Let Us Not Forget...the fight continues...

(via)

 

 

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

 

-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Read more: Civil Rights March on Washington (History, Facts, Martin Luther King Jr.) | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/spot/marchonwashington.html#ixzz2dH03meE5

 

xoxo,

Ronita

Healthy Soulfood...Say What Say What?

          

               

     I LOVE these ladies.

Healthy soul food and a little history lesson.

Perfect way to start my Friday.

Maybe I will try one of their recipes this weekend.

HAPPY FRIDAY

xoxo,

Ronita

Josephine Josephine...

 

 

(photos via)

 

Last weekend I came across The Josephine Baker Story movie on TVOne starring Lynn Whitfield. Boy was I intrigued and moved to do a little research.

I admired her persistence courage and strong will to integrate where ever she was, on stage, restaurants, the military...

 

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Josephine Baker (June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975) was a dancer, singer, and actress who found fame in her adopted homeland of France. Born in St Louis, Missouri, she renounced her American citizenship in 1937 to become French. She was given such nicknames as the "Bronze Venus", the "Black Pearl", and the "Créole Goddess"

Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture, to integrate an American concert hall, and to become a world-famous entertainer. She is also noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States (she was offered the unofficial leadership of the movement by Coretta Scott King in 1968 following Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination, but turned it down),[3] for assisting the French Resistance during World War II,[4] and for being the first American-born woman to receive the French military honor, the Croix de guerre. (excerpt taken via)

Read her entire life story, here.

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To Josephine...

 

xoxo,

Ronita

HAPPY BIRTHDAY James Brown!!!

History. This brings me back to when my dad would blast James brown on his old record player and my brother Jerren would dance around the house!!!
xoxo,
Ronita

Happy Birthday to some of the best!!!

Remembering some of the greats on their birthdays!!!

Marvin Gaye April 2nd (1939) in Washington, D.C.

Maya Angelou April 4th (1928) in St. Louis, Missouri

Ella Fitzgerald April 25th (1917) in Newport News, VA

Yes, I know Black History Month was over in Feb but for me I try to always keep Black history relevant. I try to teach my boys through pictures and stories so they know from where they come!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
xoxo,
Ronita

I'm thinking of teaching them both a poem...maybe something from Langston Hughes

My Namesake...I would have loved to met you...

In helping my mom pull together pictures for of upcoming family reunion, we have run across many pictures of my mom's mom, Grandma Joyce. She was 36 when she passed (my mom was only 16) and I still yearn to know as much about her as I can. I know she was a seamstress and a great cook! I guess that's where I get that passion!!!

Grandma Joyce 3rd from right

Aunt Ada, Aunt Yvonne and Grandma Joyce (right)

Grandma, I know one day I will meet you in heaven!

xoxo,

Ronita Joyce

Cozy February Reading

My girl Shelby over at “Eat, Drink and Be Married...” did a post on her favorite Black History Month reading. She came up with a list of some of her favorite adult books and I know that I will have to pick up Property by Valerie Martin, some time soon. It is hard for me right now to find the time to sit quietly and read as I have two little ones that demand a ton of attention. That encouraged me to think about some books that I could read with them during this month.

Not even a week later, my wonderful sorority sister, Barbie, came to visit us from Chicago and brought with her many fabulous books for the little men. There were two that stuck out as on time reading for this month!!

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
Winner of the Caldecott Honor Medal and the Coretta Scott King Medal, this picture book tribute to Rosa Parks celebrates the 50th anniversary of her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus.


and

Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson
Henry Brown doesn't know how old he is. Nobody keeps records of slaves' birthdays. All the time he dreams about freedom, but that dream seems farther away than ever when he is torn from his family and put to work in a warehouse. When Henry grows up and marries, he is again devastated when his family is sold at the slave market. Then one day, as he lifts a crate at the warehouse, he knows exactly what he must do: He will mail himself to the North. After an arduous journey in the crate, Henry finally has a birthday -- his first day of freedom.

Scott and I have enjoyed reading these books to Tre’ and Roman and have really loved sharing this rich history with our children! It will always be a continual lesson.


HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH


xoxo,
Ronita