Our Kids, Are They Ready? A Study Shows That In 20072008 Only 47% of Afrikan Males Are Graduating From High School!
What’s Going On In GVEGAS? A pictorial look at the latest happenings in the Gvegas!
Book of the Month: 7 Days In The Usha Village Dr. Sebi
Be Inspired: A Look Into The Lives Of Qadiriyyah and Clinetta Allen!
Do You Know This Man? Take A Look At The Life Of Dr. Sebi. The Man Who Has A Cure For A.I.D.S.!
Pictured Left: Melissa Wilkins, Owner of Artistry Hair Designs at the “Back to the Future” Hair & Fashion Show!
Let what is within shine through…whether it be your writing, spoken word, hair, fashion, photography…whatever it is…you were gifted for that thing! I remember when I did not understand my gifting nor did I value it, until one day I was asked within was I doing what I did for myself or for others. If we do what we are gifted to do, we will never go without. We will get a true understanding of our gifting when we value that power that is given from within. In valuing the gift, we will understand come hell or high water…we have to get the dog on thing done..in decency and in order because we were made for it! It should not matter if others will pat or stab us in our backs, if we are truly passionate about what we do, we will first give thanks for the gifting and then use it to empower, encourage and educate people…and ultimately make a living from it. The meaning of magnificence is the exhibition of greatness of action, character, intellect, wealth or power…are you living up to your magnificent power? In this issue of IMPACT, we are highlighting individuals who are letting their magnificence show through their gifting! In our Be Inspired section check out, Qadiriyyah, a native from Trenton, New Jersey who wrote her first book entitled, “Ghetto Memoirs – The Loves, Loss, and Life of Khadijah Jones”, in 2004. Now she is re-releasing the book on September 11th in Hamilton, NJ. Take for instance the story on Dr. Sebi…this is a remarkable story about an uneducated man who grew up in Honduras and learned the ends and outs of herbs while fasting to cure his ailments in Mexico. Dr. Sebi has documented proof of his cure for the AIDS epidemic…so why don‟t you know him? So, let your light shine…someone is waiting on you. Value and understand it! Your gift will make room for you and place you before great men! Keep pressing until something happens… and watch to see what crack! Be a blessing to someone today!
Tunisha C. Brown Editor-In-Chief
The report's authors also stated that the results of the eighth grade reading assessment test scores, which measure how many black males read at or above the proficiency level, "should set off alarm bells." The "best" score was a dramatically low: 15 percent (Kentucky, New Jersey), and several states averaged only five percent (Mississippi, Nevada). According to the report, "(M)ore than twice as many black students are classified as 'mentally retarded' in spite of research demonstrating that the percentages of students from all groups are approximately the same at each intelligence level." The report adds, "The persistent over-classification of black male students as 'mentally retarded' reflects, at best, a lack of professional development in this area for teachers and other staff." At a time when more jobs require advanced knowledge of math and technology, more than four times as many white male students take advanced placement math and science courses as black males. Another finding of the report is the apparent disparity between states providing opportunities for young black men to succeed. For example, the relative success and wealth of a town is not necessarily associated with positive performance a outcomes: only 22 percent of black high school males graduated from the Palm Beach County Florida public schools compared with 79 percent in Newark, New Jersey.
New Jersey is an example of what can happen when a state works to level the playing field. About 20 years ago, New Jersey's highest court ruled in favor of a group that sued to equalize the funding between suburban and urban school districts. Since then, New Jersey's less wealthy school districts have received substantially higher funding for kindergarten and pre-school programs, increased teacher training and more health and social services to address the needs of poor and lower-income children. The schools also upgraded facilities and improved security. In the current Schott report, all these measures were listed as "conditions for success." Dr. John H. Jackson, president and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education -- the organization that produced the study, stresses that the good news for currently cash-strapped states is not about throwing money at a school district, but how you use it: "The significance of New Jersey's success is their decision to more equitably distribute their educational resources to all of the districts and students who needed them the most, but also target those resources in areas that are proven effective--providing more access to early education, highly effective teachers and rigorous curricula." By contrast, the report states that based on low reading scores, "Minnesota, Nevada, and Mississippi appear to have particular difficulty in providing their black male students in Grade 8 with a basic education." The report also paints a depressing picture for large metropolitan areas. "The tragedy of the data is that the four major districts that are most challenged have the largest black male enrollment," Jackson said. Philadelphia joins New York City in a 28 percent black male graduation rate and Chicago graduates less than half of its black males at 44 percent. The report is primarily numbers-based and is meant to serve as a measuring tool and benchmark for states and educators. It does not delve into individual programs or cultural factors in the different states. But at a time when cities and states are struggling with how to "reinvent" themselves in the new economy and how to lure companies to invest in their communities, it is clear that many states have not adequately invested the right resources into what should be one its greatest assets: An educated community.
Originally released in 2004, Ghetto Memoirs was penned by Qadiriyyah in 2000. She sat on the book for 4 years unwilling to test the waters and fate and see if the world was ready to accept her and her work. As described by Narubi Selah, "Ghetto Memoirs was the first love story written about and within Trenton, New Jersey." “Yes, some of the street names had been changed, but the core of what our city represented at the time the book was written was captured.� Fast forward 6 years later and Qadiriyyah has decided to republish Ghetto Memoris before releasing her second book. When asked why, she quickly stated that the element of who Khadijah was needed to be recaptured...she needed to be reborn and readdressed. Most importantly, one needed to recognize that she had grown up. Recognizing her own mistakes, Qadiriyyah is humbled now and is falling in love with the life she is living. This life is filled with the love of her children, not accepting failure and taking small steps to enjoy life.
Clinetta Allen is a special education teacher in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools for 12 years. Clinetta graduated from the University of Akron in OH with a BS degree in Special Education and an AAS degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. Clinetta entered the plus size modeling arena through a model competition conducted by an agency in Cary, NC. Two years ago, she entered a model call with SizeRevolution, LLC under the direction of Keir Duncan in Charlotte and a whole new world opened for her. Recently Clinetta entered the Image Cosmetic Model Search competition in which Image Cosmetics is searching for 12 ladies to represent their company in the 2011 calendar. One model will be chosen as THE spokesperson to be the "face" of Image Cosmetics.
While the world is in search of cures for terminal diseases like AIDS and Cancer, one man has already done so. Alfred Bowman, who is a Honduran Herbalist, also known as Dr. Sebi, has found the cure to...AIDS, Cancer, Sickle Cell Anemia, Diabetes, and numerous others however, when he made this miraculous claim 10 years ago, he wasn‟t commended….he was ARRESTED & JAILED. In 1985, Dr. Sebi placed an ad in The Amsterdam News, The New York Post, and The Village Voice claiming to have cured AIDS and other diseases. The ad read: “AIDS HAS BEEN CURED BY THE USHA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, AND WE SPECIALIZE IN CURES FOR SICKLE CELL, LUPUS, BLINDNESS, HERPES, CANCER AND OTHERS.” The ad ran for two years before it was noticed by the Attorney General of New York, who began to question Dr. Sebi‟s claim. Dr. Sebi was instructed to remove the ad, and when he refused, within days he was served with arrest warrant. The read out from the Grand Jury read: “Mr. Alfred Bowman AKA Dr. Sebi, you are hereby charged with practicing medicine without a license, selling products not approved by the FDA (Federal Drug Administration), and claiming to cure AIDS, and other diseases which is a fraudulent claim.” The problem with Dr. Sebi‟s claim was that not only was he not a medical doctor, but he was healing people by methods that were “unscientific”. Dr. Sebi was healing and curing diseases through the use of herbs. Incidentally, his title as a doctor comes from being a herbologist. His claim of healing diseases through the use of herbs wasn‟t based on theory, but instead based on fact because he was a living testimony. “I was weighing 280 lbs, my asthma increased, Diabetes became present, and at 28, I was impotent. I had visited the urologist, endocrinologist, internal medicine, and general practitioner. My weight increased, my diabetes increased, and my sex didn‟t come back,” Dr. Sebi explained.
After numerous attempts to conquer his medical problems failed, he was referred to Mexico, where he bought some herbs and fasted for 94 days. “At the end of 94 days, I‟d lost 89 lbs, I didn‟t have diabetes, I didn‟t have asthma, I was not impotent, and I threw away my glasses,” he said. Dr. Sebi looks at herbs from a different perspective; his beliefs are based on principals directly from the Bible. “God said the herbs are for the healing of the nation. (Genesis 1:29, Ezekiel 47:12). So, if you think God didn‟t know what he was doing, we have just committed our biggest mistake. If we don‟t believe God that the herbs are a healing of the nation, then we can go to a man by the name of Hypocrites,” he stated. Hypocrites was recorded as being the world‟s first doctor, and according to Dr.Sebi, he cured everyone with herbs. “Every disease known to man, he cured with plants. God said the herbs work, Hypocrites used herbs 365 years before Christ was born.” He continued, “many times we hear people say that only Jesus heals, well Jesus used herbs too, but there were people healing long before Jesus. That is not to discredit Jesus, it‟s just that God said the herbs are for the healing of the nations.” Unfortunately, for Dr. Sebi, the Attorney General and the State of New York were not willing to accept this methodology, and as a result they began to cause problems for him and his institute, problems he‟d anticipated. “We heard many times that when you put an ad in the newspaper saying that you cure a disease, you go to jail, especially with AIDS. Well I kept hearing that for years, even the healers in New York said that I was going to jail,” he said. And jail is exactly where he went. After refusing to comply with the demands of the Attorney General he was sent to jail. After a few days had passed, his luck began to change. “About a week of being in jail the Judge said, would you please let Mr. Alfredo Bowman, or Dr. Sebi out and have him come to my office. I went to your honor‟s chambers. He said, „so you are the man who isn‟t afraid to take on the world. „I said, that‟s a piece of cake. He said why, I said because everyone is on the quantum theory, the little bubble, and life is outside of that. He said, “May I ask you a question?”
“Why do you claim to cure AIDS?” I said, well I have a mother, I have a nation, I have myself that I represent, you being a judge, you already know why I say I cure AIDS.” Dr. Sebi continued, “He looked at the lady that was sitting at the table and he turned to her and said, did you all investigate this man before you arrested him, because he claims to cure AIDS. Did you investigate the man? She said, “No.” The judge said, “Well, the answer he just gave me, he cures AIDS, you all are in trouble.” Dr. Sebi was later found NOT GUILTY by the state of New York and the Supreme Court because he was indeed curing people of various diseases. The prosecuting attorney said Dr. Sebi‟s methods were unscientific, and accused him of being out of his mind, but Dr. Sebi was able to convince the court of his methodology. “I showed them when you have sinusitis, what‟s in the nasal passage, they said mucous. When you have bronchitis, what‟s in the bronchial tubes, they said mucous. And when you have pneumonia what‟s in the lungs they said mucous. And when you have Diabetes what is obstructing the pancreas passages? Mucous again. Everything is mucous, from AIDS to blindness is mucous in the system that needs to be swept out,” Dr. Sebi explained. There are many herbal products on the market today, but Dr. Sebi said they are different from his products for two reasons: (1) they are not healing any diseases, because (2) they are manmade products. “The herbalists instead of using God‟s herbs, they are using man made herbs. That is their biggest mistake and it continues to be their greatest mistake. When God made plants he made them complete, the molecular structure is complete. When man makes plants the molecular structure is incomplete, and there is an acid base,” he said.
Dr. Sebi‟s wife, Matune, said the fact that they use natural herbs is what makes them different than most others. “We offer electric food that is natural to us. We are all electric. To live life is electrical. There is nothing in the supermarket that is alive. The only electric food is in the forest, “she said. Dr. Sebi further explained, “All natural plants that God made are electrical.” Everything that he made is electrical. The body is electrical, so you need electric food for an electric body, not a dead food.” He said some of examples of plants that are being recommended to consumers that are not made by nature and God are peppermint, aloe vera, comfrey, and carrots…to name a few. He also said the only way for consumers to find out more about the differences between man made and nature made is through educating themselves. In order for Dr. Sebi to establish himself with not only the courts, but to the people who sought cures was through proven, documented cases of people who were actually healed, people other than himself. He has cured numerous cases of AIDS, Cancer, Diabetes, and other diseases from people throughout the United States, and other countries. He recalled the first case of AIDS he actually treated and cured through herbs. “A young man came to me with AIDS, who was sent to me from Memorial Hospital in Boston. He was about to die, and he had his coffin in the hospital already. The young man was from Washington, D.C., and the then Financial Independence Magazine Editor called me and said “have you ever treated AIDS?” I said no. But she had seen people who came to me with Sickle Cell Anemia, with Leukemia, and with blindness that were cured in Washington, D.C. She saw that much to encourage her to think that I may be of some use with AIDS.
I said, “I have never cured AIDS before.” She said my brother-in-law‟s brother has AIDS, do you want to treat him? I was in Puerto Rico at the time, and I told her to fly to New York, where I have a center on the corner of Flatbush and 5th Ave. I told her to go there and I will call the attendant and tell her what to give you. She did, and she flew to Boston and that evening she was there.” He continued, “Mike was in the bed groaning, and moaning with Pneumocystic Pneumonia, and his coffin in the room. That was Saturday. They gave Mike the Herbs, and he opened his eyes about four hours later. Sunday morning Mike was sitting on the bed. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, he‟s bathing himself. Two weeks later they kick him out of the hospital. He came back two months later, and they said he no longer had AIDS, that they must have made a mistake.”Dr. Sebi said he saved that one diagnostic sheet, and soon after, “a Haitian came, another Haitian came, a Latin American from Puerto Rico came. When I had accumulated 5 AIDS patients that were cured, I began taking ads out in the newspapers telling the world I had cured AIDS.” He continues to cure hundreds of people through his herbs. He offers several packages to consumers, the ultimate of which consists of the total treatment in Honduras at his Holistic Village, “It has hot springs on it with effervescent springs and sulfur saunas. People go there from all over the world to be healed,” he said. For more information on Dr. Sebi and his products, www.drsebi.com!