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Stimulates - Educates - Motivates - Elevates (by Changing Perceptions)
BLACK -B R I G H T
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T h e F o rg o t t e n Branch of Black Community Perseveres
My (not so) funny Valentine?
Issue 12
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Stimulates, Educates, Motivates & Elevates
BLACK-BRIGHT
10/02/2009
Check out the Cultural Garden
Black-Bright has provided employment opportunities for its volunteers and is working with socially excluded and semi-illiterate students by offering Private Weekend Basic Skills Classes!
Blackbright News was nominated for the Nationwide Award for Voluntary Endeavour in 2007. Blackbright News was nominated for and received: the Black Business Initiative Award 2006 for using social entreprenurialship to enlighten the black community; the Mayor’s Citizenship Award 2007 for its outstanding service to the local community and the African-Caribbean Achiever’s Award 2007 in recognition for outstanding accomplishments in Luton and nominated for Learn Direct Award in 2008.
BLACK-BRIGHT Elevates by: Implementing ethical, moral and spiritual development and character building strategies for the upliftment of her readers.
BLACK-BRIGHT Motivates by: Focussing on the emotional needs and aspirations of a complete generation; actively finding ways to rejuvenate, rebuild and reshape our culture, our attidues, perceptions to enable a sense of worth.
BLACK-BRIGHT Educates by: developing readers who are limited from their full potential because of life experiences; removing the ceiling that limits that potential through awareness raising strategies; providing a new paradigm of thinking (hence its award-winning appeal and global readership); and acting as a cross-generational and crosscultural advocate for life-long learning.
BLACK-BRIGHT Stimulates by: encouraging our readers to further develop their talents, views and positive ideas in a creative format; actively inviting participation from people who have constructive ideas, enthusiasm and a passion for life and its direction; providing a medium where readers and contributors can express their ideas to a wider global audience.
Readers say they have found Black-Bright “relevant and useful”
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www.blackbrightmagazine.com (under construction) or www.myspace.com/blackbrightnews
BLACKBRIGHT LTD Studio 57 Saywell Road LU2 0QG (UK) Tel: 01582 721 605
(Front cover image taken by Yvonne Hector)
Photographer: Yvonne Hector Back Cover: Lakshmi Narayan Gupta Back cover Photo by Garfield Features: Victoria Woode, Charles Saunders, Michael Atkinson, Shawna Kay Williams
Founder & Managing Editor: Myrna Loy
PS:Eartha Kitt famous for her purrrrr and part in Catwoman died recently, as did our Lovers Rock Queen Jean Adebambo who sang “Paradise” Sources say that she committed suicide.
Source: CNN.com/technology – 10 December 2008
picture. It’s like a baby. You put so much art and soul into it.”
made it more fun. You had to let it go. I like sitting down with each
point,” she said. “At first I felt frustrated. But then, as an artist, it
“It always turns out completely different than it looks in the view-
photo? Willis is simply in love with that little white rectangle.
So why did she choose Polaroid and not some other type of
tations. iReport.com: Learn more about Willis’ project
tains 365 photos accompanied by related songs, movies and quo-
Her project — a book manuscript waiting for a publisher — con-
when they came out with the memo,” she said.
June 2007 and still had four months to finish. “I really freaked out
especially hard. She began her “Day by Day Polaroid” project in
The announcement hit Willis, an artist in Los Angeles, California,
for $64 — nearly $1.60 per photo.
Facebook. On Amazon.com, a four-pack of 10 exposures is selling
Blogs lament the loss. Polaroid-fan groups have formed on
The public’s reaction to Polaroid’s announcement reflects that.
Polaroid instant film has embedded itself in popular culture.
line, “Shake it like a Polaroid picture” from OutKast’s hit “Hey Ya!”,
From David Hockney’s famous Polaroid art compositions, to the
Sixty years after Polaroid introduced its first instant camera, the company’s iconic film is disappearing from stores. Polaroid stopped making the film earlier this year, leaving its cult of fans to cherish their white-bordered snapshots, and their memories.
Fans bid farewell to Polaroid film
DID YOU KNOW...?
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Another philosopher, Hume, believed that beauty is dependent on function and usefulness. A barren and unchaste woman on his terms would therefore be considered ugly in the same notion of a too poor and too proud man. On the flipside however, a virtuous woman and a man who has developed his talents and has displayed his riches was considered beautiful. This concept, again, was specially adapted to the society and customs of Hume’s time and as such nar-
Realist philosophers, such as Plato, have stated that beauty is inherent in the object itself- it is not bounded by the human notion of its essence, interpretation and reflection but is heavenly sanctioned and connected with truth and knowledge.
Do you define it by the colour of one’s skin or by one’s physical attributes or are you a paradigm of this beauty we speak of?
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These are the same blacks that have constantly willed their skin white, using the most cancerous of chemicals, straightened their hair (and oh no it is certainly not because they think their hair would be easier to groom) and relentlessly
These confused and perhaps adulterated versions of beauty have therefore caused many cultural races to suffer over the years of creation. Black women especially, have struggled with the art of embracing themselves as beautiful and worthy human portraits and as a result many have refused to acknowledge the beauty of their kinky hair, flattened forehead and densely dark-hued features.
Kant, another theorist, measured beauty on the human cognitive framework. He believed that the human imagination and understanding are relevant faculties for the imbuement of beauty. He continued to state that one’s capacity to overcome the physical self and perceive beauty through a mental spectacle is indeed beauty in itself.
rows beauty to a socio-cultural perspective rather than a general and unbiased ideological form.
By Shawna Kay Williams
The Art of Beauty
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Over creation, beauty has come to take on a kaleidoscope of cultural, personal and philosophical definitions. But what is a real and honest definition of beauty?
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Frankly, I have had some personal experiences that would otherwise have me hysterical in tears had I not deemed myself a refined black beauty. But let me share them with you.
Certainly, I am not saying that white or all the other features related to white or European parentage aren’t beautiful but simply that black is a mark of beauty too and that in the same way that these Europeans can embrace and love themselves, blacks can too. Sure it isn’t going to be easy to unwrap yourself from the mythical ideologies about beauty that have surfaced for years but it is attainable, at least by the minute you start thinking that black is worthy of the beautiful spotlight.
In a 2007 televised programme, “Impact”, featured on Television Jamaica (TVJ), a number of women, steeped into the practice of bleaching were asked why they did it. Quite honestly, a number of them replied “To get a pretty look” and one even went as far as saying that “har man love hard deh way deh,” clearly stating the stipulations that we have placed on beauty. It is indeed evident that we have measured beauty on the scales of colour and the ropes of hair length. The lighter or “higher” the colour, the more beautiful one is considered and the longer and curlier or straighter the hair the more beautiful one is revered. Isn’t this why many of us have made such a huge fuss over the false eye lashes and the false hair and the false nails and the false make-up and all the other “falsies”? Aren’t we now false standardized mannequins of beauty? And what have compelled us to this false apparel of absolute hilarity? Is it just the confused beauty stereotypes or is it just plain you that keep defining and redefining your worth and your beauty? Is the European super model portrait of beauty your personal definition or have you simply succumbed to these mere objective notions to fit in?
What do you think Michael Jackson, famous pop singer, was up to when he bleached his skin white as snow? Do you believe he was keeping healthy? I am sure that we all know the answer to this one too. But why are we continuing to distort our natural beings then?
I believe that we both know the true answer for this. It is completely undeniable, unless of course you were deemed overweight by your doctor and you were warned about terrible health hazards. But what about you, you who go to the gym every day, certainly not with maintaining your health in mind, are you just blindly deluded by “keeping fit” or what exactly are you up to huh?
We have perceived beauty by a Euro-centric affirmation. Why do you think so many people, apart from the frequent “bleachers” as they are termed in Jamaica, spend days at the gym? Yeah right, to get in shape and keep healthy?
This is even perhaps why many of us have spent days in front of the mirror moping and locking ourselves in the house trying to grapple with the grim realities of our “ugliness.” It is clear that our adaptation of the standardized definition of beauty has caused many of us to become prisoners in our own being.
pursue the most expensive surgeries to alter their features.
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Kids in Crisis with no basic skills? Volunteering - its Benefits and Pifalls. Virtual Volunteering Obama Rules by Michael Atkinson Comments on Obama Black enough? Amir (USA) A Life that Matters (Submitted by Deborah Gabriel)
9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
ISSN No. 1751 - 1909 E-magazine
Recession - Myth or Reality?
Over 50s Should we push them out or bring them in?
IN NEXT ISSUE:
Beauty: A Male Perspective by Michael Atkinson
8.
Forgotten Branch of Black Community Perseveres by Charles R Saunders
4.
My Funny Valentine by Victoria Woode
Art of Beauty by Shawna Kay Williams
2.
6.
Did You Know
1.
CONTENTS
Myrna Loy, Managing Editor
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20:00hr - 22:00hr EVERY SUNDAY Not sure? check http://loyonlife.podomatic.com or www.myspace.com/jamrocksundays
www.jamrockradio.com click on ‘radio’
‘Jamrock Sundays’ w/Lady Loy for the best in Reggae
by Shawna Kay Williams (Resident of Jamaica)
This again clearly corroborates the point of how we have perceived beauty and how this perception has helped to fuel the changing actions of our blacks in meeting this standard. It is clear why we have so many blacks trying to alter their skin, even going to the most detrimental extremes. It is really ironic and perhaps even laughable that we have compelled ourselves to believe in this perception of beauty so strongly that we are literally killing ourselves in our attempt to attain it. But what are we going to do about this? Are we going to allow our beauty to be whitely painted or we going to merge black and white beauty or perhaps eliminate them both and embrace ourselves as God’s beautiful masterpiece? This time you define your mode of beauty.
Certainly, I wasn’t the least bit jealous of my friend, having had to deal with these biased declarations of beauty for all my 18 years. I just found the whole situation upsetting because we, blacks especially, have never drawn such attention to our own black brothers and sisters. We hastily relegate each other, including ourselves, as ugly and monstrous creatures, resembling the most satanic sculptures. We have repeatedly failed to laud our own and have trivialized our worth and placed others at the altar of our ‘beauty’ definition and salutation.
Last summer I also met another friend, very beautiful black girl in my opinion, who expressed her deep sense of inferiority each time she goes out with her friend, who is the lighter one. She is banked to the side and her friend becomes the centre of all the attention. People, men especially, are more receptive to her, nicer and gentler.
On another occasion we went in the market and a lady who we were about to purchase some items from said, “Wow what a pretty girl!”
I have a friend who is close to white, so to speak, and whenever we are out in the street all the attention and all the compliments are directed to her. I am basically an invisible black object, at least that’s what I am made to reduce to when I am around her. I can remember one day when were walking together and a bunch of “bleachers” literally screamed out, “Oh gosh, she pretty eeh man!”
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People of African descent have been part of Nova Scotia’s history since the beginning of European exploration and colonization – and, perhaps, before that. A black man named Mathieu Da Costa was part of a 1608 French expedition. Da Costa served as an interpreter between the French and local Mi’kmaq people. His knowledge of the Mi’kmaqs’ language suggests that he had prior experience among them. The first major presence of blacks in the region came in the wake of the American Revolution. Lord Dunmore, royal governor of Virginia, offered freedom to African slaves who joined the British in their battle to suppress the rebellious American colonists. Blacks were faced with a choice between rebels who desired freedom for themselves but not their slaves; and a colonial power that promised freedom for the slaves.
By Charles R. Saunders In the eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia, an unsung branch of the black diaspora persists. The history of the black Nova Scotian community is a singular story of survival that is all-too-often overlooked. It shouldn’t be; it involves not only one small province, but also two continents.
FORGOTTEN BRANCH OF BLACK COMMUNITY PERSEVERES
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That community remained small and scattered. Some blacks lived in Halifax and other cities and towns; others in isolated rural communities built on those early land grants. African Nova Scotians have struggled against the same racism that besets blacks throughout the diaspora. Within the context of that
In 1791, John Clarkson, a British agent for the settlement of freed slaves in the West African colony of Sierra Leone, came to Nova Scotia to recruit Black Loyalists for a “back-to-Africa” migration. The blacks’ experience in Nova Scotia had been far from idyllic. Racism was making a mockery of their freedom. Thus, about half of the Black Loyalist population set sail for Sierra Leone in 1792. The half who decided to stick it out in Nova Scotia – along with another group of freed African-American slaves who arrived after the War of 1812 – formed the ancestral core of the province’s black community.
Like the whites, the free blacks were promised land and provisions as a reward for their loyalty to the Crown. Unlike the whites, the blacks received less than they were promised – and sometimes nothing at all. Even so, a group of Black Loyalists founded Birchtown, the first free black settlement in North America. Angered by the lower wages the blacks were forced to accept, whites from neighboring Shelburne stormed Birchtown in North America’s first race riot.
Many blacks chose to join the British before the Americans belatedly promised freedom to slaves who fought for the rebellion. After the British lost the war in 1783, they resettled most of the blacks who had fought for their cause in Nova Scotia – which had opted out of the revolution. About 3,500 Black Loyalists, as they were called, migrated northward – along with 1,200 slaves held by Loyalist whites who had also fled the newborn United States.
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Charles R. Saunders is the author of the Imaro novels. (To learn more about hos work, visit www.charlessaunderswriter.com)
Still, the community perseveres and progresses, keeping alive the heritage of ancestors who took a chance on a hope for freedom during a time of slavery.
Over the centuries since 1783, the core black community has been augmented by newcomers from other parts of Canada, as well as migrants from the United States, the Caribbean, other parts of the diaspora and Africa itself. But the population remains small, and black people continue to face racism in the education, economic and justice systems.
Daurene Lewis became the first black woman mayor in North America when she was elected in Annapolis Royal in 1984. More recently, poet George Elliott Clarke (left) won the Governor General’s Award in 2001, for his book Execution Songs. Kirk Johnson fought for a world heavyweight title in 2002. And in 2006, Mayann Francis was appointed LieutenantGovernor of Nova Scotia.
favorably compared with that of the legendary Marian Anderson.
Portia White (below) was an opera and concert singer of the mid-20th century whose voice was
Sam Langford, a 5-foot-7 pugilist who started his career as a lightweight and ultimately competed successfully at heavyweight during the early 1900s, was so feared that no champion – not even the great Jack Johnson – was willing to give him a title shot.
George Dixon (far left) became the first black boxer to win a world championship when he took the bantamweight title in 1890.
William Hall, son of freed slaves, was the first black person and first Nova Scotian to earn the Victoria Cross, in service with the Royal Navy during the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
struggle, some black individuals from the province have made their mark in the wider world. Here are some examples:
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Written by Victoria Woode
Having said that, I don’t think anybody would refuse being showered with gifts of diamonds and pearls or Xbox games and a Rolex watch.
The 21st Century has seen the continuation of St Valentine’s Day being treated as a commercial occasion. This has resulted in love being associated with gifts. Love in itself is a gift.
Wow, his views were pleasantly refreshing and straight to the point.
Love is expressed in many ways and forms. I asked Antoine what would be his perfect Valentine’s presentHe told me “ True love, that’s all that matters.”
For 364 days in the year, most people don’t awake to breakfast in bed. The phrase “I love you” or constant hugs. Does this mean we don’t really love one another?
Antoine’s answer really made me think.
it’s just another day that people wear their hearts on their sleeve.”
I asked 20 year old student Antoine (currently single) about his view on the 14th February – “To me
People in relationships put on their happiest face, spend their money and make the day 100% special. As nice as it sounds, it’s just a bit cliché to buy your special guy a card, aftershave or jewelry because it is tradition.
Then why oh why do we moan when it’s Valentine’s Day.
Is it a sin to be single? No. Does it make you better than others if you are in a relationship? No!
We need to question why this is the case.
Deep in the hearts of women I am aware that many feel that is particularly lonesome being a single woman on Valentine’s Day.
In the past friends of mine have grouped together to celebrate being single, commiserate recent break-ups and share each others woes. Some find the pain gets easier with a stash of chick flicks a bottle of wine and some chocolate ice-cream.
I realise I sound a little bitter, but it honestly doesn’t bother me...that much.
I personally have never been in a relationship this I asked Sean a 24 year old artist (who is in a relationtime of year. In fact I’ve never been invited on a date ship) what he thinks about Valentine’s Day. on this ‘special day’. 6
February 14th can be a day to be looked forward to if you have a loving partner by your side. Having said this there are many singletons that dread the day.
It wasn’t until the 17th century that St Valentine’s Day began to get popular in England. Back then it was the norm for friends to send each other love notes. Now it’s a whole other story.
There are numerous Legends stating where Valentine’s Day originates from. Both Christian and Roman history have accounts of people named Valentine.
Valentine’s Day is celebrated year after year on February 14th, but where does it all stem from?
It’s February, so you know what that means, time to be wined and dined by your Valentine. That’s if you have one!
Photo by Yvonne Hector
My (not so) F u n ny Va l e n t i n e
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Every man needs female love, but most women have each other. This Valentine’s Day it’ll be me, my mum and a Chinese take-away. (by Victoria
Men remember, it’s one day a year for you to put aside your macho behavior and reveal your true emotion.
Aaah, you see. Women return the gestures of goodwill. It can work both ways.
I can’t say I was surprised by Sean’s response, nevertheless, his answers left me wanting to pry. I wondered how he treated his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day: “I took my wifey to see Jodeci in concert and she loved it.” He continued to enlighten me on his own experiences, “I got sent some flowers one year - that made me feel quite special”.
Hmm, is he trying to say that there are no romantic men left? “Valentine’s Day only means I have to spend money”.
He responded “ It’s all for the girl because it’s a romantic thing.”
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I know that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but I think that I’m an intelligent creature, and mature enough to know what true beauty is. I even have the power to see past the eminent front that people in our society try their best every day to make us see and believe. And there is one thing I know for sure, I would bet the ranch on it, but I live in a small home, and that is that God’s best creation is a female. The human kind of course. It takes just a smile, a sincere greeting, the beautiful sparkling eyes that say “I‘m so glad to see you” to send me over the edge. “How are you doing, Michael?” In that sensual female tone, and it’s all over for me. This is what I think is beautiful in a (black) women, the simple things. It‘s not about being size “4” or a size “0“ for me, especially when it comes with pure unadulterated attitude. “What have you, or can you, do for me?” “You don’t make enough money to keep me in the life style I desire.” Yeah, I really need someone like that in my life. One morning, all I remember saying was “Good morning” to this young black lady, because I’m such a lovely guy, and what I got back for being such a civilized person was a beautiful smile, and those sparkling eyes that said “Where have you been all of my life.” You better believe that for the rest of the day, I continued to float on a cloud. In my humble opinion, and I know that everyone has one, beauty to me is the one that emanates from the person: The kindness, the caring, the sensuality, the sincerity that you couldn’t buy even if you were rich. Most of the females I love to be around are the ones that do not go around thinking that they are all that, and a bag of potato crisps because they spend all their money trying to look like they deserve to be on the front cover of a magazine. The girls I like are so naturally beautiful that I doubt that they
by Michael Atkinson
Beauty, A Male Perspective
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by Michael Atikinson
Woode) even know that there are men out there who are foaming at the mouth over them, only because they know that they didn’t deliberately go out to starve themselves, get fake tans, hair, nails, and other appendages to attract a man. They know deep down inside that it must be true, who ever likes them for them, because they did not lie to the person physically. The last thing a man needs is to think that he pulled a female that belonged on Bay Watch, and when they reach their destination, she is taking off more than just her clothes. Off with the fake hair, eye lashes, nails, and the left eye ball. “I don’t think so…” No! This has to be wrong. I like the natural and beautiful black females that did not go out of their way to conform to the pressures of their peers and the media, who are all telling them that if they have any chance of being a “Ten” in this new society, they have to bleach themselves, and get down to the size of a mannequin. God’s best creation to me are the beautiful and delicate ones, even though some of them try their best to be hard, and the most modern of militant women, “I don’t need no damn man in my life.“ Mmm… After these ladies take a breath, and let their bullet proof shield down, let a brother near them, this is when you see their true beauty shine, whether they wanted it to or not. I know that there are a lot of brothers that play these lovely women like a lottery ticket, and that’s why a girl has to be on point like a pin, every minute of the day, but let me tell you, true brothers (like myself), hate these guys even more than the girls that they go around hurting, because brothers like me are the ones that get tarred with the same brush as these Neanderthals, and end up sitting in our lonely rooms at night, watching East Enders. Amazing. One of my friends, who lives to love big, healthy (as he likes to call them), black, and beautiful ladies told me one day, “Michael, when you go to the butchers, what do you look for. I’m sure you don’t pick out the bone without the meat on it. Do you?” He had a valid point, and ever since then I have never been one to go out in search of skeletons like some disturbed archeologist. I love my big, black, and beautiful girls out there. “Word up!” I’m telling ya’ll, I don’t want a girl that has less breasts than me, a bigger six pack than Tupac, and hands bigger than Lennox Lewis’. “I don’t think so…” I love a female to look like a female, have a shape like a female, and act like a female, and not some scary gang banging female that I’m afraid is going to kill me if I don’t rob a jewelry store for her before the night is through. God’s best creation are females, and that’s all there is to it. Even he knew what a creature he created, because he even made them in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and you can’t beat that with a bat. I thank the Lord up above for our beautiful sisters. Can I get an Amen?
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Basic Skills
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If you are a worried parent, teenager or someone whose first language is not English, contact the Cultural Garden - it is the place to blossom and grow. Friendly, clean surroundings & personal attention. Email: culturalgarden@aol.com for more details. The Editor
Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, claims that one in five of the adult population does not have the skills of the average 11 year old and are good at hiding this from family and friends. Why do friends and family need to know they can’t read and write, especially if they have got by with a job, a mortgage; pay your bills and have used skills to get on in life?
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said “,, we now have 70,000 more young people leaving school with five good GSEs including English and maths than we did 10 years ago..” So why should our children became a statistic of the approximate 30,000 youngsters in England who are expected to leave school with no qualifications at all? Our children can be one of the 70,000 that will leave school with good GSE grades with positive reinforcement!
The same study claims that although ‘G’ is the lowest grade required to pass a GCSE (which personally I think is a ridiculous grade - it should stop at D!) that employers (quite rightly) see passes at grade C as being the minimum benchmark.
An study which looked at results in English schools found that almost 90,000 pupils left school without basic G grades in their GSEs in 2008, which they claim is the highest figure since 1998. I wonder how the 90,000 was calculated?
I am fed up of the hype about our children leaving school without basic skills - are they taught them? They go on and on about them not knowing maths, and yet when they go into the work place they are given calculators, adding machines and other technical equipment which takes away any reason to learn maths - or that is what our children deduce. Why learn to calculate when the machine does it for me if I know the formula - and believe me, many do?
Do You or Your Children have them?
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Back Issues, Art Cards and Myrna Loy’s Travelogue “The Other Side of Tourism” (Buy Now for only £5) (It’s the funny side of being British in Jamaica!)
Tel: 01582 721 605
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Blackbright News is a quarterly publication, subscription only and based in Luton. Its aim is to educate, stimulate and motivate its audience, encouraging them to replace negative stereotypes with positive associations. My volunteer experience with Blackbright News was via an advertisement on Jobshop. I was to help at a launch event, giving delegates drinks, serving and giving out food and welcoming all guests as they came through the front door including the Mayor. However through this experience of helping other people,
Volunteering is a credit to your CV and boosts your personal profile, and creates a positive perception of you as a respectful, co-operative and supportive individual. Volunteer experience shows that you are enthusiastic, are keen to work and can work as a team. Volunteering also shows a prospective employer that you are willing to go that extra mile, and employers like to feel that they have an employee who is helpful and flexible. Volunteering also indicates that you have the ability to manage your time and often involves multi-tasking, as for example, I attend university, I have family and domestic responsibilities, I work parttime, travelling is involved and yet I still make time to volunteer.
However my reply would be I am no fool. I enjoy volunteering and helping people. It gives me a degree of self-satisfaction being a supportive individual to those who need help. Also I do believe that I am reaping immense benefits as I am gaining invaluable experience in a less pressurized environment with the ability to learn progressively and develop my knowledge at a steady pace. Apart from practical experience, volunteering has given me an opportunity to widen my network. Sustaining a volunteer position will also enable me to get a good reference when I start applying for vacancies. This practical experience will inevitably prepare me for the outside world and the career I wish to follow.
WHY BE A VOLUNTEER? Bianca Edwards Shares Her Experience People have often said to me, why do you waste your time volunteering, working for free, and have cursed me for being a slave.They have laughed at me for spending endless time in internships and volunteer work and insist on believing that I am a fool for working with no benefits.
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Bianca Edwards, Graduate University of Bedfordshire
Melanie is an example not to be followed! Don’t let that be you! Think of the years of study. Many of you (like me) have been studying since the age of 11. Do you really want to be graduated and jobless? Now that would be a waste. University is a learning experience. It is about growing up. One important thing to take on board is that you have to prioritise and manage your time effectively. Start thinking from now “How do I build my career and develop my prospects?”
Melanie Fox, 22, PR graduate from Hertfordshire University in 2006, is still struggling to find work. She said: “Sometimes I wish I had taken the opportunities that Hertfordshire had to offer me. I came out of University with just my qualifications and no work experience, now I have to go back volunteering to gain a practical understanding of the PR industry”. It is so important. You need to understand what they do, why and how - this is all made clear with work experience.
My advice to all students is don’t think about now - think about long-term, i.e. when you have finished University and you are stepping out into the big and challenging world. It is a dog-eat-dog world out there and you have to stand out amongst the others. It is becoming increasingly hard for people to find jobs, and some even after months or years of leaving University have struggled to find work.
My experience with Blackbright News has allowed employers to feel confident that I am an employable candidate as I have the experience and I know what I am doing. Since volunteering for Blackbright News I have received two other work opportunities, one of which was Pride media. Pride magazine is a lifestyle magazine for the woman of colour capturing the talents and ambition of successful black women and inspiriing its black audience. The other was working with a Travel PR agency, representing clients and promoting destinations and hotels around the world, managing the media to deliver key messages.
I became a journalist for Blackbright News in September 2006, and since then have been producing features for the magazine. I worked hard to help the editor and produce quality, comprehensive features, using quotes and references to give it credibility. I have developed a good relationship with the Managing Editor and through my hard work I have not only achieved two awards; one for outstanding performance and recognition but I have been promoted to Co-editor. My experience with Blackbright News has enhanced my writing research, interview and communication skills, explored my abilities and interests. The more experience I am encountering, the more it is giving me a better perspective of the direction I want to take with regard to my career and understanding of the media industry.
socializing and being involved, I achieved another valuable experience, an asset to my career.
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How Virtual Volunteering can enhance existing projects
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Myrna Loy, Founder of the magazine Black-Bright couldn’t believe her luck when she recruited student volunteers, Yolanda Riva Laksmi Gupta, Bianca Edwards, Victoria Woode from University of Bedfordshire, and other non-University Graduates such as Yvonne Hector who is a professional photographer; Charles Saunders, Michael Atkinson, Fiona Whata, Dionne Innerarity and Sade Mullings who are profilic writers for the magazine. Black-Bright needed volunteers whose experience helped her with setting up the magazine a couple of years ago. Black-Bright was created because Myrna realises the danger of self-fulfilling prophecies, where media hypes up something and allows the public to believe it to be true, and even if it is not true, their behaviour or reaction to the news will make it true (prime example is the ‘recession’ hich is fast becoming a ‘depression’). Myrna knows that ‘repetition in your face’ is how perceptions are created - whether true or false. Perceptions about black people; perceptions about old people, perceptions about young people; perceptions about ‘foreign’ people; so she set up Blackbright because she felt that mainstream magazines were “notably failing to effectively redress a significant section of the market who allow the media to control their minds”. Black-Bright not only aims to promote material that reinforces achievements of Black people, negates the negative portrayals of the Black community by providing positive articles and stories to its readership, but also redressing other negative perceptions to do with race age, gender, especially since they 11
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rs: Topt: Yolanda Riva, Middle left: Black Citizen (Features Writer); Bottom Left: Sade Mullings (Junior Writer); Top Right: Lelja Resic (former web designer (Stockholm), Middle: ‘Gupta’ (Graphic Designer of Front/Back cover); Bottom right: Yvonne Hector (Photographer) and of course far right, Bianca Edwards (writer)
Yolanda felt that the magazine needed to be marketed in a different way to appeal to a younger audience and used her technical expertise to set up a Myspace page for this purpose. Myrna feels that this has really enhanced the work of Blackbright News in helping her to get her message across to a wider audience. “Prior to having a Myspace not many young people had heard about Blackbright News, but now thousands of people have requested to be a part of the Blackbright News Network”. Myrna works full time for solicitors and runs Black-Bright news in her spare time with the dedicated support of other Virtual Volunteers. Myrna says: if I had not been able to tap into the support of these Volunteers when Black-bright first began, one of which is based in the far flung reaches of Stockholm (above), it would have been a much slower process. These Virtual Volunteers provide articles, provide images for the magazine and help Myrna to update the website. Myrna explains that “Sometimes, it is not feasible to ask volunteers to leave their homes to come over to help, but when requests/instructions are remote - not only are they clear because they are written down (so errors are minimised) but it means that volunteers can assist in their own time without feeling pressured”
adversely affect the perception of our children going into the world.
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I was born in “Merry Ole England, but raised in Brooklyn (better known as “Brook-Nam”), and I have seen first hand, and with my own eyes what America can do to a black man. But still… To live to see one of my own make it into the White House is amazing. Even the name of the building (‘the WHITE House’ should tell you something, that THEY did not see this coming either. 12
I never thought I‘d see the day, especially as a black man myself, who has lived in America in its wild days, that there is now going to be a new president taking the oath this month, and he’s black. Amazing!
Obama Rules!
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I really worry about our new black president’s welfare, because though he was voted in by the majority of the American nation, the majority of them being white people (they never fail to let us know that), I hope that my people, especially Barack himself, does not believe that racism or
But still… The pessimist in me will not believe any of it, until my main man Barrack is standing in front of the television cameras, with a framed picture of the first black family in the background on Oval Office wall.
crime. Because of our new technology I can see genocides happening around the world, in the year 2009. And if that’s not enough to blow your lovely grey cells out of your head, I have seen planes purposely flown into sky scrapers, bombs going off in the middle of town centres, etc. Still, I never, ever thought that I would see the day that a black man would become president of the most powerful nation under the sun. Martin Luther King, Jr., Bayard Rustin, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young Jr., Dorothy Height, Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver, Frederick Douglass, Crispus Attucks, and even the great John F Kennedy must be all smiling in their graves.
But change is sometimes a good thing, and life is always amazing. I am one of them foolish mortals who continues to think that he has seen everything that there is to see on the planet. I have seen what the white man can do to people that are a darker shade than him, and I have even have to put up with the foolish black on black
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God bless Barack Obama. Michael Atkinson.
of their own people. They always say timing is everything, well “Hallelujah!“ Change is about to come blowing on the wind, and I sure hope that my man Barack Obama can show the world that we are not only good at crime, menial jobs, athletics, or rappers. It’s that time, and I’m going to sit back and watch my main man shine like the sun. God bless America.
The good news is that the majority of America, and even the world, wanted change, and that should tell you how fed up the white majority was
Trust me peeps, I sure hope I’m wrong about all this, but I’ve been there, seen what they can do to a black person, never mind a black leader, and the future does not look so pretty.
Though I am well glad that Barrack Obama has made it past the cement ceiling to the highest office in the land, created history no matter what happens now, as a pessimist, I sure hope that he is well aware that not everyone likes him, or is glad as I am that he represents America, their country. I hope he knows that after he has made a few mistakes, may even be innocuous one, that these same people and their media will be all over his pretty black a** like a bad rash.
stupidity is dead because he is president.
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On Obama ... I know he is not a miracle worker and he can’t save the world, but what he has done is set a very good precedent. I wonder now, how do the black caucus that sat around last year before he won the democratic nomination, and discussed on national television- the question of whether Mr. Obama was BLACK enough. They supported Hillary Clinton up to the last minute and then scurried around when they saw that many whites were in fact supporting him out right.Then after he wins the election, many ran around talking about how he should be evoking the name of MLK and the many blacks that came before him and how little the poor black communities got mentioned. It seems to me that they forget that if whites did not cast their votes for him in the numbers that they did, he would not be the president. Also they seem to forget that the inclusive way in which he crafted his speeches, was the clincher- now you have black radio stations playing more music that includes white artists, the buzz now is WE MUST INCLUSIVE. To me we should have been about that a long time ago, know black history and European history as well, because our history is uniquely intertwined. Back in the sixties the burn baby burn chant ran wild as well as by any means necessaryyet we only made it harder for our communities in the long run, Newark is a prime example or the robbing of banks and Brinks trucks to get money to fuel the revolution. Now years later mostly all the Black Panthers are dead and in jail, obviously we can not win the st ruggle doing non-productive things like those. Yet when Jessie Jackson spoke to another black reporter with an open mike, referred to Mr. Obama AS “ He ain’t no real nigga. I woud like to cut his b**ls off because he has been talking down to the black church, etc.” They (the black American elders and civil rights leaders) forget that this is a relay race, they were supposed to hand the baton to some one else, not start and finish it themselves. Also you then expect the younger generation to go out their and put their lives on the line and yet they don’t have a voice in their inner circle, not to mention when he was running for president and he made that Hymie Town (referring to the Jews of New York) they have never forgotten that, and they won’t let him live it down. How come a supposedly seasoned politician like him, running for the highest office in the country, make a stupid gaffe like that and then repeat that same mistake several years later? I agree with your view that it was jealousy, nothing more.We as a people have lot to learn and this is the prime problem with some of us! How ironic it is that a) It took some one out side of their clique (ie The civil rights MLK possee) like a Barrack Obama to come up out of no where and triumph; and b) Mr. Obama takes an oath to defend the constitution of the U.S., which in that wonderful document states that he is only 3/5 of a man?
Comment from America:
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Amir (USA)
But I must say with the coming of dignity in 09, hope has risen. I mean the mere fact that a black woman has the official title of first lady, is fitting. Believe me I know Mr, Obama is not God incarnate, however the dignity, grace, down to earth approachable manner and that inner something else that is definitely there, makes me beam with pride. He has not just the intelligence, but an awareness that since I have been following this whole election right up until now, his actions show it silently. I knew that Lincoln, did not really want to free the slaves. He said it in his memoirs that: “Wherefore, if I could preserve the Union and not free the slaves” he would, but circumstances and present situation with the South wanting to succeed, sort of forced his hand. Also the chief justice that swore Mr. Obama into office, his Father or grandfather was one of the key judge or lawyer that crafted the ruling in the Dred Scott decision, that stated: “A black man has no rights that a white is bound to respect”, since he is a slave- a slave is property, hence being also only 3/5 of a man or some thing to that effect. I don’t know about you, but for me that to is very deep, on spiritual level, those are a hell of a coincidence. For him to put his hand on the Lincoln bible at his inauguration is very significant and he knows or is aware, especially when he openly said he reads a lot about Lincoln. Maybe I am reading into things to much, I am probably one of those under achievers that are no more than a conspiracy nut, who ties in random coincidences to inflate my imagination or what ever. All I am saying is to me and some others who have voiced it, have said that it is a if Mr. Obama is saying- Hey black people, you’re going to have to trust me on this one!!!! And I do!
As far as the black church is concerned, I won’t even go there, as sanctified as we are and with so many churches on every corner in the black community, we should be doing much better, how come we are not. I will not dis the church nor trample anyone’s belief, I am fully aware of the role the church has played in our struggle, however knowing my history and how Africa was conquered, they (the Europeans) sent the missionaries first, then came the troops! We inherited the book and Jesus Christ, yet lost our minds and our land in the process!
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14 Ethics
Michael Josephson is founder of the Josephson Institute of
© Michael Josephson
Choose to live a life that matters.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your examp l e . What will matter is not your competence, but your character.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught.
What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
It won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end. It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
Live A Life That Matters
Submitted to me by Deborah Gabriel: “This poem, which my sister read out at the funeral of a dear Aunt recently, says it all”:
Photo of Back Cov
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Founder & Managing Editor: Myrna Loy
www.myspace.com/blackbrightnews email: blackbrightnews@aol.com
Character Building for our Young
Blackbright News
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Photo of little girl by Garfield Hall Back Cover by Lakshmi Narayan Gupta
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