Easter aka ISHTAR

 

 

 

Here is just a little something to think about you don't have to believe me do your own research.

Ms. Ruby Dee

"The greatest gift is not being afraid to question." Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee is accomplished actress, poet, playwright, civil rights activist, and the widow of the late Ossie Davis.



Ruby Dee was born in Cleveland, Ohio October 22, 1922, she was raised in Harlem, New York and attended Hunter College High School. She attended Hunter College pledged Delta Sigma Theta she has degrees in French and Spanish.


She starred in plays on Broadway before getting her big break in 1950 in the film The Jackie Robinson Story. She starred in A Raisin in the Sun with Sidney Poitier and starred in the political films  Gone Are the Days and The Incident.
 

In 1948 she married actor Ossie Davis they participated in the Civil Rights Movement together they were close friends of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Together they had three children and starred in films together such as Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing and Pearlie Victorious decades before. They wrote an autobiography  discussing their briefly open marriage  and political activism insights.




Ruby Dee's career has spanned for nearly eight decades, she is mother, grandmother, activists, survivor of breast cancer Ossie Davis was a blessed man to have her in his life. I admire her so much for all the work she has done and her marriage to Ossie Davis was a true symbol of what Black love looks like since there are critics that argue it has never existed.

Karras Jordan ...... How You Doin?

Disclaimer: I know it is Women's History Month but I just had show off this piece of eye candy. This man is oh so fine I couldn't help myself. He is a new model and actor his name is Karras Jordan.





Who is Karras Jordan? He is  a 6'2 model/actor/rapper/poet born and raised in New York City and Jersey City but he currently resides in Atlanta, GA. He is Black and Puerto Rican.






Genres of Modeling:  Acting, Art, Bodywork,  Editorial, Fashion, Fit Modeling, Fitness, and Runway just to name a few.






How Did His Modeling Career Begin? According to the Essence Magazine article he is featured in;   He wasn't into the idea at first, despite much encouragement from family and close friends, but when he stepped in for an absent model on a friend’s photo shoot at the last minute, his whole life changed. He was a natural. Although he has not made appearances on big time fashion magazines he can be seen on the cover of the novels Jack Frost and  You Might Just Get Burned respectively. He also finds work in music videos and television commercials.

What is his motto? Nothing to lose. Everything to gain.

Diversifying: Karras has just released a book called Mind of a Maniac.






Karras may be single as a dollar bill but don't trip this is what he is looking for in a woman "beautiful, honest and confident. “A woman can just exude confidence,” he says. “She shouldn’t have to say anything about who she is. You should just know.”

Toni's Thoughts: I really want this guy to succeed he is so easy on the eyes and the body is sick.

Zora Neale Hurston

"I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands."

Zora Neale Hurston

 

 

 

Born on Jan. 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, Hurston moved with her family to Eatonville, Florida, when she was still a toddler. Her writings reveal no recollection of her Alabama beginnings. For Hurston, Eatonville was always home. Established in 1887, the rural community near Orlando was the nation's first incorporated black township. It was, as Hurston described it, "a city of five lakes, three croquet courts, three hundred brown skins, three hundred good swimmers, plenty guavas, two schools, and no jailhouse."





In 1917, attended Morgan Academy which was the high school verison of the historically black college Morgan University later known as Morgan State University. A year later she attended Howard University for her undergraduate studies, she became one of the earliest initiates of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., she also co-founded the school's newspaper The Hilltop. She earned an Associates Degree in 192 she left Howard in 1924. By 1925 she was offered a scholarship to Barnard College, Columbia University where she was the only black student.  She earned a B.A. in anthropology.






She was a member of the writing community during the Harlem Renaissance, she wrote Mules and Men, Jonah's Gourd Vine, Moses, Man of the Mountain, and her most notable piece of work Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Womanist

Alice Walker’s Definition of a “Womanist” from In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose Copyright 1983.


WOMANIST



 

1. From womanish. (Opp. of “girlish,” i.e. frivolous, irresponsible, not serious.) A black feminist or feminist of color. From the black folk expression of mothers to female children, “you acting womanish,” i.e., like a woman. Usually referring to outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful behavior. Wanting to know more and in greater depth than is considered “good” for one. Interested in grown up doings. Acting grown up. Being grown up. Interchangeable with another black folk expression: “You trying to be grown.” Responsible. In charge. Serious.




 

2. Also: A woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually. Appreciates and prefers women’s culture, women’s emotional flexibility (values tears as natural counterbalance of laughter), and women’s strength. Sometimes loves individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually. Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female. Not a separatist, except periodically, for health. Traditionally a universalist, as in: “Mama, why are we brown, pink, and yellow, and our cousins are white, beige and black?” Ans. “Well, you know the colored race is just like a flower garden, with every color flower represented.” Traditionally capable, as in: “Mama, I’m walking to Canada and I’m taking you and a bunch of other slaves with me.” Reply: “It wouldn’t be the first time.”





3. Loves music. Loves dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless.





4. Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.

Black Woman..... Tupac

Disclaimer: I know the grammar may look incorrect but I am not going to change the style of the poem because this is simply how the author wrote it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do.



Black Woman
Tupac Shakur
(4 Marquita)





The day I met u I saw strength
and I knew from that point on
that u were pure woman 2 me
possessing a spirit that was strong
I want smiles 2 replace the sorrow
that u have encountered in the past
and since it was strength that attracted me 2 u
it will take strength 2 make it last
My negative side will attempt 2 change u
but please fight that with your all
it will be your strength that keep us both standing
while others around us fall

H-Town Showing Love

"Natural Woman" H-Town
1997




Oh, now, now, now , maintenant,

Oh, yeah Said, oh, yeah
Listen

[Chorus]
Natural woman (In and out) Natural woman (You're connected now) Natural woman (Natural) Natural woman (Natural woman, yeah)
Said someone who's independent Needs no man to fill her vision
Standing strong and proud, ooh, every day (Every day) My natural woman, my natural woman (Listen) ) Mother of Jesus
Pure as white snow She's so beautiful (So beautiful)
So wonderful (So wonderful)
Said I love my precious lady My sanctified lady
Said I love her, yes, She's so innocent, so characteristic, natural

[Chorus]

Born to lead the world Her life is in God's hands
She's so beautiful (So) Lady with a natural shine
And I believe that man should beware ‘Cause he may not be the one to lead us there To lead us over, over Over to the promised land, yeah

[Chorus]

And I know she is respected soqu'elle
And uplift her name
‘Cause she's all we have So heavenly, we will see, yes, we will, yes, we will
Said, you heard what God said God said that yes, he'd build man first But guess what (What ? ) said that He said she's there to be by your side Not under you, not on you, but right beside you That's right, 50/50 love

[Chorus]
Give me a “W' (“O'), give me a “M' (“E') Give me a “N' (Yes, what you say, wo-women)Say women, yeah, yeah (Women, women) Say women, yeah, yeah These are natural women Say Janet Jackson, that's a natural woman
Say Barbara Jordan, she's a natural woman Whitney Houston, she's a woman Say Hillary Clinton, that's a woman
Gloria Estefan, that's a woman Angela Bassett, that's a womanTina Turner, that's a woman Maya Angelou, she's a woman Miss Patti LaBelle, that's a woman Mrs. King, Diana Ross, Mrs. X, Cicely Tyson, Diana Ross, , Cicely Tyson
Nicole Brown, Selena, rest in peace Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Come on sing with me Sing, sing, women

Sheryl Crow, Brandy, Aaliyah, Jada Pinkett, Da Brat, M. C. Lyte TLC, Donna Summers, Sheryl Crow, Celine Dion, Jewell , En Vogue, Sharon Stone They're some natural women, yeah
These are natural, natural, natural women

The Lone Star State's Finest

Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, Texas February 21, 1936 she died on January 17, 1996. She was an American politician and leader of the Civil Rights Movement. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first southern African American female elected to the US House of Representatives. She received President Medal of Freedom. She was the first African American woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery.



Other Facts: She attended Texas Southern University majoring in political science and history, she was a national champion debater, she pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., she graduated maga cum lade in 1956. She later attended Boston University School of Law. For many years she kept her sexual orientation private but according to documents and biographers she was a lesbian her partner was mentioned in her obituary.





Toni's Thoughts: As a political science major Ms. Jordan is an inspiraton to me I really respect her strength, intelligence, she was a trailblaizer that established a foundation for many women especially Black women.

Words from the Queen

Who said the ladies couldn't make it, you must be blind
If you don't believe, well here, listen to this rhyme
Ladies first, there's no time to rehearse
I'm divine and my mind expands throughout the universe
A female rapper with the message to send the
Queen Latifah is a perfect specimen

Queen Laitifah "Ladies First"

Woman's History Month

"I'm Every Woman"
Chaka Khan later covered by Whitney Houston

[Chorus:]
I'm every woman, it's all in me
Anything you want done, baby
I'll do it naturally
I'm every woman, it's all in me
I can read your thoughts right now
Every one from A to Z

I can cast a spell
With secrets you can't tell
Mix a special brew
Put fire inside of you
But anytime you feel
Danger or fear
Instantly I will appear, 'cause

[Chorus]

I can sense your needs
Like rain on to the seeds
I can make a rhyme
Of confusion in your mind
And when it comes down
To some good old fashioned love
That's what I've got plenty of, 'cause

[Chorus]

I ain't braggin' 'cause I'm the one
You just ask me ooh and it shall be done
And don't bother to compare
'Cause I've got it
I've got it, I've got it, yeah

I'm every woman
[Repeat and fade]