BIM

Michelle Alexander - More black men in prison than were slaves

2012-02-14T15:16:00.000-08:00

Click the play button to watch the video:
http://youtu.be/hdrqU2UZcCo
Legal scholar and civil rights advocate Michelle Alexander argues that the prison industrial complex in the United States has created a caste system for black and brown men. Who of us can deny it? This video contains an interpolation from "Time" from music from the motion picture "Inception".

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Chike Akua - Alkebulan Sacred Science and Civilization

2012-01-30T20:37:00.000-08:00

Chike Akua - Alkebulan Sacred Science and Civilization

Mr. Chike Akua is a leading authority on increasing the achievement of today's students, especially those labeled "at-risk."

As recognized master teacher, Mr. Akua has been an invited keynote presenter (and co-presenter) at regional and national conferences, school systems, colleges and universities.

With a culturally relevant approach toward closing the achievement gap, he is known for his dynamic, interactive presentations to teachers, parents, and students.

akua@bellsouth.net

http://www.africanoriginsontour.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Direct links to the videos:
http://youtu.be/Hld3VaZwals
http://youtu.be/Yw3xf34I_bc
http://youtu.be/hvcOFGoNHbU
http://youtu.be/owKVWcGu714
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chike Akua has been called "an educational revolutionary" and is recognized as a leading authority on culturally relevant educational materials and instructional approaches. He has lectured and given keynote addresses at a number of colleges, universities and educational conferences around the country including Minnesota State University's annual Pan-African Student Leadership Conference. He is a 1992 graduate of Hampton University and a 2003 graduate of Clark Atlanta University. Selected as one of Ebony magazine’s “50 Leaders of Tomorrow,” Akua is a former “Teacher of the Year” and has facilitated workshops for the Tavis Smiley Foundation’s annual “Youth 2 Leaders” Conference. In addition, Mr. Akua has assisted in leading over 800 youth and adults on study tours to Egypt and Ghana through the D’Zert Club’s Teen Summit 1000 program. He has authored and produced several books and DVDs including:

*The African Origins Of Writing & Mathematics (DVD)

*African Sacred Science & Civilization (DVD)

*The Miracle of the Maafa (DVD)

*The African Origins of Our Faith (Book & DVD)

*SuccessQuest!: The Journey From Ordinary to Extraordinary (Book/DVD)

As a prolific author and dynamic speaker and trainer, Mr. Akua keeps a demanding schedule traveling nationally and internationally presenting at colleges, universities and conferences.
FREE DOWNLOAD of Chike Akua's Speech (Click here)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

King addressing the National Association of TV and Radio Announcers

2012-01-14T15:03:00.000-08:00

Dr. Martin Luther King
"This is what happened to the Black Man in America........ He was left penniless and illiterate.................Emancipation to the Negro was to be freedom from hunger.......... It was Freedom and famine at the same time and it's a miracle that the Negro has survived."

To Black Radio Dr. King said “In a real sense you have paved the way for social and political change by creating a powerful cultural bridge between black and white. School integration is much easier now that they share a common music, a common language, and enjoy the same dances. You introduced youth to that music and created the language of soul and promoted the dance that now sweeps across race, class and nation.”

This is the full speech, a rare find of Dr King addressing the National Association of TV and Radio Announcers (NATRA).. here King talks about the important role Black radio played in furthering the Civil Rights struggle.. He also drops gems that many associate with his famous Transforming a Neighborhood Into a Brotherhood speech.. This is the Dr King that has been hidden from us and downplayed..He's on point with both his analysis and spirit.. He talks about how white folks were given free land when they moved out west while the sons and daughters of slaves were left penniless via Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination thus putting us far behind.. This is an incredible speech..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wxBCl1RDwA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From Mr. Davey D - Using Words As Weapons
http://hiphopandpolitics.com/2011/01/14/martin-luther-king-black-radio-using-words-as-weapons

The Honorable Dr. King who challenged Jim Crow laws and discrimination was considered by his enemies to be a rabble rouser who was creating a dangerous climate with ‘incendiary’ words. His words were so powerful that former FBI head J Edgar Hoover saw fit to follow him and try to disrupt his activities via a program called Cointel-Pro.

There were many including some Black preachers who did not want King to come to their towns and speak because he would stir things up. His ability to move the masses was threatening.

Now at the end of the day, King was able to help push through the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 which put an end to most Jim Crow Laws. He was able to help get the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed which ended discrimination practices at the polls. At the same time Kings powerful words so enraged folks, that he was constantly receiving death threats. He also ruffled the feathers of powerful people including President Lydon Johnson after he spoke out against the Vietnam War.

If Kings words were seen as important weapons against discrimination, why are we not seeing the words of today’s far right punditry weapons to support oppression and draconian behavior and policies?

The other thing to keep in mind about Dr King was his shrewd understanding of media in particular radio and what a powerful tool it was. many do not talk about the special relationship King had with Jack ‘Jack tha Rapper Gibson and the nations first Black owned radio station WERD founded in 1949 which was housed in the same building as King’s SCLC headquarters on Auburn street in Atlanta.

Gibson is credited with being the first to broadcast King and other Civil Rights leaders on public airwaves. There are stories about how when rallies and special events were unfolding, King would bang on the ceiling with a broom to the studio housed above him, the disc jockey would lower the boom mic and King would speak to the people via radio.

In 1967 Dr King delivered a rare and powerful speech in Atlanta to NATRA ( National Association of Television and Radio Announcers). The members of this important African American organization were very appreciative as King laid out the indispensable role Black radio had played in shaping and furthering the Civil Rights struggle. King names off some of the key unsung radio heroes who he says there would not have been a Civil Rights movement had they not reflected the mood of the people and brought critical information to the masses.

King also talks about how radio is the most important and predominant medium in the Black community. It has far more reach and influence than television. He also talks about how the music these Black radio announcers played. King asserted that it helped united people. King pointed out how Blacks and Whites were listening to the same songs and doing the same dances and that the Soul Music these disc jockey’s played had served as an important cultural bridge.

He also talks about how some of them were vilified for ‘creating a climate’ that led to the unrest in American cities. Most notable was the radio announcer named Magnificent Montague who had coined the phrase Burn Baby Burn to describe a hot record, but was later used a rallying cry for the Watts Riots of 1965.

Montague who was good friends with Malcolm X who had been assassinated earlier that year, was on the air at KGFJ was accused of riling the people up and causing the mayhem. He had done no such thing, nevertheless LAPD paid him a visit. Montague was made to drop the slogan Burn Baby Burn to Have Mercy Baby.

Below is a special mix I did called MLK vs the Radio.. It contains excerpts from that rare NATRA speech..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHdnMfGtAxM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Marvel's Black Panther (Videos) Episodes One and Two

2011-12-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

Black Panther is an American cartoon series by Marvel Animation in partnership with BET, based on the popular Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. It was the first animated television series produced by BET since Hey Monie!. The series was broadcast on the Australian children's channel ABC3 in January 2010,^[1] and in the United States on BET in November 2011.[2]
Upon becoming the new Black Panther after the assassination of his father T'Chaka, T'Challa deals with the jealousy in the Wakandan royal court while looking for the man who killed his father. Unbeknownst to Black Panther, Klaw (the man who assassinated T'Chaka) has assembled a group of villains consisting of Batroc the Leaper, Juggernaut, the Vatican Black Knight, and the Russian Radioactive Man to help him take over Wakanda.
At a presentation held in New York City in April 2008, BET announced that it had signed a deal with Marvel Comics to turn Black Panther into a primetime half-hour animated series. In July 2008 at the San Diego Comic-Con International, the first footage of the series was shown publicly, indicating that the series was essentially just motion comic versions of the mini-series released by Marvel Comics.^[13]
The show was supervised by Reginald Hudlin, the President of Entertainment at BET, who also wrote, along with John Romita, Jr. as the artist, the story arc of the Black Panther comic entitled "Who is the Black Panther?" on which the first six episodes were based.^[13]^[14] Only subtle deviations from the comic exist, such as replacing Rhino with Juggernaut.
Djimon Hounsou was cast to voice T'Challa/Black Panther.^[15] The series was directed by Mark Brooks.^[16] The theme song was composed by Stephen James Taylor in a dialect meant to be Wakandan (the fictional character's native language). In reality, the song employed a Bantu-based language of Taylor's creation.

The videos:
01:     http://youtu.be/677yt5Pnsgs
02:     http://youtu.be/LoWActtddQI
03: http://youtu.be/KShJ0N6g-BE Episode two part one
04:     http://youtu.be/uHi0ozXOIfM Episode two part two

Remaining episodes videos may be viewed on:
http://www.youtube.com/user/teacherofculture/search?query=marvel+black+panther

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Ghetto Radio - The Semi-Conscious B-Boy on Kwanzaa

2011-12-24T16:42:00.000-08:00

The Semi-Conscious B-Boy discusses Kwanzaa on Hood Radio !
http://soundcloud.com/underground-preservation/sets/kwanzaa-promos-street-urban

Here are seven radio promos that explain Kwanzaa in 30 to 45 seconds which are appropriate for a street oriented Urban radio station, podcast, and the like. FREEly download and share and use for your shows, mixtapes, podcasts, and other uses. This is oriented for Street Urban Radio due to it's reference to drinking and the use of edgy, profane language from the character named "The Semi-Conscious B-Boy". This may not be appopriate for religious or culturally-sensitive Kwanzaa practioners.
Kwanzaa Promos (Street Urban Radio) by Underground Preservation

http://soundcloud.com/underground-preservation/sets/kwanzaa-promos-street-urban
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement".
Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Restoring Our Pre-Columbian Mind - Dr. Naim Akbar VIDEO

2011-12-23T12:09:00.000-08:00

Restoring Our Pre-Columbian Mind - Dr. Naim Akbar VIDEO

The published volumes of Dr. Akbar’s works are excellent illustrations of the unique and special approach he has taken to the role of an activist scholar. His volumes are targeted to a mass audience. Though the concepts that he presents are highly sophisticated, they are presented in a concise and simple way that readers with minimal education and possibly no familiarity with mainstream psychology will be able to comprehend the ideas from his books and increase their understanding of themselves. Though his scholarly status is unquestioned this area of his work is targeting a much broader audience than would likely encounter his works prepared for advanced students, professional colleagues and for the dialogue of the academy. He feels very strongly that truly relevant ideas should be available to as wide an audience as possible in order that they may study these ideas and apply them to their lives and to their communities. The measure of success for this aspect of his scholarship becomes the number of people from various walks of life that have been able to study these ideas, change their lives and their world.

Here are the video links if you are unable to view the videos on your current page:
#1: http://youtu.be/zOR4d-qc7z8
#2: http://youtu.be/CEW8jycsxX0
#3: http://youtu.be/wYckwmXu6Os
#4: http://youtu.be/K3ntNc7PlbU
#5: http://youtu.be/DC_hqw2d2ak
#6: http://youtu.be/6BtURod3QS4
#7: http://youtu.be/5gG9_RANPOE
#8: http://youtu.be/oS3VpCnbnrc
#9: http://youtu.be/IBxbolJdIrw
10: http://youtu.be/PrbuxreYK7Y
11: http://youtu.be/7LGKYshUbco
12: http://youtu.be/LnIRIiBibOs

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors.
Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement".
Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Wise Intelligent discusses Lack of Knowledge

2011-12-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

December 18, 2011
NEW Wise Intelligent interview w/ Davey D and peformance in Pittsburgh @ the August Wilson Center... 1 HOOD All Day...Everyday!!! Support the Supporters! BUY Intelligent Muzik TODAY @ http://www.wiseintelligent.com/ You can follow Wise Intelligent @ http://www.twitter.com/wiseintelligent

"The Black Man's problem is a F$%#ing lack of knowledge."
Here is the video link: http://youtu.be/NBAP2-EAz9s

Watch Wise's video "Illumanati" http://youtu.be/E8-Uig2IlDw

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text.

The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors.

Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

You’re "African American!”...No. - Glen Beck

2011-09-27T19:39:00.000-07:00

On his radio show today, Glenn Beck tackled a particularly sticky issue when it comes to race. How does it make any sort of sense, he wanted to know, to refer to all black persons as “African American,” particularly when so many black individuals don’t live in the U.S.?

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/glenn-beck-is-the-term-colored-really-such-a-bad-thing/

Beck notes that, in South Africa, recognized races and ethnicities include black and “colored” (Wikipedia explains the term thusly: “In the South African, Namibian, Zambian, Botswana and Zimbabwean context, the term Coloured (also known as Bruinmense, Kleurlinge or Bruin Afrikaners in Afrikaans) refers to an ethnic group of mixed race people who often possess some sub-Saharan African ancestry but not enough to be considered Black, either by themselves or by others.”)

So is the term “colored,” Beck and co. wondered, really such a “bad thing” as we’re lead to believe? “Only here,” he lamented, referring to the U.S. “Why are we made to feel bad?” He has a theory:

“African American” was not made to do anything except try to create a super man. “Oh don’t you dare feel bad about yourself! You’re African American!” No. You’re an American. Instead of building the country up and saying, “Lookit. We all have the right, here in this country… Look at what happened with Martin Luther King. That makes you an American. ‘Judge not by the color of your skin.’” And you weren’t over in Africa! Your great-great-great grandfather was, your great-great-great-great grandfather may have been, but you weren’t!

And sure this country sucked for blacks. Sucked. Beyond sucked, for a long time. But it doesn’t now. It doesn’t now. Be proud to be an American.

He added that all the PC labels we have for another end up making Americans afraid to speak with one another, because Americans don’t inherently want to offend one another. We want to say the “right” thing and take the kindest course of action, but we’re impeded by our fear of offending one another. His advice? Have no fear and “dismiss these human rights frauds.”

Video: Glen Beck "You’re African American!” No. You’re an American."

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Wise Intelligent on Hip Hop's Poor Righteous Teachers

2011-06-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

( FinalCallMedia.com ) - Wise Intelligent of the legendary Poor Righteous Teachers breaks down the connection between Hip Hop, music culture and the historic struggle for freedom, justice and equality. He was among many other rappers who attended the Nation of Islam's Saviours' Day 2009 Convention in Chicago. Go to http://www.finalcallmedia.com/ to watch the whole forum.

Intelligent Muzik
http://www.intelligentmuzik.com/
Kerner Commission Report (PDF)
http://www.eisenhowerfoundation.org/docs/kerner.pdf
FBI COINTELPRO
http://www.noi.org/cointelpro
Here is the video of Wise Intelligent speaking:

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://youtu.be/pV4mhxpaEmk . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

KRS speaks on the N word

2011-06-05T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hip-Hopper KRS ONE discusses the use of the N Word:

Fat Joe discusses the N Word:

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Minister Farrakhan 2006 Essence Music Festival

2011-06-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

Minister Farrakhan Addresses The Essence Music Festival to "Save Our Children."

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of http://youtu.be/J_IcOn-VCbU . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Junious Ricardo Stanton - Bin-Laden hoax

2011-05-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Junious Ricardo Stanton debunks the US government's psy-op about last week's supposed killing of Osama bin-Laden providing additional material that supports his assertion the raid and killing of bin-Laden is a hoax. He also shares a news account supplied by former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney about NATO allowing 63 African refugees to die in the Mediterranian Sea fleeing Libya.

Listen to internet radio with Rainbow Soul on Blog Talk Radio

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Motivation from Herman Cain (Black Republican)

2011-05-11T19:25:00.000-07:00

The speaker is Herman Cain (former CEO of Godfather's Pizze, radio talk show host, syndicated columnist, and a former member of the Federal Reserve Board of Kansas). Herman Cain is now preparing to run for President of the United States in 2012 and is slowly winning the hearts of Republicans nationwide. Herman Cain (born December 13, 1945) is a businessman, political activist, columnist, and radio host from Georgia. He is best known as the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza. He is a former deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Before his business and economics career he worked on ballistics for the United States Navy.[2] Cain's newspaper column is distributed by North Star Writers Group. He currently lives in the Atlanta suburbs. In January 2011, Cain announced he had formed an exploratory committee for a potential candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Popular Afro-Latinos

2011-05-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described or visit http://youtu.be/Vt38MbNcw0I .

The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Farrakhan speaks on Libya 03 11 2011

2011-03-19T22:35:00.000-07:00

(FinalCall.com | 03-11-2011) - Minister Farrakhan blasted Pres. Obama and Secy. Clinton for their arrogance in meddling in another sovereign nation's affairs and publicly recommending regime change. He then instructed Americans to look beneath the surface to see who stands to benefit from the unrest and warned Pres. Obama to be careful of the words coming from advisors lobbying him to move in with military forces to depose Libya leader, Col. Gadhafi.
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text or visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY-_JsNrxiM .

The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Glen Beck & Black History

2011-02-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

If you are receiving this correspondence via email or FACEBOOK and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above and below text.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally Aired on FOUNDERS' FRIDAY May 28, 2010 on FOX News:
Glen Beck discusses hidden African-American history.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Hip-Hop's Letter to Rev. Dr. M.L. King - Game & Nas

2011-01-16T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hip-Hop's Letter to Rev. Dr. M.L. King - Game & Nas

"Letter To The King" by The Game Nas
(Game)
Second floor my hotel I'm rollin' up bout to blaze
And zone out to this Frankie Beverly and Mayes
As our days about to pass and them days in the past
He set my mind free so my mind free at last
So much that I don’t even drink from a fuckin' glass
I'd rather find the first fountain I can and do it fast
Didn’t understand a dream of a king now do the math
Coincidentally on your birthday's I ditched the class
Cause the younger me, dumber me was chasin' the cash
Chasin the ass, low life with his face in the grass
Ridin home from school in front of the bus
Not even thinking bout how Rosa Parks done it for us
How she stayed behind bars and she done it for us
And she stayed behind bars till she won it for us
Sometimes I wanna give up or at least take a break
That’s when I close my eyes and see Coretta Scott's face

Cause sometimes I wanna give up or at least take a break
That’s when I close my eyes and see Coretta Scott's face

(Chorus Sample)

(Nas)
Uh
Word up Game
Standing at the pue panoramic view of the seating
Greeting, I’ve been meaning to do me some letter reading, to the King
He forever breathing your messages never leavin'
Some of your homies, phonies I should say it when I see them
Them sleazy bastards, some greedy pastors, jerks
Some should never be allowed in Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta
Some people be patient I know this ghetto gramma'
But I'm a street dude normally I just speak rude
Martin Luther, the martyr, the trooper, hate killed him
Nobel Peace Prize winner they duplicate the feelin'
As a kid I ain't relate really, I was sayin' Dreams speech jokingly
Till your world awoken me
First I thought your were passive, soft one who ass kissed
I was young to be honest, I was feelin Muhammad
I ain't even know the strength you had to have to march
You was more than just talk you were the first real Braveheart
We miss you
Feels like King be in me sometimes

(Chorus Sample)

(Game)
The word nigger is nothing like nigga
Don’t sound shit alike like Game like Jigga
One came before the other like aim and pull the trigga'
One is slang for my brotha, one is hang and take a picture
The rope aint tight enough, he still alive go fix it
Pour some gasoline on him, call his daughters black bitches
Make him pick cotton, while they momma clean up the kitchen
The same cotton in white tees that’s the cotton they was pickin
If Dr. King marched today would Bill Gates march?
I know Obama would but would Hillary take part?
Great minds think great thoughts
The pictures I paint make the Mona Lisa look like fake art
I feel the pain of Nelson Mandela
Cause when it rains it pours I need Rihanna's umbrella
For Coretta Scott's tear drops
When she got the phone call that the future just took a fuckin' head shot

I wonder why Jesse Jackson didn’t catch him before his body dropped
Would he give me the answer? Probably not...

The Direct Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fD1FV5DAtI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Consider HipHop - Omega Global Military

2011-01-16T06:33:00.000-08:00

Watch Lavoisier, the Rap terrorist talk to school kids about lying rappers, snitching, and more ! Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYqTvRixDkU
http://www.rapterrorist.com/
www.myspace.com/lavoisiermc
Info@aomegamusic.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

White Man's Journey into Black History

2011-01-08T21:49:00.000-08:00

If you are receiving this correspondence via email or Facebook and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text.
Joel Freeman is an author of a host of books including "God is Not Fair", "Living with Your Conscience without Going Crazy", and "If Nobody Loves You, Create the Demand". Joel was responsible for the inspiration behind the christian Business Directory called "The Shepherd's Guide". Since 1979 he has served as chaplain for the NBA's Washington Bullets, and as a result of that experience embarked upon extensive research into the culture and history of the African American . Joel holds a Master of Science degree in the field of counselling and also a Ph.D. in the same discipline. He specializes in equipping individuals with the tools to create proactive, motivated personal and business environments. In this book, and in the below videos he deals with his journey into researching and accepting what many Afrocentric historians have been correctly teaching regarding the glory of the ancient history of African people.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Hip Hop, the Hidden Hand, Degradation of Black Masculinity

2010-12-23T22:56:00.000-08:00

Hip Hop, the Hidden Hand, Degradation of Black Masculinity. His other works can be viewed and downloaded on http://www.lenonhonorfilms.com .

Visit the creators website to view part three of this series.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

War on Muslim Women in their homes

2010-12-18T23:01:00.000-08:00

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. For more on the speaker visit http://www.hakimquick.com/ .
This lecture is about the war zone that is alive behind the closed doors of the Muslim homes. Is their a problem with our home relationships? Is their a problem in our marriages? Is their a problem with how our educational institutions are structured today? These and other important questions are analyzed, commented on, and answered in this empowering presentation.

Shaykh Abdullah Hakim Quick, PhD, embraced Islam in 1970 and thereafter pursued his studies at the Islamic University of Madinah, where he completed a BA from the College of Da'wah and Usul al-Din. He later went for his Masters degree and completed his PhD on the History of Islam in Africa at the University of Toronto, Canada. The focus of his thesis was the life of the great mujaddid of the 18th century, Shaykh Uthman Ibn Fudi.

Shaykh Abdullah Hakim has traveled to more than 34 countries on lecture and educational tours, has served as Imam, teacher and counselor in the USA, Canada and the West Indies. For three years he contributed to the religious page of Canada's leading newspaper. He is presently a Senior Lecturer at the Dar-ul-Arqam Islamic Institute and Director of the Da'wah Department of the Muslim Judicial Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Our Black Seminoles - Jan Carew

2010-12-16T08:36:00.000-08:00

Elder Jan Rynveld Carew (born 24 September 1920 in Agricola, Guyana) is a novelist, playwright, poet and educator. His works, diverse in their forms and multifaceted, makes of Jan Carew an important intellectual of the Caribbean world. His poetry and his first two novels, Black Midas and The Wild Coast, were significant landmarks of the West Indian literature then attempting through writing to cope with its colonial past and assert its wish for autonomy. Carew also played an important part within the Black movement gaining strength in England and North America, publishing reviews and newspapers, producing programs and plays for the radio and the television. His scholarly research drove him to question traditional historiographies and firstly the prevailing historical models of the conquest of America. In this video he teaches on our African-Indian people Black Seminoles.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Imani's 1988 Kwanzaa Event

2010-12-15T09:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a blast from the past.

This 1988 home Kwanzaa event led to the development of the Uhuru African American Cultural Society which gave birth to the Imani Foundation. The Imani Foundation's annual Kwanzaa event is a descendant of this event. Ashee, Ashee, Ashee. The link to the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpiXq7hSf8Q Enjoy !

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video below please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Black Male/Female Relations - Naim Akbar

2010-12-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

State of the Race - Louis Clayton Jones

2010-12-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

Dedicating his life to the upliftment of Africans iby boldly challenging the systems that constrict advancement. A powerful voice of uncompromising truth, Attn. Louis Clayton Jones stood a giant. Learn from the past & prepare for the future:

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Let it be on your lips - Victor Woods

2010-12-05T22:25:00.000-08:00

Motivation for the youth and for people who engage with our youth.

Acclaiamed author, motivational speaker, talk radio host Victor Woods hits home, tackling relevant issuses of todays times with words of hope and direction. To here more from Victor Woods please visit www.victorwoods.com or email him at victormwoods@yahoo.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

2010-12-05T00:08:00.000-08:00

The Colour of Beauty:
"Renee Thompson is trying to make it as a top fashion model in New York. She's got the looks, the walk and the drive. But she’s a black model in a world where white women represent the standard of beauty. Agencies rarely hire black models. And when they do, they want them to look “like white girls dipped in chocolate.”
"The Colour of Beauty is a shocking short documentary that examines racism in the fashion industry. Is a black model less attractive to designers, casting directors and consumers? What is the colour of beauty?"

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

THE NEW COVENANT DR MALACHI Z YORK

2010-11-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

Teachings of Dr. Malachi Z. York aka Amunnubi Rooakhptah back in 1995.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Expose' - Where your eggs come from

2010-11-13T09:56:00.000-08:00

The organization's website:
http://www.mercyforanimals.org/hatchery

Thrown, dropped, mutilated, and ground-up alive. This is the shocking reality faced by hundreds of thousands of chicks each day at the world's largest egg-laying breed hatchery – Hy-Line International in Spencer, Iowa.

New hidden camera footage obtained at this facility during a Mercy For Animals undercover investigation gives a disturbing glimpse into the cruel and industrialized reality of modern hatcheries.

The warm, comforting, and protective wings of these newly hatched chicks' mothers have been replaced with massive machines, quickly moving conveyor belts, harsh handling, and distressing noise. These young animals are sorted, discarded, and handled like mere cogs in a machine.

For the nearly 150,000 male chicks who hatch every 24 hours at this Hy-Line facility, their lives begin and end the same day. Grabbed by their fragile wings by workers known as "sexers," who separate males from females, these young animals are callously thrown into chutes and hauled away to their deaths. They are destined to die on day one because they cannot produce eggs and do not grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat. Their lives are cut short when they are dropped into a grinding machine – tossed around by a spinning auger before being torn to pieces by a high-pressure macerator.

Over 30 million male chicks meet their fate this way each year at this facility.

For the surviving females, this is the beginning of a life of cruelty and confinement at the hands of the egg industry. Before even leaving the hatchery they will be snapped by their heads into a spinning debeaker – a portion of their sensitive beaks removed by a laser. Workers toss and rummage through them before they are placed 100 per crowded box and shipped across the country.

The callous disregard for animal welfare at this facility is not isolated. In fact, the conditions documented during this investigation are completely standard and acceptable within the commercial egg industry. Referred to by Hy-Line corporate leaders as mere "genetic products," these chicks are treated just as they are viewed – as inanimate objects, rather than the sentient creatures they are.

Egg producers have gone to great lengths to hide their cruel practices from consumers. Grocery aisles from coast-to-coast are stocked with egg cartons featuring idyllic images of free-roaming hens and crowing roosters. These deceptive marketing gimmicks conceal the cruel and violent nature of industrial hatcheries and egg factory farms.

Consumers have a right to know the truth behind egg production.

Citing the troubling findings of this investigation, Mercy For Animals is calling on the nation's 50 largest grocery chains to require that all eggs sold in their stores bear a label reading, "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by the egg industry."

Hopefully, armed with the sobering truth, consumers nationwide will be able to make informed and compassionate food choices.

Driven by consumer demand, the egg industry will continue to exploit, abuse, and kill day-old animals as long as doing so remains profitable. Empowered consumers can put their ethics on the table by choosing kindness over cruelty at each meal by adopting an animal-friendly vegan diet.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Soul ! (the t.v. show) 1963 - 1978

2010-11-06T17:02:00.000-07:00

Soul !

This entertainment-variety-talk show was not only a vehicle to promote African-American artistry, community and culture, but also a platform for political expression and the fight for social justice.
It showcased classic live musical performances from funk, soul, jazz, and world musicians, and had in-depth, extraordinary interviews with political, sports, literary figures and more.
It was the first program on WNET (New York Public Television) to be recorded with the then-new technology of videotape, and most of the shows were recorded in real-time—not live, but unedited. Soul ran from 1968 to 1973.
ABOUT SOUL
■ Memories of Ellis Haizlip and Enlightenment, by SOUL! producer Christopher Lukas

■ About the Hosts

■ 1968 Show Announcement

■ Series Description

■ Soul! Episode List, 1968-1973

■ History: Ellis Haizlip and Soul!

■ Interview: Director Stan Lathan

■ Letters written in support of SOUL!, 1969-73

CLICK HERE FOR ONE OF THE BEST ARCHIVED VIDEOS !

It's a shame people don't dance like this anymore.
The Spinners performing on SOUL! tv WNET NY channel 13 on January 13, 1973.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Motivational Speaker Victor Antonio

2010-10-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

Motivational videos of Speaker Victor Antonio.

Motivational Speaker Victor Antonio on Ziplining and No Fear @ Yahoo! Video

Keynote Motivational Speaker Victor Antonio on Stupid People @ Yahoo! Video

Motivational Speaker & Sales Trainer on the Ripple Effect (Atlanta, Georgia) @ Yahoo! Video

Life for American Blacks 100 years ago

2010-10-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Excerpt of a series on the oldest Living member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity inc, Brother Dosh Jackson doesnt mind sharing his time knowledge and wisdom about life after 100 years. If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Donnie McClurkin on sexuality (video)

2010-10-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

102nd COGIC Holy Convocation International Youth Day service. Pastor & Gospel Artist Donnie McClurkin discusses things which are normally taboo and will definetly be seen as politically incorrect. Three videos are below: If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the videos.

More on Donnie McClurkin:
http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/a_pastors_heart/9781/p1/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Don't Cry To Quit...Cry To Keep Going

2010-10-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

From Begin Life Now - http://www.beginlife.com :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visitthe direct link of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iuUV7RDyVQ or visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Analyzing White America - Paul Mooney

2010-10-11T18:24:00.000-07:00

Video description: Angry, fearless and divisive, comedian Paul Mooney takes direct aim at racism in his stand-up act. The former 'Chapelle's Show' contributor offers his controversial take on Sept. 11 and race in his typical scathing style. Chrisitan / Islamic sensitivity warning !

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

A Glimpse Inside Nelson Mandela

2010-10-11T17:38:00.000-07:00

A Glimpse Inside Nelson Mandela's Memoirs
New Book Reveals The Innermost Thoughts Of The International Civil Rights Giant

Nelson Mandela may well be the most admired human being alive. It's difficult to imagine who could compete with him for the title. He went from being prisoner to president and, in the process, became an icon. But he is such a private man that we know very little about what he felt and thought throughout the 92 years of his life. That is, until now.

A book is coming out this week called "Conversations with Myself." It's a collection of his notes, letters, diaries, scribblings, most of which he wrote during his 27 years in prison. We literally read what was going on in his mind when he was leading a struggle, when he was preparing to lead a nation. We've known Mandela the man of history. Now we can begin to know Mandela the man.

He's hardly ever seen in public now, and doesn't give interviews. He leaves home only for very special occasions, like a visit to his great granddaughter Zenani's school.

"And where do you come from?" he asked one little girl at the school.

"I come from London," she replied.

"Oh! London? Have you met the queen there?" Mandela replied, with a chuckle.

That's the Mandela we've seen so little of - the Mandela who is captured in "Conversations with Myself." The book project began with an extraordinary mandate from him: take my personal archives and do what you want with them.

"He's said, 'I don't want you to ask me, Is this too personal, is this too potentially embarrassing,'" Verne Harris, the chief archivist at the Mandela Foundation, told "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon.

Harris spent years going through the mountains of material.

"He wants to see the Mandela as they say, warts and all?" Simon asked.

"He said, 'You don't have to protect me,'" Harris replied.

Mandela kept records of everything: in desk calendars, memo pads - every scrap of paper he could lay his hands on.

The most revealing are two notebooks with drafts of letters he wrote from Robben Island, South Africa's Alcatraz, where he was serving a life sentence for sabotage.

Mandela was allowed to send and receive one letter every six months. And the letters reveal that his passion for his wife Winnie never waned.

"What a masterpiece," he wrote after she sent him a picture of herself. "The picture has aroused all the tender feelings in me and softened the grimness that is all around. It has sharpened my longing for you and our sweet and peaceful home."

Winnie had become Mandela's voice on the outside and the Apartheid regime came down on her with a vengeance. She was repeatedly thrown into jail and tortured. The struggle was now not only devastating their lives - their two young daughters had been effectively abandoned.

Mandela was incredibly blunt about what awaited them. "My Darlings" he wrote. "Once again, our beloved Mommy has been arrested and now she and Daddy are away in jail…you may live like orphans without your own home and parents… you will get no birthday or Christmas parties, no presents or new dresses, no shoes or toys."

"What does it feel like reading it today?" Simon asked Mandela's youngest daughter, Zindzi.

"It takes me back to difficult times,” she replied. “It's still not easy to talk about those times.”

Zindzi Mandela was a toddler when he was taken away. She didn't see him again until she was 15 and travelled to visit him on the island. They were separated by a glass partition; guards listened to every word.

"He was so protective and so charming and he tried to make me imagine sitting at home on his lap in front of the fireplace and him reading me a story," she remembered.

Zindzi Mandela told Simon she cried, but that her father did not. "I have very rarely seen my father like even close to tears," she said.

But Mandela wrote with tears of what he went through when his mother died, and when his eldest son Thembi was killed in a car crash. "The news was broken to me at two thirty p.m.," he wrote. "Suddenly my heart had seemed to stop beating, and the warm blood that had freely flowed in my veins for the last 51 years froze into ice."

Mandela asked for permission to leave the island and attend their funerals; the authorities said no.

Mac Maharaj, a fellow prisoner, says Mandela didn't even wince. "He had to hold his emotions tightly to himself. He could not divulge to the authorities and let them feel that this was a weakness in his armor," Maharaj said.

Reveal nothing: that was Mandela's strategy. And organize the prisoners into a government in waiting. He never doubted that the racist regime would be overthrown. So even back then, he started preparing. First move: learn the language of the oppressor, Afrikaans.

"The language of the enemy?" Simon asked.

"The language of the enemy and I was totally opposed to it. And he said to me, 'Mac, do you agree that we are now in a protracted war?' I said, 'Yes.' He says, ‘You’ve got to understand the general on the other side.' I said, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘To understand him you've got to understand his language,'" Maharaj remembered.

The book contains defiant letters Mandela wrote to the authorities reminding them that, as political prisoners, they had rights and should be treated with dignity. In response, he got a visit from a general who was intent on putting Mandela in his place.

"And he says to Mandela, 'Mandela? You better remember you are a prisoner.' And in a very polite way he says to him, 'General, you and I may be generals on the opposite side of this war. At some point even if it is to accept the surrender from the other we'll have to meet. And how we treat each other now will determine how we interact at that moment,'" Maharaj remembered.

The regime was then forced to change its strategy. It tried to undermine Mandela in the most insidious way: he was moved to a private house in a prison on the mainland, equipped with a chef and a swimming pool. Officials came to see him, brought along a case of wine, and tempted him to sell out.

"This was the key moment for me in Nelson Mandela's life. This was when he was most at risk, because he starts negotiating from prison on his own. He's incredibly vulnerable," Verne Harris explained.

Asked what could have happened to him, Harris said, "He could have been played into making concessions. He could have been played into compromising himself in ways that would have been irredeemable. And he didn't make one mistake."

So when he walked out of prison, he knew - the world knew - that he was walking to the presidency, taking over the country that had been run by white racists for more than 40 years.

"How do you explain that incredible confidence?" Simon asked Harris.

"I think from very early on he had a very strong sense of destiny. And there was almost a sense that he knew he needed to go to prison before coming out to do the work that awaited him," he replied.

"He knew before he was captured, that one day he would be called President Mandela?" Simon asked.

"I think so," Harris said.

He may have won, but the country was on the brink of a civil war. He ruled with the exact same strategy he had employed as a prisoner: don't go for revenge, go for reconciliation.

He showed up at the finals of rugby's World Cup. This was the most popular sport among whites in South Africa. And here was a black president wearing the team jersey, waving the team cap. Spectators and the team were stunned. Mandela had won again.

He brought Afrikaners into his government, including Zelda La Grange. She has rarely spoken out before but, because of the book, she spoke to "60 Minutes."

Back then, she was a typist in the presidential office building when Mandela took over. One day she literally bumped into him in a corridor.

"And he stopped me and he started speaking in Afrikaans with me," La Grange remembered. "Which is my home language. And I didn't understand a word he was saying because I was so shocked. There was a feeling of guilt immediately overtaking my emotions that I felt responsible for taking away so many years of his life."

"You broke down?" Simon asked.

"Yes, yes, I started crying," she remembered.

Mandela hired La Grange, and brought her into his office. He wanted his old oppressors to know they'd be okay in the new South Africa. Zelda La Grange had a role to play.

Asked if she thinks her hiring was a political decision, La Grange told Simon, "Yes, definitely. There was some political thinking behind it for sure, some strategy, absolutely."

It wasn't long before La Grange became his most trusted assistant. For the last 16 years, every pop star, politician, president or pope who wanted to see the great man knew enough to cozy up to Zelda La Grange.

"You become his granddaughter didn't you?" Simon asked.

"I mean, I love him like my, you know, my own family," she replied.

"Love is the word?" Simon asked.

"Definitely. Adore, love, admire," she replied.

It wasn't just La Grange. Mandela was winning the love and admiration of just about everyone. But there was one person who didn't buy into all that: Nelson Mandela. He was actually troubled that the world saw him as a saint.

"I never was one," he wrote at the end of the book, "even on the basis of an earthly definition of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying."

And Mandela was the first to admit that, before he went to prison, he didn't try very hard. He once told Mac Maharaj that he'd "led a thoroughly immoral life."

His first wife divorced him, at least in part because of his alleged infidelities. And now that he's no longer a partisan or a president, many tales are being told of his many days and many nights with many women.

But Maharaj doesn't think this will tarnish Mandela's image. "Because he's a human being. He's like you and I."

But he's not. How could he be? He is the leader of one of the most important revolutions of the 20th century, and nothing else ever mattered.

"Whenever he had to choose, your father chose the struggle over his family. Did that make you angry?" Simon asked Zindzi Mandela.

"Oh, yes, it did. Of course it did," she replied. "I would get hurt. I would get angry, especially when I was younger. I mean I grew up wanting my father to come back home. Wanting to be an ordinary family. I don't know what it was like to have a father, to tuck me in at night. "

Mandela knew what he was doing to the lives of his family but says he would do it all over again. "They are not the only people who are suffering," he says in the book, "Hundreds, millions, in our country are suffering…I felt I made the correct decision.'"

Mandela dedicated the book to his great granddaughter Zenani; this past June she was killed in a car crash.

The Direct Link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/07/60minutes/main6936384.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

The God Complex part 1 & 2 - Da Ghetto Tymz

2010-10-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

Chrisitan,Islamic, & Jewish sensitivity warning.
Many never had a problem visualizing 'God' as, first, a whiteman, then second, a brutha. But are either of these true? See more Video Articles at Da Ghetto Tymz magazine's, DGTv - http://daghettotymz.com/dgtv/dgtv.html

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

7 deadly sins - Umar Abdullah Johnson

2010-10-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

Umar Abdullah-Johnson breaks down the 7 deadly sins for Africans:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

History of Hip-Hop - Jimmy Fallon

2010-09-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. Jimmy Fallon & Justin Timberlake teach Hip-Hop History in this performance. Watch and enjoy if you Enjoy Hip-Hop !

The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Rev. Ray Hagin - A Woman on a mission

2010-09-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text.

Christian Sensitivity Warning ! Do not listen if you fear your faith will be compromised:
Pastor Hagin preaches/teaches on the Historic acomplishments of Women and his take on the Biblical-based male superiority concepts that, in his opinion, have negatively impacted the world. Click the following link to watch the video:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9110044

The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Dr. Kwadwo - We Are All Africans

2010-09-30T03:27:00.000-07:00

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described.

In this video: Dr. Kwadwo speaks on "We are all Africans."
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9259708 Visit the link to hear the lecture !

The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Early depictions of African decended Jews

2010-09-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

YouTube videos that depict an African presence in early Jewish culture. If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the videos.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. Also visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDu1U0EPImE The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Chris Rock's Educational Video - Police Officers

2010-09-20T05:53:00.001-07:00

Chris Rock's comedic educational video on how not to be beat-up by Police Officers. Profanity warning ! If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8 to watch the video on YouTube.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0mtxXEGE8 to watch the video on YouTube. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Get Out The Way - Frank Brown

2010-09-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

If you are receiving this via email visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video.
http://www.mediamogulonline.com/ Frank is passionate about speaking & motivating. Comedy, music, & motivation, he provides, “Pure Edutainment”. Keynotes, to orientations, to student activities he specialize in customized presentations that will inspire & educate. In this message he tells you to tell your naysayers to "Get out of the way !"

Frank Brown Motivational Speaker of the Year @ Yahoo! Video

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

British Black Boys and School

2010-09-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

The schooling system in the UK is not doing much good for African children and particularly our young boys. This is a short documentary which looks at how three London schools are looking to address this problem as best as they can. Ultimately, the solutions to this SYMPTOM (black underachievement in school) lie in Africans ourselves understanding the underlying CAUSES and dealing with those in a consistent and dilligent manner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Daymond John - Black Billionaire

2010-09-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

The founder of FUBU was not always on top of the world... he started with virtually no money and rose to build a billion-dollar empire. Get his complete story here!

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Lonny Johnson - Inventor of the Super Soaker !

2010-09-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Lonny Johnson - Inventor of the Super Soaker !

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

The Whole World is African

2010-09-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

World History with a Moorish slant..... The whole world is African:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

There is no hell - Bishop Pearson

2010-08-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Several years ago, Bishop Carlton Pearson, did and said things that sent shockwaves throughout the black church. He shocked the members of his Pentecostal mega-church, along with other prominent church leaders when he publicly stated there is no such thing as hell, and he embraced homosexual men and women.

Pearson questioned the doctrines of his faith and made a public argument for the inclusion and validity of all religions. That did not sit well with leaders of the Pentecostal faith. They denounced his new thoughts and ideology and banished Pearson. He was declared a heretic by his peers, and Pearson instantly became a pariah. Pearson’s flourishing membership at his Higher Dimensions Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma dwindled from 5,000 members to less than 1,000. The drastic decline in members caused the church building and property to be sold at a tremendous loss in order to avoid foreclosure in 2006. With only a fraction of his original congregation in tow, Pearson and his remaining followers began meeting at the Trinity Episcopal Church, and renamed their church New Dimensions Worship Center. Later that same year, Pearson was accepted as a United Church of Christ minister and eventually, in 2008, New Dimensions Church was absorbed into the All Souls Unitarian Church.

Now, the former mega-church bishop, televangelist, and award-winning gospel recording artist picks up where his previous book ends and continues to raise provocative and controversial questions about God, religion, dogma, doctrine, and faith in his second book, GOD IS NOT A CHRISTIAN, NOR A JEW, MUSLIM, HINDU…: God Dwells with Us, in Us, Around Us, as Us (Atria Books).

Pearson explores new interpretations of scripture and presents a perspective that looks beyond mainstream religious fundamentalism, Pearson notes that God belongs to no particular religion but is rather, a constant presence that everyone can access. Giving a public face to a philosophy and ideology that many others in the clergy agree with but are afraid to acknowledge and embrace, Pearson, ever the pioneer, spreads his message of universalism and love in an intriguing and thought-provoking manner.

With his extensive knowledge of religious history and writings, Pearson probes the concept of hell and proposes that it is not the fiery underworld pit of conventional teaching but “a human creation used to terrify masses into behaving as their religious institutional guardian desires.” Pearson notes the buzz in some religious circles is that he doesn’t believe in hell anymore, which he says is both true and false.

Bishop Carlton Pearson is an independent spiritual leader and successful gospel recording artist. He was once an heir-apparent to Oral Roberts and a bishop in the Pentecostal Church where he presided over 600 churches. He lives in Chicago where he serves as Interim Sr. Minister of the 6,000 member Christ Universal Temple For Better Living.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Leave your comfort zones - James Amps III

2010-08-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Leave Your Comfort Zone - James Amps III.

Busines, Keynote, Motivational Speaker James Amp from FIVE STAR Speakers on Vimeo.

"If you help someone who's not doing well, that shows your character."

'Don't Let Others Mess with Your Vision'
Middle School Receives Inspirational Visitor

This article on James Amps III was featured in the OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS A MEDIA GENERAL NEWSPAPER Friday, February 16, 2001.

From a bad conduct discharge from the U.S. Navy to a national motivational speaking circuit, James Amps III has come a long way.

And through this life journey, Amps picked up a few tips along the way - tips that he shared with Samford Middle School eighth-graders during an emotion-filled assembly Tuesday.

Amps held the auditorium's audience captive, urging the students to break out of their day-to-day comfort zones. "We have to come out of our comfort zones to grow," Amps said. "We've got to get outside of the zone to excel."

Amps said both youth and adults are prone to both racial and spiritual comfort zones, and he said it was important to break out of these routines. "People can work together and go to school together," Amps said. "But at lunch, you've got whites, Latinos and blacks all sitting in their own groups in the lunchroom.

"We have to pay attention to the friends we surround ourselves with" he said. "We just know we belong to a certain group. If your crew does something wrong, you don't know."

Amps said this is what led to his release from the Navy. "I had a bad conduct discharge from the Navy," he said. "I was running around with a group that was doing wrong."

Amps said one of his friends stole about $300,000 from the Navy, and he refused to "rat" on him to Naval officers, leading to his discharge.

"My dream was pulled from me," he said. "I let another person mess with my vision. Don't let others mess with your vision."

Amps, president and CEO of Amps Communicators, speaks nationally on topics ranging from personal goals to personal accountability.

"Once you lose time, it's gone forever," he said. "Time doesn't care how many DKNY shirts or Air Jordan shoes you have. Time doesn't care about big houses and fancy cars."

The purpose of life is to set goals and do what you enjoy as a career choice, Amps said. "Our parents never chose their jobs. Their jobs chose them," Amps said. "People would be happy if they did what they loved."

Amps told the students they could be their own bosses and own their own businesses. "If you have a passion for something, you can sell it," he said.

He also urged students to reach out to others who were less fortunate or struggling in school and life. "If you want to have a good school, you've got to get with people who are having a hard time and help that person," Amps said. "If you help someone who's not doing well, that shows your character."

"Put your hands together, notice your lifeline," Amps said. "Your destiny is in your hands."

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Tamara's Opus - Joshua Bennett

2010-08-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

Brave New Voices slam champion Joshua Bennett performs "Tamaraʼs Opus at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U5BwD8zOeM . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

A Panther in Africa

2010-08-02T04:58:00.000-07:00

The tumultuous period known as "the '60s" continues to cast a long shadow across the contemporary American experience. Few, if any, of the seminal conflicts that drove the era — civil rights, war and peace, racism, women's liberation — have been fully resolved today. Nor have all the key players in that national drama been tried, pardoned, punished, vindicated, or even allowed to come home.

A Panther in Africa, a new documentary having its national broadcast premiere on public television's POV series, is the story of Pete O'Neal, one of the last exiles from the time of Black Power, when young rebels advocated black pride, unity, community service and sometimes, violence. Facing gun charges in Kansas City in 1970, O'Neal fled to Algeria, where he joined other Panther exiles. Unlike the others, however, O'Neal never found his way back to America. He moved on to Tanzania, where for over 30 years he has struggled to continue his life of social activism — and to hold on to his identity as an African-American.

Pete O'Neal, the militantly outspoken founder of the Kansas City chapter of the Black Panther Party, was eating breakfast on October 30, 1969 when four A.T.F. agents broke down his door and arrested him for transporting a gun across state lines. One year later, he was convicted of the charge, which he has always insisted was trumped up as part of the federal government's illegal COINTELPRO efforts — subsequently exposed — to imprison or kill Panther leaders. Before sentencing, O'Neal received warnings that he might not get out of prison alive, and decided to flee the country rather than submit to imprisonment.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

History is being read - Les Brown

2010-07-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

From: http://www.livingmydreams.tv/
Visit the above website for access to 30 days of Motivational videos by Les Brown.

A lot of people do not muster the courage to live their dreams because they are afraid to die.
Les Brown
Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.
Les Brown
All of us need to grow continuously in our lives.
Les Brown
Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.
Les Brown
Don't let someone else's opinion of you become your reality.
Les Brown
Forgive those who have hurt you.
Les Brown
Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on.
Les Brown

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text or visit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXS4tWHtItY&feature=player_embedded#!
. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

NBPP - Black Power or Black Rage ?

2010-07-22T23:25:00.000-07:00

Geraldo speaks/debates with Malik Shabazz of the New Black Panther Party.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pam Grier the actress, author, & activist

2010-07-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

"My dad, Clarence Grier, was a strappingly handsome man with tremendous strength in his hands. I could literally feel youthful energy shoot through his fingers. He was kind and loving to me, and the scent of his cologne combined with the crisp, starchy smell of his clean Air Force uniform delighted me. A loving, carefree man, he was my mom’s hero. He was so light-skinned, he could pass for white, which caused him a lot more trouble than if he had clearly looked black or white. His mom was mixed, and his blue-eyed dad was mixed but looked white, so he never really fit in anywhere."
- Pam Grier

Some may know her as hot, gutsy, gun-totin' Foxy Brown, Friday Foster, Coffy, and Jackie Brown. Others may know her from her role as Kit Porter on The L Word. But that only defines one part of the legend that is Pam Grier.

Foxy is Pam's testimony of her life, past and present. In it, she reveals her relationships with Richard Pryor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Freddie Prinze Sr., among others. She unveils her experiences as a backup singer and a blaxploitation star. In particularly candid and shocking chapters, she shares-for the first time-her view of those films and the persecution that blacks, especially women, needed to endure to make a name for themselves . . . including how it felt to be labeled one of the most beautiful women alive, yet not be permitted to try on clothes in a department store because of the color of her skin. And in words sure to inspire many, she tells the story of her ongoing battle with cancer.

From her disappointments to her triumphs, nothing is held back. With FOXY, Pam wishes to impart life lessons to her readers-and hopes to touch their hearts.

Click here to read chapter one of Pam's book !
http://aalbc.com/pam/foxy.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shirley Sherrod: FULL NAACP Speech

2010-07-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

Shirley Sherrod Speech: FULL video.

In her speech, Sherrod, who grew up on a farm in Georgia, said she desperately wanted to move to the North after high school, but that her father's murder spurred her to stay and commit herself to helping black people. (He was killed in 1965.) Sherrod said over time - in part because of her experience with the white farmer she realized her goal was to help poor people, not black people.

in the video are the stories Sherrod recounts about her family and growing up in the South before and during the Civil Rights movement. Her father was murdered when she was 17 "by a white man," she says, adding that in her county back then, "the murder of black people occurred periodically and in every case, the white men who murdered them were never punished." No one was ever prosecuted for her father's murder even though there were witnesses, says Sherrod. She also says after her father's murder, a group of white men burned a cross on the front yard of her home while her mother, four sisters and baby brother were inside.

Shirley Sherrod is not, by this accounting, a person out of touch with the racial history of America. Listen to her speech and it's clear this history is something she remembers vividly; her message to the NAACP audience seemed to be that if she can move past it, so can anyone else.

The theme of Sherrod's speech, which she repeats in various iterations throughout is, "It's not about race. It's about those who have and those who do not." In other words, Sherrod tries to impart to her audience that those who believe America - and the South in particular - is divided because of race miss the point. It's divided, she says, because of income.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9NcCa_KjXk or http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the entire video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Still We Rise ($1 Million Dollars)

2010-07-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

Still we rise !

Young brother receives over $1M in scholarship funding !
Booker T. Washington's 2010 Graduation Motivational Performance !

2010 Graduation from Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School

Click the below link to watch the video !

http://www.apsk12.org/media/VIDEO_PAGES/BTW_Val2010.html

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Tim Wise & White Privillige

2010-07-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Wise provides a non-confrontational explanation of white privilege and the damage it does not only to people of color but to white people as well.

Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S., and has been called, "One of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation," by best-selling author and professor Michael Eric Dyson, of Georgetown University. Wise has spoken in 48 states, and on over 600 college campuses, including Harvard, Stanford, and the Law Schools at Yale and Columbia, and has spoken to community groups around the nation.

Wise is the author of five books: White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son; Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White; Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections from an Angry White Male; Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama, and his latest, Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity. He has contributed essays to twenty-five books, and is one of several persons featured in White Men Challenging Racism: Thirty-Five Personal Stories, from Duke University Press. He received the 2001 British Diversity Award for best feature essay on race issues, and his writings have appeared in dozens of popular, professional and scholarly journals.

Wise has provided anti-racism training to teachers nationwide, and has conducted trainings with physicians and medical industry professionals on how to combat racial inequities in health care. He has also trained corporate, government, entertainment, military and law enforcement officials on methods for dismantling racism in their institutions, and has served as a consultant for plaintiff's attorneys in federal discrimination cases in New York and Washington State.

In summer, 2005, Wise served as an adjunct faculty member at the Smith College School for Social Work, in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he co-taught a Master's level class on Racism in the U.S. In 2001, Wise trained journalists to eliminate racial bias in reporting, as a visiting faculty-in-residence at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida. From 1999-2003, Wise was an advisor to the Fisk University Race Relations Institute, in Nashville, and in the early '90s was Associate Director of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism: the largest of the many groups organized for the purpose of defeating neo-Nazi political candidate, David Duke.

Wise has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs, is a regular contributor to discussions about race on CNN, and was featured in a segment on ABC’s 20/20, in 2007.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3812249801848706206# . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Farrakhan on Jews' Ma'fa involvement

2010-07-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from 'Who Are The Real Children of Israel?' done on June 26, 2010.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Reggae Music & Black Power - Louis Sokei

2010-06-14T04:02:00.000-07:00

Louis Chude Sokei @ Riddim Reggae Talk 9/10/2009 presents his lecture regarding the influences of Reggae music upon the later Black Pride Movement and the concept of the African diaspora from the Outside of Africa and the Inside of Africa points.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SEED boarding school in Washington D.C.

2010-05-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

This video is of the SEED boarding school in Washington D.C. serving primarily impoverished American children of Afrikan descent.
The short version:

The full episode:

Watch CBS News Videos Online
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/60_minutes/video/index.php?pid=JK2E9A_I_eKCzCSJKVY5fOhUiZT9_oAm&vs=Default&play=true . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Jonathan McCoy - Lift every voice and cry

2010-05-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

AfriCanVIP presents Jonathan McCoy's Motivational Speech

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link to the video of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bUMS_A8awY&feature=player_embedded . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

The Emancipation of Cuban Rumba

2010-05-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

The Emancipation of Cuban Rumba

Cuba, the origin of the Salsa movement is back with a lot of fire.
The documentary about Afro-Cuban culture.
How it started, how it is conserved and how it is lived today.

Rumba celebrates life through singing, dancing and drumming. It is a "festival of sound and movement" created through the unison of different cultures, traditions and art forms. It is a mirror that reflects the social, political, religious, and economic conditions surrounding those who create, play, and dance rumba. Rumba evolved from many different musical influences, emerging as a mixture of Afro-Cuban traditions and a diverse, rapidly changing, and extremely expressive culture. It has, and continues to have, a dramatic impact on music today, and is especially recognizable in the extremely popular offshoot known as salsa.

There are three main types of rumba that dominate today - yambu, guaguanco, and columbia. Each descended from the ancestral music and dance brought to Cuba from Africa.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Mexico's African Presence

2010-05-11T18:30:00.001-07:00

This post goes out to Brother Seko of the Imani Foundation who began teaching on this subject (The African presence in the Latino/Hispanic/Chicano) back in the mid 1990s. - Imani

Photo: (Right) Brother Elder Runoko Rashidi with an (Left) Afro-Mexican !

While the spanish where conquering countries througout the Americans they brought free africans over to mexico such as Juan Garrido (born in west african) Even though africans helped the spanish fight battles they were not treated equally beacuse they were african. Afrter the battles many natives had died in mexico, while others faught hard for freedom.In order to produce more labor African Slaves were taken to mexico by the spanish from the coast of Ghana to Angola. Many Africans who were slaves intermarried with natives. Most Afro Mexicans are Zambo (African & Native mixture)

http://blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/2008/11/lesson-18-of-26-black-mexicans.html

Gasper Yanga was one the greatest leaders in slavery. He was a Gabonese who helped african slaves build palenques to esacape the cruelty of slavery. Francisco de la Matosa who was Angolan also helped right battles against the spanish as they destroyed maroon towns. the battle lasted many years and the spanish was unable to defeat the africans. They decided to sign a treaty in the town of veracruz and today it still remains Yanga town.

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1935-african-roots-stretch-deep-into-mexico

Costa Chica has the largest black population in Mexico. While other areas such Veracruz, and Yucatan have a significant black population.

The song ‘La Bamba’, a traditional folk song and dance, was originally a song sung by African slaves in Veracruz as they worked, since many of the enslaves brought to Mexico by the Spaniards, came from Angola and Congo, with the Africans who originated the song hailing from the MBamba peoples of Angola. Bamba is the name of an African tribe in Angola and in Congo, from the Bamba River, where the MBamba peoples lived. As enslaves, they brought their beautiful culture with them, and the original origins of this song, over 500 years ago, and as so very often, with enslaved Africans in the new world, they fought against enslavement, running away and joining up with the indigenous peoples in the rain forests and mountainous areas.

The song also refers to a specific incident which occurred in the year 1683, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, when pirates attacked the people, free and enslaved, living there. The Spanish officials of Veracruz mistreated the enslaves so horribly that they rebelled in what was known as the “Bambarria”, an enslave uprising that pitted the African enslaves and Indians against the Spanish. (New Spain as it was called, because at the time, the country we now know as Mexico, did not exist as a nation, until approximately 200 years later, when in 1810, Mexico/New Spain gained its independence from Spain).

Refferences:
(1) “MEXICO IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE”, By BOBBY VAUGHN: http://www.blackelectorate.com/articles.asp?ID=1373

UNHCR – REFWORLD: “WORLD DIRECTORY OF MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE – MEXICO: AFRO-MEXICANS”: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,49709c232,49749ce5c,0.html

“SE HABLA ESPANOL (TAMBIEN SE CANTA, SE BAILA, Y SE ESCRIBE), By Alexander J. Reyes: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2006/2/06.02.06.x.html

LA BAMBA: CANCION DE VERACUZ: “A SONG THAT STARTED IN 1683″: http://www.johntoddjr.com/143%20Bamba/bamba.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

This Man Jesus - Minister Louis Farrakhan

2010-05-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan delivers a message on meanings of Easter and Jesus to the members and guests of Mosque Maryam during Easter Sunday of 2001.

If Jesus is the Prime Example, and he said, 'I of myself can do nothing, but whatsoever the Father Wills, that I do.', he is telling you that he is dependent. He is not Sovereign Lord. He is dependent upon a Power bigger than himself. Well, that example should be studied by us, for the Qur'an teaches us that Allah loves not any self-conceited boaster, who goes about the land exultingly."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Small Business Advice - Andrew Morrison

2010-05-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

Andrew Morrison's Small Business Advice:

Financing Your Dreams with $0 Down!

Over 225 people are holding themselves accountable to reach a BIG 16 week goal. You can still join us at http://www.16weekchallenge.com/ . One of the biggest issues that people face is how to fund their 16 week goal. Where do you get the money? How do I write a proposal? What should I offer in return for the money? I plan to answer these and more questions on a seminar-by-phone entitled, “Financing Your Dreams with $0 Down!” You can register at http://smallbusinesscamp.com/?page_id=269 to get the phone number. Until then watch the video below:

Here are a few of the concepts that I will share online:

1. Attitude is everything. I know times may be tough, but you have to develop a winning attitude. No one wants to invest in someone who sees themselves as a loser.

2. Be realistic. Have you generated a return for any investors in the past? If not, you want to set a small fund raising goal. And then use this success to go after more money in the future.

3. Who is on your team? People don’t like to invest in a one-person operation. Reach out to a few friends and see if you can add them to your management team.

4. Simple projects sell. Investors want to invest in project that will generate revenue ASAP. Select a project that you can easily manage and flawlessly execute. Book, special event, advertising program and website launch are all focused projects that can show a return.

5. Run the numbers. Come in with a clear understanding of your business model and revenue drivers. You should also be familiar with comparable financial ratios in your industry.

6. Keep Asking. A “No” should be followed with, “Do you know of anyone who would be interested?” Get mentally tough to ask 99 people before your first YES!

7. Get in the News. Investors like concepts that can generate free publicity which in-turn attracts new customers.

8. Use online and micro-lending organization. Project Enterprise in NYC and Virgin Money represents the new trend toward non-traditional lending.

9. Share a 1-page plan. You may still need the 30-page business plan but a one pager is often enough to see if this person is really interested in becoming an investor. Join http://smallbusinesscamp.com/?page_id=269 and I will share with you a sample proposal.

10. Celebrate your victory. Host a party to thank the individuals who made your success possible.

A recording will be available from the call tonight. Sign-up to gain access. I trust these tips will help you secure the funding to pursue their dreams.

Expect the Best,

Andrew Morrison
President, Small Business Camp

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Tell Our Children Our History - Dr. John Henrik Clarke

2010-05-06T03:43:00.000-07:00

Tell our children our history part one & part two.

John Henrik Clarke (January 1, 1915 - July 16, 1998), born John Henry Clark, was a Pan-Africanist American writer, historian, professor, and a pioneer in the creation of Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the late 1960s.

He was Professor of African World History and in 1969 founding chairman of the Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College of the City University of New York. He also was the Carter G. Woodson Distinguished Visiting Professor of African History at Cornell University’s Africana Studies and Research Center. In 1968 along with the Black Caucus of the African Studies Association, Clarke founded the African Heritage Studies Association.

A self-educated intellectual, Clarke documented the histories and contributions of African peoples in Africa and the diaspora, creating an Afrocentric perspective.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2KXD8PwAF8 . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Success comes by choice - Del McNeal

2010-05-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

Delatorro L. McNeal, II has been transforming the lives of people from all walks of life. As an internationally renowned Professional Speaker and Best Selling Author, Delatorro has spoken in 45 of the 50 US states, and has delivered well over 1000 presentations to major corporations, colleges and universities, professional associations, conventions, churches, and leadership conferences. If he looks familiar, it’s because Delatorro has been featured on national and worldwide television networks like Fox News, NBC, BET, TBN, Daystar, Oxygen, and The Word Network as well as syndicated radio shows all across America. His website is http://www.delmcneal.com . This video was originally aired on a Christian-based television show.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjqasqyqlA0&feature=player_embedded . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Oprah Winfrey Commencement Speech 2008

2010-05-04T05:10:00.000-07:00

Oprah Winfrey's Commencement Speech 2008 for Stanford University:

"The world has so many lessons to teach you. I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school and our life the classrooms. And sometimes here in this Planet Earth school the lessons often come dressed up as detours or roadblocks. And sometimes as full-blown crises. And the secret I've learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons, lessons from the grandest university of all, that is, the universe itself.

It's being able to walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is going to best help you evolve, 'cause that's really why we're here, to evolve as human beings. To grow into more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion and growth.

I think about one of the greatest compliments I've ever received: I interviewed with a reporter when I was first starting out in Chicago. And then many years later, I saw the same reporter. And she said to me, "You know what? You really haven't changed. You've just become more of yourself."

And that is really what we're all trying to do, become more of ourselves. And I believe that there's a lesson in almost everything that you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward. It's how you enrich your spirit. And, trust me, I know that inner wisdom is more precious than wealth. The more you spend it, the more you gain."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpd3raj8xww&feature=player_embedded . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing

imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Setting Fire to your goals - Tori Brown

2010-05-03T14:44:00.000-07:00

Ann "Tori" Brown The Diva of Motivation Ann "Tori" Brown ...

Ann "Tori" Brown The Diva of Motivation @ Yahoo! Video

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or follow this link: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4081435/11016132 . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Malcolm X - Who Taught You To Hate Yourself ?

2010-04-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

VIDEO FROM THE FAMOUS SPEECH:

MALCOLM X: Who taught you to hate the color of your skin? Who taught you to hate the texture of your hair? Who taught you to hate the shape of your nose and the shape of your lips? Who taught you to hate yourself from the top of your head to the soles of your feet? Who taught you to hate your own kind? Who taught you to hate the race that you belong to so much so that you don’t want to be around each other? You know. Before you come asking Mr. Muhammad does he teach hate, you should ask yourself who taught you to hate being what God made you.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRSgUTWffMQ&feature=player_embedded .
The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Dream Stealers - Frank Brown Sr.

2010-04-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

Frank Brown Sr. The Innovation of Inspiration @ Yahoo! Video

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4085892/11028569 . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

That's so Raven & Black History

2010-04-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

That's So Raven is an American television sitcom. The show premiered on Disney Channel in 2003, and ended in November 2007. It is Disney Channel's longest-running live-action series, having been on for four years and airing 100 episodes throughout 4 seasons. It was also Disney Channel's first series to break the 65-episode mark, and the highest-rated series to air on Disney Channel during its entire run. In 2005 and 2007, the series was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding children's programming.

On Feb. 11th, 2005 the Black History Celebration episode "True Colors" premeired. In this episode Raven (Black) and Chelsea (White) apply for jobs at an upscale clothing store, but -- despite her obvious skills, and Chelsea's incompetence -- Chelsea is the one chosen. However, when Raven has a vision indicating that the manager (Devon Odessa) is a racist and this was the only reason she didn't get the job, she goes undercover for a TV news report (with Chelsea and Eddie's help) to expose the truth. Meanwhile, Cory (Raven's TV brother) has to write an essay on Black History Month.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTGKW1LjLS0 . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Getting Started with money - C. Stallings

2010-04-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

The consumate professional, Charlotte Stallings, details steps that one can make to better handle one's money. From discussing mindsets to discussing buying stocks, Charlotte speaks the truth and provides an road map to economic excellence. Charlotte has a knack for sharing even the most complex business and investment concepts in a thoroughly understandable way. As a member of the “sandwich generation” - baby boomers charged with caring for themselves, their children and their parents - Charlotte is acutely attuned to the financial needs and challenges facing today’s families. Her goal is to help people understand money and investing, and show them how to structure their financial lives and investment portfolios to achieve their dreams.
Click here to view the video:
http://bureau.espeakers.com/gbsp/flavplayer_content.php

For more information on Charlotte visit the below link:
http://bureau.espeakers.com/gbsp/speaker.php?sid=7133

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of
http://bureau.espeakers.com/gbsp/flavplayer_content.php .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

What Do You Bring To The Table - Stallings

2010-04-12T05:27:00.000-07:00

Motivation by our people for our people. Professional speaker, trainer and consultant, Charlotte Stallings, shows you how to get smart about success by focusing on your choices. Charlotte gained expertise in the nuts and bolts of business, sales, marketing and leadership from her years at powerhouse corporations such as US Banks, Xerox and over 20 years at American Express. By taking risks, making mistakes and gathering information, Charlotte grew into the kind of business and leadership expert that you can trust.
http://www.greatblackspeakers.com/corporate_speaker/motivation.htm

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DBYafZgJBM&feature=player_embedded# . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Human evolutionary chain - 60 Minutes

2010-04-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

Additional scientific evidence that Africa is humanity's Motherland - CBS' 60 Minutes:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Watch CBS News Videos Online
If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit the direct link of http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6380297n&tag=api . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .

Islamic roots in ancient Egypt - Bro. Rafiq

2010-03-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

The Islamic roots are from Kemet (Egypt). Presented by Rafiq Bilal Bin Djiang Gan was a well-known civil rights activist who dedicated his life to fighting injustice and inequality for people of color in America.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOpHwVugDGE . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement".

You Saved Me (Blacks & Marriage)

2010-03-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

With African American marriage numbers at an all time low and African American divorce numbers at an all time high the hopes of positive, lasting, relationships look bleak until now. Executive Producers Lamar and Ronnie Tyler bring real married couples to the screen to chronicle the greatest love stories ever told. These real couples explain how their marriages had a direct impact on their lives. Featuring candid and transparent looks inside of the hardships, trials, and ultimate success stories of these amazing couples. YOU SAVED ME offers an unprecedented look inside of real relationships and what is required to sustain them.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzkmGkgZEg4&feature=player_embedded . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement".

From Slavery to Sainthood

2010-03-22T04:36:00.000-07:00

In 1886, at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, a young man who had been born a slave was ordained a priest. His name was Augustine Tolton and he was the first black Roman Catholic priest in the United States.

(From: Celebrating Priesthood - Father Augustine Tolton) By Gerry Curran

On a clear night in 1862, a 29-year-old slave woman with her two young sons and 20-month-old daughter, bolted the Stephen Elliot plantation in Brush Creek, Missouri, where she’d lived since 1849. Her destination for now was Hannibal, about five miles distance. From there, in a leaky rowboat, with bullets whizzing overhead from Confederate soldiers, she frantically rowed across the great Mississippi River to Illinois—a free state. For that slave woman, Martha Jane Tolton, it would mean freedom but for one of her sons, Augustine, it would mean even more. He would become, despite a maze of major obstacles, the first pure-blooded black Roman Catholic priest in the U.S.Born in Kentucky, Martha Jane Chisley was already a second-generation Catholic, being baptized in infancy as was the custom of slave-holding Catholics. She would be part of a human dowry upon the wedding of Susan Mannings to Stephen Elliot. Immediately following the reception, the couple, with slaves in tow, headed for their new home, a farm in Missouri, also a slave state. Adjoining the Elliot farm was one owned by the Hager family, also Catholic. It was here Martha Jane met another slave, Peter Paul Tolton, who worked in the plantation’s distillery. A relationship developed and eventually they received permission from the Hager and Eliot families to marry in the Church.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124895104

In the spring 1851, Peter and Martha Jane were married by Father John O’Sullivan at Saint Peter’s Church in Brush Creek. In consenting to the marriage, it was agreed that the couple would live on the Eliot plantation but Peter would remain the property of the Hagers. In addition, any children born of this union would become property of the Elliots. From the marriage came Charley in 1853, Augustine, 1854, and Anne, 1859.Though Peter Tolton had been a slave of the Hagers since he was a child, he still desired his freedom. Following the federal surrender of Fort Sumter in 1861, he escaped and enlisted in the Union army. Martha Jane understood.

A year later, she and her children made their own escape.The little quartet eventually made it to Quincy, Illinois, a town about 20 miles north of where they landed. It had a population of about 14,000, of which about 300 were black. Martha Jane made arrangements to stay with another black woman, a Mrs. Davis, and found a job at the Harris Tobacco factory at Fifth and Ohio Streets [also referenced as the Wellman and Dwire Tobacco Company]. Her two sons were hired as "stemmers," preparing the tobacco by trimming stems. They worked 10-hour days, six days a week for 50¢ per week. Mother Tolton, as she came to be known, attended the local Catholic church, Saint Boniface. The pastor was Father Herman Schaeffermeyer.

Though the 2,000-member parish was predominantly German, the Toltons were, for the most part, accepted or at the very least, tolerated. The parish school was yet untested. Mass was celebrated in Latin but the epistles, gospel and sermon in German and then translated into English by Fr. Schaeffermeyer. Young Augustine would learn the German language through this process. During the winter months the tobacco factory was closed, and in 1865, Augustine and Anne became the first black children enrolled at St. Boniface School.

When parishioners heard of it many threatened to withdraw their support of the church. Not surprisingly, the Tolton children endured hostility from other students as well. Staying only a month, Mother Tolton removed them from St. Boniface School. Augustine continued to work at the tobacco factory, eventually working his way into the grading and sorting room. The work was easier and his pay was raised to $3 a week. Despite his earlier moral lapse in not standing up to his parishioners, Fr. Schaeffermeyer became a life-long friend of the Toltons.

In the winter of 1868, Mother Tolton enrolled her children in an all-black school, later known as Lincoln School, a state-maintained institution of dubious academic quality. Even in a school surrounded by his own, he was harassed and taunted, mainly because of his gawkiness and lack of a father. (Peter Paul Tolton had died of dysentery in a St. Louis hospital during the war. It is not known whether he ever saw combat.) Young Augustine, 14, would stay with it, and eventually won over his tormentors. He became one of the school’s best students.Augustine met another person, one of many in his life, who was interested in his future: Father Peter McGirr of St. Peter’s Church in Quincy. Fr. McGirr, from Ulster in Northern Ireland, went on a sick call to Mrs. Davis’ house, where the Toltons were still staying in 1868. After speaking with Augustine, Fr. McGirr arranged to have him attend St. Peter’s School. When white parishioners complained to Fr. McGirr about a child attending St. Peter’s, he would either ignore them or lecture them on the equality of all people. Augustine never had any problems with any of the students.

Augustine learned his Latin and became an altar boy. At the same time Mother Tolton moved to a brick shed behind a livery stable, close to St. Peter’s church and school. Though a bright student at 16, he was still woefully behind in his studies. Consequently, he received special before- and after-class tutoring from the nuns. He graduated with distinction from St. Peter’s in 1872, at the age of 18.Now the question was, what was he to do with the education? Fr. McGirr asked Augustine if he ever thought of becoming a priest, to which the young man responded very positively. He applied at Saint Francis Monastery in Teutopolis, Illinois. Their reply: he did not qualify. So Augustine headed back to the tobacco factory where he was now making cigars at $9 per week and also serving as the church’s custodian.

St. Boniface had a new pastor, Father Francis Ostrop and was assisted by Father Theodore Wegmann. Fr. Ostrop set up a course of study for Augustine patterned after that at St. Francis Solanus College in Quincy. Fr. Wegmann would teach the course to Augustine. Meanwhile, over at St. Peter’s, Fr. McGirr found a reply from the local bishop to an earlier letter regarding Augustine. Basically, the letter said “Find a seminary which will accept a Negro candidate. The diocese will assume the expenses.” Unfortunately, the point was moot, as the three priests had written every seminary in the U.S., all of which responded “We are not ready to accept a Negro as a candidate for the seminary.” Augustine, or ‘Gus’ as he was now known, was 20 and in his twelfth year of employment at the tobacco factory.An unexpected transfer of Fr. Wegmann found Gus in northeastern Missouri studying under a priest friend of Fr. McGirr’s. It turned out an utterly disastrous year with a well-meaning but alcoholic priest for a tutor and Gus working in a saloon, cleaning up the place after closing. So it was back to Quincy.

Upon his return to Quincy, Gus started working at the J.L. Kreitz Saddle factory in Quincy making saddles and horse collars. He also took back his job as church custodian. Fr. Ostrop found another tutor for him in the chaplain at the local Catholic hospital. After several months, Gus started a new job making $12 a week at Durhold and Company, a soda firm. Another bit of good fortune occurred: St. Francis Solanus College (now Quincy College) accepted Gus, who would start in the fall of 1878. In addition, he had three priests to tutor him. One of them, Father Michael Richardt, would be another pivotal person to his future.Concerned about the lack of religious education among his own people, Gus took on the unofficial role of lay minister at St. Boniface. He discovered several years earlier that St. Boniface had purchased a Lutheran church and used it for a school. After St. Boniface built a new school, the former Protestant church lay vacant. Gus received permission from the pastor of St. Boniface to establish a Sunday school for children in the vacant church. With the assistance of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, a day school was also started. Over time, it grew to become St. Joseph parish.Still, Gus, now 25, was no closer to his goal of entering a seminary than five years earlier. A plea to the newly-founded Josephite Fathers in England, whose ministry was directed at American ex-slaves, eventually proved a dead end. He began pestering his mentors on the subject. Following a long talk with Fr. McGirr, Gus was sadly reminded of the situation for blacks in 1879 America. However, the discussion did end on a positive note. Fr. McGirr told him of the local bishop’s upcoming trip to Rome the following week and the bishop would plead Gus’s case to the Cardinal Prefect of the Propaganda College. Gus’s spirits soared.

After a seemingly interminable amount of time, Fr. Richardt showed Gus a letter received from the local bishop. Though the bishop tried his best, the letter said, he was unable to obtain admission for Gus to the Propaganda College. The letter added that he should wait until the Josephite Fathers opened a seminary in the U.S. Knowing that to be a pipe dream, Fr. Richardt began his reserve plan and appealed directly to the superior general of the Franciscan order in Rome. The Cardinal Prefect—who’d just turned down the bishop’s plea—was also a personal friend of the superior general.Fr. Richardt mailed the superior general a long, well-crafted letter to plead Gus’s case. For Gus, the time was agony. For about two months, he just moped along, until one day he was notified of his acceptance for priestly preparation at the Propaganda College in Rome.On Sunday, February 15, 1880, with a sizable crowd at the Quincy station to see him off, Gus boarded the train that took him to Hoboken, N.J. From there he would board the Der Westlicher for a 12-day voyage to Le Havre, and then, by train, with various European layovers, to Rome. He arrived in the Eternal City on Wednesday, March 10, 1880.

Within nine days, Gus and his 70 or so fellow seminarians were invested in the uniform of the Collegium: A black soutane with red sash and black biretta with a red tassel. He found his classmates to be from all corners of the globe. The discrimination and prejudice he experienced in the U.S. was not found in the Collegium. Though occasionally lonely, he felt very comfortable in his new situation. Later, as Father Tolton, he would recall that the happiest times of his life were as a seminarian. Very soon, his fellow seminarians addressed him as Gus or ‘Gus from the U.S.’ and he adjusted well to seminary life. During this time he also mastered the accordion and would play old Negro spirituals for his classmates. On non-school days he would wander around Rome and sketch some of the Eternal City’s more than 600 churches. In spring 1886, Gus’s seminary days were coming to an end. He’d passed all the requisite courses and taken all the oaths for each of his six years of study. All that remained was ordination, The day before his ordination, he tried to find out his first assignment. Anyone who knew him, from the clergy in Quincy to his seminary classmates and instructors at the Collegium, assumed he would be sent to Africa as a missionary. This was not to be. To everyone’s surprise, he was being sent back to Quincy. Alhough an assignments committee had agreed that Augustine Tolton would go to Africa, the prefect of the Collegium, Giovanni Cardinal Simeoni, overruled them and said America didn’t have any black priests, though they were needed — but Americans will see one now.

Gerry Curran is a Southern California based writer who was born in Chicago and raised on the South Side. His work has appeared in Nostalgia Digest. Gerry served in the Marine Corps, and is now happily retired with his wife, Vicki. He spends a lot of time studying Chicago's history.

Additionals:

March 18, 2010
BY STEFANO ESPOSITO Staff Reporter
"Augustus Tolton, who went on to become the first black Catholic priest in America, is now a candidate for sainthood, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Wednesday. Cardinal Francis George plans to appoint a "historical commission" to gather the facts about the Chicago priest's "heroic virtues." The pope ultimately can declare someone a saint following a process that includes attributing two miracles to the candidate."

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/religion/2109871,CST-NWS-saint18.article

Additional Information:

http://www.southloophistory.org/people/tolton.htm

http://home.catholicweb.com/spc/files/Augustus_Tolton.pdf

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or Click Here for the original article . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement".

Afrolatinos - The Untaught Story

2010-03-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

We often regard the Latino community as one being divided by nationality, but racial politics within the community can divide as well.While many Latin communities have embraced the Afro-roots of specific cultural forms such as art, music, dance and food, few have openly connected that heritage to its deeper history. Likewise, Black citizens within many Latin communities feel a similar disconnection. Enter Renzo Devia, an award-winning U.S.-born television producer and director of Colombian heritage, whose documentary, AFROLATINOS, seeks to bring focus to the complex and varied experiences of Black communities throughout South and Central America.

This is the official trailer of the Documentary series AFROLATINOS. This documentary is scheduled to air in late 2011. It will educate on the African Diaspora in Latin America and celebrate the AfroLatino culture. Please check out AfroLatino.tv for more info. The production company is CreadorPictures.tv

English Trailer for AfroLatinos The Documentary from Renzo Devia / Creador Pictures on Vimeo.

Afrolatinos “The Untaught Story” is a documentary television series independently produced by Creador Pictures, LLC. The program will illustrate history and celebrate the rich culture of people in Latin America of African descent. From the story of how and when slaves came to Central and South America to identity issues that still exist in the Hispanic community today. There are an estimated 200 million Afro-descendants in Latin America but the majority of them do not have political or economic power. This documentary takes you on a journey to meet Afrolatinos throughout Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations and an exploration and appreciation of their culture.
The documentary follows the African Latin experience from the slave trade in the early 1500’s and touches on the Cimarron (Palenque) communities, as well as the controversial theory of the African presence in ancient America.
It also looks at contemporary Afro-Latin communities and explores the notions of African identity and the various ways embracing African identity is beginning to impact politics, economics and culture in Latin America. According to Creador, “Of all the issues that are affecting their way of life the main issue is the exclusion of a community of people based on the color of their skin. We interview people from the U.S to Argentina about issues such as image (this idea of good hair, bad hair), interracial marriages, racism, oppression, exploitation and Afrolatinos consciousness plus much more.”
Creador strives to project positive, dynamic images of Latinos on television and has made it his mission to educate people on the Afro-Latino culture toward a goal of unification and empowerment.
View more about the AfroLatinos documentary
Listen to the Roots of AfroLatin music
This information is pulled from Ebony Magazine
(http://ebonyjet.com/culture/film/index.aspx?id=16636)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or visit http://vimeo.com/8974846 . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement".

Black to the Bible - Rev. Jeffrey A. Johnson

2010-03-17T16:04:00.000-07:00

Rev. Jeffrey A. Johnson Jr. preaches/teaches his Black to the Bible Vol. 1 - "The Biblical Black Presence." The lecture/sermon contains historical information and Biblical doctrine supporting the presence of African people and people of African descent in the standard cannonized Bible. This file is the first sermon/lecture in an educational four part series. Hit http://www.easternstarchurch.org for more information about Rev. Jeffrey A. Johnson Jr. or call 317-591-5057 to purchase this lecture legally.

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com to watch the video described in the above text or click here to visit the link:
. The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement".