Kwanaa Events 2013

I am currently listing 2013 Kwanzaa events.  Click here for my 2013 Kwanzaa event listings.  

Plus click here for lots of places where you can buy Black. 

Have you ever wondered why Kwanzaa starts on the 26th of December?  Click here to find out about the timing of Kwanzaa.  Remember, Kwanzaa is an opportunity to Buy Black. 

Do you know of a Kwanzaa event I have not listed?  If so, please post a comment below with the details of the event.  

Happy Kwanzaa!  

 

A Light Has Gone Out

Nelson Mandela is dead. A light has gone out from the world. 

Mandela was imprisoned by the apartheid regime in South Africa for 27 years, because of his fight against apartheid. He became a symbol of hope and the fight for freedom for South African people and for people all over the world.

After his release from prison, Mandela became South Africa's first democratically-elected President. He accomplished the seemingly impossible – a bloodless revolution. Under Mandela, apartheid came to an end without the shedding of blood.

His wisdom has inspired millions of people. Mandela is now an ancestor. May he long continue to guide us.

Clickhere to read more about the life of Nelson Mandela.

Clickhere to read about the fight against apartheid.

"Harriet, a Choreopoem" Now in the British Library

I am pleased to announce that "Harriet, a Choreopoem" is now available from the British Library in Euston Road, London. 

"Harriet" depicts an imaginary meeting between Harriet Tubman and Harriet Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.  

Click here to read more and view a short film based on "Harriet".  

How Violence Becomes Attractive

I recently viewed this video of Marshall Rosenberg talking about making requests.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWe71d-cjLY

I find requests to be the hardest part of Nonviolent Commuication (NVC), and I really appreciate Marshall's clarity.

NVC teaches us that we can transform situations – including violent situations – by using language. The way we communicate can be transformative.

Of course, violence occurs in all communities. But Black people, people of African heritage,  have systematically been abused and subjected to extreme violence for centures, and this has had an effect on us which must be healed.

Marshall makes the point that we often make requests in terms of what we don't want, rather than what we want. He gives the example of trying to stop children from breaking windows. “How can we stop children from breaking windows? Kill them. Research has shown that dead children break no windows”.

Of course this is an extreme example, but there are loads of real-life examples to rival this. Like this one involving a pastor or this one involving the son of a hip-hop mogul.  When you read these, think about  how, when we think in terms of what we don't want, violence becomes attractive.  

When I read blogs and articles like these, my heart sinks. There are always real-life stories about the level of violence in Black communities in the States, in Britain and in many different places in the world. However, we can change this.  

When we think in terms of how to stop someone from doing something, violence becomes attractive.  

Why do we want someone to do what we want - because of fear of violence, intimidation or punishment?  Or because they want to, to meet their own needs as well as ours?  What are our motives?   

To read more about NVC, see: Improving Communication/ImprovingRelationships,  See also: Getting Past the Hate, to Have More Love. 

Chances Are, You Won’t Be Able to Afford College

I recently saw this interesting article on Black Enterprise:  Chances Are,You Won’t Be Able to Afford College. 

It seems folks are now paying FOUR TIMES what they paid for a degree 20 years ago, yet having a degree is no guarantee of a job, let alone a good one.  It never has been for African Americans. 

However, a university education enriches our lives in many ways that cannot necessarily be measured.  A good education is priceless (many universities are doing their best to put a price on it, though). 

In Britain, the Head of Oxford University wants to put up the tuition fee to a level higher than the £9,000 ($13,500) limit currently set by the government.  And bear in mind, the new limit is THREE TIMES the previous limit set by the New Labour government. 

In this way, Britain is becoming more like the U.S., and this is a bad thing.  More and more people are being priced out of education.   This is something I feel very strongly about, and that is why I have devoted a lot of time and effort to finding a solution.  

Hundreds of people have found an alternative way to raise the funds they need to finance their education.  For more information, click here for Shaking the Money Tree and to download my free report. 

Education should be available for all, not just for the privileged few.  

Black Film: 83 Days

At a recent African Odysseys film event, we were privileged to view the trailer for 83 Days. 

George Stinney Jr. was a 14-year-old boy who was accused of murdering two white girls in South Carolina in 1944.  They had asked him where they could pick flowers and he had given them directions. 

A number of people were rounded up once the girls’ bodies were found, but they were all let go after George admitted he had seen the girls and given them  directions. 

George’s family were first taken out of the County, then out of the State.  So there he was, all alone, with no one to support or advise him.

The officials said he had confessed to the murder of these two girls, but they did not produce a confession.  When he was put on trial, his court-appointed lawyer was a tax attorney with no trial experience, who offered no defense.  There was no evidence against George, but he was convicted.   To this day, there is no transcript of the trial. 

So, at the age of 14, George Stinney Jr. became the youngest-ever person to be executed in the United States.  (However, we are still imprisoning children.) 

The producer, Ray Brown, said they had come up against opposition while researching this film.  As a result of their efforts,  George Stinney Jr. has now been pardoned.  

This is a story that needs to be told, and I am glad the film will be released next year.  Unfortunately, we need to remember that this was just one of a long line of State-sponsored murders of people of African heritage – and not just in the U.S.A. 

 Click here for more details of 83 Days. 

“I Can’t Hire You Because You’re Black”

Jim Crow

"I Can’t Hire You Because You’re Black” and Would “Scare Away the Customers”.  Uh-huh.  Yeah, right.  

This happened in Queens, NYC.  I was born and grew up in Queens.  But this didn't happen back in the 1950s or '60s.  Oh, no, no, no.  This happened TWO YEARS AGO. 

Isn't this what people were marching about 50 years ago - jobs and freedom?  



Click here to read more about this shameful incident.  

Another shameful thing - stuff like this happens every day, but not everybody takes action like this young sista did.  

Looking for work, or know someone who is?  See Black Success:  Finding the Job You Want. 

Click here for more resources for your job search.

Here's to your success!

Aimé Césaire Centennial at the Schomburg

Aimé Césaire

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in NYC, in association with Columbia University and Medgar Evers College, will be holding a series of events to commemorate the life and work of Aimé Césaire at the centennial of his birth.  

Aimé Césaire was a noted writer, scholar and political leader from Martinique, who is credited with coining the term Negritude. Césaire is known as the father of Negritude.  

Negritude (which can be translated as "Blackness") was a Francophone African and Caribbean movement of the 1920s, '30s and '40s which stressed the importance of accepting and celebrating Blackness, and understanding Black history and culture.  


Césaire wrote poems, plays and a biography of Toussaint L'Ouverture, hero of the Haitian Revolution.  

Negritude was influenced by Langston Hughes and other writers of the Harlem Renaissance, most notably Claude McKay, another writer of Caribbean origin.  Other members of the Negritude movement included Franz Fanon, Algerian author of Wretched of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks.  

Events include a screening of A Voice for History, a film by Euzhan Palcy; a live stage performance of Césaire's classic work Notebook of a Return to My Native Land [in English]; and a performance and discussion of Césaire's  A Season in the Congo, which explores Patrice Lumumba's fight to free his country from Belgian colonial rule.  

For details, see:  Black History and Cultural Events.  

Black Scientists and Inventors

It is so important to celebrate Black achievers and role models. Black young people often do not think about careers in the sciences when considering their career options.  

Many of them think studying the sciences is not "cool", and experience peer pressure to avoid studying, as Henry Bonsu pointed out in Black Success Stories. 

Click here to read my new article on Black Scientists and Inventors.  

The article includes an interview with Keith C. Holmes, author of Black Inventors, Crafting Over 200 Years of Success.  

Black Inventors is now available in over 800 national, state, university and public libraries, including museums, research centers and schools as a paperback in 30 countries

Black Success: The Benefits of Meditation

Black Success:  Benefits of Meditation 

The benefits of Buddhist meditation can be enjoyed by anyone. You don’t have to be a Buddhist, or even be interested in Buddhism, to enjoy the benefits of meditation.  

 

People, companies and organisations are constantly making demands on our time.  When you meditate, you are taking time and space for yourself.  Don't let anything intrude on that.  

Listen to the short audio below for more on the benefits of meditation.  

Find Additional Books Podcasts with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

Click here for an audio about Inner Harmony.  

Click here for more Black Success audios.  

Click here for Success Strategies for Black People.  

Click here for What You Don't Want Us to Know.  

Was the March on Washington a Waste of Shoe-Leather?

Is marching a waste of shoe-leather? This is what John Henrik Clarke said about marching.

Before the March on Washington, Malcolm X predicted that African Americans would still be marching 50 years later – check out this video clip.

Malcolm claimed Black people did not have the moral high ground because we did not own our own businesses, and therefore could not employ our own people, as other communities did and still do.

However, his argument was naïve because we know that banks and financial institutions discriminated against Black business owners and would-be entrepreneurs.

And when Black people did set up their own thriving business communities, these communities were sometimes brutally attacked, as was the case with the Black Wall Street.

Still, when we look at the situation today, where Black people often do not patronise businesses in our own communities, but instead rush to spend our money in other communities, we need to remember Brother Malcolm's words. It's up to us to employ our own people, just as other communities do. In order to do this, we need to build a Strong Black Business Community. 

I believe it was important to have a nationwide March on Washington.  It was a significant moment in history and still has an impact today.  But is it still useful to keep on marching?  I don't think so.  What do you think?  Leave your comments below.   

Click here to remember the 1963 March on Washington in words and pictures.  

 

Black Success: Take Action NOW

Struggling and Juggling Financially?  

It was announced a few days ago that most people in Britain are struggling with money and finances.  Most people are juggling their finances.

In London there is a 55% unemployment rate among Black youth. 

That’s just in Britain.  In some parts of the European Union, things are even worse.  And in the States, there are plenty of people who are struggling and juggling, too.  

You can make profound changes in your own life, and in the lives of your family and your community. Listen to the audio below to find out more.

Check Out Books Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

Click here for more Black Success audios. 

If you find this audio useful, please share it with your networks.  Please also leave a comment below.  

Thanks.   

Financial Independence Strategy

What does financial independence mean to you? Have you achieved it?  If not,what is getting in  your way?  Please listen to the audio below.  

Listen to internet radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

The 3-Step Success Formula is a strategy which can help you to achieve any goal you want to achieve.  To read it, click here to download my free ebook, "Achieving Success".

Click here for more information.  

"Achieving Success" is a sample chapter from my ebook, What They Don't Want Us to Know.  For a limited time, you can download What They Don't Want Us to Know for just $1.52.  Click here to download it now.  

If you have found this useful, please share this blog post with your networks.   

Click here for more Black Success audios.  

Here's to your success!  

Are You Open to Receive?

In order to experience financial abundance, and abundance in every area of our lives, we need to open to receive.  

There are many people in this world who need to learn to give.  I would argue there are many millions who need to learn to receive.  

If you are not achieving the results you want, this means you are blocking yourself.  Somewhere, you have a block to receiving, be it physical, emotional or psychological.  

Three of the things that can block us from receiving include:   

• anger at old incidents that wounded and scarred you
• deeply buried anger, resentment, hatred and pain 
• the desire to blame yourself or others 

There are many more. 

To read more about this, and to find out what you can do to improve your results, click here to download my free ebook, "Achieving Success", which contains the 3-Step Success Formula.  

Click here for more information.  

If you value this information, please share this with your networks.   

And for a limited time, you can download What They Don't Want Us to Know for just $1.52. 

You can open to receive the abundance of the universe.  Here's to your success!  

 

Orin: Aligning with Star Energies

Orin Aligning with Star Energies

Aligning with Star Energies is a beautiful audio meditation from Orin which you can download for free - see below for details.  

I have listened to this audio many times and it is just so relaxing and inspiring.  I am delighted to be able to share this with you.  

Simply thinking of these energies begins to open the channel to these wonderful, positive, loving sources of light and transformation.

You can bring the energies of the stars into your body to heal and rejuvenate all of your cells. 

You can use star energies to transform any area of your life  - money, finances, work, career, relationships or health. 

Click here to read about Orin and DaBen and download free audios.  (See the Resources section.) 

Plus click here for my audio:  Experience Peace.  

And click here for my newly updated free ebook, "Achieving Success".  

From Limitation to Manifestation

In a recent audio on Manifest Everything Now, entitled "Manifest the Life You Want - by Removing What is REALLY in Your Way", Esperanza Universal shared how to move from lack and limitation to abundance. She also shared her

4 Steps to Transformation:

1) Be aware of your pure feelings (emotions). Sadness, anger, whatever is there. If you bury your feelings, they will continue to run you. [This is one of the things I have been saying in the Black Success audios.]

2) Slightly trace the feeling to an origin. Do not dwell on it. Do not build your life on it. Do not base your life on feelings. They are not your essence. But they are a human experience.

3) Bring it to the present moment. Who am I today? I am a loving being. I am powerful. I am a divine being. I am whole. 

4) Your essence is love, peace, joy and freedom. The part of you that experiences lack and fear and limitation is really just belief systems that you have put in your way. Your essence is a divine essence.  

She also spoke about how to move from limitation, lack and debt to manifestation.  

As always, I do not profit financially from sharing this.   

This was a brilliant audio and I am very happy to be able to share this information with you. To read more, click here to join Nurture Success. 

If you enjoy this blog post, please share it with your networks.  Thank you.   

Experience Peace

A lot of people are experiencing stress and anxiety these days.  We stress about money, about work, about so many things.  

But deep down inside of us, there is a place of peace.  We can experience peace.  Listen to this audio for more.  

Listen to internet radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

Click here for more Black Success audios.  

Click here for Success Strategies for Black People.  

Train Your Mind to Bring You Wealth

I’ve been using the Money Jars for just over a year, and although I thought I understood them, I’ve only just begun to get the point of them.

The Money Jars are not just a method of saving up for what you want. They are a lot more than that.

The Money Jars are a way of training your unconscious mind to bring you more financial wealth.

The Law of Increase states that what we focus on increases, what we concentrate on increases, what we dwell on increases – in our minds, and in our lives.

Many years before The Secret, and before the Law of Attraction became popular, I was using the Law of Increase and teaching it to my students.

The Law of Increase works in the same way as the Law of Attraction. The only difference is that the LOI focuses on thoughts, whereas the LOA focuses on feelings and emotions.

For more about the Law of Increase, see my book Success Strategies for Black People.

The Financial Freedom Jar is one of the Money Jars, so I’ll use this as an example. With the Financial Freedom Jar (also known as the Permanent Wealth Jar), you put in money every day, and NEVER, EVER take it out. This gives the message to your unconscious mind that money is flowing into your life every day.

The Financial Freedom Jar is a practical demonstration to your unconscious mind. It is a practical action you can take every day to give the message about financial prosperity and abundance to your unconscious mind. And as I am sure you know, your unconscious mind is tremendously powerful.

If you concentrate on debt and lack, what do you think will result from this? This is what is known as “poverty consciousness”. The Money Jars teach your unconscious mind to focus on prosperity, on wealth, and on wealth accumulation.

What do you think will result from your shifting your focus from lack to abundance and financial prosperity?

If you would like help with shifting your focus, see “Eliminate Your Blocks to Receiving Abundance”.

Here’s to your success!

Inner Harmony

Sometimes we discover things about ourselves that we don't like, and sometimes the differrent parts of ourselves conflict.  Check out the audio below on inner harmony.  

Listen to internet radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

See also:  Your Inner Wisdom. 

Click here to buy Success Strategies for Black People.  

Click here for more Black Success Audios.  

Creating Nonviolent Solutions

I am always saying that, as Black people, we have enormous power, but we don’t use the power that we have.

I am sure that, like me, you were shocked and sickened by the recent attack on a soldier in Woolwich, South London. And my heart goes out to the family of the victim, and to the families of the attackers. I think they must have been very disturbed people. And they must have been very frustrated by the injustices they have seen.

In the end, we have to decide what kind of world we really want to live in.

I agree that the attacks on innocent men, women and children are horrific, and many, although not all, of them have been on people in Muslim countries. And as we know, African people and African countries have been under attack for many years and for many generations. So this is not about religion, as I see it, this is about the kind of brutality that human beings inflict upon one another.

But in the end, we have to decide what kind of world we live in. We can give in to these impulses to inflict violence on others, or we can choose a peaceful solution. And there are peaceful solutions. Practical solutions. This is what I have written about in SuccessStrategies for Black People. There are many ways to find peaceful, practical, nonviolent solutions.

It’s up to us. It’s up to you and me. Do we want our children to grow up in a world of fear and hatred? I know that is not my plan for the future.

We have enormous power. We need to use the power we have to create the kind of world we want to live in, and the kind of world we want our children to live in.

We can transform these situations. We can create a better world.

See also: Your Inner Wisdom.

Black Success: Double Your Income in 30 Days

Double Your Income

I have updated this post a little.  

Go here for my audio on how you can double your income in 30 days.  This really works. 

For more information, see "3 Dynamite Ways to Increase Your Income", below. 

Did you know you can double your income in 30 days - just by using the power of your mind?  This could potentially change your life. 

This is NOT a business proposition.  For details, listen to the audio above.  

Once you have read Success Strategies, "like" my Facebook page and post there, and we'll take it from there.  I'm no longer offering this for free, but it really works.  For more about this, see:  "3 Dynamite Ways to Increase Your Income". 

Click here to Eliminate Your Blocks to Receiving Abundance.  

Click here to develop Your Success Mindset.  

If you are sure this will never work for you, see You May Be on the Verge of a Breakthrough. 

Click here for more Black Success audios.  

Click here for Success Strategies for Black People.  

I wish you every success! 

 

Your Best Business Strategy

What is your best business strategy?  This is one of the questions I asked Coach Kevin, author of From Ghetto to Greatness, in More Black Success Volume 8.  

Coach Kevin shares his best strategy, what difficulties he has overcome and much more.  Click here to download your copy today.  

See also:  Remember Your Greatness. 

Not Gonna Fall in Your Lap

"It's not just gonna fall in your lap." These are some wise words from legendary film director Spike Lee.  Click here to watch the video on Spike Lee's advice to aspiring filmmakers. 

 

Did you know it took him 20 years to make the Malcolm X film, from inception to the final production? 

Too many of our people are waiting for something to drop into their laps - waiting for some hero, leader or saviour to rescue them.  That's what I said in "Do You Play the Lottery?"  Please check this out and leave your comments there. 

Six Reasons Why the LOA Is Not Working for You

I just listened to a great audio on 21 Days to Manifesting Mastery in the current Manifest Everything Now series.  

Dr. Simeon Rodgers talked about: 

• how to use the LOA to dramatically change the results of your life.
• the six factors that have sabotaged your manifesting so far and how to overcome each of them.
• a process to give you ironclad faith in the LOA.

He said he can help you to turn into an expert manifestor even if you have failed before. 

 

According to Dr. Rodgers, the reason why people have trouble manifesting is that they have been given the wrong information. It's amazing what can happen when you have the right information. 

Some of what he is saying is similar to work we do with EFT around financial issues and financial abundance.  When we feel anxious and stressed about money, bills, business problems, etc., it is much harder to attract what we want.  

Click here for more about how to use EFT with the LOA. 

To read my notes, click here to join Nurture Success.  

Tapping to Clear the Chakras

Further to yesterday's post about chakra healing, I have found this video about using the EFT tapping points to clear the chakras.  

Working with the chakras can be a powerful way of healing the body and manifesting what we want in life.  

The Black Market - Economic Empowerment

This was the second Black Market event in London hosted by Black History Studies.  I attended the first one a few months ago, and it was very positive.  The second one include a film festival.  

It's all about economic empowerment.  

We can all learn from this.  This is just an example of what is possible for our Black-owned businesses. 

Plus click here for the Strong Black Business Community. 

Unblock Your Weak Chakras to Start Living a Life of Abundance and Energy

I listened to this audio recently on Manifest Everything Now.  It was brilliant.  Carol Tuttle was talking about the chakras – the body's energy centers – and what they each represent. 

A lot of what she says about changing the script reminds me of the Millionaire Mind Intensive,  

For more about changing your script, see: Overcoming Blocks and Obstacles

A lot of the information on chakras is very esoteric. Carol Tuttle's system is very practical. The purpose of this information is to help you make practical, positive changes in your life.  Working with the energy of money can help you to improve your finances.  But this is about making changes in any are of your life in which you need to see changes happen.   

To read my notes and to access a guided visualization, click here to join Nurture Success.  

Buy Black: The Empowerment Experiment

I am sure you have heard about Maggie Anderson, the sista who decided she and her family would buy only from Black-owned businesses for one full year.   

Anderson expects that her effort to support African American-owned businesses will inspire her community become more active their sometimes struggling neighborhoods.

Anderson wrote about her experience in Our Black Year, her recently published book co-authored by Ted Gregory.  The idea came about because she and her husband John wanted to embark on their dramatic adventure as a means to "inspire economic empowerment." 

Forthcoming Our Black Year events include visits to the Association of Black Women Lawyers and the African American Chamber of Commerce.  I am sure you wish her every success, as I do.

Click here for details of how you can promote your small business globally.  

Click here for the Strong Black Business Community. 

Here's to your success! 

Partying in Brixton on Thatcher's Death

They were partying in Brixton last night, along with Bristol and Glasgow.  And I don't blame them.  Former UK Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher is dead at last.  

This is the same Maggie Thatcher who: 

- closed the mines, the steel works and the shipyards; 
- put more than three million people out of work; 
- devastated communities - in some families; no one has had a job for nearly 30 years; 
- created the current housing crisis by not allowing local councils to replace housing stock  
   they sold off under "Right to Buy" legislation; 
- introduced the Poll Tax; 
- deregulated the financial services industry,  which contributed to the current economic 
   collapse;
- abolished the GLC and the other Metropolitan County Councils;
- created a culture governed by greed, selfishness and the "me-first" mentality.  

And lest we forget, the 1981 Brixton riots happened on her watch. 

I could go on.  I feel for her family members, but I mostly feel for the rest of Britain, the majority of whom are still suffering under the legacy of Thatcher.  

Brixton people know how to party, and the Ritzy Cinema joined in the fun.  Watch the video below for more.  

Shame it came 30 years too late.