.
This movie is excellent depiction of the segregated south that most teens through millennials have not really seen. Yet it leads us on a great adventure of two different yet somewhat similar men. Adults should take their children, grand children. It is an excellent movie for the Holidays and the whole family!
(Article by MEKISHANA PIERRE on popsugar.com)
Voter registration without voter education is voter frustration!
– Locally & nationwide, about 80% of voters only vote for the top 1,2, or 3 offices on the Ballot. Most don’t have a clue about how long or what’s on the ballot until the enter the polling booth.
-So, engage your circle of friends/family in discussions about everything on the ballot so you and everyone in your circle will vote down the ballot for every office, admendment, and referendum with confidence.
– Print a copy of your Ballot from: http://www.myvoterpage.com and take it with you to vote. You can’t use your cell phone inside polling place. However, you can take any printed material. You cannot share it with another person inside the polling place.
– So each voter has to have their own sample ballot or other printed materials.
– Tuesday, October 9 – Deadline to register to vote in Georgia.
– Tuesday, November 6 – Election day across the U.S. Each state has different things on their ballots and they are all important!!
– Now is the time to research the candidates for each office and find out what each office does. You will be amazed to find out things about the Insurance Commissioner, Public Service Commissioner, District Attorney, and/or Governor and how what they do effects your everyday life. For example, the Onsurance Commissioner decides if your insurance company for auto, home owners, or renters insurance can increase your premiums and by how much. They can even kick a company out of the state for unethical practices. So choose candidates for each office well.
– Start and continue a conversation on all your social media, at lunch, dinner, etc. about the ballot and early voting dates in your area.
– Use your smart phone to research candidates the same way you use it to Google other things you need to know. However, 90-95% of what you need to know about voting and candidates can be found at: http://www.myvoterpage.com
– I always find it amazing that people know more about TV stars, movie stars and athletes’ personal lives than they do about the elected officials for whom our tax dollars are paying their salaries. That means, they work for us. When we do not like their work, we get to fire and replace them in the next election. That’s right. We control if they get to stay in office! Let’s use our power to change things in our favor. YES WE CAN!!
– Register (Also, check your status before Oct. 9 to make sure you have not been purged from the voter list.).
– Educate yourself (research candidates).
– Engage with your circle of influence.
– Advocate for candidates you like.
– Remind/make sure everyone in your family (even those who live in different states), your friends, church members, colleges students, are registered to vote for every office on the ballot and how to determine who to vote for BEFORE Election Day!
– Check with local churches, the NAACP, Urban League, SCLC, Rainbow PUSH, Peoples Agenda, League of Women Voters, National Action Network, and other nonprofits about FREE rides to the polls if you or someone you know needs it.
– VOTE early or on Election Day, November 6.
WE CAN CONTROL WHO REPRESENTS US!!
Your Power Connection 
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