"I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing" - James Brown

Good morning peeps!!Welcome to day four of KWANZAA! Today's principle is UJAAMA = Collective Economics! In December 1966 when Dr. Maulana Karenga created the concept of Kwanzaa, there was a lot of movement towards self-empowerment. The Black Panther Party demonstrated this idea in Oakland, California by starting "feeding programs" for the people. They encouraged  "self-sufficiency"; taking care of each other and community ownership. Dr. Karenga used Swahili words to derive the Seven Principles. Swahili is a fusion of African Bantu language with Arabic, creating a Creole derivative. Ujaama was selected to represent Collective Economics: "to build, maintain, and support our own stores, establishments and businesses". The late, great James Brown personified this principle by having his own self-contained band; employing many stellar musicians, and establishing a dress code. He also purchased his own radio stations (three), as well as his own production company. James Brown is one of a few Black artists who knew the importance of Ujaama. Have a blessed day four of Kwanzaa and support as many Black owned businesses as you can.

"Chain Gang" - Sam Cooke

Good morning peeps!! Hope you are having a blessed Kwanzaa! We are already on the third day of  Kwanzaa, and today's principle is UJIMA! Ujima is the principle of Collective Work and Responsibility. My penchant for attaching a popular (or obscure) song to my theme was a bit more difficult today than usual, because I couldn't really think of just the right song to personify Ujima! What is collective work and responsibility? I think it means pitching in to help one another complete a project together; or helping a friend move; having a paint party to get the job completed faster; bringing a dish to a "pot luck" dinner so the hostess won't have to do all the preparations. etc. Although the song Chain Gang is about a depressing situation, I can envision the men helping one another, in order to make each one's task a little less daunting. The song also evokes images of my ancestors working in cotton or tobacco fields, beneath a hot sun; under an overseer's watchful eyes! UJIMA! Working together in a positively helpful manner. Have you Ujima'd today?

Play List for Ujima

1. Chain Gang - Sam Cooke

2. The Work Song - Oscar Brown Junior

3. That's What Friends Are For - Dionne Warwick and Friends

4. Working In The Coal Mine - Lee Dorsey

5. With A Little Help From My Friend - The Beatles 

6. Lean On Me - Bill Withers

7. He Aint Heavy, He's My Brother - The Hollies

8. You've Got A Friend - James Taylor

9. Let's Work Together - Canned Heat

10. I Can Help - Billy Swann

11. I'll Be There - J5

12. Work To Do - Isley Brothers

13. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder

14. Come Together - The Beatles

15. We Are The World - USA for Africa

"Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves" - Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin

Good morning peeps!! Bless you on this, the second day of KWANZAA. Today's principle is KUJICHAGULIA = SELF-DETERMINATION! Don't let anyone else define who you are or what you should believe. Just determine to be the best you you can be!

"Unity" - Queen Latifah

Good afternoon peeps!! Hope your KWANZAA began with you being well and satiated from your Christmas feasts! As we near the end of 2009, I reflect back to the beginning of The New Millineum, as we anticipated the dreaded Y2K! Boy what an anxious time that was! Threats of not being able to access our automated funds; computers crashing en mass, microwaves and VCR's being time confused (remember VCR's?) and so on. Prince's 1999 was wailing on radios across the nation... We thought the world might end then and there! Now, we are a decade into The New Millineum (actually, it's nine years in because we don't count 2000 as the first year of the new, but the last year of the old); remember, according to a game on Facebook, I was Einstein in a pass life! Sorry peeps, my mind is out of control like that at times!

Since this is the first day of KWANZAA and the first of the Seven Principles is UMOJA = UNITY, I hope to live up to that principle better than ever next year. I don't exactly know how or what I am going to change, in order to honor the principle, but God willing, I am going to try! I hope you will reflect; take stock, and reorder yourselves to have a better 2010 than you might have had last year! We have a new leader in The House; the economy seems to slowly but surely be improving; unemployment is not improving that much yet but perhaps better times are ahead...be optimistic! Let's accentuate what brings us together rather than what keeps us apart; let's pray for the men and women who are away from home and in daily peril, due to military engagements. Love to all whose eyes are reading this...UMOJA!

"The Christmas Song"

Good morning peeps!! As i sit here in my leopard print Snuggie, I want to wish all of my friends; both near and far, A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS, A BOUNTIFUL KWANZAA AND A SAFE, HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

Beverly

EAST COAST * WEST COAST DIVAS: "To Be Real" - Cheryl Lynn

EAST COAST * WEST COAST DIVAS: "To Be Real" - Cheryl Lynn

"To Be Real" - Cheryl Lynn

Good Morning Peeps!! Folks, so called "Reality Television" has run amok! Yeah, I know...the cynical among you are probably saying: "who gives a flying fig...I don't watch Reality TV!" Well I confess to watching some of this escapist drivel, so I can smugly think, "these people need help and I don't...nah-na-nah-nah-na!" But seriously, some of you might think thank that MTV ushered in the genre with the premiere of "The Real World" over eleven or more years ago, right? Not so...One advantage to being an O.G. like myself, is that I have a wealth of trivial memories stored in my cranial area! I contend that the reality genre started many years ago, with a TV show called, "This Is Your Life" hosted by Ralph Edwards. The premise of the show was that the producers would have some well known person on stage receiving accolades about their careers or accomplishments, as the host showed highlights of said person's life. The subject would then be further embarrassed by someone from their past revealing something personal, like their first grade teacher or some girlfriend or boyfriend from their ordinary days. As a young viewer, I was always amazed that so-called celebrities had real lives like me!

However, I've digressed from my premise...reality gone amok! I think it started in the early 1970's, when a filmmaker thought it would be a good idea to produce a documentary about an upper middle class family from Santa Barbara California; purpose being...? Perhaps, to show the world that "Leave It To Beaver, Father Knows Best, Ozzie and Harriet" type families are the American Ideal? Well, a family called the Louds were chosen for this project and agreed to having cameras chronical their lives, to be broadcast on television. The family consisted of the parents and five children; one of whom was a gay male. The show aired over a period of weeks, and cameras were allowed to film their every move. Unbeknownst to the producers, was that the marriage wasn't quite ideal afterall! Turns out the father was having an affair and the wife was filing for a divorce! During the filming of the show, the wife actually threw the husband out! The other drama that was unfolding was the "coming out of the closet" of the son! Although the family knew, the world at that time, was not as accepting of that "lifestyle" then, as it supposedly is now. This family literally "imploded" right before the public's eyes via national television.

By the end of the series, the so called "All American Family" was making headlines on all the news magazines and newspapers, for personifying everything that is wrong with American families! How ironic considering the original premise! Fast forward to today...Reality shows running amok! Fighting, fornicating (yeah, I said it), women jockying for position for some rock star, r and b star, rap star, bachelor, millionaire, etc. etc., and being willing to show their asses for all the world to see! Black women; White women, Asian women...acting a fool! The Omarosa's; The New Yorks, The Snooks...all looking for their fifteen minutes! The Bad Girls, who drink and fight, fight and drink...all for what? Why to parlay it into some momentary affair with fame of course! Men punching women out a la "guido" style, on The Jersey Shore no less! Women spitting on each other to get at...Flava Flave??? It goes on and on and on. I fear that the next reality craze might involve someone taking someone else's life before live cameras. Oh, that already happened? What was it called again...?