What Do Black Parents Need?

What Do Black Parents Need? 

I would love to hear your thoughts about what Black parents need.  We talked about this on my show this week, and there's still a lot more to say.  I was joined by Shaunes Richardson from State of the Black Parent.  You can listen below.  

On both sides of the Atlantic, we are facing some of the same challenges.  This is why I wrote Success Strategies for Black People.  Our communities are dealing with a lot iof challenges, and there is a lot more to say about this.  I'll be blogging about this some more.  

I was listening to Rev Up with Rev Alethea yesterday - her interview with Mr. X, a former prisoner.  Even though I am not a Christian, I found her approach very inspiring - and it occurred to me that, many times, parents don't realise how much impact their words have.  When they say something hurtful, they don't realise how much it hurts.  If someone else said the same thing, it would not be nearly so painful.  

But actually, most of us do not realise the impact of our words and actions most of the time.  And our words and actions have long-term consquences. 

What do Black parents need?  Please leave your comments below.  Thanks.   

Click here for Black Success audios.  

Click here to download Affirmations for Parents now.  

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70th Anniversary of D-Day

Josephine Baker

As we all know, tomorrow, the 6^th of June, will be the 70^th anniversary of the D-Day landings.   We will commemorate the day when, after much long-term planning and military strategising, Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches for the first major turning-point in the Second World War.

The men and women who fought in the war were incredibly heroic, and are rightly being celebrated for their efforts. But as the BBC screens interviews with veterans, has the Black contribution been overlooked by the major media once again?

My Dad is a WWII veteran who fought in the Italian campaign, one of many thousands of African American soldiers who did so. Little has been mentioned about their war. Check out my blog: The Negro Soldier. 

Tony Warner of London Black History Walks has given many presentations about the Black contributions to both World Wars. Did you know, for example, that the troops that liberated Paris were mostly made up of West African soldiers, as most white French soldiers had been either killed or captured? But when the triumphant march into the city was filmed, the Black soldiers were ordered to the back, so they are not seen on the footage we usually see.  

 

The lady pictured above, Josephine Baker, was an African American dancer in Paris. Impossibly glamorous, she became the toast of Paris, She was later decorated as a war hero by the French for the part she played in the French Resistance.

See London Black History Walks for details of the Black Spitfire pilots, How Black People Won World War Two, and more.

Teen Murdered His Parents

I am sure you are shocked by this story.  I don't know what happened in this family, but it seems clear that there was a serious breakdown.  16-year-old Vincent Parket murdered his parents. 

Teen Murdered Parents for Taking Away His iPod

When we see an appalling story like this, we need to think about what we can learn from this.  If we don't listen to our children, the results can be tragic.  They are rarely this tragic.  But we MUST help young people - and parents - to find nonviolent solutions. 

I talk about nonviolent solutions in my new ebook, Affirmations for Parents.  

See also:  Which Children Are Most Likely to Bring Weapons to School? 

Which Children Are Most Likely to Bring Weapons to School?

Is Your Child at Risk of Knife Crime?

I saw this blog recently:  Do You Know Which Students Are Most Likely to Bring Weapons to School? 

It's the children who are being bullied, or at risk of being buillied - the ones who feel they have to defend themselves - who are most likely to take a knife or gun to school.  

This is true in the UK as well.  They discussed this on The Wright Stuff a couple of weeks ago.  And I know someone in London whose son was running away from a bully, who ended up being arrested and imprisoned on a "joint enterprise" charge.  This is just one way our Black youth are filling up the prisons.  One more way the criminal justice system targerts our communities.  

We MUST help our young people find nonviolent solutions to these problems.  If you have read my book Success Strategies for Black People, you know that Nonviolent Communication (NVC) can help to turn situations around - including situations of extreme violence.  

If your child is at risk of becoming involved with violence, knife crime, gun crime or other risky situations, you need to learn NVC.  This can make a huge difference and may even save your child's life.  

To find out more about NVC, and for more NVC resources, click here to download my new ebook Affirmations for Parents. 

 

Is Black Really Beautiful?

Below is my review of the new documentary Beauty Is, from director Toyin Agbetu of Ligali.  

Beauty Is explores the relationship people of the African Diaspora, and all African people,  have with beauty.  

Our quest for beauty influences:  
- our health
- our economics
- our relationships and
- our self-esteem

and the film explores all of those areas.  

This is a very important film, and we need to keep having these conversations.  

There is a link to the Ligali anti-skin-bleaching campaign below.  

I will be interviewing the Director of Beauty Is, Toyin Agbetu, soon, so stay tuned!  

You can listen to my review below.  

Find Additional Books Podcasts with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

 

Click here for Natural Hair/Nappturality. 

Click here for The Key to Confidence and Self-Esteem.  

Click here for the Ligali anti-skin-bleaching campaign. 

 Click here for my Black Success audios. 

Click here for my analysis of the film 12 Years a Slave.

The Gentrification of Peckham and Other Black Areas

I enjoyed this event on Saturday.  As I live just down the road from Peckham, South London, and have for many years, I was particularly interested in this topic. 

Like pretty much all of the events held by London Black History Walks, "The Gentrification of Peckham and Other Black Areas" as very well presented.  It started with Tony Warner going through a short history of migration and gentrification which took in the Black history o f London from Roman times to the present day, including the Elizabethan era and the two World Wars, as well as the experience of Black people in Brooklyn, including Spike Lee, and in South Africa and Zimbabwe.  

Back in the 1950s and '60s, many Black people in London and the UK were forced to become homeowners, as this was the only way to provide accommodation for themselves and their families.  

The authorities will sometimes allow local areas to become run down in order to make them more attractive to investors.   This has also involved encouraging the use of drugs and guns in Black areas.  There is evidence of this in the U.S., and he referred to "Operation Jackpot" in Stoke Newington in Hackney, East London.  

Tony's presentations are always packed with factual details and always highly engaging.  

The presentation by Charmaine Brown focused specifically on Peckham and covered the area's history as well as reviewing how much Peckham has changed.  

Brown clarified the distinction between improvements and gentrification.  The Council first started making improvements to the area several years ago.  However, with gentrification, a new type of resident moved in - people who do not have any investment in the "social capital" of the area.  

She characterised "social capital" as a personal interest and investment in, and involvement with, the local area, its people and its culture.  Thus, there is often a divide between the current residents and those moving into the area.  Added to this is the fact that, with property prices skyrocketing, locals often feel unable to own their own homes, and can find themselves moved out of the area completely. 

Like many of the Queen Nzingha lectures, this one left me feeling sadness and frustration.  Althought the problem was well explained and illustrated, there was little focus on solutions.  

I was particularly saddened by a short film featuring author Alex Wheatle, in which he talked about the ways in which the Brixton and Tulse Hill areas have changed.  He walked around Brixton Market but did not mention that none of the shops and businesses inside the market are Black-owned.  They are all owned by white and Asian business owners.  It was like that more than 30 years ago, when I first came to London, and it's still like that now. 

He also stated that Dick Sheppard School in Tulse Hill has been closed and replaced with a gated community.  Again, this was particularly sad for me as, many years ago,  I used to teach at a Saturday school based there.  

We need to focus more on solutions, and on actions steps we can take today, here and now, such as, for example, those described in Maggie Anderson's Empowerment Experiment and Our Black Year.  We need to take ownership of our communities. 

To read about The Empowerment Experiment and Our Black Year, and to watch a video about them, see Strong Black Business Community.  

Black Success: How to Get Clear, Precise Answers

Spiritual Response Therapy (SRT) is a form of energy healing which can help us to get clear, precise and accurate answers.  

Through working wiith the Higher Self/High Self, we can address a huge range of issues and make major changes to our lives.  Listen below for more information. 

Click here for Success Strategies for Black People. 

Click here for Your Inner Wisdom.  

Click here for more Black Success audios with Zhana.  

Find Additional Books Podcasts with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

What Can We Learn from Our History?

The Oscar-winning film 12 Years a Slave has been criticised, by Samuel L. Jackson among others, for dwelling on the past rather than dealing with the present.  

But 12 Years a Slave tells us a great deal about the kinds of difficulties and challenges still faced by Black people, and Black communities.  Its clear and graphic portrayal of the violence and brutality inflicted on African people during slavery depict ways in which Black people have been mentally and emotionally scarred by the slavery experience, and by colonisation in Africa.  This continues to have long-term consequences for us and for our families and communities. 

The film may not tell us much that is new, but I suspect there are many people, particularly young people, who are not aware of the history depicted in this film.  Click here to read my review of 12 Years a Slave. 

Black in London

I was privileged to be a guest on Adrian X's "Just My 2 Cents" show on Blogtalk last week - and a very great privilege it was. The topic for discussion was "What Is It Like to Be Black in London?"  Scroll down to listen to it.  

We were joined by Adrian's panel and guests including Nia Imara of the National Association of Black Supplementary Schools (NABSS).  

There was a lot of common ground - which is something I have said repeatedly over the years.  African people all over the world are facing a lot of the same challenges.  We have economic difficulties.  Our children are denied the best-quality education.  

Our communities, and particularly our men and boys, are targets for violence, including state-sponsored violence.  

Another issue we almost always face is internalised racism - the particular kind of self-hatred with which we were indoctrinated during the enslavement era.  Nia made the point that, although slavery has ended, mental slavery continues. And we see it everywhere.  It is in all of us.  

In order to combat mental enslavement, we first have to acknowledge that we have it.  Mental enslavement is like a disease, and we have all been infected.  In order to cure ourselves of it, we first need to acknowledge the problem.  

Harriet Tubman said, "I freed a thousand slaves.  I could have freed a thousand more, if only they knew they were slaves". 

A lot of the origins of mental enslavement were depicted in the BAFTA award-winning film 12 Years a Slave, and I shall be writing more about this soon.  

Nia made the point that the film did not depict Black people banding together to fight their oppressors, and this is a fair criticism.  However, we need to remember that this was one man's story.  What 12 Years a Slave showed very clearly were the reasons why some Black people, in some situations, did not fight back, at least not overtly.  Because of the daily brutality they experienced, they were too beaten down, physically and mentally, to fight back. 

Click here for Samuel L. Jackson's comments on 12 Years a Slave.  

You can listen to the show below.  Please post your comments below.  Thanks.  

More Politics Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Adrian X Just My 2 Cents on BlogTalkRadio

Samuel L. Jackson Says "12 Years A Slave" Is Proof That Hollywood Still Isn't Ready To Deal with Racism

Samuel L. Jackson is quoted as saying that 12 Years a Slave is proof that Hollywood only wants to deal with the past - not the present.  

I have to disagree.  12 Years a Slave is not just about the past.  There are a lot of lessons in this film about the roots of modern-day racism.  This is one reason I am so glad the film was made, and why I think everyone should see it.  In order to understand the present, we need to have knowledge of the past. 

Jackson went on to say, "I'm glad 12 Years got made and it's wonderful that people are seeing it and there is another view of what happened in America".  But this is missing the point - it's not just what happened in America.  Similar things happened in Africa and the Caribbean, and we are still dealing with the consequences of this now.  Click here to read more of Jackson's comments.  

Click here for my analysis of 12 Years a Slave.   The brutalization inflicted on Black peple during slavery still has implications and still affects us today. 

Click here to read my review of The Black Jacobins, C.L.R. James's classic study of slavery and revolution in the French Caribbean.  

You want a context for what happened to Trayvon?  Read The Black Jacobins, an analysis of the Haitian Revolution, and see 12 Years a Slave.   

Want to know why a reporter confused Samuel L. Jackson with Lawrence Fishburne?  There is a scene that relates directly to this in 12 Years a Slave. 

As African people, we need to get over this tribalistic view of the world.  We are facing similar challenges, wherever we are, and we share a common history.  This Black History Month/ African Heritage Month, let us remember our common history and work towards our common goals. 

Is Diversity Good for Business?

The Gherkin, London

The Voice Online reports that the Lord Mayor of London warned that the city risks falling behind its competitors if it fails to embrace diversity in its business culture.  

Click here to read her comments.  Apparently, Fiona  Woolf is only the second female Lord Mayor since 1189.  She was speaking at the launch of the Power of Diversity programme.

So remember that the next time you sit through a presentation by a team made up entirely of white men - as I did last night.  There is a business case for diversity.  Or, to put it another way, diversity is good for business.  

What do you think?  Is there enough diversity in London and UK businesses?  If not, why not?  And is there a business case for increasing diversity?  Please leave your comments below.  

And click here for my Black Success audios.  Click here for more advice from Black business experts.  Because positive representation is important to me.


Here's to your success! 

Social Media Strategy: Revamp Your Online Marketing

Melinda Emerson is someone who is always hot on ways to build your business.  For my interview with her, see below.  

In Tonya R. Taylor's latest blog, Tonya shares valuable tips and powerful social media strategy ideas.  Did you know that you can use social media to research a product or niche?

Click here to read more.

Plus click here for my interview with Tonya R. Taylor.

And for more social media strategies, see How to Get 16,000+ Twitter Followers.  Find out how Melinda Emerson tweeted her way to a bestselling book.

Here's to your success!

Soul Survivors: Slave Narratives

In the light of 12 Years a Slave, I have re-purposed this blog.  

Soul Survivors is a collection of what are commonly termed "slave narratives".  

Like Solomon Northrup, the author of 12 Years a Slave, many of the authors were descended from people who had been born free in the United States but kidnapped and sold into enslavement; and several had been freed by their owners but still found themselves enslaved and sold.  

One woman even took her owner to court to sue for her freedom and won. 

What is unique about this collection, edited by Marcia Williams, is that it contains only narratives by women.

The stories in Soul Survivors cover a wide historical range, from the Revolutionary War in 1776 to the end of the American Civil War in 1865 and beyond.

This collection also contains Incidents from the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs, which many of us have already read as a separate volume. This is one of the rare texts which portray the sexual harassment and abuse which enslaved African women and young people must have commonly experienced.
 
Click here for details of, and a short film based on, my choreopoem, Harriet, which examines the life of Harriet Jacobs.

Jacobs shares her own experiences as a way of depicting the immorality that was inflicted upon enslaved women, and to which they were often forced to submit. I can't help thinking that many women probably did not write of these experiences, either because of embarassment or because they feared being labelled "immoral" or "loose" themselves.

African American women, during and after enslavement, were often at pains to prove that they were not sexually "immoral" because our women were commonly labelled as such by their enslavers, who used this as a justification for raping or prostituting African American girls and women.

Jacobs describes having to hide in a small attic for seven years to escape from her libidinous 'owner' who was so obsessed with her that he scoured the country trying to track her down. She also depicts how, prior to her escape, her white mistress heaped scorn and abuse on her and other enslaved women because of her husband's licentious behaviour and her own intense sexual jealousy.

Many of the women describe the horrendous physical abuse, including beatings, whippings and heavy labour, that they continually experienced.  Many of these personal histories were recorded in order to support the abolitionist cause.

In fact, one of the authors, Mary Prince from the Caribbean, states, "I am often much vexed and I feel great sorrow when I hear some people say that slaves ... do not need better usage and do not want to be free. They believe the foreign people who deceive them and say slaves are happy". She continues, "There is no modesty or decency shown by the owner to his slaves".

The authors all describe their great sorrow and grief at having been sold away from their own children, partners, parents, brothers and sisters, and their attempts to reunite with their family members. They also relate the enslaved African people's constant attempts to gain their freedom by any means necessary, either through escape or through purchasing their own or their children's freedom, sometimes saving up for years in order to do so. 

My one criticism of this collection is that it could have done with better editing. There are no historical or bibliographic notes or indications as to the sources of these narratives. The table of contents does not even contain page numbers. The narratives sometimes jump around in time and I found this confusing. 

Having said that, Soul Survivors is an important addition to any collection of African diasporic history. 

Click here to order Soul Survivors.

Black Success: How to Grow Your Customer Base

Richelle Shaw 

Richelle Shaw is a brilliant African American business expert who built a million-dollar business partly by using her existing customers to build her customer base.  

Richelle is the author of The Million Dollar Equation.  In the audio below, I talk about some of the things I learned from Richelle Shaw, and about how you can grow your customer base.  

If you would like to ask me a question, please post it in the comments section below.  

Success Strategies for Black People  

Success Strategies for Black People on Facebook 

Click here for details of how how you can win a free business consultation with Zhana. 

Click here for more Black Success audios with Zhana. 

New Books Internet Radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

Film Review: Long Walk to Freedom

Idris Elba as Mandela

I recently saw the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, loosely based on Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

Mandela was obviously a world-renowned figure, but there was a time when he was all but forgotten. In the wake of Mandela's recent passing, this film celebrates his life and his contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle.  

Long Walk to Freedom is a true African story of the heartbreak and devastation caused by the apartheid system, two people caught up in the fight against apartheid, and Mandela's long struggle which ended in triumph. 

Black Success: How to Build a Successful Online Business

Tonya R, Taylor

How can you start and build a successful online business?  
How can you tell if your social media strategy is working for you?   

How can Black business owners get fast results in creating an online presence?  

I was joined by online business specialist Tonya R. Taylor, founder of SavvyBizBuilder.com

Tonya is known as the “Savvy Online Business Builder” for solo entrepreneurs and small business owners who need more time to focus on running their six figure business and want fast, proven results ensuring potential customers can find them online. She believes without traffic, what’s the point of having a website to begin with!  

Listen to the audio below for Tonya's suggestions about how to build a successful online business.  

SavvyBizBuilder.com 

Click here for more Black Success audios.

Plus click here for details of how you can win a FREE Black business consultation with Zhana worth $300 (£200).  

Discover Books Internet Radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

Win a FREE Black Business Consultation

Are you a Black business owner?  Are you a start-up, a budding entrepreneur and/or in need of help or advice on growing your business?  If so, you could win a FREE business consultation worth $300 (£200). 

Click here for details of how to enter the competition to win a FREE consultation on how to grow your Black-owned business.  

Black Success: How to Attract a Steady Stream of Customers

There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of customers who want and need what your business is offering. 

We often get distracted by silly things.  But when we focus, we can come up with a never-ending stream of creative ideas and strategies to have customers banging on our doors. 

Please listen to the short audio below to find ways to grow your business.   

If you would like to ask me a question about how to grow your business, please post it in the comments section below.   

Click here for more Black Success audios.  

Current Books Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Zhana21 on BlogTalkRadio

12 Hot, High-Paying Jobs to Look Forward To In 2014

The new year can be a great time to look for work.  

Want to find a new job or a new career?  Click here for my Online Jobsearch Resources.  I have links to loads of articles and other resources, including 


12 Hot, High-Paying Jobs to Look Forward To In 2014.  

Plus click here for lots more help with your job search. 

Here's to your success!  

Orin's Worldwide Abundance Meditation

If you have been reading my articles and blogs, you will know that I have used and recommended the work of Orin and DaBen for many years.

They have recently posted new guided meditations, including this one for abundance. Click here to download it now.  

This audio helps us to open up to receive new ideas, creativity, and energies of abundance.  

We can use the energies of the universe to eliminate blocks and obstacles, and bring us new inspiration which we can share with anyone on the planet who is ready for it.

Click here for information on Orin and DaBen, and lots more free downloads.

See also:  Change Scarcity to Abundance.

Please share this with your networks, and leave your comments below.  Thanks. 

Here's to your success!