This is a long article people, take what you can use and leave the rest…..
Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening…I woke this morning with words pounding in my mind. Well the good thing is, I was able to sleep until 6:30am and came here and read the words of others before settling in to write this message. You see it wasn’t one I had to quickly pen to make sure I didn’t forget the words as this is the way I believe, the way I live my life knowing. The message this morning is about the inevitable that will touch each and every one of us.
You know the topic and that is “death”…My my, how this can take us into the field of sorrow, lead us to a place sometimes of no return, pull our foundation out from under us, send us flying into the realm of darkness. Something that each and every one of us will face at some point in this life, some of us allow it to destroy us.
I have a friend that has to be hospitalized several times now due to not being able to come to grips with the loss of someone very close to her. She still sits and cries uncontrollably and needs to be medicated. I have someone extremely close to me who is consumed with sorrow, she lives everyday in the midst of darkness, swallowing up pain and her mental capacity has diminished while her physical body is literally breaking down. These are the situations, I call worse than death. The ruination of body and soul all due to something we as humans can not change.
You really need to see it for what it is and learn to accept that realization. I’m very fortunate, my Blessings came at a very young age. I was Blessed to have an extremely spiritual Grandmother and Grandfather…I learned so much about death as a young child. My family did not hide it from me, I went to the wakes and funerals, I learned to celebrate the lives of people. I saw them pick up their glasses of rum and whisky, and toast the person laying in the room of our homes. I listened to them sing Gospel songs and heard all the words of love expressed. I visited and played around their bodies as if they were still there and I knew then, that they were there only in another form…yes the form of spirit and that what was laying in the coffin was no longer them, it was their shell. I knew that very well in my youth. I’m thanking my family now for allowing me to see. Truly a Blessing was given me.
I remember my Aunt Tinsie…”that’s not her real name, it’s a nickname” for some reason back home, everyone had nicknames…Roy was Chuppie, Marie was googs, my Uncle Sid called me Melou…Hmmm memories eh…she took me into the room where one of my special people lay, the very first time I saw a dead body. She placed her hand on his forehead and then picked up his hand and smiled at me. She said, Mellie it’s limber, look, come and feel…I smiled back at her and reached up and touched his hand. She left me there in the room and I continually stared and talked to that person, I knew his spirit could hear me. I had no fear, I stayed there awhile and then went to play with the other kids, we kept going in and out of that room where one of my best male role models laid. This man still touches me greatly even today, he never leaves me. I love him with all my heart…Leonard Grinage…I remember one of the adults crying and I asked why are you crying, he’s still here I told them and that person hugged me.
Death is a beautiful thing, it takes all the pain away. It allows us to begin a new journey, the journey of eternal life. A life in spirit and that new realm of life is not one in which we ought to feel sorrow for…no that is the life in which we rejoice. While we are celebrating the life or our loved one who is leaving us, we are also rejoicing their new rebirth back into the spirit world. You see, I believe we had a prelife…
Now listen…I can’t get up, pick up the phone and call my Uncle Roy, I can’t sit and listen to the soothing words of my Aunt Mar, I can no longer stand and comb my Aunt Wins hair. I can’t run to Aunt Kay and ask her to help me nor can I write letters to my other Aunt Kay, I can’t quickly get in my car and run to have an early coffee with my friend Ila before work. No I can’t wait for Aleane to come and visit, I won’t be able to hug my little Jullian who died far too young. There will be no more walks or long conversations with my husband Richard and I won’t see the spirit come forth in some of my sisters at church, who have left us. I won’t be going to Karaoke with Richard Morris or listen to him sing the Blues. I’ll never see the face of my 17 year old cousin, oh my, the bellowing laughter of my Uncle Ben is no more and the stories told by my friend Orunamamu, I won’t hear from her. I do miss all of these people and more and most have left me in the last three years. Yes there’s more, my beautiful Anne, a loyal worker and freind, my Bill from head office who always stood by me, My Dylan, my good friends son, also died way too soon. The loss I’ve had in the last three years is so unbelievable and I can still go on and on.
I’m laughing now…someone told me, you need to go to grief counseling. I told them… why? I could counsel them but they might think I’m crazy. Are you sitting down, if not, grab a seat. All of the people I mentioned above, yes they are gone in the flesh but at any given moment, I can call on them and bring them to me in spirit, I’ll close my eyes and see their image. My body relaxes and a warmth comes over me, I take deep breaths and sit comfortably on my couch. If I’m in bed, I pull the covers over me and fall into a deep and beautiful sleep. After my partner Richard passed, every night I called him and every night he came to me and wrapped his arms around me and I fell to sleep. I did that for a long time and then promised him to let him go so he can do what he needs to do. Once in awhile I call on these people to come to me and they never disappoint. Spirit is a wonderful place to be. Sometime, they come to you and seek your attention and have ways of coming forth.
You will never as some say get over death and why should you. You merely need to welcome it and know more about it. Before my good friend Sue passed on, I asked her this question in the hospital. Sue if you can come and visit me, will you come to me…Oh my goodness, she gave me the most precious smile and assured me she would come to me. I believe she would but did not expect it would be so blatant, so powerful, so emotional. She came to me on the day of her celebration of life and used me to give her husband a hug good-bye. It was an amazing situation, I really believe the time froze. I walked down the aisle to speak to her husband, telling him we need to get started as we were waiting for one more person who had called ahead. I told him when the clock strikes the quarter hour, we will begin. At that moment, I felt a warmth that took me back and I leaned back a bit and and exclaimed, wouuuu! Ray looked at me and asked, are you alright, I immediately answered, Sue is here, she’s here with us and he stared at me. I felt this warmth come from the bottom of my feet, travel to the top of my head, I was immersed in this warmth and I began to cry, shaking and Ray put his arms around me and held me so close, I settled in his arms for a moment and then broke away and he looked at me and said, are you ok. I assured him I was. I then began to walk up the aisle to begin the service. I felt as if I was walking on a cloud, my feet didn’t seem to touch the ground. I stood at the front, looked toward the family and Ray again whispering, are you ok. I walked to the end of their row and began to jump and yell…it’s a celebration…it’s a celebration…repeat after me…it’s a celbration.
Everybody called out…it’s a celebration. I realized at that moment that I was in control of nothing and Sue was taking care doing what she wanted done at her celebration of life. I was simply the vessel in all of this. Death my friends is amazing, what comes after the initial passing is a continual Blessing and anyone who is taken into this by the deceased must consider themselves very special. I’m not getting into any discussion with anyone, no Pastors, Priests or any Men of the cloth. It is what it is and I know what I experience.
Whenever the spirit takes me, I feel special, I smile as I’m smiling now. You never know when it will happen. It happened to me while driving, I do not remember getting to point B and it was across the city. I remember talking to God and the next thing I remember was opening the car door at my destination. I’ve seen the spirit take over my sisters in Christ. My sister Vi, jumps up and kicks her leg while praying, I was in awe and I knew the spirit had her in its grips, praise God for that.
We have not lost these people, they are with us, trying to communicate with us but often we don’t understand the signs. At times it can be as simple as a shadow in the corner of our eye, a brush of wind on our faces, a feeling that seems to go through you, an object that is moved though you know exactly where you placed it, a feeling of cool or warm air, a voice you believe you heard. A little child staring and smiling into space, a pet who acts silly while gazing at nothing, a tap on the shoulder only to turn and see no one. Acting silly and you don’t know why, one of your hands shaking profusely for no reason as happened to me not long ago and the new one for me was the coming of pain in my stomach while awaiting a passing, O let me not forget my early gift, the scent of a beautiful garden. Usually I receive this gift prior to a passing and it can be as long as two weeks prior. I received the gift at age eleven and it was explained to me by my Grandmother. I still have it today and praise and thank God for it.
There’s no need to deny these things, it’s a loved one trying to let you know they’re ok. Listen, how selfish can we be, we’ve had most of these people for many,many years, some of them have contributed much to this life and have helped people is so many ways…The body becomes old and tired and needs to go to rest, the shell is finished and the spirit takes over. If we can accept that, we will know then that we do not die, our flesh body is separated from our spiritual body. This is not rock science, it’s logical, we can not just die…we become a part of this mass universe and live on people.
I’m laughing again…you hear so many people, go on and on about the life thereafter. We know, O yes we know how great it is on the other side but the same people will go far trying to cling on to this life on earth. Look around you, look at the devastation, look at the poverty, look at the evil, look at the homeless, look at the pain. Well let me tell you this, when someone dies, I’m saying hallelujah…good for you, you’ve made it through and I will celebrate. I will miss them and I may cry but at the same time, I’m relieved that they are no longer suffering. If you truly believe we go to a better place, a place of solace and extreme peace, then sorrow is not necessary. Missing them… a little crying… a time for grieving is natural…be happy for them, rejoice. Let them go in peace and you move on doing what needs to be done until your turn comes to close that curtain. We’re all going down that road, it’s just a matter of time.
What we do have to remember is this…Life is for the living and we must let the earth body of our loved ones go and learn how to enjoy them in spirit and that is through memory, through our stored images and through thought and if and when a message comes through, don’t deny it, embrace it…..
I have written several letters to Marlene Bird and was delighted on Feb. 1/16 to receive a letter from Marlene…such a Blessing. She indicates she is getting much stronger each day. Marlene is an extremely strong woman and puts herself out there to encourage all of us to walk through the struggle and also let the enemy know, we’re strong and we will survive.
https://www.facebook.com/Supportersofssos/
Published on June 10, 2014
Marlene Darlene Bird, 47, is seen in this photo that was handed out for Friday’s march through downtown Prince Albert.
Herald file photo
More than a week after her violent assault in downtown Prince Albert, Marlene Darlene Bird, 47, remains in hospital.
Other news
“She’s not talking, but … the surgeon said that she is conscious that we’re in the room,” her aunt Lorna Thiessen said on Tuesday.
Bird is in recovery at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton where she’s undergone numerous surgeries as a result of a June 1 assault.
“It wasn’t just a little beating,” Thiessen clarified. “Her life was at stake.”
Emergency personnel found Bird at about 10:20 a.m. on June 1 outside of the Margo Fournier Centre.
While Bird recovers in Edmonton with a small group of family at her bedside, another group of supporters is growing in Prince Albert, spurred in part by the Prince Albert YWCA.
“Marlene Bird is a mother, a daughter, a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation and a part of our YWCA Prince Albert family,” Prince Albert YWCA executive director Donna Brooks said, noting that staff know her well and that she’s “easy to get along with — basically harmless.”
She needs to know that she is supported, Brooks said, noting that it’s been appalling to the limited reach of Bird’s story beyond local media.
“If this attack would have happened to a middle class woman in a suburban Toronto neighbourhood, I guarantee you it would have been on the national news — I guarantee you that,” she said.
“But, because it happened in Prince Albert, it happened to an aboriginal woman who is a part of the homeless community — because of all those factors I don’t think it received the media attention it should.”
YWCA staff is collecting letters of support and financial donations for Bird and her family, which they will mail out to Edmonton every week during her recovery.
“It’s very important to show her that she matters — that what has happened to her has saddened a lot of people in our community and that she is important and there are a lot of people who care about her,” Brooks said.
The local YWCA executive director also helped bring Bird’s story to the World YWCA, which issued their own words of support.
“The YWCA movement, in 125 countries and 22,000 communities around this world, stands in solidarity with Marlene Bird and joins her family’s call for justice,” World YWCA general secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda said in a release.
The Edmonton YWCA has also stepped up to the plate by helping Bird’s family during their stay in the Alberta city.
When it comes to the attack itself, Thiessen maintains that she’s confident someone out there knows who attacked her niece.
“P.A.’s a small community, everyone knows everybody on the street level,” she said.
It’s very important to show her that she matters — that what has happened to her has saddened a lot of people in our community and that she is important and there are a lot of people who care about her. Donna Brooks
“People know who it is but they’re not wanting to tell because they’re scared, and that’s how it works on the street.
“One of the things they should know is people can call (Crime Stoppers) … and their name is not going to be given out, you’re not going to be traced in any way or form, and they need to know that.”
In addition to urging people to help local police find the perpetrator(s), Brooks issues a word of caution to the public.
“Go out in pairs or don’t go to areas where there’s nobody else around, because we don’t know the details,” she said. “It’s really important that people watch out for their own safety.”
The Prince Albert YWCA is also reiterating their stance on violence — that “Violence in any form, it’s not acceptable.”
“We need to put an end to it in our society, and I know it’s kind of an elusive thing, but everyone can do a little piece,” Brooks said.
Attend events such as last week’s march against violence and in support of Marlene Bird, she encouraged. Lobby politicians to increase penalties for those who perpetuate violence. Donate to local shelters.
One means of support with an immediate effect would be sending a letter of encouragement to Bird while she recovers in Edmonton.
Currently, Thiessen said that Bird’s group of bedside supporters are limiting what Bird hears out of fear of overwhelming her.
“We’re just letting her know that she’s in an Edmonton hospital and she’s going to be fine and her family’s with her — that’s all we’re allowed to tell her,” she explained.
However, as she becomes able to take on more information it would be nice if it were full of positivity and support, Brooks said.
Those interested in sending regards to Marlene Darlene Bird during her recovery are encouraged to drop letters off at either the YWCA Our House Shelter at 94 15th St. E. or the Central Avenue location at 1894 Central Ave.
UPDATE: The Prince Albert YWCA has already mailed its first shipment of letters to Marlene Bird and plans on doing so every week that she remains in hospital.
Financial donations will go toward Bird’s support team who are remaining at her bedside in Edmonton.
On June 6, more than 100 supporters showed up for a march through downtown Prince Albert in Bird’s honour and against violence.
The march culminated in a prayer where Bird was found a few days previous.
Tips can be made anonymously by phoning Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Address to follow:
YWCA
1895 Central Ave.
Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
S6V 4W8
Thankyou people
Twenty-three years after the violent murder of 14 women at École Polytechnique in Montréal and the horror has not ceased for many Canadians.
Mostly made up of students from the Prince Albert Collegiate Institute high school and the Ending Violence Against Women Committee, as well as two police officers and Mayor Greg Dionne, they marched throughout the mall on Thursday at noon.
While the murders at École Polytechnique are by no means the only atrocity which has been committed against the female half of Canada’s population — B.C.’s Highway of Tears and Vancouver’s Robert Pickton, are a couple of drastic examples — it was the first and largest to sweep across the country grabbing the attention of every media outlet for days.
“It was a national tragedy and it brought attention to the issue. It became not only a memorial but a call to action,” said Sandy Pitzel, an organizer of the event in Prince Albert.
Ever since then it has been a rallying point for awareness campaigns about the continued violence suffered by Canadian women.
The National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women is intended to be a time to mobilize against violence and to support the women and families who experience it, Pitzel said.
She says that remembering something that happened more than 20 years ago continues to be important because it was a turning point in the public’s attention of the issue.
“It was a national tragedy and it brought attention to the issue. It became not only a memorial but a call to action,”
“It’s because it was the first national event that brought attention to violence against women,” Pitzel said.
To bring the issue closer to home, every sign carried the name of one of the 14 Montréal women and on its flip side, the age and personal details of a woman from Saskatchewan who has been murdered.
Metis Elder Julie Pitzel was also in attendance and spoke to the gathering of marchers and mall-goers collectively. She spoke of the challenges women and their young continue to face and of how important it is that all women and the men who love them speak and act to curb violence against women and children.
“It’s sad when you think of these women, they never got to be mothers, never got to live out their lives,” Elder Pitzel said.
She was instrumental in the development of Prince Albert’s first ever women’s shelter, built specifically for women and their children escaping violence.
At the time she was the president of the West Central Native Women’s Organization, which spearheaded the project.
Nearly Every Mass Shooting In The Last 20 Years Shares One Thing In Common, And It Isn’t Weapons
Nearly every mass shooting incident in the last twenty years, and multiple other instances of suicide and isolated shootings all share one thing in common, and its not the weapons used.
The overwhelming evidence suggests the single largest common factor in all of these incidents is that all of the perpetrators were either actively taking powerful psychotropic drugs or had been at some point in the immediate past before they committed their crimes.
Multiple credible scientific studies going back more then a decade, as well as internal documents from certain pharmaceutical companies that suppressed the information show that SSRI drugs ( Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors ) have well known, but unreported side effects, including but not limited to suicide and other violent behavior. One need only Google relevant key words or phrases to see for themselves. www.ssristories.com is one popular site that has documented over 4500 “ Mainstream Media “ reported cases from around the World of aberrant or violent behavior by those taking these powerful drugs…
…On to the list of mass shooters and the stark link to psychotropic drugs.
Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold’s medical records have never been made available to the public.
Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather’s girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.
Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.
Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.
Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.
Mathew Miller, age 13, hanged himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.
Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.
Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.
A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.
Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded..
A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.
Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.
TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.
Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.
James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.
Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania
Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) – school shooting in El Cajon, California
Jarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.
Chris Shanahan, age 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.
Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic’s file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.
Neal Furrow (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.
Kevin Rider, age 14, was withdrawing from Prozac when he died from a gunshot wound to his head. Initially it was ruled a suicide, but two years later, the investigation into his death was opened as a possible homicide. The prime suspect, also age 14, had been taking Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants.
Alex Kim, age 13, hanged himself shortly after his Lexapro prescription had been doubled.
Diane Routhier was prescribed Welbutrin for gallstone problems. Six days later, after suffering many adverse effects of the drug, she shot herself.
Billy Willkomm, an accomplished wrestler and a University of Florida student, was prescribed Prozac at the age of 17. His family found him dead of suicide – hanging from a tall ladder at the family’s Gulf Shore Boulevard home in July 2002.
Kara Jaye Anne Fuller-Otter, age 12, was on Paxil when she hanged herself from a hook in her closet. Kara’s parents said “…. the damn doctor wouldn’t take her off it and I asked him to when we went in on the second visit. I told him I thought she was having some sort of reaction to Paxil…”)
Gareth Christian, Vancouver, age 18, was on Paxil when he committed suicide in 2002,
(Gareth’s father could not accept his son’s death and killed himself.)
Julie Woodward, age 17, was on Zoloft when she hanged herself in her family’s detached garage.
Matthew Miller was 13 when he saw a psychiatrist because he was having difficulty at school. The psychiatrist gave him samples of Zoloft. Seven days later his mother found him dead, hanging by a belt from a laundry hook in his closet.
Kurt Danysh, age 18, and on Prozac, killed his father with a shotgun. He is now behind prison bars, and writes letters, trying to warn the world that SSRI drugs can kill.
Woody ____, age 37, committed suicide while in his 5th week of taking Zoloft. Shortly before his death his physician suggested doubling the dose of the drug. He had seen his physician only for insomnia. He had never been depressed, nor did he have any history of any mental illness symptoms.
A boy from Houston, age 10, shot and killed his father after his Prozac dosage was increased.
Hammad Memon, age 15, shot and killed a fellow middle school student. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and was taking Zoloft and “other drugs for the conditions.”
Matti Saari, a 22-year-old culinary student, shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine.
Steven Kazmierczak, age 27, shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amounts of Xanax in his system.
Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18, had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School – then he committed suicide.
Asa Coon from Cleveland, age 14, shot and wounded four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon was on Trazodone.
Jon Romano, age 16, on medication for depression, fired a shotgun at a teacher in his New York high school…
Are there people on the other side, do you believe in ghosts. Do they contact us.
Is it a shadow in t he corner of your eye or are the spirit’s, standing by?
Share your experiences with us and perhaps join in conversation with others who
also may have had similar experiences. Many are afraid to share for fear of
repercussions from their peers. I hope to hear from you…..
You can sing with me in Heaven tomorrow
when the time comes to forget our sorrows
a smooth mountain we can not climb
we’ll fly as Angels in due time
Take my hand and walk with me
I’ll show you the way to Galilee
Though your arms are invisible to the eye.
You soothe me as time drifts by. You captivate
my every move as you are there to fill all the
cracks, cover every groove.
Mesmerized by the sparkle in your eyes, A hundred,
a thousand, a million, or more. Continuous diamond
glints glistening in the azure beauty of sky. A smile
for my God; I’m painting as our Angels gloriously fly
by.
Keep your arms tightly folded round me,
let not a feather come between. May the soft
blanket of earth sustain me and may the sea enrich
every scene.
Bathed in the cosmos of your birthing belly, my
subconscious becomes intoxicated with your eternal
flow. I thirst for the juice of your wisdom and
feast on the abundance of your growth.
I stand for unity of a nation and hope for total
world integration. Upon world’s end, when your
invisible arms closes off every door, An inviolable
sanctity will consume and protect all who rise
within your universe, forever more.
Visit this group and enjoy many poems by local poets and poets from all over the world.
Check out the link below…..
https://www.facebook.com/groups/artofwords/
Spoken Word with Wakefield Brewster
Learn from one of the best spoken word poets residing in Calgary! Wakefield Brewster is top notch. It’s going to be amazing!
The first half of the workshop will have a focus on the creative writing aspect with examples that Wakefield actually employs when he writes, from the conventional to the unconventional to the crazy.
The second half of the workshop will be dedicated to the performance aspects. Wakefield will talk about the use of space, body language, vocal projection, breathing, all kinds of little things, because the little things count.
This will be a highly interactive workshop with lots of Question and Answer opportunity. It is not the typical “someone lectures at you for ‘x’ number of minutes, now write a poem” workshop. Writing a poem is not going to be mandatory. Taking notes is optional. So come have some fun.
“I’m high energy – I’m honest – I’m passionate – I’m real. I want them to feel that vibe emanate off of me and have it permeate them right to their poet-souls.” – Wakefield Brewster
WAKEFIELD BREWSTER
Sign up for Wakefields Poetry workshop…email below for detailed info…..:Cost: $25
Capacity: 25 people
Email tammy@limelighter.ca to sign up for the workshop
Location: Loft 112
SpokenWord Artist MELVINA GERMAIN
Celebrating Black History month at Genesis… February 22nd at Genesis Center in NE Calgary, at 6 pm . Speakers, Poets & Performers attending to follow: Tony Lambert…Astou N Diaye Djamat-Dubois…Eunice Fab…Cara Azevedo…Ayuba Camara…Jill Marie Robinson…Didier Gangoma…Jed Pro…Afrika Sukisa…Ghazal Alnahas…Reginald Rivette…Natasha Jordan-Knox…Melisa Lim…Wakefield Brewster…Yassin Mustapha…Sykologist Musiq…Melvina Germain…Nyabuoy Gatbel…Adora Nwofor…..
Let me tell you a little bit about a man I’m very proud of. This is a Black man who truly showed a great picture of the Black man, not your stereotypical usual picture so many like to think of.
His name is “John Ware” a Black Cowboy, that’s right, so many have not heard of this unique and marvellous man. Well John Ware was born into slavery in South Carolina. Wearing such a label did not slow John down in life as you will soon see. After the “American Civil War” John Ware was old enough to venture out on his own and he moved to Texas. There he became a Cowboy and learned the skills of ranching.
John Ware was a cattle man and he herded cattle from Texas, through Montana and up into Alberta as we know it now. John worked right here in Calgary at a ranch for a time and subsequently bought his own ranch near “The Red Deer River”
John had married to a wonderful and supportive woman, named “Mildred Lewis”, they had five children. They moved from Calgary to the Village of Duchess in Alberta. John and family did endure some tough times as their first home was destroyed by a Spring flood in 1902 and John had to rebuild. He did so on higher ground.
Mildred died also in the spring of pneumonia. John unfortunately was killed in the fall after being crushed with a broken neck, when his horse had tripped in a badger hole. His funeral was one of the largest for that time in the early days.
John Ware goes down in history and is known for being the creator of the very popular “steer wrestling”. We all know, it is still very popular at the Calgary Stampede. We must remember that John Ware was known for helping to lay the down the foundation of the ranching industry in Western Canada. People did not consider John as a stereotype, he was well respected as a hard worker and very well liked individual. He did not dwell on his color, instead he acted on what he knew and loved.
There is much to learn about John Ware and often you can see and learn of him right here in Alberta, at the Glen Bow Museum. Or you can visit area’s named in honour of John Ware. John Ware Ridge…formerly…Nigger John Ridge. Mount Ware and or Ware Creek. Perhaps check out “John Ware High School” in South West Calgary. How about “The John Ware Building” at Sait, Ploytechnic undergraduate college and also “The John Ware 4-H Beef Club in Duchess, Alberta. Oh John Ware was not forgotten by our horse people, here in Alberta.
Take note that John & Mildred’s log Cabin was relocated in 1958 from the Prairie Setting near Millicent, Alberta to “The Red Deer River Valley” in Dinosaur Provincial Park which is about 20 k’s to the East. It’s restoration and redecoration took place in 2002.
A song was written by “Diamond Joe White” an Albertan Musician and he has since released a song with the title…”High River…The John Ware Story”. A sad note also to mention is none of John and Mildred’s children had any offspring and the last surviving daughter, “Nettie” died on her 96th birthday in March, 1989 in Vulcan, Alberta. Their last son, “Arthur” died in Burnaby, B.C. in May, 1989. Also note Mildred had family that still reside in New Jersey and also in British Columbia.
In 2012, two African American’s were placed on a Commemorative, Canadian Stamp, one was John Ware and the other was Viola Desmond from Nova Scotia. That was to celebrate “Black History”.
Check out the book…John Ware’s Cow Country…by J.W. Grant MacEwan…Also don’t forget to go forth and learn about “Viola Desmond”…..
WORDS BY: BILL COSBY
Bill Cosby always says it like it REALLY IS !!!!!!!
Bill Cosby “I’m 83 and Tired”
I’m 83. Except for brief period in the 50’s when I was doing my National
Service, I’ve worked hard since I was 17. Except for some serious
health challenges, I put in 50-hour weeks, and didn’t call in sick in nearly
40 years. I made a reasonable salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my
income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, it looks as
though retirement was a bad idea, and I’m tired. Very tired.
I’m tired of being told that I have to “spread the wealth” to people who
don’t have my work ethic. I’m tired of being told the government will take
the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy
to earn it.
I’m tired of being told that Islam is a “Religion of Peace,” when every day I
can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and
daughters for their family “honor”; of Muslims rioting over some slight
offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren’t
“believers”; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning
teenage rape victims to death for “adultery”; of Muslims mutilating the
genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur’an and
Shari’a law tells them to.
I’m tired of being told that out of “tolerance for other cultures” we must let
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries use our oil money to fund mosques
and madrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in Australia , New Zealand ,
UK , America and Canada , while no one from these countries are allowed to
fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia or any other
Arab country to teach love and tolerance..
I’m tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global
warming, which no one is allowed to debate.
I’m tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help
support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ
rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses
or stick a needle in their arm while they
tried to fight it off?
I’m tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of all parties
talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when
we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I’m tired of people
with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.
I’m really tired of people who don’t take responsibility for their lives and
actions. I’m tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination
or big-whatever for their problems.I’m also tired and fed up with seeing young
men and women in their teens and early 20’s be-deck them selves in tattoos and
face studs, thereby making themselves un-employable and claiming money from
the Government.
Yes, I’m damn tired. But I’m also glad to be 83.. Because, mostly, I’m not
going to have to see the world these people are making. I’m just sorry for
my granddaughter and their children. Thank God I’m on the way out and not
on the way in.
There is no way this will be widely publicized, unless each of us sends it on!
This is your chance to make a difference.
” I’m 83 and I’m tired. If you don’t forward this you are part of the problem”.
Written by: Bill Cosby
DUKE ELLINGTON
2009, The United States Mint launched a new coin featuring Duke Ellington, making him the first African American to appear by himself on a circulating U.S. coin
NELSON MANDELA
Nelson Mandela…A human presence on this earth that most will never forget. he personified greatness in his love for humanity and his quest for peace. He endured a devastation in his life that took 27 years of freedom way. He served that particular time like a king (in mind) and used it to have faith in the belief of his freedom. At no time did Mandela compromise is principles. However it was not the same ont he outside as the ANC (African National Congress was broken.
For Nelson Mandela, freedom raised its head in Feb. 11/1990 when he was released from Victor Verster Prison on Robben Island at the ripe age of 72. He then became known all over the world being a dominant influence creating peace within his country. Mandela became so respected and loved that both Blacks and Whites were inculcated by him. Subsequently they stood firm by his side, supporting him in his Presidency in April 1994.
Mandela was a unique and creative man and became the heart of his country. He was known as a radical…telling it like it is…and stnding up for the rights of himself and others. Unafraid to speak granted him a suspension from college for his political interference. Mandela had many attributes, he was charismatic, extremely ambitious, a lovely ballroom dancer and keen on boxing. Like Jesus his radical behavior came forth as he spoke to the masses.
Mandela studies law for a time and articled to a white attorney “lasar Sidelsky”, they became friends. He studied at the University of Wilwatersrand. Soon his political career approached and he was drawn into militant politics through the ANC (African National Congress). Mandela was diligent nd joined with an energetic Zulu intellectual (Anton Lembede) who together with (Sisulu Tambo, together the three set up a congress yuth league in 1944 to push the ANC toward protest.
More to come about a great man “Nelson Mandela)
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Born…March 14/1879 Died 1055
– Educated all across Europe
– Was considered a Genius
– Professor Theoretical Physics in the U.S.
– Received a Nobel Prize for Theoretical Physics
– A fine Musician…Played both the Piano & Violin
– Music was his mode of relaxation
– Supporter of Peace
– Stood at teh front of many Anti War Protests
– Refused Presidency of Israel
– Chastised for his race by Students
– The world considers Albert Einstein a Scientific
Genius.
THOMAS SANKARA
I’m here to tell you about a man, named Thomas Sankara.
A man many seemed to have forgotten and many who
never knew of his name. This man, was a great man, just
the same.
An upright man was he, not living a life of corruption, or
falling in the fields of roaring greed, baited with its seduction.
No this man was a man of quality, compassionate through to
the core, a man ready to defend “good” even if need be by war.
With great respect he viewed the world, and treated the weak
with gentle hands. But for the wicked, corrupt and sinister, he
had another plan. Rid the pain, rip away the veil of captivity,
for his people were frail and poor, with no concrete stability.
We’ve heard of many leaders and those who have attained fortune
and fame. This great man lived among a people seeking freedom
from corrupted games. His name was not seen in Neon lights.
Newspaper articles wrote little of him as he began the journey
seeking freedom and rights for his people. .
A revolutionary man was he, standing for the betterment of his
African country. To no avail, he appealed to the French to lift
the blanket of Imperialism. This upright man, was facing a
battle he would never win, though his struggle did begin.
Thomas Sankara, died one of the poorest Presidents whoever
lived. Prior to his death, so much of himself he wanted to give.
His meager possessions as such were: a fridge, a broken
Freezer, three guitars, four bikes and a car, a salary of $450.00
a month. He was not a rich man by far. Though he was the world’s
poorest President, he was its richest revolutionary. A legacy the
world should carry.
A friend thee painted mask unveiled, O Blaise thou fire doth burn
corrupt. Evil giants dines blood curdling rage and the fiery beast.
Shall ne’er stand tall. Linens, diamonds, gold and silk. Greed and
envy shall bear you tainted milk. False love drained such eyes of
deceit,while stand up men fell to their death in the land of the meek.
Twenty six years since Sankara’s assassination, he and twelve of
his aids were victims of a calculation. Gunned down with no
reservation. This great man and his aids were killed before a
nation and very few knew, of this silent news. In October 1987,
the world lost another great man. He joins great leaders in the
sky of Heaven and watches over his Father’s land.
O hail ye not, ne’re forget thy heavy hand, you’ve robbed my
people of their land. The book is open, in patience I wait beyond
the glory of God’s gate. With Him, I rest in eternal peace and
await the day, hells gates release, when the choice is no longer
yours to cease.
This poem to be continued and continued and continued.
What He Invented: DryBath
Why It’s Important: At age 21 Ludwick Marishane developed a formula that people use to bathe without water. DryBath is a lotion that cleanses cheaply and easily — especially important for the 2.5 billion people worldwide who lack proper access to water and sanitation.
DryBath has the same effect as an antibacterial cleanser, but it’s odorless and creates a biodegradable film that cleans and moisturizes the skin. Five years later, it’s now available on the market. Marishane has since enrolled at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and was named the Global Student Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011.
Three of my poetry books are now published on the Kindle through
Amazon. Journey Of The Soul..Above The Rain and Conscious
Revelation. If you do not have a kindle device, you can download the
kindle device to your PC, free of charge, a gift from Amazon. After
downloading the device, you can purchase my books and begin
your kindle library.
IRIS ATFEL
At an age when when most people would be long retired (she’s nearly 93!), the unstoppable force that is Iris can’t be contained. The self-proclaimed “geriatric starlet” became known most recently for her one-of-kind, muse-worthy style—so lauded that the Costume Institute at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrated it in the 2005 exhibition “Rara Avis.” Since then, Iris has become synonymous with the world of fashion.
But beyond haute couture, Iris was a decorator and textile designer for the better part of her career. In 1950 she and her husband, Carl, opened Old World Weavers, a textile firm they ran until 1992, servicing everyone from Emily Post to Dorothy Draper. Iris also was responsible for many White House restorations, including those of the Truman, Kennedy, and Clinton administrations.
Ever curious, she globe-trotted her way through life, living from one experience to the next, and obsessively collecting along the way. As she told us, “My travels were fairly extensive. I feel very grateful I had the unusual opportunity of seeing the end of the Old World.”
Even if you don’t know who she is, or just know her as “that lady with the glasses,” chances are she’s caught your attention and you want to learn more. In preparation for our sale, we spent a lot of time with the doyenne—poring through her warehouse and sitting down for the video interview at our studio (above). Here we share some amazing sound bites from the witty and irreverent personality that is Iris Apfel.
REGINA BRETT
This is something we should all read at least once a week!!!!! Make sure you read to the end!!!!!!
Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .
“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 42 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I’ve ever written.
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short – enjoy it..
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
10. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
11. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
12. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it…
14 Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
15. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
16. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
17. It’s never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
21. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
22. The most important sex organ is the brain.
23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’
25. Always choose life.
26. Forgive but don’t forget.
27. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does..
31. Believe in miracles.
32. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
33. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
34. Your children get only one childhood.
35. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
36. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
37. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
38. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.
39. The best is yet to come…
40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
41. Yield.
42. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”
Its estimated 93% won’t forward this. If you are one of the 7% who will, forward this with the title ‘7%’.
.
“There is no royal, flower-strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it; for if I have accomplished anything in life, it is because I have been willing to work hard.”
“I got my start by giving myself a start.”
“This is the greatest country under the sun. But, we must not let our love of country, our patriotic loyalty, to cause us to abate one whit in our protest against wrong and injustice.”
– Madam C.J. Walker
Madam C.J. Walker
Madam C.J. Walker was an inventor, businesswoman, philanthropist, and a social activist who made her fortune by developing and marketing a hugely successful line of beauty and hair products for black women. The Guinness Book of Records cites Walker as the first female, black or white, who became a millionaire by her own achievements.
Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867 on a Delta, Louisiana plantation (birthplace shown here), this daughter of former slaves transformed herself from an uneducated farm laborer and laundress into of the twentieth century’s most successful, self-made women entrepreneur.
she got her start … by giving herself a start
Orphaned at age seven, she often said, “I got my start by giving myself a start.” She and her older sister, Louvenia, survived by working in the cotton fields of Delta and nearby Vicksburg, Mississippi. At 14, she married Moses McWilliams to escape abuse from her cruel brother-in-law, Jesse Powell.
Her only daughter, Lelia (later known as A’Lelia Walker) was born on June 6, 1885. When her husband died two years later, she moved to St. Louis to join her four brothers who had established themselves as barbers. Working for as little as $1.50 a day, she managed to save enough money to educate her daughter. Friendships with other black women who were members of St. Paul A.M.E. Church and the National Association of Colored Women exposed her to a new way of viewing the world.
necessity is the mother of her invention
Like many women of that era, Sarah washed her hair only once a month. As a result, she suffered from severe dandruff and a scalp disease that caused her to lose most of her hair. In 1905, she moved to Denver where she worked as a sales agent for Annie Malone, a black woman entrepreneur who manufactured hair care products. Sarah consulted with a Denver pharmacist who analyzed Malone’s formula and helped Sarah formulate her own products.
While in Denver, Sarah married her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker, a St. Louis newspaperman. After changing her name to “Madam” C. J. Walker, she founded her own business and began selling Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower door to door. The elements of the “Walker System” were a shampoo, a pomade “hair-grower,” vigorous brushing, and the application of heated hair combs. The method transformed stubborn, lusterless hair into shining smoothness. Madam Walker, by the way, did not invent the straightening comb, though many people incorrectly believe that to be true.
marketing genius travels extensively
to promote her product
To promote her products, the new “Madam C.J. Walker” traveled for a year and a half on a dizzying crusade throughout the heavily black South and Southeast, selling her products door to door, demonstrating her scalp treatments in churches and lodges, and devising sales and marketing strategies.
In 1908, Madam Walker created a college for her future employees. They were trained in the art of hair styling. Leila College, run by Madam Walker’s daughter,A’Lelia, taught their students what became known as the Walker Method. After their schooling, most of the graduates were employed by Walker herself. She and her company employed over 3,000 people at one point.
By early 1910, she had settled in Indianapolis, then the nation’s largest inland manufacturing center, where she built a factory, hair and manicure salon and another training school. In 1913, while Walker traveled to Central America and the Caribbean to expand her business, her daughter A’Lelia, moved into a fabulous new Harlem townhouse and Walker Salon, designed by black architect, Vertner Tandy. “There is nothing to equal it,” she wrote to her attorney, F.B. Ransom. “Not even on Fifth Avenue.”
the madam becomes a famous promoter
of her products, hard work & social justice
Walker herself moved to New York in 1916, leaving the day-to-day operations of the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company in Indianapolis to Ransom and Alice Kelly, her factory forelady and a former school teacher. Although she continued to oversee the business and to run the New York office, once in Harlem, Madam Walker quickly became involved in Harlem’s social and political life, taking special interest in the NAACP’s anti-lynching movement to which she contributed $5,000.
Walker made most of her fortune between 1911 and 1917, making Madam C.J. Walker the first African American woman to become a millionaire. The fame received by this hard work gave her the inspiration to promote her product in lectures, which in turn helped other black women start their own businesses. Like many famous African Americans of the time, Madam Walker was an inspirational speaker, preaching hard work and determination through struggles.
Madam Walker had a mansion called “Villa Lewaro” built in the wealthy New York suburb of Irvington on Hudson, New York, near the estates of John D. Rockefeller and Jay Gould. The Italianate villa was designed by architect Vertner Tandy, the first registered black architect in the state of New York. She also owned townhouses in Indianapolis and New York.
In July 1917, when a white mob murdered more than three dozen blacks in East St. Louis, Illinois, Walker joined a group of Harlem leaders who visited the White House to present a petition favoring federal anti-lynching legislation.
As her business continued to grow, Walker organized her agents into local and state clubs. Her Madam C. J. Walker Hair Culturists Union of America convention in Philadelphia in 1917 must have been one of the first national meetings of businesswomen in the country. Walker used the gathering not only to reward her agents for their business success, but to encourage their political activism as well. As she put it,
“This is the greatest country under the sun.But we must not let our love of country, our patriotic loyalty cause us to abate one whit in our protest against wrong and injustice. We should protest until the American sense of justice is so aroused that such affairs as the East St. Louis riot be forever impossible.”
Warned by physicians that her hypertension required a reduction of her activities, Madame Walker nevertheless continued her busy schedule. She died at age 52 in 1919 at her estate. Included in Madame C.J. Walker’s will was a provision that women would always head the company she founded.
madam’s GREATEST legacy:
BOOSTING THE self-confidence of black women
No single accomplishment or personal trait captures the essence of Madam C. J. Walker’s legacy. Rather, her life is best summed up as being a . . .
Pioneering entrepreneur. Madam C.J. Walker was clearly a pioneer of the modern cosmetics industry. Tenacity and perseverance, faith in herself and in God, quality products and “honest business dealings” were the elements and strategies she prescribed for aspiring entrepreneurs who requested the secret to her rags-to-riches ascent. Along the way, she provided educational opportunities and lucrative incomes for thousands of African American women who otherwise would have been consigned to jobs as farm laborers, washerwomen and maids.
Pioneering philanthropist. Madam Walker was also a pioneering philanthropist, initiating the philosophy of charitable giving in the black community with her unprecedented contributions to the YMCA, the NAACP, the Tuskegee Institute, and Bethune-Cookman College.
Pioneering social activist. And, as a pioneering political activist, Madam C.J. Walker organized her sales agents to use their economic clout to protest lynching and racial injustice.
Pioneering creator of a self-confident beauty culture for black women – her greatest legacy. She made it her goal to create a safe and comfortable place in which black women could be “pampered,” believing that this kind of attention would boost their self-confidence and alleviate the daily stress that black women suffered from. In addition to feeling physical beauty, she wanted women to, “combine these qualities with a beautiful mind and soul.” As much as any woman of the twentieth century, Madam C.J. Walker paved the way for the profound social changes that altered women’s place in American society.
For your enjoyment, I have decided this is one beautiful way to be
able to share an abundance of my inspiration, my encouragement,
and my love of life with all of you at a very affordable low price.
After reading my books, I would so appreciate a few words from you
in a review on Amazon. On the purchase page beneath the books you
will see a review box. Please stop by and leave a word or two.
Thank you friends, I do appreciate all of you.
Melvina
Title: Sisters
By: Melvina Germain
You know when you conduct research about women in different parts of the world, it’s
heart breaking. That deep blanket of negativity covers you heavily and it’s difficult to find a place to be uplifted.
The only way for women to rise up all over the world is by joining together and forming that chain of love and demanding our right to be treated as people.
It’s time to empower ourselves . It can’t be done overnight, we start by teaching our young girls how powerful they are. We let them know that they are not the weaker sex, we let them know how crucial it is to get an education.
We teach them their body is a temple…Be kind when you talk to them about their bodies, Let them know that they are the chosen ones, they share the bringing of life into this world with God. Without them a man will not walk on this earth. If they decide not to bring children in the world, the world no longer becomes populated. They are the powerhouse for without women, there is no world.
When equality is present on the earth among both genders, then there will be balance. With balance, love will shine and the world will finally be in a place of harmony. This world is a mess at present due to the work of men and the only way peace will come is with the intervention of what women can bring forth.
Take a look at some very special women here, learn from them and become empowered to be the best you can be.
Black Sisters
Pictured from left to right: Annie Parram, age 104; Anna
Angales, age 105; Elizabeth Berkeley, 125; Sadie
Thompson, 110. These ladies are present at a slave
reunion in 1916, in Washington, D.C. They all lived to
a beautiful old age.
If you thought a 14-year-old set to graduate from Chicago State University with a degree in Psychology was an amazing feat, wait until you hear about this next teenager making history.
18-year-old Gabrielle Turnquest recently became the youngest person to pass the bar exam in the UK.
“I am honored to be the youngest person to pass the Bar exams but, really, I was not aware at the time what the average age was,” she told The Telegraph. “I didn’t fully realize the impact of it.”
The average age of a typical lawyer graduating from The University of Law’s Bar Professional Training Course is 27, according to The University of Law’s records.
The Windermere, Florida native is also eligible to be called to the Bahamas Bar, an opportunity that’s close to her heart due to her parents’ origin.
Ironically, Turnquest isn’t the only child in her family to pass the UK Bar exam. Her sister, Kandi, also took the same course and passed the bar at the age of 22.
Looking ahead to the future, the history making teen plans to attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in the US to study Apparel Industry Management this Fall.
“Studying at the University of Law has broadened my horizons and introduced me to a global legal system that will help me in my future career in the international fashion industry” the teen said in a press release about her accomplishment.
This isn’t Gabrielle’s first time making history. The Florida teen was also the youngest to graduate with a degree from Liberty University in Virginia at the age of 16. Her ultimate goal is to build a career as a fashion law specialist.
Leymah Gbowee
Leymah Gbowee, along with the women of Liberia, organized a peaceful movement which succeeded in bringing an end to a Civil War which had killed more than 250,000 people in 14 years. President Charles Taylor came to power after a bloody revolution which took place from 1980 until 1995. Soon after his election, Taylor began to support ethnic killings and embezzlement. This led to further conflict within the country, with the Second Liberian Civil War beginning in 1999, a war characterized by its brutality and the use of child soldiers.Born in central Liberia in 1972, Leymah quickly became involved in the violence which tore Liberia apart. She trained as a trauma counselor for girls and women raped by militia, also working in the troubled Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2002, Leymah organized the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement. They gathered women from many different backgrounds to pray and sing in public, demanding peace. Picketing, fasting and threatening a “sex strike,” the women risked their lives, protesting in the capital, to demand that Charles Taylor do something to end the conflict.After pressure from the women and international condemnation, the brutal president finally listened and Taylor flew to neutral Ghana for peace talks. The women followed him to Ghana to continue their efforts. Violence ended in 2003, with Taylor forced to resign and imprisoned by The Hague for crimes against humanity. Democratic elections in 2005 saw Ellen Johnson Sirleaf elected by the people as the first female head of state in an African nation. Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.
September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917), born Lydia Lili’u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka’eha, was the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii. She was also known as Lydia Kamaka’eha Paki, with the chosen royal name of Lili’uokalani, and her married name was Lydia K. Dominis.
In 1983, annexationists along with John L. Stevens—chief American diplomat in Hawaii—created a conspiracy to overthrow the Hawaiian government. Stevens allowed troops from the U.S.S Boston to occupy Honolulu. They arrested Queen Lili’uokalani who was against the annexation of Hawaii, and she surrendered.
Mother Teresa
This is a lady I respect and love, she was born Aug. 26/1910 and closed the door to this earth Sept. 5/1997. She was a messenger of God, doing all that is good and standing so strong. She was a tiny woman in stature with unshakable faith. A soul filled with the love of Christ. Mother Teresa said she belonged to the world, and her love poured abundantly over all. She stood as one of the best role models in her love of God and taking that love and extending it to all around her, she took care of the poor with great compassion. Mother Teresa experienced her own internal darkness but was able to wade through that storm and begin her work of caring for the poor and continued to the end of her life.
Mother Teresa founded…The Missionaries of Charity, A Roman Catholic religious congregation. In 2012 it consisted of 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries. CAring for hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy, tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children’s and family programes, orphanges and schools. Learn about Mother Teresa and embrace her strength, her compassion, her empathy and her profound love of humanity. We can start by volunteering our time in some way to aid in the help and
compassion for the poor, inspiration for the young and serve as the best role models we can be.
Lady Diana
Born Diana Spencer on July 1, 1961, Princess Diana became Lady Diana Spencer after her father inherited the title of Earl Spencer in 1975. She married heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, on July 29, 1981. They had two sons and later divorced in 1996. Diana died in a car crash after trying to escape the paparazzi in Paris on the night of August 30, 1997.
Lady Diana was a well liked Royal, the public wept in shock, yes many tears flowed mourning the death of Lady Diana. She was a great humanitarian and certainly a Blessing to all she came in contact with. A shy and very beautiful woman in beauty and heart, and this Royal shared her heart with the world. Lady Diana is a shining light in history and will never be forgotten.
MALALA YOUSAFZAI
Nobel Peace Prize nominee Malala Yousafzai was the young lady who was shot in the head for standing up for education for girls. The Taliban sought her out and shot her, it is said three times in the head. Malala survived and was able to recount with a friend or friends what had happened on that dreadful day. The Taliban attempted to assassinate her and even though at close range did not succeed. Malala, a very brave and very strong young lady lives to continue her crusade for the education of females. Malala is greatly supported by the people of Pakistan and the Taliban is feared as they are against women’s rights. Malala made a statement saying the Taliban had sullied Islam by linking it to terrorism.
ADA LOVELACE
Ada Lovelace was the worlds first computer programmer. She was an English mathematician and writer. She was known for her work on Charles Babbage’s early mechanical general purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes on the engine include what is recognized as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine. Due to this, Ada is described as the world’s first computer programmer.
In case you are wondering if she is related to Linda Lovelace, the answer is no. Linda Lovelace had quite an abusive life and now apparently there will be a movie about her. I haven’t heard of anything in the works for Ada Lovelace though…just saying…..
8 AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN WHO CHANGED THE WORLD
1. SOJOURNER TRUTH (1797-1883)
Sojourner Truth“I hope that Sojourner Truth would be proud to see me, a descendant of slaves, serving as the First Lady of the United States of America.”– First Lady Michelle Obama
Sojourner Truth is considered one of the great abolitionists, activists, speakers, and thinkers of all time. Born into slavery in 1797, she possessed a gift for public speaking and spoke fervently about abolishing slavery and about the need for women’s rights.
After the Civil War, Sojourner Truth dedicated her time to helping former slaves transition to a life of freedom. Sojourner Truth fought tirelessly for the rights of African-Americans and women until the day she died in 1883.
In April of 2009, Sojourner Truth became the first black woman to be honored with a bust in the United States Capital. First Lady Michelle Obama, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senator Hillary Clinton were among those who spoke about Sojourner Truth at the bust’s unveiling.
2. HARRIET TUBMAN (1822-1913)
Born into slavery in 1820 on a Maryland plantation, Harriet Tubman is known as one of the great conductors of the Underground Railroad. Over the course of ten years (from 1850 to 1860), Tubman guided approximately 300 slaves to freedom.
At one point, authorities offered a reward of $40,000 to anyone who captured Tubman. People referred to her as “Moses.” Frederick Douglass said of her, “Excepting John Brown — of sacred memory — I know of no one who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved people than [Harriet Tubman].”
3. Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
Born in 1913, Rosa Parks is the brave seamstress who on December 1, 1955 would not give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama. Her courage helped end legal segregation for good and set the modern Civil Rights Movement in motion.
Of her experience growing up, she said, “we didn’t have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down.”
ROSA PARKS is the first woman and the second African-American to have been given a state funeral – her casket was kept in the capital for two days following her death (something that only really happens to former presidents). During her lifetime, she received the Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor.
4. DAISY BATES(1914-1999)
Daisy Bates Daisy Bates was a pivotal civil rights activist and the guide, mentor, and adviser for the Little Rock Nine. She was also the president of the state of Arkansas’s NAACP chapter and helped her husband run a weekly newspaper, the Arkansas State Press, which chronicled the ongoing battle for civil rights in Arkansas during the 1950s.
When the Supreme Court ruled that segregation among schools was no longer constitutional (in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case), the state of Arkansas resisted the ruling. Daisy Bates advocated for integration and helped identify the nine students who would be the first African-American students to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
She mentored and nurtured the students during this difficult time, striving to protect them from mobs and vicious threats. Throughout her life, she continued to fight for civil rights, working for the Democratic National Committee in Washington and incubating many community projects in Little Rock. Her memoir, The Long Shadow of Little Rock: A Memoir chronicles her experiences growing up and her involvement in the struggle for civil rights.
5. GWENDOLYN BROOKS (1917-2000)
Gwendolyn Brooks was one of the most influential American writers and poets of the 20th century. Based primarily in Chicago, IL, a center of Blues and Jazz cultures, her poems often carry a musical quality, and many catalog the black experience.
Brooks was the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize (which she won for her book of poetry Annie Allen). Her most famous poem is “We Real Cool”. She wrote over twenty books of poetry during her lifetime, and was honored with many awards, including serving as the Poet Laureate for the state of Illinois in 1968 and as a Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1985 to 1986.
6. Toni Morrison (1931- )
TONI MORRISON is one of the greatest writers of the 20th and 21st centuries, known for chronicling the history and experiences of Black America. She became the first African-American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993, and the Swedish Academy described her as a writer “who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.”
In an interview with Elizabeth Farnsworth (of KQED’s Online Newshour), Morrison famously said, “All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by people who are not allowed in.” Her novel Beloved also won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
7.OPRAH WINFREY (1954- )
One of the most influential American TV personalities, philanthropists, and producers, Oprah Winfrey became the first African-American woman to host a national television talk show in 1986. Within one year, the Oprah Winfrey Show was the number one talk show in America.
She has given noteworthy performances in film adaptations of The Color Purple and Native Son, and founded her own production company, Harpo Productions, Inc., in 1986.
She received the National Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and in 2003 Forbes Magazine revealed her to be the first African-American woman to become a billionaire.
8. DR. MAE JEMISON (1955- )
Dr. Mae Jemison was a mission specialist for NASA and the first African-American woman to enter space. She was born in Decatur Alabama in 1955, and studied chemical engineering and Afro-American studies at Stanford University.
She then attended Cornell University’s medical school and used her degree working in a Cambodian refugee camp. She then served as a medical specialist in the Peace Corps in West Africa. After NASA selected her to undergo mission specialist training, she ventured into space aboard the Shuttle Endeavor in 1992. During her career as an astronaut, she logged 190 hours, 30 minutes, and 23 seconds in space.
Sharing (Posted originally by Shmoop)
Four more ladies I’ll share here but there are so many more to learn about…..
(1940-1994): After surviving infantile paralysis, bouts of scarlet fever, whooping cough, chickenpox, and measles, Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games in 1960.
Lucille Ball (1911-1989): Beloved comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress Lucille Ball became the first woman to run a major television studio, Desilu, in 1962.
Helen Keller (1880-1968):
The first deaf-blind person to earn a college degree, Keller forever changed our ideas about the disabled can accomplish.
As the first woman to make a solo transatlantic flight in 1932, Earhart expanded the world’s notions of just how high a woman can soar. Her plane was tragically lost in 1937 on what was supposed to be the first around-the-world flight at the equator.
I shared 16 women who changed the world, there are so many more, research and learn of the great ladies who came before us and who are currently on this earth working on a daily basis to better our world. Be proud and hold your head high, we are women and we have much to offer in the betterment of this world. We are the powerful as we are chosen by our Heavenly Father to continue to bring life to this world, we bring forth the miracles of life.
Mary Edwards Walker
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Edwards_Walker
Mary Edwards Walker(November 26, 1832 – February 21, 1919) was an American feminist, abolitionist, prohibitionist, alleged spy, prisoner of war and surgeon. She is currently the only woman ever to receive the Medal of Honor. Mary Edwards Walker was a Civil War Doctor.
Alice Augusta Ball (July 24, 1892 – December 31, 1916) was an African American chemist who developed an injectable oil extract that was the most effective treatment of leprosy until the 1940’s. She was also the first woman and first African American to graduate from the University of Hawaii with a master’s degree.
CLAIRE HARRIS
Claire Harris is a Canadian poet of Trinidadian background who has produced over eight collections of poems since her first volume, Fables from the Women’s Quarters (1984), which won the Commonwealth Award for Poetry for the Americas Region. Her 1992 volume, Drawing down a daughter was nominated for the Governor General’s Award for Poetry. Her Travelling to Find a Remedy won the Writers’ Guild of Alberta Poetry Award in 1987. Her work has been included in more than 70 anthologies and has been translated into German and Hindi.
Claire Harris was born (1937) in Trinidad, West Indies, studied at University College, Dublin where she earned a B. A. Honours in English (1961). At the University of the West Indies (Jamaica) she earned a Diploma in Education (1963). She came to Canada in 1966 and settled in Calgary where she taught English until 1994. In 1975, during a study leave in Nigeria, she first wrote for publication and was encouraged by Nigerian poet, J.P. Clark. She also earned a Diploma in Communications from the University of Lagos, Nigeria (1975). After returning to Canada Claire Harris became active in the literary community in Calgary working as poetry editor at Dandelion from 1981-89 and helping to found the all-Alberta magazine, blue buffalo, in 1983. As an active member of the Writers’ Guild of Alberta she was a reader-judge for several literary awards.
Many of Harris’s poems deal with the problems of injustice whether it is in colonial or post-colonial regions or in violence against women. Even in, Drawing down a daughter, a collection of personal poems on friendship, love and motherhood there are many references to the condition of African-Canadians.
Claire Harris is one of Canada’s best and best-known poets. Her works have been translated into several languages including German and Hindi, and her reading tours have taken her to India, South America, the Caribbean, the US, the UK, and Europe as well as across Canada. A native of Trinidad, she taught English and drama in Calgary high schools for more than twenty-five years before becoming a full-time poet and poetry performer. She has won the Writer’s Guild of Alberta Award and the Alberta Poetry Prize several times. Fables from the Women’s Quarters won the 1984 Commonwealth Prize for Poetry, Americas Region; and Drawing Down a Daughter was a finalist for the 1992 Governor General’s Award and the F.G. Bressani Prize.
Viola (Davis) Desmond
Viola (Davis) Desmond was a Halifax Business Woman, Beautician, Teacher and Entrepreneur who Awakened Nova Scotia to Human Rights in 1946.
Viola Desmond
The Davis family played an active part of Halifax Black society and, being born into in that family in 1914, Viola saw something that Black women wanted and needed in Nova Scotia. She observed the lack of professional Hair and skin care for Blacks. That was an entrepreneurial opportunity gap that she determined to fill. To do this, she ventured to New York’s Lalia College which had grown out of Madam C.J. Walker’s beauty business. Viola understood Walker’s business model – Don’t just build a business, build an industry. Today we would recognize that as “vertical integration”.
Viola (Davis) Desmond plotted her personal path to success by
Gaining professional training that was not available at home
Developing her own line of specialized beauty products
Using her products in her own studio
Empowering other Black women to start beauty culture businesses
Selling her product through the businesses started by her students
By 1946 she was proving the value of her formula and business was good. The Desmond Studio of Beauty Culture and the Desmond School of Beauty Culture were going strong and her network was expanding as she built an industry with her graduates. She created a province-wide Black Beauty Culture industry.
Viola Desmond was a leader in many ways:
She was a living positive successful Role Model for Black Women
Her graduates learned to operate business
Young girls proudly admired her stylish sense of presence
At a time when few women owned and operated independent business, she was admired as being truly outstanding.
Her eager graduates began their own careers and joined the distribution network for Viola Desmond’s brand of beauty products.
So it was on November 8, 1946 that she was on the road delivering product to out of town studios. Car trouble forced her to have idle time in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia so she took in a movie. The Roseland Theater that she entered had a racist practice restricting Blacks to sit in the balcony. Viola sat down stairs and when asked to move refused to go to the balcony.
For that refusal, she was ejected from the theater, arrested by the New Glasgow police, locked over night in the New Glasgow jail, charged, found guilty and sentenced in the New Glasgow court. She was found guilty of defrauding the government of the 1 cent difference in the 3 cent tax in a downstairs ticket and the 2 cents tax in a balcony ticket. She paid the fine plus costs and left New Glasgow.
When she returned to Halifax, the newly formed Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People encouraged her to fight to overturn that malicious conviction. Unfortunately, the appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was unsuccessful. The 1946 conviction remained on her record.
Viola Desmond had been denied the protection that one expects from the police, the prosecutors, the judges and the courts. Eventually, she left her business, left Nova Scotia and left Canada. Her 1965 death occurred in New York City.
In 2010, sixty-four years after the fact, the government of Nova Scotia apologized to Viola Desmond’s remaining family and acknowledged the integrity, strength and bravery of her action defending human rights. In 2012, Canada Post issued a Canadian postage stamp commemorating her stand for justice.
For decades, Viola Desmond’s ordeal inspired the emergence of Human rights legislation and fair accommodation laws throughout Canada during the 1950s and 1960s. The loss of Viola as a dynamic business role model has denied generations of Black entrepreneurs of her inspiration in that field. Today Black Business entrepreneurs still feel frustration and resistance.
Canada celebrates her strength of character in defying social injustice in 1946 Nova Scotia. As Dr. Martin Luther King Junior wrote in 1963, “…injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. For that, Viola (Davis) Desmond remains a role model and source of pride for African-Canadians.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, N. Y., M.I.T graduate “Aprille Ericsson” was the first female (black or white) to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Howard University and the first Black-American female to receive a Ph.D. in engineering at the ‘NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’.
In 1996 and 1997 she was acknowledged by the National Technical Association for being amongst the Top 50 minority women in Science and Engineering. In May of 1997 she received the Women in Science and Engineering award for being the best female in the Federal Government in 1998. In February of that year she received a Special Recognition Award at the Black Engineers Award Conference.
Billy Holiday or “Lady Day” had a musical persona that just never fades. She was inimitable with a voice that was haunting, vulnerable, and so reflective of the tragic life she led from the time she entered this earth. Holiday’s mother was a prostitute, and Holiday became one too before she even turned 14. After a stint in jail for prostitution charges, Holiday turned her attention to singing, and by 17, she was already performing at local Harlem, New York, haunts. Holiday was 20 years old when she was signed to a record label, and two years later, she found herself touring with such greats as Count Basie and Artie Shaw. The latter made her one of the first Black women to work with a white orchestra. By the time Holiday reached 30, she had established herself as a vocal force to be reckoned with. Soon Holiday’s light was dimmed by drug problems with weekly earnings of more than $1,000 spent on heroin. Holiday’s life became plagued with booze, drugs, and battles with abusive men, causing her health to spiral downward and her voice to lose its vibrancy. Diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, doctors ordered her to stop drinking but she didn’t. On May 31, 1959, Holiday was rushed to a hospital for liver and heart disease, and while there, she was placed under arrest for drug possession as she lay dying. Holiday remained under police guard at the hospital until she died two months later at age 44 on July 19, 1959, from pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver.
FLORENCE BALLARD
Florence Ballard was a founding member of the most-heralded girl group of the sixties, The Supremes. Ballard sang in the group from 1963 to 1967, and during her reign, she helped spawn 10 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Ballard, whose voice was often described as “commanding,” battled Motown boss Berry Gordy throughout her time with the group. When Diana Ross was placed front and center and the trio became Diana Ross and the Supremes, Ballard’s days were numbered. After Ballard was released from the group, a failed solo career and marriage left her destitute with three children. Ballard was forced to apply for welfare and this news spread like wildfire. Soon after, she tried to resurrect her career and marriage, but on February 21, 1976 at the age of 32, Ballard died from a blood clot in one of her coronary arteries.
WHITNEY HOUSTON
Whitney Houston, a legendary songstress who had a scintillating voice and a talent beyond compare, passed away at age 48. Recognized by the Guinness World Records as the “Most Awarded Female Act of All Time,” Houston sold more than 170-million albums, videos, and singles worldwide during her career. Houston’s artistic talents also spilled over on to the big screen, where she graced audiences with her acting abilities. Houston was found dead on February 11, 2012, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel only one day before the 2012 Grammy Awards. The cause of death is still unofficial but there is suspicion that a cocktail of drugs and alcohol might have been the culprit.
AALIYAH
Aaliyah was “the princess of R&B.” The young sensation’s voice had a declaration of strength, independence, and a look that had crossover appeal, garnering admirers globally. Aaliyah ventured into acting, landing her first movie role in the film “Romeo Must Die,” which also starred martial arts phenom Jet Li. The film opened No. 2 at the box office. Unfortunately, on August 25, 2001, Aaliyah boarded a plane that would end her life at just 22 years young.
MINNIE RIPERTON
Minnie Riperton left her fans in awe of her five-and-a-half octave singing voice as evidenced in her 1975 timeless hit “Loving You.” During her short-lived career, she managed to sing backup for such greats as Etta James, Chuck Berry, and Muddy Waters. In 1976, when Riperton was only 29 years old, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Since the cancer had spread, Riperton was given only six months to live. Riperton, Mother of actress Maya Rudolph, became one of the first celebs to go public with her diagnosis and became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. She passed away at age 31 on July 12, 1979.
Phyllis Hyman
Phyllis Hyman, was a statuesque and enviable beauty with a powerful voice that touched the souls of listeners. Hyman never received the acclaim that many thought she was so worthy of, but this didn’t stop her from continuing to produce the music that she was meant to do. A tragic figure who was beset with troubles from drugs, fluctuating weight problems, and countless broken hearts, Hyman took her own life by overdosing on drugs on June 30, 1995, closing the book on a career that was truly appreciated by romantic jazz and R&B aficionados everywhere.
TAMMI TERRELL
Tammi Terrell, who accompanied Marvin Gaye, made the pair a Motown phenom. By age 15, she had already signed with major record label Scepter Records as a solo artist. Terrell caught James Brown‘s eye when she was 17 and became one of his first female headliners. She and Brown became lovers, but the two-year relationship was fraught with the Godfather of Soul’s physical abuse. Berry Gordy became enamored with Terrell’s voice when he heard her perform at a venue and signed her on to Motown at age 20. She soon began touring and became involved with the Temptations lead singer David Ruffin, who also allegedly beat her unmercifully, striking her at one point with a hammer, machete, and motorcycle helmet in the face. Terrell’s success soared when she began singing with Gaye and their first hit, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” flew off the charts. Soon the young singer began experiencing unbearable headaches and migraines, which turned out to be a malignant brain tumor. Eight operations later, Terrell lapsed into a coma and died from complications of brain cancer on March 16, 1970. She was only 24 years young.
LISA LOPES
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was a member of the famed hip-hop R&B girl group TLC. As the most vocal member of the group, she began speaking out against the group and eventually went her own way. She was featured on albums, collaborated with other vocalists like Toni Braxton, and even appeared on a couple of television shows. Lopes was never one to be silent about her personal life. She came from an abusive and alcoholic home and even struggled with alcohol herself. The petite performer also made headlines when she was accused and convicted of setting fire to the home of ex-lover NFL player Andre Rison. Lopes told police that he had beat her and she retaliated by setting his tennis shoes on fire in a tub and the flames spread, completely destroying his home. The young rebel rouser was sentenced to five years probation and therapy at a halfway house, but was never able to shake the incident from her reputation. On April 25, 2002, in La Ceiba, Honduras, Lopes, age 30, died of neck injuries and severe head trauma as the result of a fatal crash. There were three other passengers in the SUV that Lopes was driving. Lopes was the only fatality.
(1940-1994): After surviving infantile paralysis, bouts of scarlet fever, whooping cough, chickenpox, and measles, Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games in 1960.
As the first woman to make a solo transatlantic flight in 1932, Earhart expanded the world’s notions of just how high a woman can soar. Her plane was tragically lost in 1937 on what was supposed to be the first around-the-world flight at the equator.
Mary Edwards Walker
