Women Of Excellence Magazine February 2022 Edition

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WOE MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2022

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Table of Contents

Editor | Black History

Tax Talk | Heart

Cherish Life

Millennial Love

Brown Beauty of Month

Millennial Love <cont>

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Athlete Of Month

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Voter Oppression

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Happy

Love and

Love is in the air and history is being made

Black History Month

daily. I am excited about this month because W.O.E is a Black-Owned magazine that has changed the lives of many across the globe.

Our goal has always been to love the individuality of each writer and advertiser that partners with W.O.E. In this month of love, I challenge you to hold on to the ones you love

DEBORAH RISPER

even harder. The world is yet changing and in

M a ga z i ne e d i t o r

an instant, our lives can be changed forever.

The way we show up in the world matters. Be the person that loves people no matter what you might see daily. Change starts with loving yourself to know that others need love, compassion and care. We hope that you'll enjoy this edition as we spread love and show the world who our ancestors were.

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WWW.WOMENOFEXCELLENCE.COM

E V LO

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D O Y O U H AV E W H AT I T TA K E S ? B Y: M A L C O L M B R O W N

LOVE

MILLENNIAL

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is a common question I'm frequently asked. Whether it be

HOW DID YOU

through my social media community or in my personal circle

KNOW YOU WERE

of friends, one thing is for sure, men want to know when are

READY

they ready to connect with their soul mate. Eager minds not

TO GET MARRIED?

looking for cliche answers like you will just know or it was time, no they want practical insightful answers they can apply to their lives in hope of landing them a place at the alter and professing their eternal love before God; yeah, they want the secret sauce.

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Seeing how it's February "love month", I figured now would be the perfect time to take a swing at answering this age-old riddle but first let me introduce myself. My name is Malcolm Brown, many know me around the world as "Dr. Solo Raw", recognized for my work and influence in the tattoo industry. I'm also an author, entrepreneur, public speaker, and life coach; I know it's a lot. But above all these titles, above all the hats I wear and modalities in which I operate, the two most important are husband and father. You see, My wife and I have now been together nearly six years, and in just a couple of months will be celebrating our third year married. It seems just yesterday we were standing at the altar. Bearing witness was our pastor, family, and friends as we made our covenant commitment to one another in the presents of God. Now with two children and our whole lives ahead of us, we are off to an amazing start of fulfilling God's preferred future for us. Together, hand and hand we are walking in the promises of God with the mission of building a legacy of "hope in love" for our generation.

Doing family God's way is our vision. From raising our children, establishing our careers, building wealth, to even retiring and living the rest of our lives out engaging in philanthropic endeavors. We are committed to walking in agreement and living our best life as some would say, the question is, "How did you know you were ready?", "What step did you take to prepare?", and "How did you know you were making the right decision?" As I reflect on my process if you will, I have five tenets for preparing for marriage. The first is a relationship with God, the second is finding your vision, the third is growing in maturity, the fourth is building financial stability, and the fifth is understanding commitment. Out of the five I have chosen the two most important I believe if understood and mastered can cause a major paradigm shift in a man's life. I will lay them out in the paragraphs to come. These were clues I discovered in my own life, and in the lives of other successfully married men. The dawn of grasping these ideas is understanding this one statement, that everything starts and ends with vision; and vision comes from God.

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So then, when a man wants to understand God's plan for marriage and if in fact,

he was created in the first place. Most men have not yet come into the knowledge of understanding that Man was God's original idea, if you are a bible scholar you can find this in Genesis 1. It outlines an account of all creation and unveils God's purpose for it, Man. Now after creating man God placed man in a garden and the garden was named Eden you find this in Gen.2. Why is this important Malcolm? I'm glad you asked here's why, Eden is a Hebrew word with five strokes meaning: spot, moment, presence, open door, and delightful place.

LOVE

MILLENNIAL

he is ready for that plan, he must first understand God's plan for him and why

God originally designed an atmosphere for man to flourish and the place was Eden. The late Dr. Myles Munroe says it like this, "God took the man and put him in a spot, for a moment, where the presence of God was an open door to heaven." Which brings me to my first point, tenet one "the presence of God." Before you ever build a relationship with a woman you need a relationship with God. Many men in my generation suffer from a lack of identity and not knowing themselves. Unfortunately, most think getting a woman will fill that void and validate them as a man, but the sad truth is it doesn't. In my opinion in some cases, you see relationships where the woman is sure-footed and leading and what happens is it causes conflict because the man with no identity, he becomes insecure and jealous of the woman. This breads a toxic environment, bad relationships, headaches, and heartbreak so to avoid that I advise every man to develop a real relationship with God. Because while in the presence of God one can discover who he is, his true identity, and also do the soul therapy needed to be with a good woman. This is important because the soul attracts what the soul is.

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Once this relationship is established with God then you move to the next step in marriage preparation, tenet number 2, vision. This is one of my favorite subjects to talk about and it's extremely important as it relates to a man's life. Vision is a picture of God's destiny for your life it is the place of purpose for a man. Vision gives direction to a man's life, it gives discipline to a man's life, and vision brings order to a man's life. Look at it like this a man is traveling from Chicago to Atlanta. Atlanta is the destination or the vision and Chicago is the starting point, because the man knows he's traveling to a warmer place he will pack his clothes according to where he's going and not where he is. Also in the same manner he will work out his travel time and discipline himself to be on time. Not allowing himself to become distracted by unnecessary stops, the man will make it to his destination on time.

This is how we must look at our lives as men understanding that God already has a plan for our lives, a destiny he has already established. We can find this in Jeremiah 29:11 God has something amazing set up for us men but we have to see it before we see it, we have to identify it. let me ask you a question, where are you going? It's important you know the answer because a man should never marry a woman if he doesn't know where he is going. God created the woman of the wife to be our help but how can the woman help a lost man and how long do you think she will follow. I am fully confident that part of the reason my wife said yes at the altar is that I was able to create a vivid picture of what our life would look like, I shared with her my vision. She said yes because she knew I have a true relationship with God and I was able to cast a vision to her about where I was going in life and she decided that she wanted to go too.

Everything starts and ends with vision and a real relationship with God, so when you ask are you ready for marriage, before you find the woman, before you buy the ring, and before you plan the wedding consider this do I know where I'm going in life and do I have a relationship with the God who will take me there. Master these and the rest will follow.

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Jason

ROSS Women Of Excellence Magazine is always proud to present athletes across the globe. Athletes are those who have heart and passion while pursuing their education and doing it in excellence.

This month's athlete is Jason Ross. Jason is a Sophomore at Heritage Academy in Arizona. We spoke with Jason to find out his passion for sports and the things he enjoys outside of school.

Take a look at what he has to say.

ATHLETE OF MONTH

W: Outside of your sport, who are you?

W: Why/how did you choose your sport?

J: Outside of basketball I am a social guy, "Ima MEMORY MAKER". I love spending time with family & friends

J: I chose basketball because of the gift God gave me. My height, strength, agility, and just size in general.

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W: How long have you played your sport?

W: What are your goals for this sport now and in the future?

J: I have played basketball since I could dribble a ball .

J: My goals now within basketball are to keep my stats as high as possible, be the most coachable player I can be, and finish the season with a chip.

In the future, I want to play college-level basketball and beyond.

W: What is your position and how important is it to your team?

J: I play forward. It is important to my team because it's my job to grab rebounds, go to work in the paint and find open looks for my team.

W: What advice would you give to newbies in your sport?

W: What has this sport taught you?

J: My advice for newbies to basketball is to keep working. Don't accept the bare minimum, always keep pushing to where you wanna be.

J: Basketball has taught me discipline, teamwork, courage, and work ethics.

W: Do you have any exciting things in your life or sport that you'd like to share?

W: What does teamwork mean to you?

J: As of now, I don't have anything too exciting that I would like to share, but continue to watch me WORK

J: Teamwork to me is chemistry between you and your teammates.

It's the ability to execute with your team no matter what the challenge is.

W: Do you see yourself playing this sport for life or as a professional?

J: I would want to continue basketball professionally no matter what league I'm playing in, but also basketball is something I want to keep on for life.

FOLLOW JAY: Twitter: jayslimey2

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Cherish

LIFE Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

Remember: 1. Your emotions are not fixed—they are constantly changing. How you feel

today may not be the same No matter how much pain as how you felt yesterday or you're experiencing right how you'll feel tomorrow or now, you're not alone. Many next week. of us 2. Your absence would have had suicidal thoughts create grief and anguish in at some point in our lives. the lives of friends and Feeling suicidal is not a loved ones. character 3. There are many things defect, and it doesn't mean you can still accomplish in that you are crazy, weak, or your life. flawed. It only means that 4. There are sights, sounds, you have more pain than and experiences in life that you can cope with right have the ability to delight now. But with time and support, you and lift you—and that you would miss. can overcome your problems, and the pain and 5. Your ability to experience suicidal feelings will pass. pleasurable emotions is equal to your ability to experience distressing emotions.

Suicide is not the answer. I do not know what you are going through. But I do know that I have a FATHER that is here to help you with any thoughts, troubles, or problems. I can't make a lot of guarantees but I can guarantee you if you try my FATHER he will be the answer to every problem you are facing.

Signed His Favorite Daughter

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BROWN BEAUTY Of the Month

Khalilah has been married for the last 13 years to the love of her life, Mr. Kenyata Maddox. She has 4 beautiful kids ages 25,19,12,10 and a little 2-year-old princess known as G-Baby. When asked what motivates her every day, she references pictures of her entire family. She works hard and plays even harder. She enjoys watching TV, cooking, and having fun with her family.

Khalilah has been a real estate professional since 2010. From a former loan processor, mortgage underwriter, commercial property manager to now a dynamic, well accomplished general contractor, highly regarded Real Estate Agent. Khalilah is known for integrity, diplomacy, and sincerity in all her dealings. Within her first year as a realtor, she was nominated in Chicago's agent's magazine for being the best-dressed realtor.

As a born and raised west side Chicagoan, she is dedicated to making Chicago great again by offering a seasoned knowledge of the city and an intimate understanding of what makes each distinct residential niche special.

In her real estate business, she has first and foremost strived to be someone whom her clientele can trust. She is an out-of-the-box thinker with exceptional interpersonal skills, negotiating skills, and an effective understanding of the needs and wants of each client. What makes her stand out from other realtors is her confidence and personality.

Khalilah Maddox She loves creating funny Tik Toks that have reached over 25,000 views. She calls herself the funny relator because it shows clients that not only do you get someone that knows how to build a home and sell you a home, but you get someone with a personality that you will never forget. Above all, you get someone that values relationships over transactions. Khalilah treats every deal with the same level of service whether it's a 5,000 transaction or a 500,000 transaction.

What was her reason for becoming a real estate agent you may ask? She wanted to leave a mark on this world as a servant leader. She believes it is about serving the public and rolling up your sleeves and doing whatever it takes to help people win. Buying a home can be the most important investment of your life and at times it can be an emotional rollercoaster. I want to ride that ride with people.

Follow Khalilah On Social Media Facebook: Khalilah Maddox Instagram: khalilahrealtor TikTok: khalilah.funny.realtor

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VOTER OPPRESSION I T

I S

Y E T

One step forward, two steps back. That's pretty much how you describe what is happening with voting rights for Blacks. Years ago voting was not an option until 1870 which created the 15th amendment. Think about this 152 years later we are STILL addressing Black voting rights? How?! Just HOW?! Let's see……just two years ago we had a President who was so hung up on winning that he'd do anything to stop the opposing party from voting. There is been over 400 anti-voting laws that have attempted to tighten the gap on voters which gives less chance for many minorities to vote.

Just recently at the polls, they were told to not give water to those standing in line for hours. Aside from that, voting times were cut off swiftly so this means those who work late hours would possibly miss the chance to vote. You can kinda guess those who work late right? Public service workers, doctors, nurses, airline workers. What about their vote? Hmmmm……if we can eliminate their vote and give those with more free time to vote this will lessen the chance of the Democrat voters. To be clear, we are not pushing one party over the other, rather we are drawing the sad picture of voter's oppression.

H A P P E N I N G

Mail-in voting gained great attention this past Presidential election. Ballots were "lost" in the mail and were even questioned if they should be valid after the voting cut-off time. Actions such as this become disheartening and unfair to those who truly need mailin voting. How can our country say "liberty & justice" for all when there is a second thought about a vote counting.

Whether we agree with the candidates on the ballot, for one reason only we believe Blacks MUST make every effort to vote. We owe it to our ancestors we fought and some killed trying to vote. The best way to take a stand is not to fall for the oppression that is being attempted. We deserve fair treatment and as the older generation used to say, "teach people how to treat you!"

SHOW UP STRONG EACH TIME TO THE POLL!

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