Category Archives: Education

07Sep/21

Magical Curation

Culture, Education, News, ,

I have come to know that magic, energy, and people never die and always have a purpose. Schools have the power to curate all three if done with great intention. Yet, when our young people share what their purpose is, all too often their energy and magic (or passion) are destroyed or not nurtured. It can look like a child who doodles in the corner of their work or draws on the walls in your home, a child who sings constantly and memorizes many songs with ease or just talks a lot. These are gifts, passions, and, dare, I say magic. But how is this expanded and nurtured?

In this new reality, any energy that is poured in can be seen almost immediately. Young people have access to and connection to more ways to develop, expand, and share their gifts. Find ways to cultivate this as often as you can as deeply as you can. For the child that draws on walls, find some chalkboard paint and let them make a different image daily. For the child who sings constantly, ask them to record their songs and make jingles. For the child who talks a lot, allow them to conduct interviews with people and share the knowledge of what they learn. Find creative ways to encourage the flourish. Children will bloom where they are planted, but they do need life energy breathed into their magic, their passion, and their purpose.

Photo by Iiona Virgin

07Jun/21

The Childhood Challenge

Culture, Education, News, ,

In the Age of the Challenge, our children deserve to be victorious.

Every day there is a new challenge popping up on the internet via social media and our children are rising to engage in them. I see melanated youth engaged in TikTok dances, making slime on YouTube, pranking one another. 

Let’s observe these phenomena objectively. Children who have access to social media observe an image or video and the defined challenge associated with it. They proceed to record themselves engaged in the challenge for others to see and the cycle continues. Obviously, this phenomenon is not exclusive to the melanated child, but I aim to shed light on the possible effects and propose a new challenge. The desired outcome is fun and, sometimes to go viral, gain more followers, etc. 

Our children are ancestors returned and although they are not the only ones on these challenges, I wonder what they are winning if they rise to every challenge that is brought about through social media. As ancestors returned, they are here to do something, to teach someone, to lead, build, and grow in service of and in dedication to the collective. As engaged as I see young people with social media, I also talk to many parents who don’t know what their children are connected to… beyond social media, video games, etc. These outside influences are not encouraging our children to tap in, to be in tune with their individual purpose, the collective values and morals, and goals in service of liberation. 

I feel another challenge coming forward, for the adults rather than the children. I propose a #childhoodchallenge; a challenge to see what we have learned from a child today. Intentionally engaging with our children will affirm them in many ways, but it will also teach us as adults. All too often when engaging with children, I feel like I may be coming from an entirely different world. Metaphysically this is true, but our thread is common and if I am humbled to learn, listen, and engage in their world(s), I can make deep and meaningful connections with the children in my life.

07Mar/21

The Texture of Education

Culture, Education, Lifestyle, News, , ,

One of the most effective hustles being run on people around the globe is to make “white” culture the standard of validation. It’s systemic, obviously, but it’s also insidious. As it progresses, it creeps deeper, quietly and subtly. Participating in American culture is a poison that makes you think that getting more poison is the cure. It’s a game that you lose by the very act of playing, like arguing with a fool. You can’t beat the beast at being the beast…and even if you can, your reward is that you’ve become the beast, but beastier.

What does freedom look like for maafa survivors? Barack Obama, right? Nah. His administration was white imperialism in blackface. It was under his watch that Ghadafi was killed and Libya destroyed. That was a major loss for African people globally. It happened because of what he was doing with the dinar, the United States of Africa, an African central bank, African satellites, etc. He was getting his people out of their adversaries’ traps.

For us to truly be a free people, it requires a separation from “America.” It requires us to step away from that identification and really comprehend who we are in the world. We will have to be reflective and creative. I don’t like any of the familiar names we go by: black, negro, colored, nigga, African American, etc. I didn’t want to just say African because that’s a continent, not a people, and I don’t have a particular culture I can claim. Plus we got melanin ancestors who were here before Europeans arrived. I tried to switch it up to American African, but nah. I’m pan-African, but that’s political science, not a cultural identity.

We are the people who lost familial, national, and historical affiliations. We’ve had to find something more intrinsic to connect on. We talk about a “Black card” in acknowledgment that we do have a shared cultural reality, though loosely defined. A clear and organized unity amongst us is the single most threatening thing to America — at least that was FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s professional opinion. The recurring response to a melanin unifier is to destroy and/or discredit, whether it’s a person or a group. The fact that it causes the height of their fear response should be assessed thoroughly and used as strategic information. 

Why does Black unity threaten the American corporation on such a high level? The basic European economic model is this: take away what you have, repackage it, then sell it back to you. We had community, happiness, spirituality, health, love; now all of those things are monthly bills. Community has been parceled out as child care, education, elder care, restaurants, medical care, therapy, etc. Happiness has been relegated to material accumulation and over-consumption. And the government is a hustle to get money off of all that. The entire system is set up to capitalize on pain and feelings of separation. If we heal our pain and unite, that is, by default, the complete collapse of their system. That’s why it evokes in them hostility with extreme prejudice.

Their cultural psychological diseases provoke them to toss relentlessly from one fear to another. Rather than courage, they have historically turned to anger and violence to process fear. Because they see everything through the lens of fear, then all their actions are to be seen rightly as attacks. Therefore, even the societies they create attack the very people in them. As long as you’re inside the belly of the beast, it’s feeding on you, no matter what you do. An abusive relationship is still abusive on the “good” days.

The obvious question is: “where we gonna go?”

We don’t necessarily know where our ancestral homes were before the maafa. I’ve suggested that the only meaningful reparations the US could offer maafa survivors is to cede at least three southern states for us to self-govern, along with a financial contribution. Maybe there’s an African or Caribbean country that is willing to let us get a few hundred thousand acres to set up our new country.

Really though, it’s not about leaving America physically. The entire earth is our domain! The issue is that when we wake up in the morning, our thoughts start to participate with and empower the poisoners. It’s not that we need to “get out of America,” it’s that we need to get America out of us! We need to move to a different identity and worldview. The solution, I see, is to identify our bodies as the land that we are from, have loyalty to, and dominion over. From this, we have the authority to insist our culture be observed on our land. A nation can identify regions of land as their base, and name it, with governing practices to accompany. But without people to call it a country, the earth is just earthing. If we take off the cultural practices and names from ourselves, then what are we? Just some spirits spiriting around in earthships. We, “Black Americans,” as a group, are composed of many different people, from every continent. Therefore as a group, we are physically related to the whole earth. 

I call “Black Americans” Earthiopians, because of the above explanations, and the extreme spiritual heights we’ve had to reach to avoid being destroyed. We can call it whatever we want; the important thing is for those of us who value self-determination and wholistic self-reliance, to have a clear identity and worldview, that is meaningful and inclusive to all of us. We can then retrieve our incredible resources, powers, and capacities from being funneled into an adversarial system, and reroute them to our homeland (ourselves). Then we’ll easily recognize how wealthy and capable Earthiopia already is. Your nation is not where your body lives, but where your heart lives. When we move like this as a group, then it is much easier to get those three states of land for our base, or just buy a few islands!

Photo by Peter Idowu

07Mar/21

The Chaos Theory of Education

Culture, Education, News, ,

The Butterfly Effect Theory states, “if you change one thing you change everything”. It is connected to TheChaos Theory and states, as an example, if a butterfly flaps its wings in New Mexico at exactly the right time it can cause a hurricane in China. It could take a long time for the hurricane to come, but the cause could be traced to the butterfly who flapped its wings at the exact right time and location. Suffice it to say that there is always an impact on the things that we do, and we may never fully see the long-term impacts of our actions. 

In 2001, September 11 happened and many people rushed to the Pentagon and to the World Trade Center to support with efforts to find those who were trapped. Ten years later I saw similar advertisements for those men and women who were experiencing suicidal thoughts, cancers in their throats and lungs, and some had even died due to the exposure to chemicals while at Ground Zero. 

How much more will our children be impacted by the forced isolation, mask-wearing, and these educational shifts? Children are currently missing out on valuable learning, as not just education is taught at schools. Sharing and compassion, lifelong friendships, as well as morals and values are often crystallized. Our children are being deprived and while there may not be lawsuits twenty years from now, society will be forever impacted by the shift in reality that children are experiencing. If you are able to facilitate safe and consistent ways for the children in your life to continue interacting with one another, it could be the shift needed to assuage the inevitable chaos that is forming in the future.

Furthermore, check on the educators you know and ensure that they are caring for self. How do educators transmute that love of being around the youth through a screen? The electronic disconnect is causing some educators to stress out, sometimes even at the expense of their own families and self wellness. The chaos that educators are experiencing with trying to create “virtual classrooms” that hold space for all that would go on in the physical classroom is having lasting impacts. The pressure of being able to perform in this virtual reality and still maintain the joy that came from being in person has its costs.

The most beautiful thing about chaos theory is that out of chaos must come order, we can rebuild and build the educational world that we desire. My warning is to hunker down for the storm that is to come, keep your loved ones close and stay learning with your children and be connected to the educators in your life. Don’t allow them to be lost in the chaos of this long-term isolation and the potentially harmful educational shifts. 

Photo by Suad Kamardeen

03May/20
Angel Kaba

Angel Kaba is Teaching How She Made $1k in 4 Days

Creative, Culture, Education, Finance

Angel Kaba is a dancer, choreographer, artistic director, movement coach, content producer, and digital marketer. Pre-COVID-19 Quarantine in New York City, she was a regular teacher at Alvin Ailey and Steps on Broadway and held regular workshops and rehearsals for multiple gigs. Within 24 hours, her whole life changed. Her schedule was wiped and she had to figure out how to survive and generate income. Taking all of her skills into account, she earned over $1000 in 4 days from teaching her classes online and is now hosting a course to teach you how you can teach online too.

Photo by Wheaton Simis

Taji Mag (TM): What was your teaching schedule like before the pandemic “quarantined” us into not gathering in groups?

Angel Kaba (AK): I was teaching 4 times a week in different studios in Manhattan and the Bronx. On top of my regular schedule, I had special Workshops, rehearsals, and other gigs like music videos and performances for festivals.

TM: How were you affected by the quarantine?

AK: OMG, in 24hours I felt like my life changed as if in a movie, but not for the good. Studios started to close one after another. I was in shock. I had no idea what to do. I am an immigrant here, I have an artistic visa for dance. Legally I can’t do anything other than dance. I thought, “How will I be able to make money and survive?”

TM: What did you do to overcome this hit to your income?

AK: After the shock, I was like, ok, let’s find a solution! I remembered Ashani Mfuko, the money maker of the dance industry who has been speaking about “passive incomes” for years. I researched to find the best way to teach online classes – which platform to use, the cost – then I put a 100% online strategy into place. In 4 days I made $1200!

TM: What are some items people can look forward to when taking your course?

AK: I brought my strength as a teacher and made my knowledge and expertise available for my students during this challenging time. 

To take Angel’s course, contact her via email at afrodancenewyork[@]gmail.com. Keep with with all of her endeavors on Instagram!

07Oct/19
black excellence hyperbole

Black Excellence is Not Hyperbole

Education, Lifestyle, News, , , ,

“If our education is not about gaining real power, we are being miseducated and mislead and we will die ‘educated’ and misled.” – Amos Wilson, 1993.

You may remember from grade school that hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim that is not to be taken literally. A couple of examples are “this bag weighs a ton” or “her smile was a mile wide”. These exaggerations are sometimes used in educational spheres in this country where we talk about the ‘achievement gap’ and say things like “children of color are able to excel”, and “there is no reason these children [Black children] can’t do exactly what their white counterparts can”. These statements insinuate that Black children are striving to reach a status or level that white children hold. It is oxymoronic to insinuate that it is the goal of Black children to reach a status of white children because Black Excellence is not hyperbole; it is fact.

If Black Excellence is not hyperbole, why doesn’t society acknowledge our children being as excellent as they are?

black excellence hyperbole

Blake Barrett drumming at his Graduation from Little Sun People | Photo by NayMarie

The Gesell Early Screener (GES) is a test which measures the typical development cycles of children from birth/infancy through their childhood. It shows if a child is at risk for learning or developmental delays. These tests overwhelmingly show that children of the African Diaspora are far more advanced than their European counterparts. Studies found that in early development, Black children were sitting up, making eye contact with speakers, crawling, and attempting to engage with their surroundings earlier than their white counterparts. The developmental cycle of an infant is very quick, which is why we know the things that an infant should be able to do by a certain number of months until they reach about two and a half years old. When speaking on his book, Awakening the Natural Genius of Black Children, Dr. Amos Wilson states, “forgetting our history is like a child forgetting they learned how to walk or talk.” We must teach our children their history, the true history, so that they know how to walk and talk as the African children – the natural geniuses, the Exceptional Light Beings – that they are!

If Black Excellence is not hyperbole, why do we find that many of our Melanated boys are outperformed in schools in contrast to their white counterparts?

Last year, The New Teacher Project (TNTP) released a 68 page study, entitled The Opportunity Myth, that claimed to explain in detail with statistics to prove “what students can show us about how school is letting them down – and how to fix it”. But in 1997, Michael Porter was already speaking about The Opportunity Myth in his book, Kill Them Before They Grow: Misdiagnosis of African American Boys in American Classrooms. His book details the overdiagnosis of Black Boys with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) which, under the guise of supporting the child, is actually a crippling agent in the development of the child’s ability to think critically. Brother Michael reminds us in his text that “Oppressed people become equal with their oppressors when they are no longer oppressed” and reminds us that in order to overcome our oppression we will have to develop a definition for education that meets “our reality and our real needs.’’

If Black Excellence is not hyperbole, how do we shift the low expectations that are held for Black children in and out of the classroom?

black excellence hyperbole

Photo by NayMarie for Little Sun People

Black Excellence is lifelong, as we are students of life. In this country, most of us begin our formal pursuit of knowledge in public American classrooms. Our great Baba, Ancestor Asa Hilliard, reminds us in SBA: The Reawakening of the African Mind, “Study is a requirement for our redemption”. We must study with ourselves and with our children outside of the classroom. Yes, we know that the African diasporic infants are able to naturally develop faster than their white counterparts. But this is Babylon, a degenerative government, a backward education. There are many evidences of society that are as backward and anti-African as they come. So we must diligently study and show ourselves improved. Baba Hilliard goes on to tell us in his text that “Africans have a long history of educational excellence” and gives a historical perspective that will shift how we view ourselves today. We must study, teach our children practical habits of study, study alone, study in groups, find joy in study, find solutions in study. We are excellent in all that we do, so we must study excellently so that we can grow in our African selves.

19Feb/18
Black Panther movie

My Reaction to the Black Panther movie aka Spoiler Alert!

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Black Panther movieThe Black Panther movie released this weekend in all of it’s Black Excellence glory. It was worth the wait and the estimated $218M it earned during its opening weekend, shattering records and telling movie studios to STFU about Black movies not busting box offices wide open. More on that and my thoughts about the deeper storyline to come (skip to below the bullet points), but first my reactions to some of the Blackest moments and lines in the film. Ryan Coogler has a way of capturing the essence of Blackness, especially with Michael B. Jordan, from Fruitvale to Creed and now with Black Panther. The writers did an excellent job at including colloquialisms and mannerisms specific to Black culture and the actors did a phenomenal job of bringing them to life.

  • I loved the irony of the newscaster calling Wakanda a “third world country” which made me ask wtf defines a third world country to begin with?
  • Okoye (Danai Gurira): “Don’t freeze when you see her.” T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman): “What are you talking about? I never freeze.” Then he freezes, LMAO. Lupita has that effect, hunny.
  • Shuri (Letitia Wright) gives T’Challa a playful middle finger while walking away and Ramonda (Angela Bassett) calls her on it without even seeing it. Black Mothering at its finest…
  • Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) tells the lily-white museum director, “Don’t worry, I’m going to take it off of your hands,” referring to the Wakanda artifact. MJB is consistently Black as hell…
  • The boat ride to the ceremony with Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) giving us a taste of #danceislife deserves mention.
  • When T’Challa walked into the water and saw his nation rooting for him. That was powerful on multiple levels. We all need to be rooting for each other like that.
  • When Zuri (Forest Whitaker) asks if anyone of royal blood wishes to challenge for the throne and Shuri raises her hand only to ask them to wrap it up because her outfit is too tight. Typical Black sibling trolling.
  • Ramonda yelling to T’Challa “SHOW HIM WHO YOU ARE!” during the challenge with  M’Baku (Winston Duke). Babbbbbbyyyy, I felt that in my bones. That needs to be a daily affirmation.
  • I loved how every ritual was ancestrally-based.
  • T’Challa telling Nakia she would make a great Queen if she wasn’t so stubborn (I almost threw my boot at the screen), for Nakia to respond that is WHY she would make a great Queen. T’Challa just wanted her to admit that she wanted to be his Queen.
  • Shuri’s consistent afrobeat playing throughout her lab. *hearts*
  • Shuri yells “WHAT ARE THOSE” to T’Challa’s traditional sandals. She then gives him his new soundproof footwear and says she calls them… wait for it… sneakers… get it? LMAO! THEN she tells him about his new suit design and he’s all my suit is fine and she says, “Functional, but old. If people are shooting at me, wait, let me put on my helmet.” She had jewel after adorable jewel. She tells him to strike the suit and he boots it across the room and she yells at him for messing up her lab, but informs him of the suit’s design and that it absorbs and then redistributes kinetic energy. She takes out her camera, for research purposes, and tells him to strike the suit again only to howl laughing when he goes flying across the room when he is blasted back by his own force.
  • Okoye said she couldn’t wait to get her wig off of her head and that it was a disgrace. Shots fired?
  • Nakia in the green dress in the Korea scene. Have mercy.
  • Black Panther movie
  • Agent Ross’s ole bitchass needed to be popped in the mouth for how he was speaking to T’Challa at the table. Find some respect.
  • Okoye pointed out that no weapons were allowed yet yielded her weapon less than 60 seconds later when the fight broke out! Black women always prepared for EVERYTHING. That jump down from the 2nd level was the first of her notable jump scenes.
  • Shuri’s excitement when the car populated in her lab. Adorbs.
  • The quick shot of Nakia driving barefoot was a great attention to detail since she lost her shoe when she used it as a weapon in the fight.
  • When their car is blasted by Klaue, Okoye flips, grabs her spear in mid-effin-air, and lands on a piece of the car. Then Nakia comes hilariously sliding in with just the seat and steering wheel.
  • Can we talk about how T’Challa could’ve ended Klaue and Killmonger wouldn’t have had his dead body as leverage if we weren’t in such a digital age? Oh ok.
  • Okoye’s disdain for taking the shot Agent Ross into Wakanda to be healed, and Shuri saying, “great, another broken white boy for us to fix, this is going to be fun.” Classics.
  • Killmonger showing his Wakanda tattoo and killing Klaue made me smile.
  • When they revealed that Young T’Chaka (Atandwa Kani) and Young Kuri (Denzel Whitaker) left baby Erik after killing his father, N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown), I was livid. Though we are ultimately responsible for our actions, we cannot ignore the roots of our issues. People keep referring to Killmonger as the villain, but, in my opinion, he killed the main villain. He’s just a brother who needs some healing and therapy to learn to deal with his past and how to properly bring about the change he wants to see for his community.
  • Shuri to Agent Ross: “Don’t scare me like that colonizer!” when he woke and started asking her where he was. According to the internets, wypipo will officially be referred to as colonizers until further notice.
  • Black Panther movie
  • Killmonger points out there are 2 billion people that look like them struggling around the world and that Wakanda had the tools to LIBERATE them all. T’Challa remarks that it is not their way to use vibranium for they are not judge, jury, and executioner for people that are not their own and Killmonger then he says “Not your own? But didn’t life start right here on this continent? So aren’t all people your people?” JEWELS JUST FALLING FROM HIS LIPS!
  • Killmonger nonchalantly to Ramonda: “Hey Auntie.” By far tied for my favorite line of the movie. He makes the challenge for the throne and Zuri says it’ll take weeks. Killmonger says I don’t need the whole nation, I just need him. That was real. I also lowkey enjoyed watching him fight T’Challa . It was like he had the power of every oppressed souled within him. His pain was relatable. Hated that it was targeted towards his own blood, but that was also real. We usually strike out to those closest to us. Him having them burn all of the ancient flowers was egotistical and short sided, but also a key part of the character.
  • When Killmonger sits on the throne, he points out that where he’s from, Black people start revolutions without the firepower and resources to fight their oppressors. More jewel dropping…
  • Okoye’s face when W’Kabi agrees with Killmonger…
  • M’Baku to Agent Ross: “You cannot talk one more word or I will feed you to my children. Just kidding, we are vegetarians.” The vegan in me howled with laughter. Plus he made him shutup initially by overpowering his voice with their chants. Then he made Agent Ross turn away during the ritual. He won 4 times (presented the preserved T’Challa) in under 4 minutes.
  • I appreciate T’Challa realizing that his father was wrong for both leaving Killmonger and for turning his back on the Africans worldwide and for calling him out on it when they meet once again in the ancestral realm.
  • Killmonger: “All that challenge shit is over with. I’m the king now.” Hood af, lol!
  • W’Kabi so quickly fighting with Killmonger made the whole theater suck their teeth. Will Focus gon say he’s still in the sunken place. I DIED! LMAO
  • Killmonger got Black Panther suited. That shit was sexy.
  • We all felt Okoye’s pain when Killmonger killed one of her fellow Dora Milaje. *sad face*
  • Black Panther movie
  • Will also brought up a good point and asked where were the other 3 tribes during this fight before M’Baku’s tribe showed up to assist the Dora Milaje against W’Kabi and his tribe?
  • When W’Kabi and his techno rhino were charging towards M’Baku but Okoye stood between them and the rhino kissed her. All powerful. Then W’Kabi asked if she, his love, would kill him, and she said, for my nation, absolutely. POWERFULLLLLL.
  • So I was highkey pissed that T’Challa took Killmonger to look at the damn sunset instead of to Shuri, but later that was put into perspective for me (read below).
  • T’Challa: Maybe we can still save you…” Killmonger: “Why? So ya’ll could just lock me up? Nah. Just bury me in the ocean with my ancestors that jumped from the ships. They knew death was better than bondage.” CHILLS. That line right there spoke volumes. VOLUMES!
  • T’Challa buying the block. Just. Yes.
  • The kids wanting to break apart Shuri’s ship to sell for parts. So real, lol. We need that community bridge building though.

Black Panther movieThere has been lots of debate about seeing a white studio production and where our dollars could have gone and even about the characters parallels to sections of society, but I personally feel like it’s all chest-inflated poppycock. 99.9% of movies that we love and hold as staples in our society are produced by white studios simply because, well, WE DON’T OWN ANY YET. Keyword, yet. So Malcolm X, Selma, Hidden Figures, Thurgood Marshall, Coming to America, and the likes that are so near and dear also fall under that umbrella, but we still went to see them in droves. Could we have collectively used that money and built a small town with our roughly 37% contribution to the $218 million? Most likely, but we already know we’re still combating centuries of conditioning and teaching ourselves to love ourselves and each other. So chill. It’s a process, and this movie is a major part of that process because representation matters. Seeing ourselves and what could be matters. Sometimes people need to see it to even know it’s possible.

Black Panther movie

Yes, this is in Africa.

The visuals and quotables definitely woke up some of the sleeping and even smacked a few people into loving themselves and reframing their thoughts on Africa. Yes, Wakanda is fake, but Africa’s beauty has never been a lie. It’s just been retold and intentionally hidden from the masses, especially Africans born in america, in attempts to continuously divide and conquer. This is touched on via Killmonger’s story. His story simultaneously parallels the american Hood King and the Revolutionary. He grew up without his parents, more specifically finding the dead body of his father. He had to learn and grow on his own which resulted in his genius-level intellect and thirst to avenge his father via combat and claim his spot on the throne. Via his research, he learned of the advancements of Wakanda and grew resentment because they had the capacity to liberate Black people globally, but never bothered to. He wanted to ‘stick it to the man,’ and rightfully so.

Black Panther movieKillmonger’s passion was in the right place, but his methods wouldn’t have fully resulted in the outcome suitable for most, mostly due to his dictator ways. T’challa had to come to learn that peace and hiding weren’t the way either. With their collective intellect, Shuri’s technological advancements, and Wakanda’s wealth and resources, they could have liberated Africans globally, but pride was a key factor in Killmonger having to die. (And also, as my bro Jashua Sa’Ra pointed out, “the movie studio couldn’t show us what it would’ve looked like if the forces joined in this already powerful Black Panther movie.” AKA the reason why the FBI killed Malcolm & Martin when their speeches started to mirror each other and they were on the verge of working together instead of fighting each other. Someone call up an independent Black production company to bring that story to life. “If Malcolm & Martin Lived to See Their 40s.”)

Leave your thoughts on the Black Panther movie in the comments. What rating do you give it?

28Oct/17
K is for Kahlo

New Children’s Book ‘K is for Kahlo’ Spells Out Excellence: Taji Mag Book Club

Art & Design, Creative, Culture, Education, , , , , , , ,

Making Art as easy as ABC’s: Literally.

Can you name 26 influential international Artists? Well, thanks to the new children’s book, K is for Kahlo by Dr. Tamara Pizzoli, we’ll all have the chance to learn.

Presenting artists from different disciplines, each is introduced within the pages of the book as a placeholder for a corresponding letter of the alphabet. Depicted in the bright color and simplicity typical of a children’s book, the illustrations done by Howell Edwards Creative are anything but typical. See for yourself. Available in hardcover and paperback from Amazon (and paperback on her website),  the book is described as ‘An artistic tour of the alphabet featuring notable artists from all around the world’. No stranger to accolades, author Dr. Pizzoli is best known for her critically acclaimed previous book, ‘The Ghanaian Goldilocks’, which received several awards. Recently released, her new book is already receiving praises, including a nod from the likes of Afropunk, which is known for lauding black excellence.

K is for Kahlo(image sourced from Afropunk)

This book is definitely going to be in quite a few of my holiday gifts this year. (Insert Oprah GIF here) You get a book. YOU get a book! EVERYBODY GETS A BOOOOOK!!!! Here’s why.

As essential as it is to teach our children the fundamentals of learning, such as the ABC’s, it is also our responsibility to inspire them. Dr. Pizzoli has dedicated herself to enriching the lives of children for years as a teacher and, now, also as an author. It is said that creativity fosters creativity and I believe this applies to life, not just art. The system in charge of educating our children outlines an overwhelmingly narrow path to success that often does not foster individuality nor artistic gifts as a mainstay. So efforts that successfully bring these elements together are worth noting. Talk about #Winning. This book puts into form the notion that we should be encouraging our children to take stock of their abilities and use them to create a life that is rich in texture and depth. It is never too early to show a young mind that it can dream in its own color.

Actually, all of her books encourage kids to live out loud. As an artist and someone who also works with children, I am so here for this! Using what we know to capture their bright-eyed attention, we can begin to mold together their emerging sense of self with their imagination. Not to mention the bonding that comes with reading to a child (cuddles. am I right?) and the fulfillment we get from knowing we are giving them wonderful tools for life. Honestly, I’ll be buying one for myself as well, just as much for myself as to share with the children I care for. You’re never too young, or too old, to be captivated and inspired by Art. Besides, you never know: you might just find out you’ve got a Baby Basquiat on your hands. You’re welcome.

Check out this book and 8 other titles from the Author here.

Social Media Links for the Author:

Instagram: @tamarapizzoli | @theenglishschoolhouse

Facebook: The English Schoolhouse

Twitter: @engschoolhouse

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06Apr/17
Black Land Matters

Duende Naturál & Black Land Matters Finds Egypt in Washington, DC

Culture, Education, Finance, Lifestyle, News, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Black Land MattersDuende Naturál & Black Land Matters Finds Egypt in Washington, DC

 “Sharpen your eyes and tune your ear so you’ll know what you see, understand what you hear.” — Listervelt Middleton

As part of Duende Naturál and Black Land Matters 2017 tours we will be returning to Washington, DC May 20 for our 2nd annual Egypt On the Potomac Field Trip with Historian, Anthony Browder.

One of the most stunning symbols we learned on our inaugural trip last year was the presence of two *Tekhenw (pronounced ‘Tek-en-nu’) which symbolizes a timeline: the Tekhen on the left stands for the past, on the right the Tekhen stands for the future, and the space in between the present.

(*Tekhenw is plural for Tekhen, also erroneously called an Obelisk and Cleopatra’s Needle)

It is very clear Browder’s keen knowledge on the design and makeup of the Nations’ Capitol bear clairvoyance to the fact the trans-generational leaders of the world aim to maintain their position as vanguards of Afrikan cryptic knowledge and history having to only acknowledge its truth to another Afrikan if he is “on the level” — which in most cases means you’re male and a 32nd degree Mason — alarminlgy a reason as to why of the many original stolen Tekhenw placed around sacred places in the world, few — if any — are in pairs.

Black Land Matters

Anthony Browner

Browder quoted Listervelt throughout the field trip as we were introduced, better put, re-initiated into the mysteries of our Ancestors as creators of geometrics, math and symbolism using the constellations to bring the heavens to earth as masterfully done by Washington, DC planner, Benjamin Banneker — a free Afrikan by the way.

 

Through Browder’s easy to digest teaching style, in a few short hours we were equipped to exercise the significant power of recalling our past through observation of the alignment of building structures and numbered streets, and connecting it to the present to chart a promising future.

Thanks to Baba Browder, our eyes have been sharpened and ears tuned as we look to counter the next wave of Transition 13.

TRANSITION 13

Whenever dealing with the topic of history — particularly the role of its effect on the Afrikan Diaspora pre- and post colonialism, Browder’s poem, our plight is best described in poem, ’Transition 13’:

We knew not
We studied
We learned all there was to know
We taught others
Then we forgot what we had learned
And then we forgot that we had forgotten
Now we are taught
(By those who where once taught by us)
Knowledge
(That we already had)
So…
We study
We learn all there is to know
We teach others
Will we forget…AGAIN?

Taking the Egypt On the Potomac Field Trip reveals this hidden truth; our forgetting we forgot and then having been taught by the very ones responsible for this collective cultural amnesia.

It got me to thinking, Browder’s poem shows at the root of it all this memory loss is the driving point behind the loss of ourselves, our communities and our land.

Although at the core of issues we face as a community defensively are at the hands of racism, socio-economic displacement, and police brutality, there are offensive methods we’ve forgotten was in use before the days of integration when we were all that we had and realized through cooperative means we took care of ourselves. We did this through community, where we invested in each other.

Recognize, we are in the Information Age… a cultural reclamation is at hand.

Our intent through Duende Naturál and Black Land Matters is to serve as the metaphoric space between the Tekhenw (the present) to bridge a self-determining future for ourselves.

We’ve implemented a tangible resolution for those in search. At a bare-bones level we’re enrolling folks interested in committing to saving up to a minimum of $5,000 each to acquire Costa Rican and domestic land projects we’ve scouted to build intentional diasporic communities through membership in our Black Land Matters Real Estate Investment Trust (BLM-REIT) through what’s called an ASCA or Accumualting Savings & Credit Association.

This will enable us to participate in the (re)building and sustainability of our communities together instead of facing the virtually tedious task of doing it alone.

In alignment with the tenants of Sankofa (to go back and fetch our history), we of Duende Naturál and Black Land Matters understand the importance of “going back” to the historical makeup of this Nations’ Capitol to see the very real Afrikan presence that sits as the cornerstone of America — hidden in plain sight! This is what makes Anthony Browder’s work indispensably   invaluable! And the reason we are returning for his Field Trip this year.

From this reclamation we are able to shift from in between the Tekhenw (the present) to the Tekhen on the right which depicts our future — for we are rebuilding that future starting on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica.

So. With our eyes sharpened and ears tuned, we can now affirm to Ances-Star Listervelt Middleton we know what we see and understand what we hear: Wherever Blackfolk Are, Black Land Matters!

If you’re in the NYC/DC area we invite you to come with us May 20th to Browder’s Egypt On the Potomac Field Trip. For details and registration:

 Cooperatively.

Black Land Matters

 NEXT STEPS

  • Those interested in these “next level” talks email us at yesland@duendenatural.com
  • Come with us to Costa Rica August 12-20, 2017: Join our annual August Family Caribbean Excursion on the Caribbean Coast and get a taste of ‘Pura Vida’ or ‘the Pure Life’! For details, goto: http://www.duendenatural.com/tour/

 ADDITIONAL SUPPORTIVE RESOURCES:

Books

  • Egypt On the Potomac, by Anthony Browder
  • Finding Karakhamun – The Collaborative Rediscovery of a Lost Tomb, by Anthony Browder
  • Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization (Exploding the Myths), by Anthony Browder
  • Afrikan Burial Ground – Urban Unrest – Remnants of Slavery in New York, by M’Bwebe Ishangi (eBook and Digital Print)

Articles

  • Sankofa Kemetamorphosis: Ancestral Calling…

http://daghettotymz.com/current/kemetamorphosis/kemetamorphosis.html

  • The Significance of Historical Consciousness

http://daghettotymz.com/current/significance/significance.html

  • The Unapologetic Quest to G.E.N.T.R.I.F.Y.: Ethnic Cleansing Through Economics

http://daghettotymz.com/current/gentrify/gentrify.html

  • KMT vs NYC & DC

http://daghettotymz.com/current/kmtny/kmtny.html

  • Her Em Akhet vs Sphinx

http://daghettotymz.com/current/heremakhetsphinx/heremakhetsphinx.html

Video

  • The Classified Origin of D.C.

When speaking of the origin of Washington, D.C., the founding “fathers” of this country showed their enormous affinity toward ancient Kemet. Master Historian, Anthony Browder reveals this Afrikan influence with his field trips of D.C. This Video Article both honorz and serves as a complimentary visual of his works.
> Watch here: http://duendenatural.com/may2017.html#classifieddcvid

  • ‘The Future of Our Past – Using Cooperatives to Survive and Compete in the Next Twenty Years’. Take a look at the core issues stemming from Emancipation as well as Integration that’s led to the rise and fall of our collective loss of landeconomics and opportunity and how resuscitating the use of the Cooperatives can be a key factor in the next two decades.
    > Watch here: http://duendenatural.com/media.html#mediavideo-1
  • Black Land Matters featured on the Laura Flanders show

Black Land Matters’ co-founder, Mark Scott joined Weeksville Heritage Center’s Tia Powell Harris on the Laura Flanders show on the historic relevance of using cooperatives as a tangible solution to addressing the disparities of POADUS’ (People of African Descent in the Untied States) socio-economic opportunities.
> Watch here: http://duendenatural.com/media.html#mediavideo-2

 ———

M’Bwebe Ishangi

Where Eco & Culture Meet.
DCEG, LLC
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Black Land Matters
Wherever Black folk are, Black Land Matters!
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18Feb/17
vulva

“Vulva what… Vulva who?” A Lesson on the Yoni

Education, Health & Fitness, News, , , , ,

The vulva… Is this actually the name of a human body part, or a European car???

vulvaMany people, both women and men, are clueless to what a vulva actually is and how nature has especially packaged a woman’s sexual organ/region in its entirety. For the sake of the evolution of humanity, I, Zahabu King, your Womb Sistar, will loving lift the darkened cloak that veils the light of our Goddess goodies! To get started, and for technical reasons the following list ensues…

The vulva consists of:
outer labia
inner labia
clitoris
clitoral hood
urethra opening
vagina opening

vulva

Before I give definition to these medical/traditional friendly terms used for our lovely lady parts below, allow me to indulge you with some enchanting poetic allegory (also found in the “What’s in a name” chapter in my first book: EROTICA for Dummies!) once commonly known in the East to gracefully glorify and describe the vulva/vagina.

Descriptive words like:
yoni
peach
honey pot
open melon
pleasure palace
valley of joy
suga walls
secret garden
lotus flower
jungle of love

And just for the fun of it, and startling contrast of it, I’ll throw in the commonly sexy, yet often times derogatory Western terms, used to describe the female genitalia.

Descriptive words like: pussy, cunt, coochie, punany, pumpum, venus fly trap, poontang, fuck hole, snatch, and hair pie, etc… you get the point… LOL!

Now that we’ve got that out of the way… giggles 🙂 Let’s get back to the vulva at hand… Oops… I mean… matter at hand!

Get open minded and ready yourself to absorb this knowledge and eclectic defining of our vulvas. Now, words can only explain but so much, so here’s where I have to insist that you take a deep breath, and in the comforting privacy of your own home, grab a hand held mirror, lay on your back propping your pretty lil’ head atop your soft, plush pillows and spread those lovely legs of yours eagle style… meaning, spread em’ wide! It’s time to free yourself from fear and shame and take a good long look at what you’ve been blessed with. C’mon & shine that over-due light of reverence on your sexual anatomy with self-love, respect, and admiration!

There you will find:

1) Outer labia – Two sensitive (even sexually sensitive) folds of skin and fatty tissue that are bare for adolescent girls, and once puberty is reached, covered with pubic hair for young to older women. These are sometimes referred to as “love shields”, protect and conceal the rest of the vulva that resides inside of the outer labia. It is common for the outer labia to be described as “lips”. It is also normal that these “lips” vary in size. From large or small, short or long, thick or thin, they differ as well in variations based on the amount of melanin a woman has. Women with melanin tend to have labia that range in many unique shades of brown or black. The outer labia are often sexually sensitive, and will swell during times of arousal via oral sex as well as sexual intercourse, yet some women are not turned on from their outer labia. Remember, this is all humanly normal, and is a part of what makes each woman gloriously unique.

2) Inner labia – Also known as “love wings”! These two folds of skin, go from the clitoral hood to below the vaginal opening. Again, the inner labia can range in color from pink, brown or black, which is all contingent on a woman’s ethnicity. Usually very sensitive, and prone to swelling when sexually excited, some women reach a point where their inner labia will stick out past the outer labia, revealing how beautifully wrinkled or smooth her love wings are. As mentioned above, the inner labia extends down past the vaginal opening, so having your inner labia aroused all the way down past the vaginal opening thru oral stimulation or sexual penetration can be immensely pleasurable and, in some women, even orgasmic.

3) Clitoris – Enough can’t be said about this miraculous and delectable part of the female anatomy! So much so, I will later dedicate a mini chapter based solely on the clitoris! But for now ladies, here is a succinct yet teasing synopsis. Nestled beneath the point where the inner labia meet, forms a cushy, insanely sensitive hood over the clitoris. Glans, also known as the head of the clitoris, may appear to be the size of a tiny pea. Or, in some women, the clitoris can be as juicy and plump as finger tips. All perfectly normal and all sexually healthy. Variety, is truly the spice of life! The larger than life sexual sensations and breath taking pleasures derived from clitoral stimulation, whether it’s by way of masturbation (self-pleasuring), or from the tongue teasing/oral exhilaration a.k.a cunnilingus. Direct contact to the clit feels so good it’s almost in-explainable or indirect contact by teasing around the clitoris when a woman may be too sensitive, can bring about the desired thrill seeking results. Many women experience their clitoris growing stiff and swollen when flames of passion burn hot and her journey to reaching orgasmic gratification is just a burst away.

4) The hood – Ever hear the terminology: Pop that hood? If not, then let me explain. But first, or shall I say again, the hood is a spongy protective covering of the clitoris. With infinite gorgeous variations of shape, size, and color in each and every woman, some hoods, are sizably huge and physically resemble a small penis! Wow! Once you delicately pull back the soft and fleshy hood tho’, (popping the hood…get it? LOL) visually revealed is the wee little clitoris! For women with less spongy hoods, the clit still proudly sits beneath the point where the inner labia meet, within easy reach for elation and excitation.

5) Urethra opening – One of the most elusive parts of the female genitalia is the urethra. It’s wrongly believed that it is only responsible to be a canal for releasing urine flow from a woman’s body. But… oh au contraire mon frere!!! This buried treasure, that has alluded many, is a sweet spot quite sensitive to touch. Once teased, can lead some women to coming. But hold up… wait a minute, I’ve got a very special insight for you… ready? Nestled right beneath the urethra, are two even tinier glands known as Skenes. These skenes aren’t connected to the bladder like the urethra. Rather, a woman’s skenes are connected to the female prostate as well as the “g” spot orgasm. The fluid emitted from the skenes during orgasm is a clear or sometimes milky translucent fluid. Sometimes sweet or salty in taste, depending on a woman’s diet, chemistry, hormonal levels, and time of month. Female ejaculate during a “G” spot orgasm usually, either seeps out or squirts out with a mild or powerful force. Be it that the orgasm is incited via clitoral stimulation, “G” spot stimulation, or penis… here is where the erroneous myth of female ejaculate and urine are “one in the same” comes crashing back down from the land of crazy… as it should… into the light of reality! Two different fluids, two different bodily reactions. The urethra releases human waste known as urine, while the Skene glands release ejaculation during orgasmic bliss! Let me drop another jewel of wisdom for you. Female ejaculation, is very similar to male ejaculation, minus the semen (for reproductive purposes). It’s been called many names, but respectfully known by the ancients as “nectar of life” or “fountain of youth”. For the sake of common sense, when it’s all said and done… it is good ole’ juicy CUM! It is as amazingly simple as that people! PERIOD!

6) Vaginal opening – The omnipotent sacred vagina! The direct link/passage way, connecting a woman’s vulva with the inner cervix and uterus. Truly to be seen as a divine space of the feminine, the vagina is the passage and birth canal for birthing ALL human life onto this Earthly plane! The vagina is also the unlimited pleasure haven, complete with exotic wetness and the breath taking “G” spot, it is home sweet home for the insertion and erotic sexual thrusts of a man’s penis. And magically, the vagina is the releasing center of a woman’s menstrual flow, which in and of its self, “when a woman is healthy that is” …is a perfectly organic cleaning mechanism to shed and release un-impregnated eggs and bodily toxins via blood, on a month to month basis. Starting from the onset menstrual flow of a girl who’s reached puberty, to the last menstrual flow drops of the mature woman, who is entering into the enlightening right of passage known as menopause. Never mistaken a woman’s divinity! Our bodily vessels deserve the ultimate respect and admiration, from ourselves first and then from the mates we choose as our lovers! Now… on a lighter note… well okay… maybe not! It has been written throughout time, that most wars are fought over religion, money, and VAGINA! HA! But who needs war… when we can be “Making Sweet Love” right?

7) The Anus – This part of a woman’s anatomy is beautiful and sensitive in its own right. The outer rim of the anus is very tender and rich in nerve endings. Right beyond the outer rim of the anus is the sphincter muscle, which un-like the muscles within the vaginal canal that have the dual capabilities of expanding and contracting, the sphincter muscle is designed by nature to contract. Anal play should be done in moderation, for the sphincter muscles tends to stretch and weaken. The anus is an organ of excretion, and the rectal passage way “always” has traces of bacterial waste/feces. Often women are in danger of infection when the bacteria known as ecoli that is found in the anus gets transferred inside of the vaginal canal via fingers, penis, and sex toys. The small hole at the tip of your man’s penis is known as the meatus. During penetration whether vaginal or anal, all of your bodily fluids enter into the man’s meatus, blood stream, and semen. Affection and re-affection occurs when your mate’s penal canal contains your bacterial waste/ecoli and ejaculates within your vaginal canal during sexual intercourse. The most common infection is pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) which can cause severe abdominal pain, an itchy smelly discharge, a burning sensation while urinating e.t.c. Anal love-play does provide many women with sexual delight. It is therefore of the utmost importance that cleanliness is top priority to keep womb health in tip top shape. Excessive amounts of anal penetration will eventually induce medical complications like: digestive problems, irregularity of bowel movement, and eventually cancer of the rectum. Similar to the prostate gland found in men, women have a smaller but similar gland known as the cervix which gets stimulated from the push and pull of the penis during penetration. A very thin membrane separates the cervix from the anal passage-way, which causes arousal for some women during anal penetration. For women who indulge in this sexual experience, please approach it with a conscious awareness, use generous amounts of natural lubrication like extra virgin coconut oil, and a complete avoidance of allowing ecoli and feces from entering into your womb.