White Husband Kills His Black Wife

This is one of those horrible stories I am seeing more and more of these days.  I am adding this to my collection entitled, "Do Black Lives Really Matter?". 

A white man has been sentenced to 72 years for killing Jenean Chapman, his Black wife.  Go here to read more.  

 I hate these stories.  I hate reading them and I hate blogging about them.  But I do it for a reason - the violence has to stop.  And we have the powe to make it stop.  

Violence is preventable.  This is why I host the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence every year.  We can PREVENT violence.  We can PREVENT domestic violence.  And you can help.   

Go here for more about Nonviolent Communication (NVC).  

Go here  for my review of the book Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg.  

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2025.  

To be clear, the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence is open to EVERYONE who is committed to nonviolence and peace.  

You can make a difference.  We can all make a difference.  

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Review of 369 Manifestation Journal for Black Women

 

I read this book out of curiosity. It looks great, it’s a good size, and I like the cover and the line drawings inside.  I like the way it has been produced.  Sometimes self=published books are not produced to a high standard, but this one has been.  

This is a workbook on using affirmations.  Each day, there is a new affirmation.  Each page has ample space for writing out your affirmations.

The author, Limitless Abundance, favours the 3-6-9 method of writing an affirmation three times in the morning, six times in the afternoon and nine times in the evening.  She states that this approach is based on numerology.

I know nothing about numerology and have no experience of using the 3-6-9 method so, who knows?  It might be highly effective.  I do know a lot about affirmations, though, and have written three books about them myself.  One thing I know is, they really work.  

The book contains beautiful affirmations - one for each day as well as monthly ones.  For example:

I AM A BROWN SKIN BEAUTY WHO KNOWS HER WORTH.

I POSSESS INNER BEAUTY, STRENGTH AND RESILIENCE.

I AM FREE TO CREATE THE LIFE I DESIRE TO LIVE.

I AM POWERFUL, MELANATED AND

CAPABLE OF RUNNING MY WORLD.

You will notice all of the affirmations are in the present tense, which is the way to do it. I wasn't too sure about the ones for turning around negativity, though.  I was always taught to stick to positive language when using affirmations.  

One problem I have with the book is that, as it is a low-content book, it does not go into any detail about working with affirmations.  In my experience, and that of the hundreds of students I have worked with, when we start to use affirmations or, indeed, make any move of positive progress towards a goal, we immediately become aware of what is getting in the way.  This often shows up as resistance. 

So, for example, we start thinking, “I don’t believe the affirmations”, “this isn’t going to work”, or something similar.  Or we find other things to do that stop us from doing our affirmations.  Or we just don’t want to use the process anymore.

It would be great if she went into this more, and gave us information on how to address this very common problem.  Actually, although it feels like a problem, it’s really just part of the process.

Another criticism I have is that the author doesn’t talk about the healing process.  She has a few affirmations about letting go of the past, but this often requires deeper work.

Many, perhaps most, people have been through trauma at some point in our lives.  Black people have experienced specific types of trauma, and our trauma is often inter-generational, meaning we pass it on from one generation to the next until we heal it  This book does not and cannot address this, and I think it is vital to do so if we are serious about manifesting what we want.

Final verdict: This is a lovely book which, although it has some limitations, may help you with your manifestation process.

Go here for my video:  What Are Affirmations?    

Please share/comment.  Thanks.  

 

Exiled to Poland for 28 Years

George Lee, Windrush Scandal Survivor

When George Lee approached MPs and the UK Home Office for help with his immigration status, they failed to assist him.  This was in 2018, when the Windrush scandal was emerging.  

Mr. Lee was among the thousands of British citizens from Africa and the Caribbean who had lived in Britain since childhood, but were misidentified as illegal immigrants after the Home Office destroyed their immigration documents.  Mr. Lee was working as a teacher in Poland at that time.  

Last November, he approached Desmond Jaddoo, a Windrush campaigner in Birmingham, who helped him to access the assistance he needed to return home.  He still has not received the pension payments which he was entitled to claim from the time he turned 65, eight years ago.  

Mr. Lee reckons there are many more people stuck in different countries who have not been able to return to Britain, and are largely unknown.  They continue to be ignored by the UK government unless they receive help from campaigners like Mr. Jaddoo, as the Home Office appears to be deaf to their pleas.  

Mr. Lee is now struggling to adjust to life in his home country, which he has not seen for nearly 30 years.  Go here to read more.   

 

 

Labour Search for Candidate for Diane Abbott's Seat

The Guardian reports that moves to find a successor to Diane Abbott in the parliamentary seat she has represented since 1987 are under way, prompting concern a decision has already been made regarding her membership of Labour before an investigation into her latest suspension has concluded.   Go here to read more.  

Diane Abbott was suspended from the Labour Party again over her remarks about racism.  

I expect she is considering joining Jeremy Corbyn's new party.  

As we all know, the racism and discrimination experienced by those of us who have Black and brown skins, i.e. those who are identifiable as Black, Asian or brown-skinned people,  is different from discrimination experienced by those who have white skin, including Irish people and some Jewish people.  

She was first elected to Pariament in 1987, before which time she had been a local councillor for many years.  After Tony Blair's "New Labour" election victory in 1997, she was considered to be one of "Blair's Babes".  

Ms. Abbott, the Mother of the House (longest-serving female MP), has been suspended for stating what is blatantly obvious.  

Go here to read more.  

Diane Abbott, the first Black woman ever to be elected to the House of Commons, is one of the achievers I interviewed in Black Success Stories.  

 

Is Russell T. Davies Woke?

Freema Agyeman

In this article, Russell T. Davies states that what others call diversity he calls an open door. 

The term "woke" originated from African American communities.  The meaning of "woke" is to treat groups of people and members of those groups - including African Americans - who have been oppressed, marginalised, exploited and disrespected with respect and equality of opportunity.  It is closely related to diversity and inclusion. 

I agree with Storm Huntley and Dr. Who actress Varada Sethu about this - woke can only be a good thing.  Why should wokeness be a problem?  It's only a problem for those who have a problem with diversity and inclusion.  

Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, described the U.S. as a nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal".  The fact that he said this in the middle of a war which was essentially about slavery and abolition is a stark contrast to those words.  

 

 

Ncuti Gatwa

However, and I've said this before in various forums, anybody who is anti-woke is anti-Black, anti-women, anti-gay, anti-Latino and anti-any oppressed and/or marginalised group.  

So, is Russell T. Davies woke?  Let's look at his record.  

He wrote two brilliant dramas about gay life - Queer as Folk and, more recently, It's a Sin.  He, again brilliantly, revived Dr. Who and created two new spinoffs, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.  

According to my (fading) memory, in Dr. Who, he put Black people in Dickensian London (they were there, but we very rarely see them), on the moon, in Victorian Scotland, and many other places including distant planets.  Lots of these episodes and series included Black/African Caribbean, Asian and gay characters.  Plus he gave us great storylines and great acting, which have not always been on offer from Dr. Who. 

David Tennant's Doctor had, at one time, a Black companion, Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones.  And, of course, we now have Ncuti Gatwa as a Black Doctor.  

Davies also gave us a Christmas episode featuring Kylie Minogue which was not woke, just fun.  

When Jodie Whittaker hit the headlines as the first female Doctor, this attracted a huge amount of disapproval and even outrage.  Why?  I understand the same thing happened when the brilliant (there's that word again) re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica featured a female pilot, Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck.  

That reaction is what is called "misogyny".  

Jodie Whittaker's previous role as a nurse impersonating a doctor in Trust Me was much more far-fetched.  

In case you were wondering, I am a huge sci-fi buff.  Always have been.  Deal with it.  

Woke is a good thing.  And yes, Russell T. Davies is woke.