What an amazing 😉 play 🎟🎭 ‼️ Je’Caryous prolifically pulled this together. The all-star cast ⭐️ fit the roles, and the story twist….well you’ll just have to catch the last two shows tomorrow to see what’s up. <
sed the very beginning when Stony's brother was killed and probably a bit more. It would have been nice to let Stony get away 🚶🏿♀️ the way she did in the movie, rather than the twist. I wasn't really feeling it but it wasn't outrageously altered, It was 👌🏾.
I will say that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done. After thinking 🤔 about it , they could have invested more into the props and marketing.
My favorite part of the play was the reenactment of Cleo's infamous run 🏃🏾♀️ in with the police 🚔. Yo, they had the fucking blue 🚙 car with the hydraulics G.
They sung happy 😊 Birthday 🎂 to Da Brat, who's birthday is April 14. Chicago go get your tickets and support the arts 🎭.
If you’re human, you have this thing you go through called “human error”, and while this is commonly applied to industries, we’re going to use it in the human communication industry of relationships.
Family is a global business industry. I don’t think I have to explain it to you because I know you know your history and the heritage of humanity especially before industrialism. Humans are natural resources who can seemingly do anything, just about. That main factor that made slavery so popular in the US and abroad is humans ability to regenerate even if not out of love.
What sparked this convo
My cousin shared these thoughts on Facebook:
Look 👀 up the “” words because we are about to get technical:< em>What is a relationship❓
A “relationship” is a “ship” 🚢 that stores 🏠 your “Relations”. Two people that have a relationship isn’t guaranteed to be in love 😍. You can connect by attraction, goals, or aspirations or even security. Sometimes two people connect for a short term that was simply never meant to last but only for you to receive the lesson that life has on your path to teach you. If a “relationship” makes you have these type of thoughts organically then follow your intuition. Don’t anchor⚓️ down because a ship 🚢 should always “sail”.
What is the most common mistake that people make in one ☝🏾❓
The mistake most people make is not being logical about the relationships they build or openly honest with their partner. Sometimes when you grow, it’s nothing personal when someone outgrows someone, it’s life. Be happy 😊 even when you’re growing through hell, discomfort, confusion or chaos, because when you reflect you’ll understand why things are never a coincidence. Next time be aware that your soul is sailing ⛵️ and you’re on a wave 🌊 riding to your next destination. Ask yourself: What is the meaning of this? Why is this person here ? Why am I here? Then go from there.
Yesterday at Demera Ethiopian Restaurant, I hosted 8 guest to celebrate the New Year (my new year). The benefits of dining with others is the centering of food and conversation which helps to upwardly build relations.
In today’s community or world we don’t eat with our family a lot. We’re typically always on the go, with our extended family from work, or maybe with our friends. Whatever the situation, we aren’t spending two hours a day communally eating.
Eating together and having a quintessential human experience is communal dining. You get to catch up with your peers, family, or partners. It’s a great way to learn from one another and inspire new cuisines, cultural practices, and share information.
Well I’m gone get straight to the point with you. I’m improving my life and culture, so how I bond with humans in my life is utterly important to me. It’s not about one individual but about the unit as a collective. It’s about the whole experience and learning how not to be selfish or kill the mood of others, being aware of how you’re energy (Inner G) impacts others.
Another great spirit, Winnie Mandela has transitioned this week. It’s also the honorable Maya Angelou’s 90th birthday today (4-4-1928). I am grateful to be following a path that they fought to take, leaving it open for me to be successful.
Remembering Winnie Mandela
Picture Courtesy of Reuters
Remembering Maya Angelou
Picture Courtesy of Biography Dot Com
Reflection 👁👣💭
In today’s world, it’s really difficult for this generation to connect to past accomplishments because of the strong hold that gatekeepers have on history.
Last week I wrote about 5 Women You Should Know, because not only do I feel like marginalized people need a voice but I think that women aren’t appreciated enough.
No I’m not a feminist, whatsoever. I just don’t see a balance when it comes to respecting the ground hustle that a lot of women have worked hard to blaze.
Love ❤️ your Maker, your Creator
We are still looked at as second-class-citizens and objects, not as creators, lovers, and nurturers.
Wonder why the world is in chaos? Look at the global state of women? That should answer your question. I say this because women are the ones who birth humans into this realm. They allow human spirit to dwell inside of them and risk their life to deliver the creation of God, another blessing to humanity.
It’s still some work to do globally on the worship of the diversity of God. The reflection of God. The truth.
Somewhere along the way, someone has been taking advantage of humanity by not returning the kindness of mother earth ripping away at father time.
It’s 3 days into the New Year, counting from April 1, because it’s harvesting season where things are being planted. I shared my solar return (birthday) April 1, too.
It’s a great season to detoxify, rejuvenate, and regenerate your energy to create for the summer.
King Spa
For 24 hours, on the first day of the “New Year”, I spent the day cleansing at King Spa:
These are the 5 most wealthiest things to me in the world. The reason I know this to be true is because if everything else fails, all you have is you. If your health is declining because you are failing to keep a balance in your life, you can become toxic. Just think about if you never took the time to cleanse your self ? And most of us can’t reach our back, so I know someone out here is walking around with a dirty back.
Nonetheless, we still have to find time to rid our body of the toxins we inject or allow others to inject into ourselves, aid our digestive system, as well as our immune system or what we pick up in our environment daily. Our body is constantly trying to cleanse itself, so we have to aid it in its process.
I really enjoyed the refreshing rebirth of the year. Take care of your self.
My goal for this story is to share the legacy of 5 amazing women in the Africa Diaspora that you may or may not know. In my spirit, I felt that these ladies needed to be heard and remembered for their works. In many cases we always remember those who are well known and we seem to forget about those who did the work but aren’t credited enough. Here are my five women you should know:
Vivian G. Harhs’s picture courtesy of the Chicago Public Library.
Vivian G. Harsh
Born Vivian Gordon Harsh in Chicago on May 27, 1890; she was the first African American librarian in the Chicago Public School system, the first Black professional librarian in Chicago, and a significant contributor to Chicago’s Black Renaissance. Vivian began her 60-year-librarian-career in 1909 as a Junior Clerk at the Chicago Public Library, she received her B.A. from Simmons College in Boston, and she took advanced courses at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Library Science. While working with Carter G. Woodson she recognized the need for librarian services on the South Side of Chicago, in the heart of the African American community. Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature is housed at Carter G. Woodson Library. She is remembered as “The historian who never wrote”.
Hazel M. Johnson’s picture courtesy of Surviving to Thriving Summit Dot Org
Hazel Johnson
Hazel Johnson is known as the “Mother of Environmental Justice Movement”, and a resident of Atlgeld Gardens Public Housing. She founded “People for Community Recovery” in 1979, 10-years after her husband died of lung cancer in 1969, which was the cause for her four decades of activism. She documented illnesses and physical ailments that frequently punished her neighbors. She linked them to polluted air, water, and contaminated soil. She also played a role in Barack Obama’s starting career in public service. The Gardens is where he got his start in politics as a Community Organizer in the 1980s. As reported by The Washington Post, Cheryl Johnson, Hazel’s daughter, “was a nursing student when Obama arrived, and she remembers watching him and her mother strategizing many nights at her kitchen table. They made an odd pair, she said: “He was in his 20s. She was in her 40s. But they learned off each other.”” She received a gold medal from George Bush and was recognized by Bill Clinton for her environmental work in Chicago.
Amanda Berry Lewis’s picture courtesy of William Hull.
Amanda Berry Lewis
Amanda Berry Lewis was born into slavery January 23, 1837 in Long Green, Maryland. Her father worked to buy her family’s freedom. She was a Methodist Holiness Evangelist and Missionary, who traveled to Great Britain, India, and Africa to share her gifts. After her services overseas, she returned to the states where she founded the Amanda Smith Orphanage and Industrial Home for Abandoned and Destitute Colored Children in Harvey, Illinois in 1899. She couldn’t support the school sufficiently, so she left and moved to Florida which became her final resting place.
Dr. Maria K. Mootry’s picture courtesy of her son, Johnathan P. Ikerionwu of Springfield.
Dr. Maria K. Mootry
Maria Mootry was born January 3, 1944 in Nashville, Tennessee. She graduated from Farragut High School in Chicago, Illinois at 16-years-old. She went on to receive her BA from Roosevelt University, Masters at the University of Wisconsin, and Doctorate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She performed research in bioethics regarding race. She was a Professor of English and an unknown leader in African American history who was an Co-Editor of Gwendolyn Brooks “A Life Distilled”. Mootry taught at Southern Illinois of Carbondale, Grinnell College, and University of Illinois at Springfield. In 1980, she co-Founded the Poetry Factory in Carbondale, Illinois which encouraged others to write and publish. Much of her work isn’t known but its been floating around making a difference. You can visit Dr. Maria K. Mootry’s works at Carter G. Woodson Library, Maria Mootry Papers, and her website www.MariaMootry.com .
Mother Mary Lena Lewis Tate’s picture courtesy of Church of the Living God, the Pillar, and Ground of Truth, Inc.
Mother Mary Lena Lewis Tate
Mother Mary Lewis Tate was the first known woman to organize an internationally recognized church and to elevate to Bishop ranking. She was born Mary Lena Street January 5, 1871 in Vanleer, Tennessee. She spent most of her life in the rural south where she had little opportunity to be educated. She established the Church of the Living God, the Pillar, and Ground of Truth, Inc. in 1903. Tate’s Apostle service extended far beyond religion into the heart of the people and the system of inalienable rights and freedoms. St. Mary Lena Lewis Tate prevailed through the struggle of education, transportation, and communication to carry out her duties. She traveled by walking while using barges, steamships, mule-drawn wagons, broken-down automobiles, and Jim Crow trains. She compassionately surpassed the many barriers of social and religious bias.
Cool Fact:
Dr. Maria K. Mootry is the descendant of Mother Mary Lena Lewis Tate. Dr. Mootry is her great granddaughter.
Dr. Umar Johnsonat The Harold Washington Cultural Center for the First Day of Kwanza; and a Late Dinner at Yassa African Food
The first day of Kwanza was beautiful. If you’re not familiar with Kwanza don’t trip. Kwanza is an “African American” seven-day cultural experience recognized each year from December 26-January 1. The seven-day principles are Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Co-operative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kummba (Creativity), Imani (Faith).
Umoja describes the First Day of Kwanza in Chicago at the Harold Washington Cultural Center. Dr. Umar Johnson, a Doctor of Clinical Psychology and Certified School Psychologist, was a Keynote Speaker along with a line of talented Artists. Johnson is facing a legal challenge with the Commonwealth State of Pennsylvania, Bureua of Professional and Occupational Affairs aka the State Board of Psychology.
Set aside all of that, he came through the land and dropped Jewels that are worthy of sharing with Urban (Black) Parents. As a Mentor, I consider this information to be a necessary conversation especially for young parents. Most parents aren’t educated on the business of “Education”, and it’s a major responsibility that they are educated.
Never go to a school meeting by yourself
Do not get your child evaluated if they are in 3
Don’t communicate over the phone, always do it in writing via emails or written documents.
Stop telling the school your business. (*inform your children of this too)
Know that you have a right to a second opinion, especially if they’re claiming your child has special education needs. Legally the school will pay for the qualified specialist of your choice to evaluate your child for a second opinion.
Do your research and understand the policies that govern education. Don’t just leave it at that either, as a parent know what education is, to be able to determine what kind of education your child should receive. What a wonderful way to spend Umoja! It was a pleasure to learn better methods and theories to aid in helping us have a better understanding of developing our children.
Dr. Johnson is in the works of deciding where he will plant his first school. He’s deciding between Detroit, Atlanta, and Chicago. Allegedly, He’s had some conflicts along the way because he hasn’t gotten any returned phone calls from real estate interest. He’s had other partners and associates call to inquiry about the real estate. We’ll be contacting Dr. Umar Johnson to obtain more information about his plans with FDMG. We’ll keep you updated.
After our long day of unity he treated his staff and invited guest to dinner. If you haven’t ate at Yassa African Food , then set your date soon. We had a blast as a community, and we were treated like family. I can’t wait to see what the universe does next in Dr. Johnson’s journey.
Check out the gallery of press images from the event. Photo credits to Shabria Davidson of Sky Team Media, our Photojournalist of the evening. If you use images, I ask that you notify me and give credit to the creatives who produced the content. When contact is made you will be given all social media and credential information to use for multiple platforms. Respect our craft and art, these are non negotiable terms. Conditions made to subject vary, mass media laws apply.
Communications Generalist | Cultural Strategist | Data & Business Analyst 