Ok, It's official I have decided to give Beyonce a chance...Yes you can now run into the streets and jump with joy. Let me say, I never really had an issue with her, I just wasn't a huge fan, I think it's that whole over exposure, singing At Last and attempting to portray an actress.. GIRL you can't ACT..please do us all a favor and stick to Singing.. Oh yeah and I think she's a beautiful woman naturally, so More photos of you and your natural self would be appreciated as well..  Well with the advent of Public Libraries and the ability to download free music, I have downloaded a few Beyonce songs that I like and as long as she keeps showing pictures of that beautiful Blue Ivy, I'll be a semi-fan.. I mean the only person I'm paying $100 to see is Prince Rogers Nelson and well Queen Bey is not even in the same category :-) Despite the "controversy" surrounding this video, I mean come on people, imitation is the best form of flattery

We all have good intentions. Example, I had every intention of writing a Black History Blog Post every day of this month, alternating between important Black Men and Women in Black History. However, I was sick, kids were sick, Husband was gone for longer than normal and other duties took precedence. So it didn't happen, I am disappointed but have resolved to write at least 2 blogs a month on Black History Makers and well, February isn't over yet, so I might squeeze in a few more for this month,  I MIGHT... I will make no promises because I frankly don't like to break them.

not so much a place to go as it is a place to grow it is not so much a place to learn your history as it is a place to express your truth that you are somebody of value a Black college is not so much the place to become independent as it is a place to understand mutual dependence not so much a harvest ground as it is a path to higher ground not so much a social place as it a sacred place rich with history...with struggle...with meaning it is not so much the place to be on your own as it is the place to be at your best a Black college is all of this and more and now, because of you the legacy continues author: unknown

A year ago today, the world lost a beautiful, beautiful voice that of Ms. Whitney Elizabeth Houston. I am still in shock and sad a year later. Sad because I never saw her in concert, sad because her death was avoidable, sad because the love her fans had for her was not enough, sad because I refuse to be mad, because we all fall short. Her voice was truly a gift from God and thank God for the technology that exist that will allow us to hear that voice forever. My Children have fallen in love with I Wanna Dance With Somebody and I think it's the first Whitney Song I saw a video for and I still think that video is so cool.. So many songs, to choose from..These are just a few of my favorites..

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio. She was an actress and singer. Her mother Ruby also an actress, created an act for Dorothy and her sister, Vivian under the name "The Wonder Children and they toured on the Chitlin' Circuit for 5 years in the Southern United States. At the onset of the Great Depression, work slowed down, so Ruby moved the family to Hollywood, California where she found steady work on radio and film in small parts as a domestic. Ruby also renamed the girls, The Dandridge Sisters in 1937 and booked them into such venues as The Cotton Club and The Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Dorothy made her first film appearance in a bit part in an Our Gang comedy, Teachers' Beau in 1935. Her first film credited role came in 1940 in the race film, Four Shall Die as murderer.  In 1954, she signed a 3 movie deal with 20th Century Fox. She was quickly cast in an all-Black cast of Carmen Jones, a role for which she became the 3rd

Paul Leroy Robeson was born April 8, 1898 in Princeton New Jersey. He was a singer, actor, lawyer and football player. Robeson won a scholarship to Rutgers University making him only the third black person to be admitted and he was the only black person at the University during his tenure. While at Rutgers, after proving he could play and despite racially charged initiation he played for the schools football team and only sat out one game, due to a southern team refusing to play with a Negro.  Robeson was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and was voted Valedictorian by his classmates. Rutgers matriculated at New York University Law school in 1919, but transferred to Columbia University Law in 1920 because he felt uncomfortable due to racial issues.  While at Columbia Robeson acted in off campus productions and became active during the Harlem Renaissance.  During this time Robeson also played with the National Football Leagues, Akron Pro's. Robeson's portrayal of Othello in

Marian Anderson was born Febuary 27, 1897 in Philadelphia, PA. Anderson is one of the most celebrated singers of the 20th Century. Anderson was a Contralto Opera Singer. She spent most of her career performing concerts, recitals in major music venues and with famous orchestra's throughout the United States and Europe between 1925-1965. Anderson was denied permission by the Daughters of The American Revolution (DAR) to perform in front of an integrated audience at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC in 1939. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and several other DAR members renounced their membership due to this incident. With the help of the First Lady and her Husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Anderson performed a critically acclaimed Easter Concert, April 9, 1939 at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with over 75,000 people in attendance and over 1 million listening on their radio's. Anderson also became the first black person to sing at New York City's Metropolita

There is speculation of his birth, however it is guessed that he was born around 1867 in East Texas. Joplin was a pianist, composer and music teacher. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime pieces and was dubbed The king of Ragtime. Joplin grew up in Texarkana where he formed a vocal quartet and taught mandolin and guitar. He traveled to Chicago for the 1893 World's Fair, which played a major part in making Ragtime a national craze in 1897. Joplin moved to Sedalia, Missouri in 1894 and earned a living  teaching Piano and touring the South. He began publishing music in 1895 and with the publishing of The Maple Leaf Rag in 1899, fame and a steady income followed. Joplin moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1901 and continued to publish music and regularly performed in brothels and bars in the cities Red LIght District. It is believed that Joplin may have been experiencing discoordination of his fingers, tremors and the inability to speak as a result of contacting Syphilis

Day 2: Phillis Wheatley  Phillis Wheatley is said to have been kidnapped and sold into slavery around the age of 8 or 9 from Senagambia, and brought to North America on the Slave Ship called The Phillis. She was purchased by  The Wheatley Family of Boston who taught her to read and write and encouraged her poetry. Wheatley poetry expressed Christian themes and many of her poems were dedicated to famous figures. It is guessed that a third of her poems were elegies, the rest have religious, classical and abstract themes. She was influenced by Alexander Pope, John Milton, Homer, Horace and Virgil. Thomas Paine published her poem in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The Poem was entitled "To His Excellency George Washington" and was written in 1776. Washington invited Wheatley to his home for a personal reading. Wheatley was freed in 1778 upon the death of her Master as per his Will. Wheatley was accused of not writing the  poems and had to go before a judge to prove that sh

Day 1: Langston Hughes Jamers Mercer Langston Hughes was born Feburary 1, 1902 in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes was a poet, social activist, novelist, playwright and a columnist and one of the early innovators of what is called Jazz Poetry. Hugehes was best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance or When the Negro Was in Vogue which started around 1919 and ended in the mid 1930's. Hughes was first published in The Crisis (the official magazine of the NAACP) in 1921. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than     the flow of human blood in human veins. My soul has grown deep like the rivers. I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln    went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy     bosom turn all