November – December 2017: African American Mentions, News, and Articles of Interest

#BlackBoyJoy: Hazim Hardeman, 1st Rhodes Scholar from Temple University.  Hardeman grew up at 23rd and Diamond, just blocks from Temple’s campus. The university always seemed like “another world.” He dreamed of crossing the barrier. Link to Article: http://www.philly.com/philly/education/temple-gets-its-first-rhodes-scholar-a-north-philly-kid-20171119.html #BlackGirlMagic: Candice Marshall – one of 11 students in the industrial and computational mathematics program at Morgan State University in…

My Perfectly Flawed African American Mother

My mother died the day before my birthday in 2014. Not a great way to look forward to a birthday celebration, right?? My birthday is exactly one month from now and her death will be three years on the 24th of July. I am a poet, spoken word artist, and definitely a writer on many…

Mary McLeod Bethune: Bethune-Cookman University and her other Legacies

“The drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth.” ― Mary McLeod Bethune   “I was born and reared in the South and no southerner has greater love for the land of his…

BlackGirlChronicles: What is…LOVE?

What is…LOVE??? My daughter asked me this question over a week ago.  What was my definition of love? Was I ever in love?  I couldn’t give her an honest answer as I looked back at my life.  Looking back on my past relationships, I realized that I never loved them like love is “supposed” to…

GetOutMovie: Black Women Have Always Had Your BACK!!!!

  Black Women have always had Black Men’s BACK First let me say, I loved the movie “Get Out.”  It was very entertaining, funny, scary, and kept me wanting more after it was over.  I am not going to do a movie review because I just don’t do those things.  What I like to do…

Audre Lorde: Revolution is not a One Time Event

My anger has meant pain to me but it has also meant survival, and before I give it up I’m going to be sure that there is something at least as powerful to replace it on the road to clarity. – Audre Lorde Audre Geraldine Lorde 1934 – 1992 Audre Lorde was born in New…

Black Woman, Where does it Hurt? EVERYWHERE

Tonight is New Year’s Eve and I just finished watching the movie, Fences starring Viola Davis and Denzel Washington with one of my girlfriends and it left me speechless.  I went through so many emotions…hate, love, joy, and many more.  It was a great and powerful movie and I really enjoyed it.  The resilience that…

September/October 2016: African American Mentions, News, and Articles of Interest

  Jean Genet knew how to speak his heart without pity or condescension. Now, we have learned how not to mistake solidarity feelings for feelings of pity among the representatives of the ruling culture. Genet, he already knew how to distinguish them. In his Yale speech, on the Mayday Speech day, he even goes so far as to advocate the…

National Read A Book Day on September 6, 2016

September 6, 2016: National Read a Book Day Highlighted Book of the Month The Adventures of Tume The Tug Boat: Tume Visits New York City with his new friend Speed by Monique Brown, ISBN: 978-1534980655: Tume’s Tug Boat Adventures series was created for children of all ages and will help readers understand other cultures, develop an…

The Price of a Ticket as a Black Woman: Inspired by James Baldwin

For so long I was invisible in this country we call America.  Some call it Amerikkka because it hasn’t always been kind to us…even now. The price of my ticket is very expensive and I still have yet to feel the FREEDOM of this journey. I am an American with limited liberties that were added…

Black Power, Black Manhood, and Black Womanhood: Voices from the Past and Present

‘Wathint’ Abafazi, Wathint’ Imbokodo’ (you strike the women, you strike the rock)   I think this is my time now and I’m goin’ to take it. Anybody’d be crazy not to take it.… I just don’t care about anything else right now but takin’ what my mother and my grandmother oughtta have had and they…

July/August 2016: African American Mentions, News, and Articles of Interest

Malcolm X was invited back to London by the African Society to address a large audience in the Old Theatre at the London School of Economics. In both addresses, Malcolm X moved the political discourse from civil rights to human rights and stated clearly and unequivocally that the Black liberation struggle had to be internationalized rather than ghettoized….