This past weekend I was in Atlanta again for the annual Happlily Natural Day. If you are into buying one of a kind african inspired everything it was the place to be. The vendors (myself included) had so many original products to see. I think at one point I was overwhelmed with all the creativity and the quality of products. I'm still thinking about all the funky purses, jewelry, art and apparel that I saw.

People came out, but the event did not pull in the crowd that I anticipated. I made the best of it though. I got my networking mack on and I met a lot of creative and conscious minded black folk. I hope to be able to share some of those products on the website soon. Who says we can't support and buy black? The devil is a lie. I saw it for myself this weekend. I think we may be on to something.

SoulSeed Tees

Is it possible? Read this comment from a blog called Vanilla Please, which the host claims is a blog in support of black women who want to date outside their race. Most commenters on the site seem to feel that there is nothing wrong with feeling that black men are simply not good enough for them. I beg the question: Can you identify as black, hate black men, and still love yourself?

K. In today’s world of entertainment, where we can watch re-runs of “I Love Lucy” and “Bernie Mac”… move to sound bites of Michael Jackson and James Brown…glance at images of Marilyn Monroe and Joan Crawford…you find what society calls legend. Frankly, you find what I call “The Dead”. They are not your ancestors. Yet, something about them inspires our minds and keeps us moving in the direction set forth by the world we live in and the ‘way’ this world would like you to be.

L. In today’s more competitive educational institutions, where we study classics…striving to scribe like Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and Zora Neale Hurston…yearning to philosophize like Socrates, Plato, and Augustine of Hippo… attempting to re-build human resources on the ideas of Karl Marx…wanting to solve calculated problems like Albert Einstein…there you will find “The Dead”. And somehow, our minds have been programmed to place our souls at ease at the mere mention of their names. Yet, at the idea of calling on the name and learning from the ways of our OWN ancestors, we tread slowly with fear and trembling. Why?

Hey sisters I just wanted to share an upcoming event with you. Check out www.afrikanwoman.com for more details. Quest speakers to include Queen Afua and Mama Konta. I will be there reppin for SoulSeed Tees. Come out and bring the whole family it's going to be explosive and powerful!!!

F. It is fact that most of the estimated 12 million African slaves who worked on US soil were bought and sold as property – not transported as human beings to provide a service.

G. The complex psychology of being owned, exploited, and treated as inferior to our peddlers became a core part of our identity – passed down over the generations. In many cases, because our physical use translated directly into dollar amounts on a sale, we grew to believe that our inner powers – invisible to a world of oppressors – were of little to no value. Sankofa can take you on a journey to gather what wealth resided in you before your sole (or soul) merit equaled what you could provide a slave master. It will help you in begging the question, Were you “fearfully and wonderfully made” before or after confessing Jesus Christ as your Savior?

It has been said that the original statue of liberty was a Black Egyptian woman. She was built by a French man named Bartholdi who was inspired by the monuments that he had seen when he visited Egypt(Africa). Story has it that America was not ready to see a symbol like that in 1886. If you ask me this society is still not ready. In 1886 was when the refashioned model (the one that you see today) was put up. I've been told that one could go to the museum of the city of New York at 5th Ave. and 103rd St. to see the original model. Is this true? I haven't made it to New York to check it out, but in the meantime in between time I created my own version...check it the Black Woman as Statue of Liberty T-Shirt below. There is so much that is purposely not revealed to us about our story, but depending on other cultures to tell you the truth about your story is preposterous to me. I saw on CNN not too long ago that the forces that be are even trying to take away the little African American studies that are offered at colleges. I don't know about you, but things like this make me ask questions. Like why?

Dr. Gabrielle Jamela Hosein breaks down the need for a feminist revolution! Please watch the video at http://feminismisforeverybody.wordpress.com/ and leave a comment.


Quote from her speech: "A majority of both women and men lose from how the world is organized but women are hit hardest because of their sex. That's why the heart of this movement is mobilizing girls and women to individually and collectively take action to transform gender injustice. Yet feminists struggle seek a better world for boys and men too, a world less violent, a world where a worker could buy even a small hoe, a world safer for your child and sister, a world where there are fewer guns, less killings, where people are equal, where we take better care of the earth and one another, where we can be who we are, excel in school, make informed choices, and get respect...Women and men are not much different. We both want to be loved, listened to, treated like a human being, helped...This is why feminism is for everybody."

One of my late and dearest Nana’s, Garnette Lawson, once said, Try livin’ out the better part of 87 years dealin’ with colored church folks, and then ask me again why I’m tired. Today, I am hearing her loud and clear (and chuckling, of course).

But, for the fear I see in the eyes of my Christian sisters when I speak of what I do, I feel compelled to write something to help lead us all to an understanding of why the term Sankofa means much to the spirit of African American people.

A. Sankofa is a word derived from the West African Culture, which means “go back and take”. It implores us to see that it is never too late to go back to the past to reclaim something lost or forgotten. It’s broad and can cover a multitude of forgotten issues, items, money, stories, proverbs and medicine for the conscious mind that heals the soul and spirit.

Are you a Blog Talk Radio Listener? What show do you listen to and what's the topic.

Here are my Blog Talk Radio Shows, and I hope you visit the site please check them out. They are great powerful shows for the Goddess:

The Blackwombniverse
The Remix With Ms. Blue
The Order of Ma'at
Rev. Majadi Baruti

and on YouTube
The Goddess Network ( This Sistar is powerful and will rock you to your Core with all her Goddess Knowledge)

Ashe Sistar's and Peaceful Listening ******

How do you connect with the Goddess in you daliy life and goings on? Are you in worship with an Afrikan Deity/ Goddess?

http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com/

Less than a week after the House passed the historic health care reform bill, there has been mixed reaction from women’s groups and feminists on the impact of this bill on the reproductive rights of women.

Despite the fact that the health care bill will give about 31 million uninsured Americans access to health care, “The final health-care reform bill represents a huge loss for the pro-choice movement,” writes Dana Goldstein at The Daily Beast.

She explains that:

…the bill was passed at the expense of poor women’s reproductive rights. Middle-class and rich women—the wives, daughters, and mistresses of politicians—can always travel to get an abortion or pay out of pocket if they have to. Poor women cannot, and as 60 percent of American women who seek abortion already have kids they struggle to care for, it is children alive today who will suffer.

Today marks the 94th anniversary of Marcus Mosiah Garvey’s arrival in the United States. Born in Jamaica, Garvey was a journalist, publisher, Black Nationalist, and Pan-Africanist. In his travels to various countries around the world he was struck by the fact that people of Afrikan descent were always living in the poorest conditions. Booker T. Washington’s book Up from Slavery, which describes Washington’s idea and plan for Black economic independence, inspired Garvey to create the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) and nationalist organization that is still in operation today.

I'm on the phone with this guy I used to date right now and we separted almost a year ago because I couldn't be devoted to him. We saw the relationship wasn't going anywhere. Anyway, I'm married now and with a baby on the way and he contacts me out of the blue (which i think is a test from GOD) and ask me to come see him. I could tell he was thinking sexual things. I told him I was pregnant AND married and he still wants to see me. I explained to him that it would be cool to kick it but I know he's going to flirt. He's still on the phone right now as I'm typing and all i hear is blah blah blah because he's talking about how he wants a girl from another country. Which isn't the first time I heard this from a brotha. This is like the 8th guy who told me he's giving up on black women. It's frustrating and I'm almost in tears because we are BEAUTIFUL and I'm looking at the women on this site and my friends and all I see is inspiration.

Yesterday was my husband's grandfather's/father's birthday. I felt moved to pour libation in honor of him. I didn't know how to do it, but I did what I felt. I know it probably wasn't the proper way, so I am interested in learning how to do it properly. I was so moved once I came back inside because of the decision to pour libation, and also by the fact that it was the first thing that I have done that connected me to my culture and that I did on my own free will in connection with the Creator and Ancestors. I also included my husband and children of course and that is a big step because I know I just started a fight. I say that because it will soon get back to my Christian family that this was done. My husband said that for the first time since his grandfather's death he felt like he was present. That meant a lot. I am glad that I have been able to find the strength the make such a big step, but I want to do it correctly. Thanks in advance for any advice.

I am new here although I have been lurking off and on for sometime. I am going through a major transition in my life.

I am not sure what I believe spiritually right now. As of late, it is easier for me to tell you what I am still unsure of or currently working through and where I have come from. I live in the Bible belt and was raised in the C.M.E. church. I was never given the freedom to make my own decisions as to my spiritual path, which is why at 32 my journey is beginning/continuing with much fervor and excitement. I practiced Yoruba/Ifa briefly but gave it up again when I returned to my parents house. My father would have preferred that I was a boy so I have recently been introduced the thought of the divine feminine and it is still unfamiliar and foreign. All that to say that I am here to learn, to take notes, to continue my journey of evolution. I look forward to growing with you all.

I’ve recently finished reading A Taste of Power, an autobiography of ex-Black Panther Elaine Brown. It was truly a fantastic journey; I loved traveling with her as she recounted her days as a youth in North Philadelphia (not too far from where my own family lived) who desired to use her education, light skin, and “good hair” to assimilate into whiteness, her days of “Becoming Black” (one of the chapters in her book) when she finally understood her own oppression and was able to connect that to the oppression of her people, and her rise to power in the Black Panther Power, the vanguard of Black Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.

See and hear what spiritual Jamaicans have to say about how this practice is linked to the slave trade, abuse of Christianity, capitalism and white western illusion. To see a documentary worth watching...click below and click on 'see film'.

http://www.documentary-film.net/search/video-listings.php?e=80

Bless,
InnaRae

Peace and Blessings All,

Good/Evil; Right/Wrong; God/The Devil....

Before the beging, before the mix of colours, 'whites' were predominately left brain thinkers, linear thinkers. The segregaters & the separaters. The writers of the bible who say "we should be no part of the world", that there is an elite group in which we can contain ourselves. Also 'men' are dominately left brain thinkers. Men who see no connection with the female womb & the heavens.Men who believe their power (physical strength) can over power all. Left brain thinkers who believe that one is better than another...

Something to think about...

Comment | Copy This

I am Hatshepsut(pronounced Hatchepsut)and I ruled as King during the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt(Africa). During my time it was not uncommon for women to have a high status in our society. However it was not all that common for a woman to rule as King. There were other Queens before me that ruled in their own name such as Khentkaues, Sobeknefru, etc. However, my reign lasted successfully about 22 years(the longest reign of any woman of Ancient Egypt)and brought a lot of prosperity and peace to Egypt(Africa). My name Hatshepsut means "foremost of noble ladies" and it is very befetting of me. Being that my father was King Thutmose I and my mother was Queen Ahmose, I was born royal. When my father Thutmose I died his son(Thutmose II, my husband to whom I was the Great Royal wife) became Pharoah. Thutmose II died shortly after his Kingship leaving Thumose III heir to the throne. However, he was too young to serve as King. So, I became Regent which simply meant that I acted on his behalf. I acted as regent for some time and then I made a very bold move. I declared myself King making me the 5th Pharoah of the 18th dynasty.

Hey people, this is your media amasser Helese for Brown Eyez Magazine bringing you some shocking information about Haiti, one of the many African Nations (what I mean by that is inhabited by native peoples of African descent) that has been raped by this country and Canada and France alike (Oh, Canada?! Yes, Canada). It pays to know the truth, not just HIStory. It may be Haiti today, but it could be Brooklyn tomorrow.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14726- A Giant Step for Mankind Made in Haiti-The Bwa Kay Iman Uprising Against Slavery
During a 2003 interview offered to the author of this article, esteemed American physician and author Paul Farmer commented that, more certainly so than for the 1969 moon landing, he considers the Haitian Revolution to be “a giant step for mankind”.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13280- What is Canada Doing in Haiti?

Peace and Blessing to all,

I’ve been getting some feedback about how I’ve chosen to represent myself over here and the message that I may be trying to get across. I recognize that this is a sisterhood, with that in mind I think it’s fitting for me to explain to a degree my identity, who I am, and my purpose. Became Become Becoming is representative of RasTafarI that became for INI to become the manifestation that is most becoming of us. I can overstand sisters how this statement may seem invasive, however, its said wherever there is understanding, all is forgiven. (Sanskrit proverb)).

Okay so I get on the web and the first thing I see is this story about the "Lil Monkey" dolls. It made me shake my head and laugh because the powers that be have tried to reduce us down to animals for so long that this did not surprise me. The deep thing about it is europeans have a history for being uncivil, treacherous and barbaric...but we are animals? Some of us do act like animals because we have picked up some bad habits from this society. A wise man once said, "just because someone calls you an ass does not mean you will grow a tail and long ears" and because I find that to be true I don't let stuff like this upset me. However, I am glad that we raised a little cain. Besides it's not what others think of us it's what we think of ourselves. I hear that the doll has been pulled from shelves because of the people that raised hell, but sometimes I don't understand my people. We are quick to point out racism and disrespect when it comes from a person of another color, but we have deaf ears when it comes from our own. The same way we raised hell about this doll we should raise hell about stations like B.E.T.

How do you shed light on the darkness of ignorance if no one is listening?

new post at dustdawta.wordpress.com
follow me twitter.com/dustdawta

So hermanas..I am so glad to be backup and about...kind of. Recently I had major surgery...I had a hysterectomy. For those unfamiliar with the process it is the removal of your uterus. Graphic..Eh...but I'm proud and I embrace my condition. So many women lament the loss of this. NO, I embrace it. It is not "a bitter pill to swallow" as actress, Fran Dresher said on Oprah not too long ago. I knew I could not have children from an early age and so rather than sit on my ass and lament this fact I did something about it. I adopted. It was an incredible endeavored and it was just as emotional as giving birth-it took 2 years. My son's have been a blessing even if their actions have put us through hell. It has been the journey that each individual, from the youngest to the extend family of tias and tios (aunts and uncles) had to take in our family. We are all better people for the hardships that we have traversed.

"Respect means listening until everyone has been heard and understood, only then is there a possibility of "Balance and Harmony" the goal of Indian Spirituality." - Dave Chief, Grandfather of Red Dog

Lately I've been doing a lot of contemplation on the subject/state of Blackness. It has taken on so many different forms over the course of my life. It has been wielded against me as a weapon ("You're not Black enough, you're not a real Black person."), treated as something to be ashamed of, (stereotypes of Black folks as lazy and stupid), or as a very exclusive club you needed to have the right reading list and attire to belong to. I've watched people carry it as a weight, as if the struggle was our truth. What I realize now is, the struggle was never our truth, that was something other forces threw at us to try and break us down. Our truth has always been the joy, creativity, and love we birthed in spite of our struggle. Our truth is making a way out of no way, wearing a smile when those around us might say there's not a damn thing to smile about. We find beauty in the little things.
My own understanding, which I've struggled to hold onto as I sift through the din of voices and images telling me what I'm supposed to think about, is this:

...I enjoy confirming the mysteries of womanhood and wisdom that run through me. Thought to share today's bit. The picture is "Madonna". The wisdom quote, below:

The true Indian sets no price upon either his property or his labor. His generosity is limited only by his strength and ability. He regards it as an honor to be selected for a difficult or dangerous service, and would think it shameful to ask for any reward, saying rather: "Let the person I serve express thanks according to his own bringing up and his sense of honor." - Charles Alexander Eastman, Santee Lakota (Sioux)