F.U.S.E. Fire
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Uniting
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Strength
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November 2015 Issue 10 Volume I
Harvest Time And Gratefulness!
Seven Things to Be Thankful For
Women Empower
Diabetes: Still On America’s Plate
Donielle Pace; Spoken Word Artist Embraces Her Naturalista Beauty!
Interview on page 20-34
Inspirational Quote “Ignite the fire from Within to allow your Dreams and Visions To Glow” ~InspirationZ by Patrice ©
I cannot believe that the year is almost over! Where has the time gone? I still decree and declare that 2015 is still the year of advancement! Whether you have met all of your goals or not, don’t give up! I have dreams and goals of taking this magazine and movement to a whole new level. It’s going to take lots of stress, tears and hard-work, but I still want to achieve all my goals. So if you have had any set-backs this year, it doesn’t mean that you won’t ever achieve that goal or dream. Keep pushing yourself to the limit and continue to allow your inner soul to shine! If you are interested in starting your own business, then go for it! This year isn’t over yet and I believe there is more to come. In this month issue of F.U.S.E. Magazine, Thanksgiving is around the corner and I wanted to know what being thankful means to you. Also on the front cover is spoken word artist and naturalista from Texas. Check out her exclusive interview and find out more about her! I also have three new contributing writers to join the F.U.S.E. movement, so please be sure to read their articles! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Gooble! Gooble!
Patrice
In This Issue of F.U.S.E. Natural Hair Rocks! Exclusive Interview with Spoken Word Artist and Naturalista, Donielle Pace
Mental Health Perspective
Awareness From a Spiritual
7 Things to be Thankful For Diabetes: Still on America’s Plate When Is it Appropriate to be Thankful? Woman: Empowered!
Wake Up To Inspiration, Motivation, Empowerment and Encouragement! Check out Www.fusemovement.org for uplifting articles!
Meet The Contributing Writers of F.U.S.E. Magazine
Marquesha Gulley
I'm Marquesha Gulley from Clearwater, Florida. I'm 31 and a single mother of 2 boys, ages 2 and 4. I work for Pinellas County and am also an independent distributor for It Works. My passion is helping people. I aspire to be a restaurant and salon owner, to open a soup kitchen and a few non profit organizations. Lately, my focus has been on the empowerment of women. In the process of overcoming myself, I want to share my story and help other women overcome as well.
Donielle Pace
Donielle "PacePoetry" Pace was born and raised in Houston, TX, and she is the mother of two boys. She is a middle school Reading/English teacher who is currently acquiring her master's degree in mass communication. In addition, she is a spoken word poet, who has performed at many sold out poetry shows and various open mics. She is set to release her first book, which is a memoir, "Awakening the Pace of Love," at the beginning of 2016, and will follow with a published collection of her poetry. "Through my gift of writing, I hope to uplift, inspire, encourage, save, and help others because that is my purpose God has ordained over my life."
Brian Taylor
Brian Taylor was born, raised and educated in Baltimore, MD. Over the years, he's worked in many areas of consumer service. As a man of faith, he was licensed a minister in 2001 and ordained elder in 2007 in the Church of God in Christ. Since that time Brian has married the love of his life Nia. Together they are raising two daughters and one son. At this present time he is currently working to obtain his Bachelor's Degree from Regent University in Business Administration. Writing has always been a part of Brian's life. He's had two poems published in a community college book back in the early 1990's and has since been working towards the completion of his first book on dating and marriage, along with several other book projects. Brian has been blogging for three years through WordPress and is currently a student blogger for Regent University. His love of people continues to drive his love of writing as well as his desire to speak in and around his community as opportunities are presented.
Angela Park
My name is Angela and I am a single mother in my thirties. I am currently in the process of discovering my goddess inside. After dealing with some major life changing upsets, I am finding my way to inner peace. My main goal is uplift others by sharing my joy. I love to write poetry and use other forms of writing as a way of doing this. You can find and follow my poetry on instagram under @poetwithpurpose; Or follow my Facebook page Angela Park Author. Thank you to any and all who join me and follow me on my journey to self.
Jovan James
Jovan James, 26 and a native of South Jersey received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations. He enjoys writing, poetry and sports. His favorite quote is “When I am finally gone, I want everyone to know I was never given anything, so I had to take it�
Contact Jovan: pilotzonepr@gmail.com
Woman: Empowered By: Marquesha Gulley At 31, I ask myself what defines me to be called a real woman. Is it how wide my hips sit? How round my rear? Or is it how accomplished my resume presents? Until about a little over a year ago, for me, being a real woman meant getting some sort of education beyond high school, QUICKLY finding a man, despite his liabilities, to take care of and having kids. Oh how distorted and confused I was. So much so, that I have become extremely angered and bitter that my matriarchs did not lead a better example for me. As I work through these negative emotions, I know it is up to me to break the links of this horrific chain that encompass the women in my family. So at 31, I come to you an empowered woman. A woman that took a stand against being weak and misguided. A woman that said no more of these toxic behaviors. I come to empower YOU. At 31, a
real woman for me means I am BOLD. I am FIERCE. I am STRONG. I am secure and can trust myself again. I am a real woman because I am authentic. I am me. I will no longer allow fear and a lack of confidence to stop me. I am a real woman because I control me. I choose to be free of the preconceptions and formalities of my environment. So I leave you with this: Be bold. Be fierce. Be intentional. The rest will come. I AM an empowered woman!
When is the Appropriate Time to Be Thankful? By: Brian Taylor When we start to draw closer to the holiday seasons, especially Thanksgiving, it become a time when people become nostalgic, grateful, and thankful for the good things that happen in their lives. Yet, you may wonder to yourself, is this the only time we should show gratitude or be thankful? Are we really meant to go around the rest of the year in a state of being ungrateful or unthankful? While Paul the apostle spoke to Timothy that there would come a time when people would become unthankful and unholy, it was not meant to discourage people from giving thanks. In fact, he had shared with the Philippians that they should always think of things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and worthy of praise. What Paul wanted Timothy to be aware of was that there would be difficult times ahead, which he would face and which he also needed to be prepared for. Yet, the reality is that we are to always be in a mindset of being thankful. Paul spoke this revelation to the people of Thessalonica, as well as the people of Ephesus. To the people of Thessalonica he said, "Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." To the Ephesians he said we should be filled in the Spirit... "giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." So in essence, there is not a time that exist wherein we should not be thankful or show thanks. In the words of an old Disney animated character names Kim Possible, "You'll get a lot farther with please and thank you." That may seem humorous, but the truth is when we are grateful and show ourselves to be thankful, we open doors of opportunity to ourselves that otherwise might be closed. With a grateful or thankful heart, we are also reminding ourselves that all of the blessing that we enjoy did not originate with us, but that others play a part in our good fortune. Throughout the Old Testament, God constantly reminds the people of Israel to not forget Him, to remember who He is and who they are in relationship to Him. This constant remembering was for their benefit.
As they remembered who God is and what He has done for them, they discovered that they could come to Him at anytime, knowing that God's track record was always perfect. We show thanks to one another, not just because it makes them feel good, but reminds us and them that we genuinely value them. You may ask the question, should we give thanks for everything? The answer to that is no. There are times when things do not go well for us. We don't give thanks for everything. As the passages above point out, we are to give thanks in everything. That's different. Giving thanks in everything is a way in which we remind ourselves that in spite of even bad circumstances, things could have turned out worse than it did. When Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and when the attacks of 9/11/01 occurred, people questioned where is God, as though He was responsible for the destruction. The proper response should have been one of gratefulness and thankfulness that the loss had not been far greater than it was. Looking at 9/11 we have no idea where the plane that went down in Pennsylvania was targeting. We also don't know what would have happened in New Orleans had those who did respond when they did, not shown up when they did. A heart of thankfulness, reminds us of those things and consciously aware that there is always a silver lining in the darkest of clouds. So as you look to this holiday season and beyond, find it within you to remain thankful at all time. Even those times when the family is getting on your nerves around the dinner table. Remember, there is always someone else who may have it worse than you do, no matter how crazy or out of control you think your life is. Stay thankful. Always.
To All The Women of Empowerment: Love Yourself Sister Girl You were born a winner Don’t worry about your past dictations and if you were a past sinner You have stood your ground for the last millionth time Just remember you are born a Queen to rise again, You are still human, just pray over and over again Staying in the race Girlfriend you were born to win! Love yourself and all of you; don’t go looking for love when you were born to sparkle and to stand out Don’t you know that you are beautiful and an empowered woman without any hidden agendas or a doubt? You go girl! An empowered women who shares her story and dreams, To inspire and to teach Nothing in her power and her will is out of reach So don’t worry Sistar, you were born to shine bright like no other You got this girlfriend! Believe in yourself to go further!
7 Things to Be Thankful For Tis the season to be thankful! 2015 has brought many of ups and downs for some, but what are you thankful for this year? Here are seven things you should be thankful for.
1) Having family that supports and love you- Everyone doesn’t have a family to talk to or go to with their problems or a family to love. If you have a family, be thankful and love them every step of the way. 2) Waking up every morning that wasn’t promised- God breathes life into us and for thank we should be thankful. 3) Being in the right mind– We may know people that are mentally disabled or have mental issues, but for us that are in our right mind, we should be very grateful that we are able to make our own decisions and think straight. 4) Having a roof over our head- So many people are homeless and I see that every day! I am very grateful to have a home to come to! 5) Having a job/career– Too many people are complaining about their present job now, but what they didn’t know is that God can take that job away from you quick! But if you have a job/career, then you should be thankful. 6) Having goals/visions– If you know what your purpose in life is and you know what God has called you to do, then that is totally something to be grateful for! 7) Not where you used to be!- Thank God for the present and the past!
Spoken Artist Rocks the Mic!
Word
Pace Poetry at a Spoken Word Event
Words, Lyrics and Poetry: An Exclusive Interview with Donielle “Pace Poetry” Pace
How do you come up with the concept of your poetry?
PP: I come up with the concept of my poems really based off of feelings and experiences. I can’t really say exactly where I come up with concepts for my poetry, but I will say that I am a thinker. I allow my mind to wonder and attach itself to my heart then the words and message just flow. For your spoken word piece, “Don’t Shoot: A Mother’s Plea,” what was going through your mind? PP: This is by far my favorite poem that I’ve ever written because I it looks at the issues of police brutality against black men in a different aspect—through the heart of a mother. Seeing and reading news story after news story about another young black man killed by an officer while they were unarmed sparked a fuel in me that I could no longer keep quiet. So I chose to use my gift of poetry to lift my voice about the issue. But before I could do that I visualized myself in each of those mothers’ shoes, and once I did that, the poem just began to flow. Knowing that at any moment it could have been or can be one of my boys brought an emotion out of me that I didn’t know was there. I see that your talent has gotten you to perform at several events. How does that make you feel as an artist? PP: I am actually still shocked that I am getting requested to perform at different venues like The Improv Houston. I just remember standing on a stage in front of 5 people not being able to recite my poem to now standing in front of sold out shows of 500 people. It’s crazy to me. And I’m so glad for that first experience of doing such a horrible job because it has shaped me into the poet I can now see standing before me. Where do you seen yourself five years from now in the spoken word industry?
PP: Five years from now I see myself performing all over the world. Poetry is an art that is loved but underrated and unappreciated at times, so I see myself as being one of those poets who will make poetry a more relevant art form. Also, I see myself with published books of poetry. Honestly, I see myself as a prominent name in the poetry world. When someone thinks of poetry, my name will be one of the first ones mentioned along with the greats, who paved the way for me and other poets. Have you ever thought about taking your poetry on the road performing in different states? PP: Yes! That is my goal. Houston is a large city, but there are not many outlets for poets, and most of them are during the week, which makes it hard for me to attend because of my boys and job. One state that I want to tackle soon is New York. I don’t know why my heart calls for me to go to New York, but I will go there soon and hit up one of their open mics. Do you still plan to release your book of poetry this year? PP: The poetry book will not be released this year. Actually my memoir, which contains some of my poetry, will be released February 1, 2016. Once I get the buzz going about my memoir, I will work on my first book of poetry titled, Love Struck. I already have the poems ready! What do you want your target audience and supporters to gain from reading your first book? PP: The message I want my target audience and supporters to gain from reading my is knowing that loving yourself is important and accepting that God loves you is all you need to get by. Do not seek someone else to love you because that will lead to disappointments, but love yourself and remember God loves you. When you have those principles, you will know your worth and won’t settle for anything less than what you know you deserve
A Spoken Word Artist on her Way to Stardom!
Do you plan to publish more books in the near future? PP: Most definitely! My ultimate dream is to wake up every morning to my Starbucks’ venti chai latte with soy and vanilla syrup, laptop and/or pen and pad, and my creative thoughts and just get lost in another world. In between touring with my poetry and book signings. Will you ever bring City Girl Magazine back? It is a great magazine! PP: Thank you. Right now it’s hard for me to focus on City Girl because of everything I have going on, but I’m sure it will be back one day. I started it with my two sisters, so I’m sure one of them will get it back started while I’m trying to balance everything else. When you aren’t busy with school or teaching, what are your top five down-time activities you enjoy doing? PP: This is probably the hardest question. My top five down time activities are listening to music (mainly old R&B classics from the 60s to the 90s), spending time with my boys, watching ratchet TV (Love & Hip Hop and other reality shows),
), reading books, and hanging out with my sisters and girlfriends at Happy Hours. Oh‌and I love going over my parents’ houses because they always give me the laughs I need that can brighten my day if it is low.
I just wanted to tell you that you are a beautiful and intelligent young woman! How do you keep your face so clear? Lol PP: Hahaha. I honestly don’t do anything. I just wash my face with the regular anti-bacterial Neutrogena face soap, and that’s it. You are a natural naturalista. How does that make you feel to embrace your roots of natural hair? PP: It so weird hearing you say I’m a naturalista, but I love the title and accept it. It’s some getting used to I must say. Seeing people post under pictures that they admire me and my hair and that I’m their hair crush or hair goal is still hard to wrap my mind around, but I’m so flattered and humbled by it all. How has being natural compare to having a relaxer in your hair? PP: Honestly, I only wore a perm for about five years, and at first I loved it because it I could wear my hair straight and it wouldn’t frizz. Plus, my hair still curled naturally. But once I let other beauticians relax my hair besides me and my mom, my hair took a turn for the worse. I started to regret perming my hair especially when I would see how pretty one of my sisters’ hair looked; she never relaxed her hair. Now that I am natural, I love it! Even though my hair doesn’t act right with all the natural hairstyles, I love my natural spiraled curls. I’ve even learned to embrace my shrinkage. LOL What does being a natural beauty mean to you? PP: Being a natural to me means embracing who you really are and accepting all of your flaws. I wasn’t always confident with who I was. Let me just be completely transparent…I suffered from extreme low self-esteem, but hid it for so many years. I even hid it from myself. Thinking the natural state of my hair was ugly as well as other things. Now when I rock my huge afro, I walk with so much confidence because I feel like I’ve finally found myself and love myself.
“Now when I rock my huge afro, I walk with so much confidence because I feel like I’ve finally found myself and love myself.”
So tell me about the natural hair events you attended so far this year. Did you have a chance to network with some of the famous natural beauties? PP: I try to attend as many natural hair events as possible to network. When I was in my transitioning stage, I walked with The Damn Salon for the Nzuri Natural Hair Show. I’ve also attended the New Orleans Natural Hair Expo. I love meeting other women and seeing us, all, come together empowering and encouraging one another. What is your all-time favorite style of being a natural queen? PP: My wash-and-go. It shows my entire natural hair state with the many textures. How long does it actually take you to do your hair on a normal day? PP: On a normal, it may take about fifteen minutes if I’m only wetting my hair, applying my moisturizing products, and finger coming through my hair. But if I decide to wash it, it will take an additional thirty minutes. Have you ever woke up and said “Forget it! I’m not doing anything to my hair today!”
PP: Yes I have! And when I don’t do it, I get the most compliments. LOL Has anyone approached you about your hair? For example, did they assume you were wearing weave? PP: Funny story. A cashier asked me what type of hair I was wearing. The look on her face when I told her, “mine,” was priceless. But I’m used to it because I’ve been asked, “Is that your real hair?” I’ve always had very long hair until I started chopping it off. LOL Do you prefer to wear your hair straight or naturally curly? Why or why not? pp: I prefer curly because it looks wild and crazy. I love the wild look Have you ever thought about creating a natural hair blog or vblog and share it with other naturalistas like yourself? PP: I’ve considered it, but I’m more focused on my poetry. I just enjoy others’ vlogs and blogs. Fill in the blank with this statement: “I am a Natural Hair Queen because ___ PP: “ because I’m imperfectly perfected.”
Explain the washing process of your hair and the chemicals you use. PP: I wash with Carol’s Daughter Black Vanilla shampoo (I do try other products but this is my favorite shampoo and conditioner), deep condition with their Hair Smoothie, and then towel dry my hair. I do the LOC (leave-in conditioner, oil, and cream) method. The leave-in is by Naorobi, Rebirth oil, and Butterlicious by Crème of Nature. I just apply those throughout my hair, finger comb or comb with a wide-tooth comb, shake, and then go. How can readers connect with you? Instagram, email, website, youtube, facebook, twitter, etc. ? PP: My readers can connect with me on Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and Twitter as PacePoetry. My Facebook is Donielle Pace.
You Got to Love Those Curls! #NaturalBeauty
Mental Issues from a Spiritual Perspective By: Angela Park I am no stranger to mental health issues, having witnessed my mother living with the diagnosis of being Bi polar; I was a witness to a lot of heartache and hardships because of this. I myself have lived with depression and anxiety. I could blame this on the situations that I experienced and the people with whom I experienced them, but I am learning that placing blame gets us nowhere when it comes to healing oneself. This brings me back to the main reason for this article, mental health. As a certified PSW, I have had pretty extensive training in many areas of mental health. I have always had my personal views on the subject, even at a young age the whole concept of mental health “issues� had me raising an eyebrow. I am not implying that mental health issues are not real, they are very real, I live with them myself. What I am hoping to bring to light, is that there are alternative methods of dealing with these things, rather than just masking the issues with medications that numb the body, brain, and most importantly (I think); the soul. The reality of the mental health industry is that there is no way to actually test for an illness, there are no blood tests or other tests that can give you a conclusive result as to what illness it is that you suffer from. Basically what is done, is that you give a list of your symptoms and they then umbrella the symptoms to determine what disorder you have .
So basically the Doctors have taken the side effects of all of the illnesses, created an umbrella of symptoms for each one, and then they put you under the umbrella that suits you the best. Sounds pretty legit, right? If you are shaking your head right now, you understand why I have a problem with the medicating of such illnesses. Doctors are quick to write a prescription for mind altering, dangerous and addictive medications with nasty side effects for diseases that they cannot even be ‘sure’ actually exist in a person. What these medications do, in reality, is limits attention in many other areas, some have even caused suicide. Think about that for a second, medication to prevent depression is causing suicide. This is a problem. Once I began to explore my spirituality, I found that there are so many healthy ways to release and deal with emotions. I will list a few of them and hopefully you can take a couple of the suggestions and use them to help you in your own life, you don’t have to be diagnosed with a mental illness for the following list of things to work in your life. You need only be ready for a positive change.
It’s Time for a Positive Change! #2015
Find your passion – The one thing that changed my life was my writing. I highly suggest to anybody if there is something that you are passionate about tap into that and use it for the betterment of your soul.
Meditate- Meditation is a great tool that anybody can use. One of my favorite and the easiest is a shower meditation. Breathe deeply and envision the shower washing you clean of negative energies that might have attached to you throughout the day.
Exercise- Go for walks, do yoga, dance around your bedroom. No matter what you choose to do, exercise has been proven to lift your spirits.
Call a friend – Friends are so beneficial. As long as they bring you positivity as opposed to adding to your negativity. Call one up and vent a little.
Write and Burn – Write everything down that upsets you, write a letter to somebody who has hurt you, write down your hopes and fears and then burn it, offering it to the universe. You will then have an easier time letting go of unhealthy control issues that might plague your daily life.
Whatever it is that you do, there are always other, and healthier ways to deal with your sadness and depression issues. I hope that this list helps you on the path to happiness.
Diabetes: Still on America’s Plate By Jovan James It won't happen to you. It can't happen to you, but it can because diabetes says so. Diabetes affects multiple races across the board, but the American Indian and African American population are the among the highest affected at 15.9 % and 13.2%. The Hispanic and Asian population follow at 12.8% and 9%. With those statistics in mind, November is National Diabetes Month, which is held to raise awareness about diabetes and its effects on millions of Americans. Various organizations around the globe hold walks and other fund-raising events to raise awareness. According to the American Diabetes Association diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Whether you have diabetes, know someone with diabetes, or don't have diabetes at all it is vital to always be informed about treatments and updated statistics. For anyone who may have an unclear understanding about what diabetes is, it is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin (hormones that regulate blood sugar) or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Diabetes is broken down into 2 category types, type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes occurs when there isn't enough insulin being produced. Those with type 1 diabetes have to take insulin shots. Type 1 is also noted to be called juvenile diabetes which is diagnosed in children and young adults. There is no known cause of this type of diabetes and is also noted to be unpreventable. Just as type 1 diabetes, type 2 results from the body's ineffective use of of insulin. This type of diabetes typically occurs later on in a person's life due to being severely overweight which may lead to high blood pressure and other life threatening problems. Type 2 does not require a person to take insulin shots, but medication is usually taken to stabilize a persons health. There is no known cure for diabetes, but eating right and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help prevent diabetes therefore extending a person's life living with diabetes.
Word Scrambler ***Answers on pg. 42*** GTSAINKGVINH KTYRUE TUGAFREL ALFYIM ODFO EASGM RMEOMEIS TUHRLGAE
A FUSE MOVEMENT @afusemovement14
Www.fusemovement.org
ANSWERS TO THE WORD SCRAMBLER FROM PAGE 40
THANSKSGIVING TURKEY GRATEFUL FAMILY FOOD GAMES MEMORIES LAUGHTER