Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Willow Smith/ Whip My Hair

Willow Smith is the 9 year old daughter of Will and Jada Smith. She not only has impeccable style but she also has an amazing voice. I blogged about her style awhile back never thought I’d become a fan of her music. Her new hit song “Whip My Hair” is rapidly climbing the charts and even landed her a record deal with Jay- Z’s new label Roc Nation.


Even though she’s 9, Willow has a certain poise and a certainty about her self which comes out in her music and personality. She’s a burst of pure/innocent energy but has a “clear vision of who she is and who she wants to be.” Jay- Z also went on to compare her to a young Michael Jackson.. ( I wouldn’t take it that far because NO one can be the King of Pop) saying that “I can only imagine that's how Mike [Michael Jackson] was as a young kid, he knew exactly what he wanted."


I’m excited for Willow and cant wait to see the impact she leaves on Music.

Tell Good Hair To Kick Rocks



One of my favorite artists came out with a song just a few years ago called "I am Not My Hair." Ms. India Arie's lyrics were so inspiring, as they always are, and millions of women were bopping their heads and singing every word. Unfortunately we were not singing this song with conviction but instead singing because it was catchy and for many of us deep down inside singing the words were as close as we would ever get to embracing our God-given manes with confidence.


Historically Black women have had such a complex surrounding our tresses, feeding into sayings and phrases like "good hair", "bad hair", "nigga hair", "slave hair". But what does all of this actually mean and why do we continue to suppress ourselves and our counterparts into feelings of subjectivity as if our natural tresses are not good enough? Who defines what "good hair" is?
I get so annoyed when I hear people refer to a person's hair as good or bad. Once a guy told me, "Oh you have good hair because it curls up when it's wet." Really? How dumb can you be? These are the kind of comments that contribute to the low self-esteem epidemic plaguing many of our young girls and teens. Good hair doesn't mean curly when wet. Good hair is healthy hair and the ability to rock whatever you've been blessed to have with nothing less than maximum confidence.


I started growing my relaxer out in 2009 and just recently I decided to snip the rest away. It was a bold move and took me out of my comfort zone but without discomfort there is no growth. I forced myself to become comfortable with me, just me! Many of you want to make the same move and convince yourself that you'll do it when the time is right. Well the time is now. If you're waiting until you just feel empowered and 100% confident, you'll probably be waiting forever. It's one of those things you just have to do and trust that your Creator made you unique, divine and oh so fine!

Now I don't want you to get the wrong message and think that I'm saying relaxers and weaves are wrong. I just want you to walk away understanding that how ever you decide to rock your strands, you are just as beautiful with it in its natural state. So often we become dependent on weave, lace fronts, wigs, extensions, clip-ins, sew-ins, etc. that we cannot stand looking at the real us and accept us for who we are. If you are one of the many who "freak-out" without weave or relaxers so much to the point of not being able to go in public then this is for you. Don't continue to emotionally enslave yourself when you have the key. Would you stay locked in a dungeon if you had the key to escape. The principle is the same! Only you can liberate you!
So whether its natural, relaxed, sewn in, glued in, clipped in, fused in, gelled up, slickedoff, locked, kinky, wavy, curly, puffy, coarse, thin, thick, short, medium or long .......Remember that you are Beautiful just the way you popped out of the womb and not a soul can take that away but you! Tell society and all it's images of "good hair" to kick rocks! Stay FABULOUS ;)
Live Life, Love Life,
EssenceDanielle

Pretty Boy Swag???

Is it me or is the rap scene becoming unknowingly infatuated with suspect artist. I, myself am a die hard fan of southern, bass controlled, crunk music. I love hip-hop as a whole, being that it has always been a representation of my culture and that is my issue; I do not want metro-sexual/down-low rappers to be the face of my culture.

I embrace any and every one and firmly believe in the saying, “to each its own”, however hip hop is one of, if not the biggest genres globally. Hip-hop has always been spat at and called negative, but the message sent through such as “fight the power” gave me a sense of pride. Nowadays with artists like Kanye West and Drake and newcomers Justin Bieber and Soulja Boy with his pretty boy swag, it’s become hard to feel comfortable knowing that these are the men that our youth are idolizing.

Musically, each artist has a unique sound that has launched their careers to great heights; however, the imagery portrayed is what has been termed metro-sexual i.e. a man with gay tendencies. Now, I personally do not know any artist in the music industry but when a man claims that he has pretty boy swag, or gets hot and bothered when speaking of Lil’ Wayne, or runs on stage wearing shoulder pads to embark in a catfight with a scrawny teenager, then one’s eyebrows begin to rise. When you have songs titled, I’m a pretty bitch and I think I’m Paris Hilton, and you kiss a man fan’s hand during a concert(Lil’ B), then that’s when I think hip hop has taken a terrible turn.


Would I be upset with an openly gay rapper, no? Because then it would not be an image, but a way of life and who you are. I just have a hard time grasping the idea of a grown man who surrounds himself with a handful of women, follow fashion trends instead of being individuals, and has a diva like attitude being the men our younger generation admires.

Joshua Nelson sanelson23@gmail.com

Mistake Widespread on Foreclosures


Paperwork mistakes that led one of the nation's largest mortgage servicers to halt foreclosure evictions in 23 states last week have happened elsewhere and affect tens of thousands of foreclosures, say lawyers for homeowners.

Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage acted after manager Jeffrey Stephan gave a statement to opposing lawyers that he had signed off on legal documents for 10,000 foreclosure papers a month without following verification procedures. "We've taken depositions at other servicing companies that take these documents without reviewing them," says Christopher Immel, a lawyer at Ice Legal in West Palm Beach, Fla. "They were filing fraudulently. It's rarely done correctly."
In one case, Erica Johnson-Seck, a vice president at OneWest, said she signed 750 foreclosure documents a week and didn't read each document before signing it, according to a 2009 deposition obtained by Ice Legal. She also said they were signed without a notary present.In a May 17 deposition, also taken by Ice Legal, Beth Cottrell, a supervisor at Chase Home Finance, a division of JPMorgan Chase, said she was among eight managers who signed off on about 18,000 foreclosure papers a month.

In many states, servicers must file a motion in court to take possession of a home in a foreclosure. To support their motion, a representative has to verify they've reviewed the supporting documents, checked who owns the mortgage note and had a notary public witness their signature.Ally Financial said Friday that delays in completing foreclosures should be resolved before year's end. It also said it's confident that processing errors did not result in any inappropriate foreclosures.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reviewing foreclosures on GMAC-serviced mortgages they own and have halted evictions on them until the review is done. Fannie Mae says it is also reminding servicers to follow proper procedures.


USA TODAY

53% of Milwaukees Black Men are Unemployed


More than half of Milwaukee’s black men were out of work in 2009, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
At 53.3 percent, black male joblessness in 2009 was nearly two-and-a-half times the rate of joblessness for white Milwaukee-area males (22.3 percent) between the ages of 16 and 64, according to UWM’s Center for Economic Development.

Milwaukee’s jobless rate for black men is second only two Detroit, and the Milwaukee metro area ranks first in the racial disparity of jobless rates among the nation’s top 40 urban areas.
“Not only does joblessness among black men in 2009 show a substantial increase — 13.4 percent from just the previous year — but since 1970, the black male jobless rate in Milwaukee has more than doubled,” said UWM history professor Marc Levine, who authored the report.
The recent recession is not the only factor to blame, says Levine. Milwaukee’s black men already were plagued by unusually high unemployment.

Census data backs up the report, showing that Milwaukee was the fourth-most impoverished big city in America last year, behind Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo. Levine, who has been tracking unemployment in this group for the last decade, adds that other factors account for the shrinking number of black men actively seeking work — the rise of mass incarceration since 1970 and changes in disability laws that enable men who had been counted as unemployed to be shifted to disability rolls.

In the report he outlines ideas that could help alleviate the ever-worsening unemployment situation for African-American men. Those include:
• Public job creation, including using federal funds for developing “green” jobs.
• Drug policy reform. About 10 percent of Milwaukee’s African-American men not in the work force are in prison, mostly on drug offenses.
• Enhanced job training and placement programs that include an adequately funded prisoner re-entry program.
• Public procurement rules that encourage purchasing from inner-city enterprises that hire African-American men.
• Strategies that give inner city workers better access to suburban jobs.

The Business JournalDate: Monday, October 25, 2010

Detroit Struggles With Rise In Murders Of Young Black Men


In Detroit, as jobs and hope have evaporated in the wake of a gnawing recession, the fallout has been more than just economic. For a tiny slice of the population, it's become increasingly fatal.
For black males in the city between ages 15 and 24, the chances of getting murdered have risen rapidly in recent years, increasing from 79 in 2005 to 102 last year. The number reached a high of 115 in 2008.


"We are aware of it," said interim Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee Jr. "We are concerned." "There's a lot of young kids dying," said Lyvonne Cargill, a 39-year-old Detroiter whose son Je'Rean "Blake" Nobles was gunned down May 14 a few blocks from her eastside home. He was 17. Environment needs changeAntonio Webster, strolling through his crumbling neighborhood off Grand River north of I-94, is a 17-year-old high school dropout who doesn't have a steady job. He recently finished a stint in a juvenile detention center.


Police have long known that youths like Webster are overrepresented at the county morgue. Yet, they and others have been surprised by an increase that can be found in area cemeteries, in graffiti memorializing the dead and in the fear that pervades the living. "Nobody thinks positive," Webster said. When asked what he wants to be doing in five years, he shrugs.


It's not just in Detroit; national crime experts have noted the increase across the country. A 2009 report showed that young black males were both dying in greater numbers and committing more crimes, including murder. As city leaders acknowledge and grapple with the problem, they find themselves trying to solve the murders -- and the problems that are causing so many. Cargill wants her son's accused killer, Chauncey Owens, to go to prison. But she wants to see changes so her 11-year-old son can grow up safe. She said the city needs more opportunities for children to work and play. "Us people have to step up," she said.
In a city struggling to keep cops on the street, it's been difficult to expand the types of recreation programs Cargill advocates. And jobs have been scarce in much of the city. Godbee said the police department recently participated in a national youth violence prevention forum in Detroit hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice and city officials will travel to San Jose, Calif., in the fall for another forum.


In the short term, Detroit police will use data to determine how officers are deployed to head off crime. The practice started last year under former chief Warren Evans and is continuing under Godbee. Under this strategy, officials analyze crime trends and deploy patrols and sting operations accordingly. To address the issue of youthful homicide victims over the long term, Godbee said mentors, jobs, better education, more involved parents and community-based programs will be needed, as well as anger management training.
"The end game is a holistic approach," Godbee said. "We have to change the systemic environment that leads to violence."


Mayor Dave Bing held a youth forum recently. Godbee said young people at the event cried out for mentors and for more involved parents. Godbee praised community-based efforts like the Made Men patrols that started last fall at schools. The effort was spearheaded by the Rev. Edgar Vann, pastor of Second Ebenezer Church. Vann also offers mentoring programs through his church and the Vanguard Community Development Corp. "There is a lack of hope with many young people and we have to help them get that back," Vann said. He agrees with Godbee that education is the key, but says many city schools are not up to par and threats of violence keep students away. "It is easy to tell a young person to stay in school, but what if there are gangs?" Vann said. "What then?" 'Well out of control'For Yusef Shakur, 37, a one-time gang member who went to prison and now counsels youths like Webster on how to improve their lives, the solution is simpler. "The culture, it has to be changed," said Shakur, who has gotten a college degree and written two books on his experiences since his release from prison. "The normal has become abnormal and the abnormal has become normal."


Too many youngsters are numb to the possibility of death, he said. For them, it's a potential "badge of honor." High school isn't a viable option for many and most can't see beyond the boarded-up and fire-damaged homes in their neighborhoods. That people find life cheap doesn't surprise Shakur. "It's a reflection of a deteriorating city," he said. With the exodus of many of the city's middle-class families, what remains are homogenous neighborhoods filled with the poor and less educated. Far more boys drop out of high school than graduate and only one out of four has a job.


Common disputes can quickly escalate into gun battles; the results are often fatal.
"They're not abiding by anybody's rules," said criminologist Carl Taylor of Michigan State University. "It's a total breakdown of social norms." When he grew up in Detroit, Taylor said, his teachers were his neighbors, as were area businessmen. There were standards to meet and social rules to follow. Not so today, he said: "In some neighborhoods, there is almost anarchy and no one wants to address that." Taylor said public officials have to acknowledge the problem first. He said many leaders have been reluctant to talk about Detroit's murder problem because it's bad news few want to share. Then, they have to act. "This is well out of control but it's been well out of control for some time," Taylor said. "If you don't do something, the facts I'm looking at, it's only going to get worse."


On the east side, Lyvonne Cargill is recovering from back surgery and getting ready to relive her son's death with Owens' upcoming trial. She's still mourning the loss of her son. Cargill is urging leaders and parents to work on a solution so no one, she said, has to follow in her shoes.
"Listen to your kids and pay attention to your kids," she said. "Our kids need us."

From The Detroit News