One To Watch:Brittany Howard Of The Group Alabama Shakes

Like Music? Love the Blues? Love Rock & Roll? Then you'll love her.


Their latest music offering is titled, Boys & Girls and I pre-ordered my copy yesterday. Check them out here for more info.

The Mahori Marianne of Mayotte Creates Controversey

The Mahori Marianne Complete With Broom.

To mark this controversial decision (as well as its own four-year anniversary in Mayotte), the clothing brand Pardon! has published a provocative image of a Mahori woman posed as Marianne, the French lady liberty created by painter Eugène Delacroix in 1830 in his iconic image "Liberty Leading the People."

In the original painting, Marianne leads rebels of the revolution of 1830, brandishing a French flag and breasts exposed. In the Pardon! retake, the Mahori woman wears a traditional clay mask called a m'sindzano (used by Mahori women as sun protection) and a Pardon brand drapery... which exposes her bare breasts. This caused a big upset for some members of the Mahori community, which is predominantly Muslim and adheres to relatively strict dress codes even in the hot Indian Ocean climate.

In the end, fearing a loss of business, Pardon! decided to cover the exposed breast in a new advertisement. Still, her exposed breast is far from the only controversial part of the image: consider the broom that the Mahori Marianne brandishes (in the original painting, Marianne brandishes a bayonet).

“Is this a negative image of the Mahori woman and more broadly the black woman in general?” asked a journalist in the Mayotte Hebdo. “Or does this symbolize a woman liberating herself from the dictates of a society that tends to reduce a woman to her role as a home maker and mother?”

The manager of Pardon! stores, Peter Mertes, offered an entirely different response to the broom question.“Mayotte is a beautiful island, but it is too dirty—we have to clean it up to promote tourism,” Mertes said.

The Mahori are predominantly Muslim, many women (especially) wear traditional clothing and face masks and many speak Shimaore, a Swahili dialect, as their first language. While Mahori culture resembles closely that of their Comorian neighbors, their status as a French department gives the Mahori an entirely different amount of opportunities. Gaps in wealth and questions of immigration make relations between the two countries off the coast of Africa tense.

“Mahori culture should be respected as well as all African cultures and the cultures of the indigenous people all over the world.”

Photos:Le Figaro/Pardon!/Source

Actress Janet Hubert's Open Letter To Wendy Williams Is A Must Read!!!

Actress Janet Hubert has written an open letter to TV talker Wendy Williams. Janet is calling out Wendy for her past treatment of Whitney Houston and others of the negative media.

Read on!

Dear Wendy,
This past weekend was a very difficult time for so many of us.
Though I never knew Whitney Houston, I felt a profound sense of loss and sadness. On Sunday morning I took my dog for a walk in the park across the street and still could not shake the sadness I felt. I wondered if what I was feeling was perhaps related to losing my mother and brother this past year, but then I thought no, it was something else.

I watched the funeral service with the rest of the world, and cried time and time again with each story that was told. I felt like I knew more about this amazing woman than ever before. We all watched her as a little girl, center stage, singing like a bird, she was destined for superstardom. To watch her center stage full circle in death was a feeling no mother should ever have to feel. I applaud Ms. Warwick, the pastor, and all others who formed a police line of love and protection around her that was impenetrable only to those who really knew her.

We, the public accepted their decision to keep it private, but they allowed us to witness her Home Going ceremony, I don’t know if I could have been so gracious. WE felt like we knew her and we knew nothing about her except what we read and hear from people like you and other media outlets. I listened to her interview with you and was compelled to say out loud. “Go on Whitney tell her like it is,” when you pried into her life back then. I had my son in the same year as Ms. Houston; we did Ebony Magazine that same year, she introducing her baby girl and me my son. I am trying to be dignified, but here goes.

The Internet has become somewhat like the 10 commandments, and this is why… whatever is posted or commented on… is forever written in stone. Neither I nor anybody can stop anyone from making up stories, reviews, lies etc, cutting and pasting whatever they decide to put together like a bad buffet breakfast.
I have had some horrible meals shoved down my throat on the web that I had no parts of.

I still have a bad taste in my mouth from a recent cut and paste meal from your beloved TMZ (THE MUDSLINGING ZONE). I believe you said once “If you heard it on TMZ then it must be true,” really Wendy?

The Internet is indeed the information highway, but it can also be “a Forum of Hate.”

You said that morning with tears in your eyes, that you would not discuss Whitney any further, but you crucified her the whole time she was alive, as you do so many people on your show. I want to ask you why? What do you get out of this besides money?
How do you sleep at night knowing that you are one of the biggest bullies in the world disguised as HOT TOPICS? Celebrities are not topics we are people, just like everyone else, we hurt and we hear and we bleed real blood, not fake blood, just as you do.

How do we as parents teach our children to honor each other, treat each other with kindness when all they see are images of people like you who condone and promote meanness, rude reality TV stars, and your opinion as you berate world renowned people like Janet Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow, and others you slam on a daily basis.

I keep asking myself why no one is saying anything about this. What the hell are they afraid of? Where are my sisters out there who feel as I do?

Well Wendy, I try to teach my son to stand up, shout, and scream when there is injustice. Yeah yeah, I know, I have been screaming for years and will continue to do so as long as there are images that depict black women as neck shaking, over bearing women who can’t get along.
A sister, a mother, a daughter, a star, left this world way too early; she was loved by the world.

The world mourned, I don’t think that we needed you to try and take down another brilliant sister on that following Monday morning. (Your rude comments about Janet Jackson)
You started right back up without hesitation or pause… you need to stop Wendy.

We need to stop, and the world needs to stop. I need to stop as well. There will be no more quotes from me to be misquoted. We need to join together, wrap our arms around our children, everybody’s children. Remember you have a child who will suffer every slingshot and arrow that gets thrown back at you Wendy; our public lives greatly affect our children.

I know I am going to suffer some arrows for writing this letter to you, I know you are loved by many, but remember this Wendy; they love you when you are up and they love to take you down. You will not always be up, you will not always be on the A list and attend all the parties. Ride the wave sister girl, but make sure you know how to swim when the ride is over. Artists are survivors, we work hard to build our crafts and careers and I ask that you simply remember that in the future.

I’m just sayin’ it like l mean it too.

Janet Hubert

Source:EURWEB

Prayer or Xanax???

How many of us have gone to the doctor for irritability, stress and anxiety and the first thing they want to prescribe to you was a bottle of Xanax, Lexapro or some other drug? I can raise my hand to it and I'm sure some of you can too. I lost my sister a few years ago and once a woman starts aging and losing her friends and family members we start questioning our own mortality. Death is inevitable and I had to realize that I can't stop it, but I can take better care of me and hopefully prolong it.

Why so sad ladies? What's stressing you out? Is it the lack of money or a man? Is it the job that you hate? Why is it that almost every one that I know and work with is on some kind of anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication? Some of us tout ourselves as a lover of Jesus or some other religion but are now heavily relying on the medication to get them through the day, minute or hour and to me I think only makes matters worse. That bottle of booze, Moscato or drugs will not cure the pain that ails you deep inside.

It's okay to say no. It's okay to assert yourselves. It's okay to take time to yourselves. It's okay to not be in a relationship. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be different. It's okay to love yourselves. It's okay to be an individual. It's okay to stand out. It's okay to fit in and assimilate into your said country. It's okay to be a woman. It's okay to love whomever you feel like loving. It's okay to practice what ever religion or faith that brings you peace, joy and a healthy state of mind. It's okay to reach forty and beyond and still be happy. It's okay just to be you. Stop comparing yourselves to the success of other women and validate your own lives.

I don't know what  it is that killed my dear Whitney but I can assume that she was in pain. The pain that so many other women feel when they are alone and live their lives through the lens of other people. I wanted Whitney to make it and I wanted Whitney to see the age of fifty. It breaks my heart when I see women in their forties and beyond still worrying about the opinions of others.

When you are over forty you should be defining your own existence and not giving a DAMN about what any one else says or does without any apologies! Every second that we are blessed with the gift of life we should be celebrating it and doing what we love instead of worrying about things we can not and will never control. Life is too short to waste it on people and situations that don't matter, but you do matter and are worth all that the universe has to offer!

A woman doesn't need to be wealthy in order to experience a wonderful and fulfilling life. All she has to do is have the desire and the confidence to live it on her own terms in the manner in which she wants to. I told my niece the other day that people are looking for everything through everybody else and they still haven't found what they're looking for because they never start with themselves.

Everything that we search for in another human being is at reach...within ourselves. Love, acceptance, joy, life...it's all inside of yourselves and you will never, ever find it in anyone but yourselves. What we attract in our lives is truly a mirror image of who we are inside, so it's time to change the reflection. The greatest love affair of them all starts with you and if you don't have a loving relationship with yourselves, you will never have one with another human being.

I told my Doctor no thank you to Xanax and I'd work the anxiety out my way with prayer and exercise and I've been good so far. If prayer doesn't work, understand that's it's okay to see a therapist.

Must See Movie: Jimmy-Jean Louis As Toussaint L'Ouverture

Jimmy-Jean Louis as Toussaint L'Ouverture

There is no official release date for the 2-part movie but it will air on French TV and will be shown at two upcoming film festivals, namely, the Festival des Créations Télévisuelles de Luchon (essentially a television festival in Luchon, which takes place from February 8 – 12 in southwestern France) and Vues D’Afrique Festival, which takes place from April 27 – May 6 in Montreal, Quebec and Ottawa.



Source:CaribNews

I Don't Watch The X Factor USA But I Will Now....

This is what a 60 year old man looks like.

I don't watch the X Factor USA, but I will now just to see singer LeRoy Bell, who is 60 years old perform and possibly win it.

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The Herstory Makers:The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winners

Congratulations to Leymah Gbowee, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkol Karman for the tremendous work you have done in the name of PEACE. Warmongers pay very close attention to these women because women are tired of all the chaos that you continue to create in the name of so called democracy and freedom! It's up to every woman in the world to stand up for true freedom if we want to see a future.

Thank you all for your courage!

Steve Jobs 1955-2011

Steve Jobs 1955-2011 


Visionary..Innovator, Creative Genius...Game Changer.
R.I.P.

An Open Letter To Sherri Shepherd

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Dear Sherri Shepherd:

Today I watched you on The View this morning and literally wanted to throw my television along with you in it out of my window. Personally, I admire your career but personally I also find you down right ignorant to be a woman over forty who lacks so much knowledge of self.

Let me affix a few labels to who I am: I'm a middle class working mother, retired veteran, grandmother, sister and a wise woman. I watched with horror when you said that Barbara Waters' use of the word NIGGER left you with disgust, but Whoopi's use of the word didn't have the same connotations. I wanted to scream when I heard this!

I stopped using the word NIGGER when I was six years old after I learned what it meant and never allowed the word to be used in my home. Sherri let me add that it doesn't matter who says the word it has the same connotations and meanings regardless of who calls you one. There's a whole population of our people who think of themselves as less than, inferior and unworthy and the use of the word to refer to another man or woman of AFRIKAN descent as a NIGGER tells me that they think of themselves as less than, unworthy and inferior.

You don't define me, but you sure don't represent a positive image of  an intelligent black woman.

Signed a disgusted viewer of The View.

P.S. You never cease to amaze me with your BS.

A B.O.S.S. Woman: Kanya King

While checking out Net-A-Porter this morning I came across the photo below of businesswoman, Kanya King. When I see women who have created successful businesses I want to know more about them and what drives them to achieve because they can serve as a powerful inspiration to a lot of women.

I've been wondering whyI haven't saw any blog posts written about her on some of the blogs that I read from the UK? All they seem to talk about are the American celebrities, which always leaves me thinking that I know they are several individuals in the UK who are doing things worthwhile and worth mentioning and she's definitely one to know.

Why Kanya King is a B.O.S.S. is because she is the CEO of the MOBO Organization, which produces the MOBO(Music of Black Origin) Awards, MOBO Magazine and other business ventures. The MOBO Awards highlights the best in the urban music in the UK and beyond. Kanya is also one of the most influential women in the music industry and the recipient of numerous awards and honors and not only is she stylish and beautiful, she's an inspiration to us all.

"The Boss" A painting from artist, Frank Morrison.