We Are Beautiful

From our ancestors to the present, we are beautiful! We have come from the great Kings and Queens that has fought for our freedom and our kingdoms. We strive for beauty in the way we walk, talk, and dress. We adorn ourselves with jewelry from our land. We are beautiful. We rise from slavery that had us bound for 500 years and broke the shackles off of our legs and feet. We are sisters, mothers, inventors, motivators. We serve God through our faith that He will bring us through our test and trials. We fight for our rights and we serve our kings that stand by our side. We are beautiful. We raise our children to the Glory of God and praise Him for the gifts He has given us. We are strong, bold, and clever. We are beautiful now and forever.

Zoot Suit History

The zoot suit. All men have worn them from past to present, but do you know where it came from? During the Roaring 20's, Harlem was bringing out all it's talent from singing, dancing, acting, etc., but most importantly, fashion. During this time of the Harlem Rebirth(Harlem Renaissance), the Zoot suit was invented. It's popularity hit major during the 20's among African-American men in the Black community. To this very day, African-American men has continued it's popularity. Michael Jackson has also contributed to the popularity of the Zoot suit! In several videos like Smooth Criminal and Black & White, Michael wore the Zoot suit. Mexican-American people want to take credit for the making and popularity of this fine suit in the 40's, but we as African-American people has kept this suit alive ever since we invented this suit.

Animal Print Clothing History

Wearing animal print clothing is pretty much a Black thing. My ancestors has been killing exotic animals for clothing since the beginning of time. It is still part of our culture now to wear animal print clothing and have animal print accessories like bedding and house decor. Its all part of our heritage. When I see other people wearing animal print clothing and buying our other accessories in the store, it makes me think about the fact that they are only doing it because its a popular thing to do. They don't want to be left out of the loop when it comes to fashion so they'll wear what's out and trending. Some things you just have to leave to other people. We would love to keep all of our imports that come from Africa, but that won't happen as long as the White people control the imports and exports in this country. Some things shouldn't be shared and we as a people have always had our things stolen from us and spread abroad, forcing us to try and keep our heritage alive by keeping what's left of our art, figurines, etc. What would I look like wearing clothing from Russia knowing that I'm not Russian? It wouldn't look right and having Russian art and other stuff from Russia in my home would make me look very strange to everyone that know me!!

The Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet Cake. Everybody is crazy for this red cake. I have had some, too, and its good. Did you know that the Red Velvet Cake was invented by a slave woman? One night during the holidays, the slave master told her to bake a chocolate cake for the family and guest that was coming to dinner. While making the cake, red food coloring was accidently spilled into the batter! She feared for her life because when you are told to make something in the kitchen and it don't come out right, the Master will have you lynched. She continued to make the cake and bake it. It came out deep red!! She really feared for her life! She frosted the cake in white frosting and served the cake. He loved it!!! So did the family and guests! Her life was saved and she thanked God for sparing her life from an accident. Ever since that night, the Master always had her make this cake on special occasions, therefore, the Red Velvet Cake was born!

The Family Reunion

The family reunion was established by slaves that became free after the Emancipation Proclamation. When the slave masters set them free, the former slaves went around other plantations looking for their loved ones. Most were successful in finding them and others that weren't, were able to be "adopted" into the other families. Once they found their loved ones, they would find a place to hold their picnics for the reunion. They were able to keep the recipes they created to start our tradition of "soul food" to serve at their reunions. They would get together to laugh, cry, talk, sing, and dance. They would tell stories of how they endured the trials of slavery and talk about their slave masters. From this point on, we have continued the tradions of our ancestors by continuing the family reunions and cook and serve soul food from generation to generation.

More Black History Bits pt. 2

1. The queen of Sheba's name is Makida
2. First Black Mexicans were called the Omecs
3. Madame C.J. Walker invented the sofabed, iron, ironing board, but was more famous for coming out with a line of hair and cosmetics products for African-American women. She was also the 1st African-American woman to be a millionaire in U.S. history!!! She also invented heating tools for our hair(pressing combs & curling irons).
4. Garret Morgan invented the traffic light. He wanted to use our African colors(red, black, green, & gold) just like our flag. Notice how black is the overall color of the light fixture? Then, the color red is at the top, then yellow, and then green.
5. Westinghouse invented the stove and the oven.
6. Step Dancing(black greek fraternities) came from Africa. So did street dance(hip-hop, krumping, popping, line dancing, breakin'). They used to secretly meet with other slaves in the woods and hold competitions.
7. Praise dancing(what we do in church) also came from Africa. They also would meet in the woods to praise and worship our Lord Jesus Christ. They would also hold church services.
8. The Ford family may not agree with this, but, Henry Ford's best friend(a black man) invented the car and the lubricant for the motor in the car. When they got into a heated fight one day, Mr. Ford's best friend took the recipe for the lubricant with him and never regained his friendship with Mr. Ford. Mr. Ford needed that lubricant for all the cars he was making and never got it. His ex-best friend(the black man) died with the recipe.
9. The Statue of Liberty was designed after a slave woman.
10. Soul Food is the real name for Southern Food. White people call it "southern" because they refuse to accept the fact that #1, they stole our recipes after slavery was over, and #2, during slavery, the "house slaves" were forced to cook for the slave masters. The slave masters would throw the food at the slaves and tell them to cook it without telling them how. So, they had to come up with ways and recipes to cook the food or get hanged(lynched). Also, if the food wasn't to the master's liking, the slaves got hanged. The slaves had to be clever with the food to keep from being killed. Soul Food is food that, not only were cooked by slaves, but has a deep dark history behind it. This is why White people call our food "southern".

This is some of our history. I may have more coming to you another day. Do not get affended at what I said. Its just part of African-American and American history that some people don't want to acknowledge. Some of us that know our history, don't mind sharing it with others. Enjoy the blog and enjoy the food(if you eat it)!!

Black History Month

Its' February again and it's also Black History Month!! I have some history notes to give you.:
1. The original name of Egypt was Kemet which means "Land of the Blacks".  The Arabians came over and destroyed our land and the noses off of the statues and monuments to keep anybody knowing that the our people were Black.  Next to Kemet was Nubia which is now Sudan.  Which is why we Black women call ourselves Nubian Queens. We are the descendants of the Nubian and Kemetian people brought to America through slavery.
2. We as Black women also invented cosmetics in Africa.  During our reign in Kemet, we took the red earth and made a compact similar to the ones we use, now and baked the earth mixed with water in the compact.  We also made eyeliner and mascara from antelope horns.  We made lip and cheek stain from a bug that has red "juice".
3. We also taught the Greeks everything from mathmatics to astronomy to medicine.  They are now taking credit for that. We also introduced them to "our" summer games.  They are now taking credit for that, too!!
4. The oldest collusium in the world is in Timbuktu, where we were having our own summer games before the Greeks knew about it!

This is just the few I'm giving for today. I;m now logging off the computer for today. I will have more history bits another day.