Join Us on the Radio Tomorrow (Sunday)

I hope you will be able to join us on Dr. Donna's radio show tomorrow, Sunday 29th November, 1:00 p.m. EST, 6:00 p.m. UK time. I will be talking about my book Success Strategies for Black People and how you can make 2010 your year. Click here to listen.

To listen to previous interviews, go to:

Loretta N. Green 2^nd October 2009

Diana Broomfield 17^th October 2009

Diana Broomfield 16^th September 2009

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Thanksgiving is the time when we stop for a moment to remember all the blessings and good fortune we have received. It is an important day to spend with family and loved ones. Although I now live in the UK, I still recall the many Thanksgivings I enjoyed at home, and I bring my family to mind on this day.

I have printed President Obama's Thanksgiving message below. In addition to speaking about the things he and his family are giving thanks for, he also reminds us to remember the troops serving overseas who cannot spend the day with their own families. Whatever you think about the ongoing conflicts in which our countries are involved, spare a thought for the troops who have been sent to fight for our protection.

If you are looking for gifts for Xmas, Kwanzaa and the New Year, check out African American Holiday Shopping

The President's Message

Tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, Americans across the country will sit down together, count our blessings, and give thanks for our families and our loved ones.

American families reflect the diversity of this great nation. No two are exactly alike, but there is a common thread they each share.

Our families are bound together through times of joy and times of grief. They shape us, support us, instill the values that guide us as individuals, and make possible all that we achieve.

So tomorrow, I'll be giving thanks for my family -- for all the wisdom, support, and love they have brought into my life.

But tomorrow is also a day to remember those who cannot sit down to break bread with those they love.

The soldier overseas holding down a lonely post and missing his kids. The sailor who left her home to serve a higher calling. The folks who must spend tomorrow apart from their families to work a second job, so they can keep food on the table or send a child to school.

We are grateful beyond words for the service and hard work of so many Americans who make our country great through their sacrifice. And this year, we know that far too many face a daily struggle that puts the comfort and security we all deserve painfully out of reach.

So when we gather tomorrow, let us also use the occasion to renew our commitment to building a more peaceful and prosperous future that every American family can enjoy.

It seems like a lifetime ago that a crowd met on a frigid February morning in Springfield, Illinois to set out on an improbable course to change our nation.

In the years since, Michelle and I have been blessed with the support and friendship of the millions of Americans who have come together to form this ongoing movement for change.

You have been there through victories and setbacks. You have given of yourselves beyond measure. You have enabled all that we have accomplished -- and you have had the courage to dream yet bigger dreams for what we can still achieve.

So in this season of thanks giving, I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to you, and my anticipation of the brighter future we are creating together.

With warmest wishes for a happy holiday season from my family to yours,

President Barack Obama

Hidden Histories: Black People and WWII

As you may know, I attended the presentation on How Black People Won World War II by Tony Warner at the Imperial War Museum yesterday.

Often, we are not told about aspects of our history. Every time I attend one of Brother Tony's presentations, I learn more valuable information.

I enjoy not only his detailed and extensive knowledge, but also his enthusiasm for his subject.

It is vital that we continue to uncover these hidden histories – these stories which have been obscured or forgotten. Knowledge of our history and ancestral heritage is vital for our self-esteem and confidence.

Click here to read about yesterday's excellent presentation.

Click here for future Black history presentations with Tony Warner.

In my book Black Success Stories Volume 1, I interviewed Len Garrison, founder of the Black Cultural Archives in South London. He describes how, when Black people in the 1970s started offering to donate their artefacts to museums, they were told "We are not collecting this type of material". So, off his own bat and without any funding or training in this area, he set up the Black Cultural Archives.

Click here for more info and to buy Black Success Stories.

For more books about Black history and Black achievers, in the UK, go to Black Gifts UK.

Outside the UK, go to go to The Black Gifts Store.

Click here for future Black history events with Tony Warner.

See also: Black History International.

Not Forgotten - Soldiers of Empire

While on the subject of Ian Hislop, I very much enjoyed his Not Forgotten series which was shown on Channel 4 several years ago, in which he investigated different people who had served during the First World War.

He has since made additional programmes, which are now being aired. On Monday night, I watched the episode about Empire troops, i.e. those from African and Caribbean countries, India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It was made to the same high standard as the earlier series.

Empire troops are often mentioned only as a footnote to the main event, but Hislop’s programme showed footage of Black troops on the front line, while he interviewed the grandchildren of one Caribbean man who had served on the Western Front.

I had previously seen the story of the Black men from the Caribbean who sailed on a ship via the North Pole but were not given winter uniforms. Many of them had their limbs amputated due to frostbite.

Those troops who arrived fit to serve were not allowed to fight, or even carry arms. They were put to doing heavy manual labour such as moving large amounts of ammunition, and were under fire from the enemy but were not given the means to defend themselves. Seeing the footage is always a strong experience.

Another excellent programme, well worth watching.

I also recently attended a screening of “A Small Island”, a BBC programme based on the novel by Andrea Levy, at the Imperial War Museum. I shall blog about this soon.

On Sunday 15th November, Tony Warner of Black History Walks will be doing a presentation on How Black People Won World War II. Come along if you can - I'm sure it will be both educational and entertaining. Click here for more details.

It is so important for us to have a sense of our own history and cultural heritage, and our contribution to world history. This is an essential part of having high self-esteem and confidence. For more about this, see The Key to Confidence. See also, Success Strategies for Black People.

The Power of a Black Skin

Further to my previous blog about the BNP on the BBC, many people have said that when the head of the BNP appeared on Question Time lately, he came across as a bumbling idiot.

However, around 100 viewers phoned the BBC to complain that he was treated unfairly and even “bullied”.

I still say we need to learn the lessons of history and stop giving these people free publicity.

I felt torn about blogging about this issue and giving it more energy. Although there are other, better ways to overcome difficulties and create the things we want, sometimes we have to engage and directly confront.

Mr. BNP Head himself said that he had been treated unfairly because there were too many African and Asian people in the audience as the programme was broadcast from London, which had been “ethnically cleansed”.

It’s useful to know that we can “ethnically cleanse” an area – just by turning up! That’s the power of a Black skin.

But the final word has to go to the folks at the quiz show Have I Got News for You the same week as the broadcast. During a photo quiz, when asked to identify a photo of Mr. BNP Head, Ian Hislop, Paul Merton and their guests all shook their heads and said “We don’t know who he is”. At which point the host, Martin Clunes, moved on to the next item without identifying him either.

In other words, treat this man as the nonentity he should be.

One Year Ago

Check out this video from the President.

I was watching a programme about Beyonce the other day. She said, her young nephew doesn't understand why it's a big deal that the President is African American. This is the future we are creating - to the next generation, a Black President will be no big deal.

As he says, this is an historic moment. But we are not just interested in history, we are interested in change.

Click here to watch the video.

See also: Barack Obama, African American Success Story.

BNP on the BBC

You have probably heard that the head of the BNP will appear on Question Time tonight. The BBC has been milking this for all it's worth.

Watched The Wright Stuff this morning. Everyone was saying the BBC have to have this man on the show because this is a democracy, people have voted for the BNP, yadda yadda.

Surely the BBC have a responsibility to respect equal rights for all. This is the opposite of what the BNP represent.

We fought a world war against fascism. My father fought in that war. Now the licence payers are being made to pay for the BNP to be given a platform as if they were a legitimate political party.

What do you think? Should the BBC be giving these people air time?

Do we really need to watch them in order to know what they think? If they had their way, none of us would be here now.

Has this country really grown so complacent that we are happy to give air time to these people? Or is the majority population just looking for scapegoats in a time of economic difficulty?

Remember, Hitler was elected. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

Resources for Black Parents

Free online activities for children, crafts, make a kinara, African recipes, plus books and resources for parents - get all this and more from the new Black Holiday Gifts Guide 2009. Click here to download it now.

New, Free Ebook - Finding Your Purpose

The new issue of More Black Success is now available, hot off the press!

MBS 6 features an article by Diana Broomfield on Finding Your Purpose. And much more.
Click here to hear me interviewed by Diana on her radio show tomorrow, Saturday 17th October.

If you are involved in mentoring young people, or want to be, check out Dena Strong's very moving piece which includes 10 Tips for Mentoring.

As always, MBS contains loads of resources for your personal and professional development.

Click here to grab your free copy of MBS 6.

Click here if you would like to submit an article or success story .

Black History: Telling Our Stories

October is Black History Month in the UK. For BHM events and resources, see Black History International.

In my recent interview with Loretta N. Green, we talked about the importance of telling our stories. Harriet Jacobs recorded her experiences in her book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, and I have told her story in my choreopoem, Harriet. A film of Harriet will be shown as part of the BFM London Black Film Festival.

Click here to read more and hear more radio interviews.

One Person Can Make a Difference

This is so inspiring. Check out this article posted on the Black Books Blog about how a librarian made a huge change in one young person's life.

Boy Lifts Book

Hear Me on the Radio

Last night, I was on Loretta N. Green’s show on Blogtalk Radio. It was a delightful experience. We talked about how important it is for people of African heritage to dialogue and communicate, no matter where we are from, and no matter where we are now. We have so much to learn from each other and to share. I make a point of taking an international Afrocentric approach in my More Black Success free ebooks.

To hear this interview, go to
http://ancestralenergies.blogspot.com/2009/09/im-on-radio-friday-2nd-october.html

My next radio interview will be on Saturday, 17th October, when I will be appearing on Diana Broomfield’s show again. I hope you will join us. If you want to phone in or join us in the chatroom, please do. Details are here:
http://ancestralenergies.blogspot.com/2009/09/im-on-radio-friday-2nd-october.html

Black Men, Women, Relationships

This month in Essence, there is an article called “Where Is the Love” about relationships between Black men and women.

Hill Harper, author of Letters to a Young Brother and Letters to a Young Sister, has just brought out a new book entitled The Conversation: How Black Men and Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships.

One point he makes is that single-sex conversations will not bring about progress – in other words, men and women need to talk to each other.

I would argue that single-sex conversations are important, and may feel like a safer place to start. But in the end, we are a complete race and brothas and sistas need to connect and communicate with each other.

I would argue further that it’s not just a matter of talking – it’s also about how we talk and listen to each other. When there are forums for men and women, there tends to be a lot of judging and blaming, a lot of accusations. We need to learn a new language for communication – the language of Nonviolent Communication.

We have learned toxic ways of relating to each other and we are paying the price with broken relationships.

Did you know that:

Only 38% of Black children live in two-parent homes.

In 1966, more than 84% of all African American children were raised in two-parent households. By 2006, that number was at just 31%, compared to

• 80% of Asian American children and
• 70% of white American children?

The article lays the blame for problems between Black men and women firmly at the feet of internalised racism, i.e. self-hatred. I couldn’t agree more.

For more about this, see The Key to Confidence.

Hill also argues that many Black women are looking for a man who is financially well-off. I’ve heard this so many times before. I think this is probably because many of us yearn for material security. But we need to learn to provide this security for ourselves, while still being open to a loving relationship.

Hill adds that most of us would not have dated Barack Obama.

I say: If we define a potential partner by his paycheck or bank balance, rather than the qualities he is bringing to the relationship, we are selling ourselves short.

This is about core values. Are you looking for someone with whom you feel secure, with whom you can share yourself and express yourself freely and openly?

Hill finishes by talking about authenticity. If you feel like you have to put on an act when you are with men, how are you going to be happy in a relationship?

My work is about solutions – building happy, healthy relationships, families and communities. Check out my communications course October 10th-11th.

See also: This article about empathy.

I'm on the Radio Friday 2nd October

I will be on Loretta N. Green's radio show this coming Friday, 2nd of October. I hope you will join us. Click here to listen to the show. The phone-in number is 001 (347) 838-9818 or you can join us in the chatroom.

I will also be on Diana Broomfield's show again on Saturday 17th October. Click here to listen in.

On my previous visit to Diana's show, we had a very lively and spirited discussion. We spoke about President Obama, affirmative action and lots more. Click here to listen to the recording of that show.

See also, Superior African Weapons.

Superior African Weapons

In my recent radio interview with Diana Broomfield, I talked about a book, Of Water and the Spirit, by Malidoma Patrice Some.

Click here to hear the interview.

Malidoma talks about his amazing journey. Having been raised by his grandfather, a powerful shaman, he was kidnapped at age six and sent to a seminary. As an adult, he had to reclaim his culture and language.

Malidoma tells of his grandfather's remarkable powers: a small plot of land was able to feed the entire village, with food to spare. And a weapon which was traditional to his family made them virtually invincible.

However, the most powerful weapon is the mind. Only by using our minds can we achieve our full potential.

I strongly recommend Of Water and the Spirit.

Click here for more personal development books.

Listening to the President

I saw this excellent blog post today, A Different Type of Double Standard.

Do people even listen to what the President is saying? Or do they just see a Black face and turn off (literally turn off their TVs)?

I mean, first of all, they accused him of having a "political agenda". How do you get to the White House without having a "political agenda"?

I read so much nonsense about President Obama these days. I am at a loss sometimes about what to say - there is so much stupidity about.

People seem to be coming from fear, prejudice (pre-judging) and ignorance, without even listening to what the man says.

Pay attention, people. He is talking about values, things we all care about, things that can help us all to improve our lives and give them meaning. Things like education, taking responsibility, contributing to the common good. Pay attention. But if you are reading this blog, I assume you already do.

Now We Can Join the BNP!

Today, Black people in the UK have achieved a great victory against racial discrimination. Now we can join the extreme right-wing British National Party. They are no longer allowed to bar any British person from membership on the grounds of racial or cultural background, or country of origin.

On The Wright Stuff this morning, Matthew Wright suggested we should all join the party and, once we are members, change the manifesto. If you get there before me, please save me a place in the queue.

I'm on the Radio Saturday 5th September!

I will be interviewed by Diana Broomfield on her radio show this Saturday, 5th August, 4 p.m. EST (9 p.m. UK time). I hope you will join us! Click here to listen online.

I will be talking about my books, my courses, Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and much more.

Click here for more about NVC and empathy

Getting Past the Hate

Check out my blog at Ancestral Healing on Black Women, Men and Self-Hatred. For practical solutions, see Getting Past the Hate.

I will be leading a two-day course in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) in London in October.

An International Approach

One of the important features of the More Black Success free ebooks is that we publish work by and about people of African heritage wherever we are based in the world.

It is vital that people of African heritage link together and share our knowledge and information with each other.

To read more, and to order your free copies, see Books for Truth-Seekers.

What Do You Object To?

Further to my previous post on The President's Plans for Healthcare Reform, I have today seen two excellent blogs by my fellow AfroSpear member Eddie Griffin.

One asks, "What Do You Object To?". The President is seeking to make healthcare available and affordable for everyone. What exactly is the problem with this?

The other, A Detailed Examination of Healthcare Myths, spells it out very clearly.

I gotta say, this is one area in which the UK is way ahead of the U.S.A. Nobody in Britain has to worry about forking out for healthcare. We only have to worry about whether or not our local primary care trusts can afford to pay for the treatment we seek - and even this should not be an issue except in extraordinary cases.

If the economy continues the way it is going, however, this is going to become more and more of an issue.

As I said in my previous blog, the President is seeking to save money by reducing wastage and allocating more appropriately money which is already in the system.

What is the objection to this?

Obama on Healthcare

Click here to view a video of President Obama addressing the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons).

Some of the points the President made were:

* We need a better bang for our healthcare dollar. The rising costs are not leading to a corresponding improvement in healthcare.

* He talked about commonsense measures, emphasising prevention by using methods such as immunisation and testing.

* We need clear, easy-to-understand insurance.

* We can save money on medical costs.

The emphasis on prevention goes completely against the way healthcare has been practiced in the West for the past 150-200 years. The emphasis has been on “curing” problems rather than preventing them. This is often the opposite of traditional methods such as acupuncture, where it is recognised that prevention should be the priority.

I’m sure your grandmother told you that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Somehow, with healthcare provision in the West, this message has been lost.

The President talked about the fact that providing the right care in the first place will save money. So he was talking in terms of dollars and cents, and using a system that makes sense financially while improving the quality of healthcare being provided.

He also talked about changing the way we reward doctors. Rewarding them for the quality of healthcare they provide for ongoing and chronic conditions, rather than for the number of times they see the same patients. This is groundbreaking stuff.

It was very moving to hear the President speak about his mother, after her cancer diagnosis, being accused by insurers of having had a pre-existing condition, which would have made her ineligible for coverage. She had to spend weeks writing back and forth to insurance companies from her hospital bed after she had been paying premiums right along. And this happens to people right across the country. This causes people and their loved ones a great deal of fear and anxiety because of the prospect of losing their health coverage.

He spoke about having a system of health insurance that actually makes sense.

For example, at the moment, the more times you have to return to the hospital for treatment, the more that hospital gets paid. The more often you see a doctor for treatment for the same condition, the more that doctor is paid. And the insurance company can decide not to pay for your treatment because you lose your job or you change jobs, or for some other reason. And you don’t find out until it’s too late.

This is truly shameful. This is a scandal nobody talks about. Doctors, healthcare providers and insurance companies are making profit at the expense of those seeking treatment.

Here in the UK, because we have socialised medicine, we do not have many of these problems. We don’t find that when the time comes, the doctor is not paid for, or the hospital care is not paid for. Everything is paid for and Britons expect to receive free heathcare from the cradle to the grave. We have to pay for prescriptions, but it’s at a flat rate which at the moment is just over £7, or about $10-11. And people who have a large number of prescriptions, e.g. more than five, can purchase a pre-payment prescription which means you can pay one flat rate for three months or one year, thus making prescriptions very affordable.

One statistic the President revealed today is that in the U.S., prescriptions cost 77% more than they cost in other countries. I am shocked by this but not surprised. I know prescription costs are high in the U.S. but I am shocked at how high they are, and that this has been allowed to go on for so long.

Of course, we have different problems here in the UK. The system is virtually bankrupt. We have what is called a “postcode lottery” which means that some treatments are not available to everybody in every part of the country. We have long waiting lists, which means some people who can afford to opt to go private do so, in order to access treatment promptly.

So it’s not a perfect system.

I agree with the President. There is a lot of waste in the current system and reducing that waste will reduce healthcare costs. This will be better for those who use healthcare, and for the country as a whole.

However, some of the providers are making so much money with the current system, and healthcare is such big business in America, that there will be many people who will be unhappy with the President’s plans to reform healthcare and health insurance in the U.S. They will simply lose too much money – they money they are now making by ripping people off.

What the President is proposing is very courageous and I salute him.

See also:

Barack Obama, African American Success Story

Celebrating Barack Obama

Happy Birthday Mandela

As Villager has said, yesterday was Nelson Mandela's birthday.

I can remember standing on the 24-hour nonstop picket line outside the South African Embassy in London's Trafalgar Square in the 1980s.

A friend of mine used to go come down every Friday evening, after a full work week, to stand on the picket line. I remember when she was arrested for obstruction one night. I went to court to support her and was pleased when the case was thrown out.

We made very small sacrifices. We boycotted certain fruits. Why did the ones from South Africa always appear to be the plumpest and freshest?

On our visits to the supermarket, we dug our fingernails into the avocados to stop anyone else from eating them.

Mandela sacrificed many years of his life, but somehow managed not only to keep his dignity, but to treat his enemies with respect, and win them over with his kindness and his wisdom.

I can remember the days when we thought the end of Apartheid would inevitably involve violence, destruction and bloodshed on a massive scale. Yet, miraculously, it came about peaceably. Mandela played a major role in the peace process.

To read more about this, see:

Long Walk to Freedom: Nelson Mandela's Autobiography
Endgame: The Beginning of the end of Apartheid.

I remember, too, that when he visited London after his release from prison, he challenged the police about their handling of the Stephen Lawrence enquiry. Up until then, the enquiry had not been prioritised or pursued seriously by the police. Mandela's involvement ensured that this issue was given the prominence it deserved.

This great African leader is an inspiration to people all over the world.

Happy birthday, Mandela!

Unlimited Power

In Positive Change and Transformation, I recently wrote about the fact that those of us fro a political background often come from a position of blame. Blaming white folks, blaming those in power, blaming whoever. Even blaming ourselves and each other.

Individuality

By individuality, I mean valuing oneself and others and respecting one’s own ideals and values. For more about this, see The Key to Confidence.

Individuality is not the same as being individualistic or selfish. Nor does it mean doing something because “Black people do it”. In order to be individuals, we need to honour our uniqueness.

The more we behave as individuals, and treat others as individuals, the more we can become free of the group mentality which lies at the hear tof the blame culture.

Instead of blaming, we need to take responsibility.

Passivity vs. Blame

At the opposite end of the spectrum from blaming is passivity. The “let God take care of it” attitude that many of us from a religious background tend to have.

I think this is a cultural difference between Black and white people. People from European backgrounds tend to be confident about self-power, but they tend to fear other power. We, on the other hand, tend to be overly reliant on other power, and lack confidence in our self-power.

We need both. We need a balance between self-power and other-power.

Although I have said that they are opposites, passivity and blame often go together. This is because we feel frustrated by our own passivity and then project it onto others.

I saw a post on an online forum recently where someone who had worked in a care home was writing about the corruption she had witnessed on a daily basis. She had seen residents of the home being abused. She wrote, “I was going to challenge it, but then I decided to leave it to God”.

People, we cannot afford to “leave it to God”.

When I was a Christian and believed in a god, I also believed that “God helps those who help themselves”.

To put it another way, everything we do is matched with energy from the universe. The universe matches and multiplies whatever energy we put out.

We can only do this if we focus on our own power – not other people’s. For more about this, read Allowing Success.

Imagine you have unlimited power to attain anything you want, and fulfill your dreams.

You do have this power, you were born with it . Reach down inside yourself to draw on this power. You are unstoppable.

For more about this, see The Higher Self.

As I said in Success Strategies for Black People, never say "I can't". Say "How can I?".

Michael Jackson Is Dead

Wow. I remember when he first came to prominence, when he was 10 and I was 11. He was an exceptional talent and grew up to be one of the biggest stars on the planet - deservedly so. In those days, to be famous and successful as a performer, you needed to have real talent. And he had it in spades.

He has had such a troubled life. He had no childhood. He faced his demons in adulthood but we don't know if he won.

I was just thinking about Michael Jackson a couple of nights ago, about how when he was a child and was appearing with the Jackson 5 at the Royal Variety Performance, Elton John said he felt sorry for them because they had been made to wait so long.

He was interviewed by Oprah, where they both talked about the childhood abuse they had suffered.

How could he have died of a heart attack? He was only 50. What was going on there?

This has really shocked me. No doubt we will be learning more over the next days and weeks.

See also, Celebrating the Legend That Is Motown.

Black Men's Health - Too Embarrassed to Talk about It?

On Oprah today, Dr. Oz will be the host. It's the first time anyone other than Oprah herself has hosted.

The topic is men's health. And everyone in the studio will be male.

If you are a Black man, are you too embarrassed to talk about your health? Do you avoid talking about it with your wife, the woman in your life, your family?

Do you avoid going to the doctor because you don't want to get bad news?

How can we as healthcare and health promotion workers reach African American and African Caribbean men? How can we support them to get the health checks they need?

In the free More Black Success ebook Volume 4, Dr. Bill Releford writes about the Black Barbershop Project. If we can't get the men to go to the doctor, we need to bring the doctor to the men.

For your free copy, visit More Black Success today!

I'm on TV Tonight!

I will be appearing on the Rhoda Wilson Show tonight (Friday 19th June) at 10:00 p.m. I hope you will join us.

Rhoda will interview me about my book Success Strategies for Black People and about my Nonviolent Communication (NVC) workshops for the African Caribbean Community.

BEN TV, Sky Channel 184
The Rhoda Wilson Show

I am very passionate about this work. It is changing people's lives.

Positive Change and Transformation

In the face of recent events such as, for example, the Samantha Orabator case, the Troy Davis case and the many instances of tasings of African American people, one of my online contacts recently raised the question, “What Can We Do?”.

We work so hard to battle these injustices. Yet they never seem to decrease. So what can we do?

My work is all about creating a more positive future.

The Law of Attraction tells us that whatever we put our energies into, increases in our lives. This is very similar to the Law of Increase, which I write about in my book Success Strategies for Black People.

Although our intention is to bring about positive change, we need to be aware that these universal laws are constantly working. They can work for us or against us. We can use them in our favour – or not.

In other words, the more energy we put into battling a problem, the more energy we are giving to that problem.

We need to turn our focus to the solution rather than the problem.

Situations such as the case of Samantha Orabator will often respond to Spiritual Response Therapy (SRT). I write about SRT and the Higher Self in Success Strategies.

I also write about Nonviolent Communication (NVC) as well as other highly effective processes.

These are transformative methods. I have seen miracles happen in my life and in the lives of others. This is why I wrote the book. I want to make these methods available to as many people of African heritage as possible. We can use these methods and other things I cover in the book to heal ourselves, our families and our communities. And we can use them to achieve much, much more.

I am passionate about the work I do because I have seen the difference it makes in people’s lives.

As Black people, we often get into victim mentality. This is because we have been victimised for so many generations.

Those of us of a political bent say, “Organise! Fight back!”. And of course, there is a time to organise. There is a time to fight, to defend our communities.

However, in order to bring about real positive, effective change and transformation, we need to turn our focus inward.

Human beings in general tend to blame others for our problems, difficulties and issues. This is a basic human tendency. And others are often to blame.

The problem with this is that it locates the solution outside of us. If only “they” would treat us better. If only he, she or they would stop doing whatever it is they are doing and do what we want them to do. Then everything would be okay.

Please note, I am NOT trying to take the blame for racism and racist violence off of white people.

I am just saying that, whether we blame ourselves or other people, blame is not a solution. And I am interested in solutions.

We have amazing power. We need to use this power to bring about the changes we need. Blame then becomes a distraction from what will bring about the real changes we deserve.

I am a pragmatist. I am committed to doing what works.

I will be blogging about this further within the next few days.

Too Many Politicians?

In the light of the recent Parliamentary expenses scandal, David Cameron has been calling for a reduction in the number of politicians.

Surely there need to be more. Constituencies are way too big, which is one reason why the politicians have gotten out of touch with the electorate. One politician said his "private life", i.e. how he spends our money, is none of our business!

Meanwhile, there has been this row over the fact that all members of the London Assembly, including the BNP member, have been invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace by the Queen. Apparently, she invites the Assembly every year.

I do not hold with the argument that if she invites one, she has to invite all of them. The BNP are no better than the National Front, albeit with briefcases and nice suits. In other words, Nazis.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did we not fight a war against these people? Are these not the same people who dropped bombs on London and other British cities every night? Now they are attacking from the inside.

But I blame the electorate. These people would not be in power if people didn't vote for them. Similarly, people voted for Hitler. Learn from history, folks!

Maybe Cameron's right, we do have too many politicians.

Against the Execution of Troy Davis (How much is a Black man's life worth?)

Troy Davis waits to be executed for a murder he did not commit. The case against him rests on the flimsiest of evidence.

Many of us are aware of the Exonerations Project and the Center for Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University.

Among other things, this proved what many of us have known for many years – African American men are disproportionately convicted, imprisoned and sentenced to execution.

Troy Davis’s case stands out at this time because he is scheduled for execution, because there is practically no evidence against him, and because the courts have refused to reopen his case. He was given a 30-day stay of execution, but this has already passed.

There was no murder weapon and no physical evidence to convict him. Seven of the nine witnesses against him have withdrawn their testimony, stating that they only provided it under duress.

You can read more about this at Sojourner’s Place.

See also Derrick’s Window

Converstions with Marva

So why is this case being upheld?

Why is a retrial not being granted?

Fans of TV dramas such as CSI and Law and Order would strongly object if these shows depicted such a case. No weapon, no forensic evidence. This plot does not hold together.

But this is real life. And history has shown us time and time again that Black people’s lives are not worth much.

He killed a police officer. He must be guilty, regardless of the lack of evidence.

It just seems like the same old thing to me. String another one up. Lynchings, tasings, legal, state-sponsored executions. It all amounts to the same thing. So much African blood being spilled.

Black life is not worth much.

Meanwhile, the real killer is still out there somewhere.

Black life is not worth much.

Think about Samantha Orobator, the young woman from South London who was scheduled for execution in Laos.

Black life is not worth much.

Amnesty International have called for today to be an International Day of Blogging for Action.

Black life is not worth much. Click here to email or fax Georgia’s Governor Perdue and prove that this is not true.

Black Writers and Artists, Add Your Link

I am in the process of carrying over the links from the old Nurture Success site. They will appear on various lists including

African Heritage Resources and

Writers' Resources

If you are a writer or an artist of African heritage, please join Black Books and Stuff and add your link. You can also post news of any events you are holding on this site.

You will also want to check out this list of Resources for Black Writers and Readers.

Samantha Orobator Has Seen a Lawyer

I have just heard that Samantha Orobator, the Black woman from Camberwell, South London who is being held in prison in Laos, has been allowed to see a lawyer, at last.

There were 10 Laotian high officials present, so she did not have the opportunity to discuss anything confidential. But at least they have let her see a lawyer. She was scheduled for execution but this was changed - only because she is pregnant.

Orobator is accused of heroin possession. She has been held for many months and became pregnant in prison. To read more, see: African American Political Pundit

To watch a video, see: Black Women in Europe

Endgame - The Beginning of the End of Apartheid

I was very moved and inspired by this political thriller, which depicted the true story of top secret talks held in the 1980s which led to the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa. It was recently screened on Channel 4 in the UK.

This story is not really know, even today. When most people thought a violent end to apartheid was inevitablem those who took part in these talks showed extraordinary courage, risking their lives and those of their families and friends. This is truly the courage of a few individuals in the face of danger from the group.

Click here to read my review of Engdame.

See also Nonviolent Communication.

Hatred of Black Women

What is with the hatred of Black women?

The latest victim (that we've heard about) is the London woman who was scheduled for execution in Laos. They have let her off now - at last - but only because she is pregnant!

http://www.blackvoices.com/newsarticle/_a/pregnant-woman-escapes-death-penalty-in/20090505100309990001

She got pregnant in jail. She was accused of drug trafficking, but her friends say she has never touched drugs.

A couple of years ago, there was the woman in northern Nigeria who was threatened with being stoned to death.

But before we expect others to love and appreciate us, we need to learn to love and appreciate ourselves. I am told many sistas jumped on Rihanna after her bloke (allegedly) beat her up. And look what happened when Tyson raped that young sista. So many women blamed her.

If this is how we treat each other, we can't be surprised when others abuse, exploit and oppress us. Can we?

We need to learn to love, appreciate and value ourselves and each other. Seriously, yall, this is life and death.

Check out my article on The Key to Confidence.

Ending the Violence through a Creative Response

This is a continuation of my previous blogs,

Ending the Violence
No to Pre-Trial Electrocutions
Police Officers Accused of 60 Other Assaults

I was in Brixton town centre a couple of days ago when I noticed that, outside Brixton police station, a tree has been dedicated as a memorial to a young African Caribbean man, Sean Riggs, who died in police custody.

With all the recent media feeding frenzy around the allegations of assaults by police officers at the G20 demonstrations, there has been no mention of this young man's death. I have seen no connections made between the G20 incidents and the ongoing assaults on African people by the police.

According to information posted on the tree memorial, there were two cameras present when Riggs died, but neither was working. That is the official line. Judge for yourself how believable that is.

Our young people need to carry cameras all the time as a way of protecting themselves from police violence. This is one important lesson to be learned from the incidents that took place at the G20 demos. But once in police custody, use of cameras will often not be possible.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is one of the most effective methods of countering violence. For more about this, see

Ending the Violence
Improving Relationships/Improving Communication
Nonviolent Communication

NVC is used to transform situations, including cases of extreme violence. It is not the same as passive resistance, it is a creative response.

I hope you will join my course in London in October and find out how you can use NVC in your own life.

We really can transform this situation and create a better future.

Below is an excerpt from "A Duty Of Remembrance", by Toyin Agbetu, taken from Nyansapo: The African Drum.

What I like most about this piece is that Toyin is bringing in the spiritual dimension, talking about revering the ancestors.

We need to have an awareness of the problem. But it is far more vital to focus on solutions.

A Duty Of Remembrance

Greetings, I was recently reading trough a book that was sent to me called Again We’ll Rise by BJ Gilwards. Inside it were a collection of inspiring quotations and statements from African people spanning millennia. It made me think hard about many of the wisdom's we have forgotten, the legacies from our history, the good and the bad, the gains and also the losses.

During January 1999, a gang of eight officers from the British Police Force brutally restrained a young man named Roger Sylvester. In describing their actions the police lied claiming Roger was violent. However contrary to their statements Roger was seen being dragged limp, naked and handcuffed into a police van by several witnesses. Roger, a council worker stopped breathing and fell into a coma at the emergency psychiatric unit at St Anne's Hospital, Haringey. Six police officers had pinned him down on the floor for about 20 minutes.

Ben Bersabel, a nurse on duty at the time of the assault said he had noticed Roger was being held down on his front and calling out for a doctor. The police ignored Rogers’s pleas for help and as a direct result of their actions he suffered heart and kidney failure, severe brain damage and bruising to his body. Roger, 30 was a mental health service user. He died six days later at the Whittington Hospital.

Roger’s family made several complaints about the abusive actions of the officers. This led to an investigation carried out by Essex Police under the supervision of the racist Police Complaints Authority (PCA) but to no avail. When the discredited PCA was abandoned it was replaced with the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) which now has overall responsibility for the police complaints system. It is important to note that the British tactic of rebranding old as new is common and even the Metropolitan Police Force has formally changed its name to the Police ‘Service’ in an attempt to soften its brutish image.

Now for many years Roger’s family were denied justice, the British media in an attempt to exonerate the police deliberately mislead the public by reporting state fabrications. A typical story was that published by the BBC with the headline ‘Detained man's drug delirium’.

… But then after several years of campaigning the family achieved a breakthrough. On 3 October 2003, an inquest jury returned a unanimous verdict and ruled that Roger had been unlawfully killed. In a just ‘civilised’ society the six police officers should have faced murder or at the very least, manslaughter charges for their ‘unlawful killing’ but instead in 2004, a high court judge formally quashed the verdict allowing the police force to once again escape justice after killing innocent Africans.

… So what is the solution? How do we as a community achieve justice, reparation and ultimately Maat for atrocities committed against our Ancestors? Well the first thing we must do is respect the ritual of remembrance and hold a memorial or commemoration for them every year without fail. For this act to be progressive it must not only be carried out for the victims of Maafa but also the survivors and heroes.

… You see we need African Remembrance at the very least, once a year. Our own right to dignity demands we collectively remember their names especially in circumstances where the loss has been both tragic and traumatic instead of worshipping those ‘celebrities’ and role muddles the government and its media promotes as ‘black’ British or American idols.

So to those who have passed and whose names we rarely call, please know that not all your children have forgotten your sacrifice. And in remembrance to those of you who are also still with us, I want to thank you, from brother Colin, Aiah Menjor and Milton Hanson to sista Ama Sumani and Elder Rosie Purves, there are so many of you out there who I want to thank for doing the work, and those of you who silently support them, you know who you are. In the meantime I have written to the IPCC making an Freedom of Information (FOI) request for the details of all the cases involving African people who have died in custody that Freddy Patel has been involved in and may have covered up. If we don’t do think this work important, then who will?

Taken from Nyansapo - The Pan African Drum
Toyin Agbetu is a writer, film director, poet, and founder of Ligali, the pan African human rights based organisation.
To subscribe to this free newsletter, Nyansapo the Pan African Drum, contact Ligali http://www.ligali.org/index.php

Ending the Violence

As you may know, yesterday was the AfroSpear's Day of Blogging for Justice against tasers. If you haven't yet, you can read my latest anti-tasing blog here.

Here are some more:

Electronic Village Wants to End Taser Torture

Eddie Griffin's Message to the Fort Worth Police

From My Brown-Eyed View

Dallas South

Antoinette's Pont of View

There are many more. Feel free to add your voice. We need to stop this violence against African people. Tasers are widely used in the U.S.A. and will be in the UK unless we stop this.

The only real way to stop violence is with nonviolence. I am not talking about passive resistance as was used during the civil rights era of the 1960s. I am talking about creative communication, also known as Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

NVC is used in many parts of the world, incuding places that have a history of extreme violence, such as Rwanda and Burundi, Sierra Leone, and Israel and Palestine.

NVC is changing people's lives. We can use it to transform the way the police operate so that everyone's needs are respected.

The Law of Attraction tells us that what we put our energies into increases and expands. The Law of Increase says that what we concentrate on, what we focus on, increases.

So if we focus on the solution, we will find more and more solutions.

It is important that so many people have blogged and are continuing to blog about tasing, as it is being used to assault and even kill African people.

We need to be aware of the problem. This is vitally important. But even more crucially, we need to focus on solutions.

I will be leading a course in London on NVC for the African Caribbean community in October. Check my web page, Improving Relationships/Improving Communication, for updates.

For more information, see Nonviolent Communication.

We can bring about positive change and transformation. We can transform this situation. Find out more and get involved.

No to Pre-Trial Electrocutions

Congratulations to my fellow AfroSpear members for organising another Day of Blogging for Justice to raise awareness about the use of tasers against Black men, women and children.

Click here to read my post on the previous Day of Blogging for Justice against tasing.

It is a travesty that another such event is needed. Tasing is also being referred to as "pre-trial electrocution" and rightly so.

Here are some more of today's blogs:

TNT Truth Not Tasers

AfroSpear Blog

Here in London, attacks by the police are much in the news at the moment, following the demonstrations around the G20 a couple of weeks ago. Three people have been named as victims of police attacks, one of whom, Ian Tomlinson, is now dead. Films of the incident suggest that Tomlinson was minding his own business, watching the demo from the sidelines, when attacked from behind by a police officer. He collapsed, and died shortly thereafter.

It has been decided that a third inquest into Tomlinson's death will be carried out, as the findings of the first two contradicted each other.

The day after Tomlinson's death, a woman protester was struck by a police officer.

I note that (1) both of these protesters were white, (2) both incidents were filmed. In the case of the attack on Tomlinson, several different cameras in different positions recorded the incident.

And (3) none of the alleged attacks involved the use of tasers. In other words, London's Metropolitan Police are capable of doing plenty of damage without deploying tasers. Tasers are rarely used in the UK at present, but once their use becomes widespread, the situation will only worsen.

Given the current state of the economy, with an increase in employment being forecast, many are predicting an increase in civil unrest. So lots more opportunities for the police to use heavy-handed tactics.

I will be blogging more about this soon, but I wanted to post this today in support of the Day of Justice.

Black people have been saying for many years that the policing of our communities is often brutal and violent. When Black people die in police custody, no one is ever prosecuted or deemed to have acted unlawfully or inappropriately.

As I said recently in Police Officers Accused of 60 Other Assaults, African young people and adults need to be carrying cameras and/or camera phones at all times in order to record these incidents. However, I add that, once a brotha or sista is inside a police cell, he or she has no opportunity to use a camera, and no guarantee that the cameras in place are in working order or contain film. Again, I will blog more about this soon.

Again, all credit to the sistas and brothas of the AfroSpear for keeping the issue of tasing in the forefront of our minds.

Susan Boyle's Got Talent

On the Channel 5's Wright Stuff this morning, they were talking about judging a book by its cover. Current Britain's Got Talent star Susan Boyle is considered unattractive and even "ugly".

This blog has moved to Susan Boyle's Got Talent.

Police Officers Accused of 60 Other Assaults

In the wake of last week's demonstrations about the G20, a Metropolitan Police officer is accused of striking an innocent passerby.

Camcorder footage reveals the officer allegedly striking a man on the back of the leg as the man was walking away. The man is seen to fall over, and died shortly thereafter.

Interestingly, the passerby was white. It is a rarity for white people in Britain to suffer assaults from the police except in large demonstrations such as the Wapping pickets and the miners' strike of the 1980s. Or at least, such assaults are rarely pubicised.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission asked newspaper The Guardian to remove the video from their website.

It would be even more interesting if we could produce film footage of police officers' assaults on members of the Black community, similarly to the Rodney King incident.

It remains to be seen what, if any, action is taken against the officer involved. In the Jean Charles de Menezes case, no one was found to be guilty of causing his death even though this innocent Brazilian man was shot at point-black range following the London 7/7 bombings of 2005. It was claimed they officers involved thought he was a suspected terrorist involved in the bombings.

The Jury recorded an open verdict and made it clear that they did not believe the court testimony of the police officers involved, who stated that a warning had been given before de Menezes was shot. For more on this, see Q&A: The Day de Menezes Died

Nubiart Diary recently reported on four officers who were recently convicted of assaults on a British Muslim man, who have been accused of involvement in 60 other incidents.

The article cites a string of other recent complaints against London's Metropolitan Police. To read more, visit News and Views: ANC Welcomes Ruling.

This article also includes a report from the ANC on the Pretoria High Court's refusal to grant parole to someone who murdered two ANC members.

John Hope Franklin Dies at 94

John Hope Franklin, author of From Slavery to Freedom, advised Thurgood Marshall in the historic Brown v. Board of Education case. To read more, see Obituary for John Hope Franklin.

This article also includes a review of the book Milk, Money And Honey: Changing Concepts In Rwandan Healing. Plus Black history events and more.

I'm on Black Pearls Magazine!

I've recently been interviewed about Success Strategies for Black People. To read this interview, see Black Pearls Magazine.

Click here to read an interview with me about Harriet, my choreopoem about Harriet Jacobs, who escaped sexual exploitation during slavery.

Click here to read more interviews with me.

African Women's Creativity

The Images of Black Women Film Festival promotes and celebrates women of African descent in cinema,both on screen and behind the camera.

Click here to read my article on the fifth annual Images of Black Women Film Festival, which was held recently at the Tricicyle Cinema in London.

Click here to watch a short film based on my choreopoem about the sexual exploitation of African American women during slavery.

Click here to read interviews with me.