Seven Principles

Some people celebrate the pagan holiday Christmas while some people celebrate Hanukkah. I feel as though one holiday that is over looked and misunderstood is Kwanzaa. I have only had the opportunity to celebrate Kwanzaa twice in my life but I plan on making it a tradition for my family to celebrate annually especially when I become a parent myself.

So What is Kwanzaa? What is About? Pan-African observance transcending the various nationalities, languages, religions, and political orientations of Black people. Kwanzaa is about history and family it is an African American cultural holiday conceived and developed by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga, first celebrated December 26, 1966.

Traditionally celebrated from December 26 through January 1 each day focuses on Nguzo Saba, also known as the Seven Principles. Derived from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza" which means "first fruits"  Kwanzaa is rooted in the first harvest celebrations practiced in various cultures in Africa.



Purpose of Kwanzaa
The purpose of Kwanzaa seeks to enforce a connectedness to African cultural identity, provide a focal point for the gathering of African peoples. Born out of the whirlwind of social and political changes of the 1960s.

Seven (7) Principles
Unity ( Umoia)
Knowledge of Self ( Kujichagula)
Collective work and responsibility (Ujima)
Cooperative economics (Ujima)
Purpose (Nia)
Creativity (Kuumba)
Faith (Imani)


Toni's Thoughts: Kwanzaa is very important to African American culture and history and African Americans should not be ashamed or afraid to celebrate this holiday.

DMX "Party Up"

Happy birthday to Earl Simmons aka DMX I know the guy has problems but his musical talent is not up for debate because he has skills.

Reading is FUNDAMENTAL

At the moment I am currently reading The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G Woodson he was a  historian, author, founder of Association for the Study of African American Life and History , member of Omega Psi Pi Fraternity Inc., Father of Black History Month, etc. his accomplishments are as long as my arm. The book is powerful and text is relevant to the life of African Americans today. I truly recommend this book to anyone but especially to African Americans. I am learning so much I have been taking extensive notes.
 



 The thesis of Dr. Woodson's book is that African Americans of his time were being culturally indoctrinated, rather than taught, in American schools. This conditioning, he claims, causes African-Americans to become dependent and to seek out inferior places in the greater society of which they are a part. He challenges his readers to become autodidacts and to "do for themselves", regardless of what they were taught:

"History shows that it does not matter who is in power... those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they did in the beginning."

 Carter G Woodson





Excerpt: "The diffculty is that the "educated negro" is compelled to live and move among his own people whom he has been taught to despise. As a rule, therefore, the "educated Negro" prefers to buy his food from a white grocer because he has been taught  that Negro is not clean."

 

Black Jesus

Jacob sold me my first couple pieces
I was killing niggas who misunderstood what diseased did
Spent half a mill on a Ferrari, I could have leased it
Driving Scott Storch’s Bugatti before they released it
Drop The Documentary, rocking khakis with creases
Dope and hip hop, it resurfaced with some leeches
Ten times platinum, now I’m chilling where the beach is
Time to show the world what a motherfücking beast is
Blanca, bullet proof cars in Sri Lanka
12 years old, on his shoulder, a rocket launcher
10 thousand miles away, there’s an owner of a corner store
A white man walks in, spit shining his Audemar
While somewhere in Africa, Jo-Burg and Congo is going to war
Rebels enslaving they own people, digging water or
Get murdered cause that choppa is a carnivore
He found one and stole it, now the village tryna find that boy


The Game "Blood Diamonds" Verse 1





 
One of my favorite rappers is West Coast all star Jayceon Taylor aka "The Game" he just dropped his fifth studio album "Jesus Piece" and I must say it is awesome. I have purchased all of his albums and The Red Album was my least favorite but I still got love for The Game. The album cover has been sparking much controversey with its depiction of Jesus as a Black man wearing a red bandana. I love it his plan makes perfect sense if you like and understand The Game.


What's the concept? Why is it called "Jesus Piece?"
It is very simple there is no spiritual theme but instead there is "Gangster theme"of enjoying life while also having faith in God. He was baptized last year I think it is a possible for a gangster to restore his faith. Not to mention alot of rappers buy diamond  "Jesus Piece" chains.




"You want to believe in God, but you don't want to be criticized and ridiculed by people who think that they're better than you," "I don't want to feel like I can't love God or appreciate Jesus and have to put down that blunt. I want to smoke, maybe shower up, then go to church. Get the word, walk out of church, maybe smoke again, maybe hit up a strip club or two and do me, but I don't want to be ridiculed." The Game


Toni's Thoughts: Every song is banger great lyrical content and great production. The Game and Kendrick Lamar got the West Coast on lock they are Dr. Dre's greatest creations behind Snoop Dogg. Not to mention The Game is handsome but ladies he is off the market he is a family man.

Tamar Braxton Love And War #LoveAndWar

Luke James Make Love to Me New Joint

Guns In America and The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment is apart of the United States Bill of Rights that protect the rights of people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791.





What does it state? Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.



Toni's Thoughts: I am a Political Science major so I understand the Bill of Rights, Roe V Wade, Civil Rights of 1964, and many other important documents although I do believe we need some restrictions with our gun laws in the United States. I do not think guns should be banned all together but I do  feel as though  too many people are taking advantage of Second Amendment for the wrong reasons. With the recent school massacres from 1999 until 2012 we have some things to reconsider. I understand some people use guns to hunt but we are not living in the Wild Wild West. Children and school teachers have just lost their lives. If we require paper work and examinations for our citizens to get drivers licenses then there should be some ramifications for obtaining a gun license. People with mental health issues, war veterans, serial killers, some ex-cons are people that should not have guns in their possession.








We are living in a time where you it is not safe to attend a movie theater or for children to attend school. I understand the world can be a dangerous place but is it really necessary to give certain people a chance to shoot up elementary schools and movie theatres. Some people may argue and say guns don't kill people, people kill people. To me that is a bogus statement stop making excuses. If you put the gun in the hands of a crazy person bad things happen. I know we do not live in a perfect world there are some seriously disturbed individuals out there have you seen shows like Criminal Minds and Law & Order. Anyway we still need to make an effort to change things that is all I'm saying.






When I was high school I remember some of my classmates telling me that they held their first guns on hunting trips at the age of four. Think about that for a moment. Why is that being normalized to a child that early I remember sitting in class that day saying WTF out loud. Chris Rock once said " America is the only country in the world where you can go hunting on a full stomach."

Was He in His Right Mind.........The Wrath of Min Yingjun

I'm still sad and angry about the Newton, Connecticut massacure and I'm sad to say more children have been put in harms way under evil. In China 22 children were stabbed as well as an elderly woman.






The attacker, Min Yingjun, 36, was subdued by security guards and taken into custody by the police, said the officer, who declined to give her name, which is customary among Chinese civil servants. Guards have been posted at schools across China after a spate of attacks in recent years.
A Guangshan County hospital administrator said there were no deaths among the nine students admitted to the hospital, although two badly wounded children were transferred to better-equipped hospitals outside the county.
A doctor at Guangshan’s hospital of traditional Chinese medicine said that seven students had been admitted there, but that none were seriously injured.
It was not clear how old the wounded children were, but Chinese primary school students are generally 6 to 11.


This Is Not the First Time?
No motive was given for the attack, which resembled a string of similar assaults against Chinese schoolchildren in 2010 that killed nearly 20 and wounded more than 50. The most recent such attack took place in August, when a man broke into a middle school in the southern city of Nanchang and stabbed two students before fleeing.
Most of the attackers have been mentally disturbed men involved in personal disputes or unable to adjust to the rapid pace of social change in China, underscoring grave weaknesses in the antiquated Chinese medical system’s ability to diagnose and treat psychiatric illness.
In one of the worst attacks, a man described as an unemployed, middle-aged doctor killed eight children with a knife in March 2010 to vent his anger over a thwarted romantic relationship.

Toni's Thoughts: I am very upset to know this has happened once again I'm sure these children did not deserve this and if there is an issue with mental health this issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible. I do not live in China so I admit that I am not aware of all of their social changes but these men need help and they should not take their frustrations out on children.

Children Die, A Nation Cries

On December 14, 2012 a gunman named Adam Lanza killed twenty children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook elementary in the Sandy Hool village of Newton, Conneticut before committing suicide. This is the second deadliest school shooting in US history, after 2007's Virginia Tech Massacure, second-deadliest attack an American elementary school, after the Bath School diaster in `1927.


What Happened? Voices from the Witnesses

Diane Day, a therapist at the school, was sitting with the principal, a parent and other staff members for a meeting when she heard gunshots.
"At first we heard a bunch of kids scream, and then it was just quiet and all you could hear was the shooting," Ms. Day said.


Principal Dawn Hochsprung and the school psychologist leapt from their seats and ran out to help, Ms. Day said. "They didn't think twice about confronting or seeing what was going on," she said.
Without a lock to secure the door, a teacher at the meeting pressed her body against the door to hold it shut, Ms. Day said. That teacher was shot through the door in the leg and arm. "She was our hero," Ms. Day said.


Carrie Usher, a fourth-grade teacher, said she believed the principal turned on the campus loudspeaker system, which broadcast sounds of "screaming and crying" through the school to warn others. Ms. Hochsprung and the school psychologist, identified as Mary Sherlach, were reported to be among the victims.
Ms. Usher's class, meanwhile, was in the library and they hid in the closet.
"The gunfire was just unbelievable. It felt like it lasted for five minutes," the teacher said. "It wouldn't stop." No one in her class was hurt.


Toni's Thoughts: My heart dropped when a friend of mine told me about the massacure my mother tearfully called me and told me she was glad to hear my voice and she is blessed to have both her son and daughter still here breathing. I work at a childcare facility and immedaitaley I thought about the children I work with and how they have their whole life ahead of them. They look up to me but the ironic thing is they have taught me so much I love to see them smile. We need to wake up something needs to be done about the gun laws in this country point blank period. These children did not bother anyone and love and resepect to the adults that risked their lives to save the surviving children. Children are a gift to the world and I'm sad to know someone was willing to take that away from their family and friends, their community.