The The Official Official Magazine Magazine of of Focused Focused Radio Radio
FEB. 2016 Dec. 2015 Nov. 2015
Helping you
Honor And JUST GETTING BUT WE’RE Give STARTED! Thanks This November 2015’s End...
CONTENTS 5. Word From the Founder Of Black History Month
9. HIS-Story or OUR-Story 15. WORDPLAY Black History Recap
30. February Is.. 35. LOOKING GOOD AND FEELING GREAT
Editor in Chief: TommyP Editor at Large: Naadir Love Art Director: KHAR
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Words from the Founder of Black History Month
Carter G.
Woodson
“ If a race has no history, if it is not a worthwhile tradition, it becomes a
negligible factor in the thought of the world and it stands in danger of being exterminated.” “ Those who have no record of what their forbears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.” “The so-called modern education, with all its defects, however does others so much more good than it does the Negro, because it has been worked out in conformity to the needs of those who have enslaved and oppressed weaker peoples.”
BLACK HISTORY MONTH… In the Beginning We have to go back to September, 1915 about 50 years after the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. Harvard-trained historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an organization which was dedicated to researching and promoting the achievements of black Americans and other peoples of African descent. Known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the group started to sponsor a national Negro History week in 1926. They chose the second week of February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In the decades the followed, mayors of various cities across the country started to issue yearly proclamations recognizing Negro History Week. By the late 1960s, perhaps due to the Civil Rights Movement and the growing awareness and hunger for their black identity, Negro History Week had grown into Black History Month on many of the college campuses in America. In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford officially recognized Black History Month, encouraging the public as a whole to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” As you well know Black History Month has inspired many schools and communities nationwide to organize celebrations, establish their own history clubs and host many a beautiful performance and inspiring lectures. Did you know that every year there is an official theme for Black History Month? The 2016 theme is: Hallowed Grounds: Sites of African American Memories The history of African Americans is wide spread across the 50 states that make up America. It starts well before the arrival of the Mayflower and continues up to today and will go on well into the future. Many claim that Blacks have been on this continent long before the so-called Native Americans. The Hallowed Ground theme in most cases will start from port cities where Africans disembarked from slave ships to the battle fields where their descendants fought for freedom, it will move on to the colleges and universities where they pursued education to places where they built communities over centuries of migration. The imprint/impact of Americans of African descent is so intertwined in the American story that people have even put scenarios out of “What would America BE without African Americans?” As long as you are black, African American, of African descent you are living Black History, so feel free to celebrate it with your family and friends every day.
‘Man on a Scaffold’ Painting by Jacob Lawrence 1917-2000 The focus february 2016 8
HIS-Story OR
OUR-Story
9The focus JANUARY 2016
I have found that
HIS Story are mainly the articles we must read in textbooks. Unfortunately the stories are too often slanted to make the losers of the conquest despicable or pathetic in the eyes of the readers. OUR Story on the other hand refers to the lifelong journey a people must take to discover (uncover) who they are. Imagine what it would be like to know your lineage back thousands or even millions of years. If you saw the movie ENEMY MINE, you would realize how important knowing one’s ancestry is to a people. Don’t think of yourself as Mary Jones but think of yourself as Mary Purcell daughter of Elizabeth Smith Purcell and Andrew Joseph Purcell. Then think of your mother, Elizabeth Smith
Purcell as daughter of Alice Mary Brown Smith and Robert David Smith. Now, do the same with your father’s side. If your folks don’t want to talk about it, insist as nicely as you can. Get birth dates, death dates, what illness if any did they die from, and wedding dates. How many siblings, where are they-where did they move to? Oh, yes do not forget to find out where everyone was born, especially the further back you go in your family story, you will be surprised. So far, we have Cuba, Senegal and Libya on my Dad’s side and Bermuda, The West Indies and the Azores on my Mom’s side and this is us only go back a few generations. I feel like a detective searching for clues that will explain the Who?, What?, When? and Where? of me. I already know the how and the why of me. The how is the old fashioned way, we all got here and the why
is so I could be here and walk this great adventure called LIFE and work towards being the best person I can be and share all of my great knowledge I will obtain with other beautiful people like you. Family gatherings and holidays are always coming up. Ask all those that are getting together to bring some family info (pictures, family bibles, birth certificates, quilts that grandma made or saved - many stories are sewn right into those panels, we just did not know what the symbols meant, etc.) Every family member has a story to tell, whether it is first hand or it’s a story that has been told before they were born. Listen for clues. Respect everyone! Your crazy aunt or drunk uncle, there may be a story there that everyone in the family are just refusing to hear. Why should we care
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about OUR Story? First of all—it is OUR’s and it needs to be told truthfully, skeletons and all. Secondly, knowing what illnesses run in your family could save your life. Just because all the women or men in your family died at 50, does not mean you have to go too. It means find out what caused their deaths and do something different. Change your diet, exercise. Did you know that some diseases are only hereditary because we are eating the same diet as our grandparents? The problem is that the quality of food is not the same, the oxygen level of the air has decreased and we are definitely not as physical. Then add into the mix, the electronic equipment we are exposed to and additional chemicals added to the water and air. Do the research on your family and embrace who you are and why you do
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some of the things you do. Ladies, please be honest with your children, every child deserves the right to know who their Daddy is. They will find out one day, and if you lied, that will cause such a rift in your relationship. Mom is the one everyone looks for no matter how old, to trust, to nurture, children will forgive you anything except a lie of that magnitude. Knowing who you are is our foundation in life. You may not like how it may make you look but children don’t care, put your pride to the side and tell the truth. Stuff happens, we make mistakes. Horrible things happen and sometimes a beautiful child is the result of it. Guess what, you loved that baby so much you kept him or her and nurtured and protected him or her. Tell the truth, no one can be complete not knowing where they came
from and you know what you may feel a sense of freedom by talking about it. It is YOUR Story you are researching and as a collective it is OURS to be treasured in all its sadness and glory. We are still doing our family research and I for one will have stories to tell my children, my nephews and nieces, my grandchildren and great grandchildren. Love yourself, love your kind. By Kamila Love
’Minneopa Falls, Minnesota’ Painting By Robert S. Duncanson 1821-1872 The focus february 2016 12
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Word Play Black History Program Recap JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED OUT THE FIRST TIME..
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In case you were
unable to tune into Word Play with Kamila Love on Focused Radio these last few weeks, she has been sharing some awesome information about some of the great people in Our Story. We have decided to include a few of them in this issue of The Focus Magazine since it is Black History Month. You still have time to catch a few more of our greats on: Word Play with Kamila Love, Monday – Friday 4pm till 6 pm. This is how the show runs: Kamila starts with Personality of the Day, second segment is What Does that Mean? (This segment deals with words we hear but do we really know what they mean) Third segment is
Famous Firsts in Black History or Black Inventors with the fourth segment being quotes from our greats. Personality of the Day-Carter G. Woodson
Carter Godwin Woodson, The
Father of Black History Month was the son of former slaves. He was born in 1875 near New Canton VA. In 1907, he obtained his B.A. degree from the University of Chicago. In 1912, he received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. 1915, he and friends established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. 1916, they began publishing the quarterly Journal of Negro History. 1926, Woodson
proposed and launched the annual February observance of Negro History Week, which officially became Black History Month in 1976. It is said that he chose February for the observance because February 12th was Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and February 14th was the accepted birthday of Frederick Douglass. Dr. Woodson was the founder of Associated Publishers, the founder and editor of the Negro History Bulletin, and the author of more than 30 books. His best known publication is The Mis-Education of the Negro, it was originally published in 1933 and should still be required reading today. Even though Dr. Woodson died in 1950, his legacy continues The focus february 2016
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or you would not be reading this now. What does that mean? Meritorious Manumission Act of 1710 The Meritorious Manumission Act of 1710 was enacted in Virginia during the enslavement period of Africans in America. It was the legal act of freeing a slave for performing “good deeds,” as defined by the national public policy, and could be granted to a slave who might have saved the life of a White master or his property, invented something from which a slave master could make a profit, or “snitched” on a fellow slave who was planning a slave rebellion or to run away. This is thought to be where the term “sellout” comes from. It is unfortunate that we 17 The focus february 2016
still have this type of activity going on but instead of freedom, it might be a nice bonus or promotion. We all know some people that could not be bought or threatened: Martin Luther King Jr. Malcolm X Marcus Garvey Dr. Mona Harrison Dr. Frances Cress Welsing Just to name a few, think of those you know personally that have stood their ground even though they often stood alone. Famous Firsts in Black History Government
Officeholder in colonial America: Matthias de Souza, 1641 Local elected official: John Mercer Langston, 1855, town clerk of Brownhelm Township, Ohio. State elected official: Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1836, the Vermont legislature. Mayor of major city: Carl Stokes, Cleveland, Ohio, 1967–1971. The first black woman to serve as a mayor of a major U.S. city was Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly, Washington, DC, 1991–1995. Governor (appointed): P.B.S. Pinchback served as governor of Louisiana from Dec. 9, 1872–Jan. 13, 1873, during impeachment proceedings against the elected governor. Governor (elected): L. Douglas Wilder, Virginia, 1990–1994. The only other elected black governor has been Deval Patrick, Massachusetts, 2007– U.S. Representative: Joseph Rainey became a Congressman from South Carolina in 1870 and was reelected four more times. The first black female U.S. Representative was Shirley Chisholm, Congresswoman from New York, 1969–1983. U.S. Senator: Hiram Revels became Senator from Mississippi from Feb. 25, 1870, to March 4, 1871, during Reconstruction. Edward Brooke became the first African-American Senator since Reconstruction, 1966–1979. Carol Mosely Braun became the first black woman Senator serving from 1992–1998 for the state of Illinois. (There have only been a total of five black senators in U.S. history: the remaining two are Blanche K. Bruce [1875–1881] and Barack Obama (2005–2008). U.S. cabinet member: Robert C. Weaver, 1966–1968, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Lyndon Johnson; The first black female cabinet minister was Patricia Harris, 1977, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development under Jimmy Carter. U.S. Secretary of State: Gen. Colin Powell, 2001–2004. The first black female Secretary of State was Condoleezza Rice, 2005– 2009. Major Party Nominee for President: Sen. Barack Obama, 2008. The Democratic Party selected him as its presidential nominee. U.S. President: Sen. Barack Obama. Obama defeated Sen. John McCain in the general election on November 4, 2008, and was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009
Quote of the day “We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.” Carter Woodson (1875-1950) on founding Negro History Week, 1926 Dr. Frances Cress Welsing For those unfamiliar with the name Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, she was one our country’s most influential and controversial theoreticians on the subject of race and racism. Her analysis of the impact of White supremacy was trenchant, hard-hitting and consistent. She was an unswerving champion for African Americans and lover of humanity. Born in Chicago to a physician and an educator, Welsing was trained in the liberal arts at Antioch College and in medicine at Howard University College
of Medicine, where she would eventually serve as faculty. A long-standing private practitioner and pioneer in the fields of child psychiatry and mental health, her longest institutional affiliation was as the Clinical Director and Staff Physician with the Washington D.C. Department of Human Services, where she charted policy and strategies to help emotionally disturbed children at the Hillcrest Children’s Center and the Paul Robeson School for Growth and Development. Welsing’s work on improving the mental health of African Americans led to a
career in the field of race and cultural analysis. The Cress Theory was influenced by the ideas of a Washington, DC acquaintance named Neely Fuller, Jr., and explored the thesis that racism, aggression and hostility stems from White fear of genetic annihilation in an overwhelmingly non-White world. Fuller and Welsing contended that all of modern global relations were affected by White supremacist ideology and symbology, which they further grouped into nine categories of human activity: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex The focus february 2016
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and war. She initiated the development for two generations of popular discourse in Black communities on the concept and reality of White supremacy, a status confirmed by her 1991 book The Isis Papers: Keys to the Colors, which was a collection of essays she had written over the previous two decades. It became a perennial non-fiction best seller in Black communities. Her 1974 debate with the Stanford Nobel Laureate, Dr. William Shockley —a proponent of the idea of Black intellectual inferiority—brought her to national attention. In 1974 Dr. Welsing wrote an article for Ebony Magazine encouraging Black people to “get very quiet and calm and begin to think critically 19 The focus february 2016
and analytically in a very broad perspective and cease doing push-button reactions to social events that happen around us and that relate negatively to us.” She spent her life trying to wake up her people about the war that is being waged against them.
What does that mean? annihilate
Simple Definition of annihilate: to destroy (something or someone) completely to defeat (someone) completely an·ni·hi·lat·ed an·ni·hi·lat·ing 1. transitive verb 2. 1 a : to cause to be of no effect : nullify b : to destroy the substance or force of 3. 2 : to regard as of no consequence 4. 3 : to cause to cease to exist; especially : kill 5. 4 a : to destroy a considerable part of <bombs annihilated the city>b : to vanquish completely : rout <annihilated the visitors 56–0> 6. 5 : to cause (a particle and its antiparticle) to vanish by annihilating Famous Firsts in Black History Science and Medicine
First patent holder: Thomas L. Jennings, 1821, for a dry-cleaning process. Sarah E. Goode, 1885, became the first African-American woman to receive a patent, for a bed that folded up into a cabinet. M.D. degree: James McCune Smith, 1837, University of Glasgow; Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first black woman to receive an M.D. degree. She graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864. Inventor of the blood bank: Dr. Charles Drew, 1940. Heart surgery pioneer: Daniel Hale Williams, 1893. First astronaut: Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 1967, was the first black astronaut, but he died in a plane crash during a training flight and never made it into space. Guion Bluford, 1983, became the first black astronaut to travel in space; Mae Jemison, 1992, became the first black female astronaut. Frederick D. Gregory, 1998, was the first African-American shuttle commander. Aprille Ericsson, first female and first African American female to receive a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Howard University is the first African-American female
“The destruction of Black males now is indirect, so that the Black male victims themselves can be led to participate in - and then be blamed for- their own mass deaths.” ― Frances Cress Welsing, The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1818– February 20, 1895) was an African-American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became a national leader of the abolitionist movement from Massachusetts and New York, gaining note for his dazzling orator and incisive antislavery writings. He stood as a living counter-example to slaveholders’ arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent American citizens. Even many Northerners at the time found it hard to believe that such a great orator had once been a slave. Douglass wrote several autobiographies. He described his experiences as a slave in his 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, which became a bestseller, and was influential in promoting the cause of abolition, as was his second book, My Bondage and My Freedom (1855). After the Civil War, Douglass remained an active campaigner against slavery and wrote his last autobiography, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass. First published in 1881 and revised in 1892, three years before his death, it covered events during and after the Civil War. Douglass also actively supported women’s suffrage, and held several public offices. Without his approval, Douglass became the first African American nominated for Vice President of the United States as the running mate and Vice Presidential nominee of Victoria Woodhull, on the Equal Rights Party ticket. A firm believer in the equality of all peoples, whether black, female, Native American, or recent immigrant, Douglass famously said, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”
What does that mean? Emancipation
Simple Definition of emancipate-to free (someone) from someone else’s control or power If you emancipate someone, you set them free from something. At the end of the Civil War, slaves were emancipated and became free men and women. verb (transitive) 1. to free from restriction or restraint, especially social or legal restraint 2. (often passive) to free from the inhibitions imposed by conventional morality 3. to liberate (a slave) from bondage
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African Americans have the power to make a direct and measurable impact on the blood supply right here in our community. Saving lives through blood donation means recipients and their families may have a gift of life and a promise of hope. #BHM
Famous Firsts in Black History Scholarship
College graduate (B.A.): Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1823, Middlebury College; first black woman to receive a B.A. degree: Mary Jane Patterson, 1862, Oberlin College. Ph.D.: Edward A. Bouchet, 1876, received a Ph.D. from Yale University. In 1921, three individuals became the first U.S. black women to earn Ph.D.s: Georgiana Simpson, University of Chicago; Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, University of Pennsylvania; and Eva Beatrice Dykes, Radcliffe College. Rhodes Scholar: Alain L. Locke, 1907. College president: Daniel A. Payne, 1856, Wilberforce University, Ohio. Ivy League president: Ruth Simmons, 2001, Brown University
Literature
Novelist: Harriet Wilson, Our Nig (1859). Poet: Lucy Terry, 1746, “Bar’s Fight.” It is her only surviving poem. Poet (published): Phillis Wheatley, 1773, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. Considered the founder of African-American literature. Pulitzer Prize winner: Gwendolyn Brooks, 1950, won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Pulitzer Prize winner in Drama: Charles Gordone, 1970, for his play No Place To Be Somebody. Nobel Prize for Literature winner: Toni Morrison, 1993. Poet Laureate: Robert Hayden, 1976–1978 First black woman Poet Laureate: Rita Dove, 1993–1995. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass: Selected Speeches and Writings
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Dr. Mona Harrison
Dr. Mona Harrison received her medical training at the University of Maryland, Harvard University and the Boston University Medical Centers. She is the former assistant dean of the Boston University School of Medicine and former chief medical officer at the Washington, D.C. General Hospital. She specialized in pediatrics and family medicine. She stressed that water was a cure for our ailments. Cancer tumors cannot live in alkaline water. All cancer patients should be on alkaline water, and that you and I should be drinking alkalized water so our bodies won’t provide an environment for cancer tumors to live. Alkaline water is fantastic for insomnia and colic. The brain is 90% water and when it can’t maintain that percentage it will pull water from all other parts of the body. Strong urine odor indicates an unhealthy body. She tried to get people to comprehend that salt, caffeine, nicotine, valium, alcohol and sugar put your body out of balance. If we don’t keep our blood pH at 7.3 or above, death will occur. In fact, death will occur if the blood pH goes below 7. Through her advanced studies in the field of quantum mechanics and the laws of cellular and biological regeneration of our DNA, Dr. Harrison was led to the discovery of the value of water, its physical, psychical and spiritual properties as the key to our rejuvenation and longevity. Thus she devoted some 25 years traveling the globe and meeting with scientists from Europe, Africa and Asia who were advanced in the discoveries of this new water technology which she made available in her public lectures, which were packed with the scientific proof and evidence of the effects of this clean, sanitized water source. Working in concert with special scientists from around the world, she developed a particular kinship with several water experts from Japan who had studied with Russian Scientists in this field. She later became one of the distributors of certain Electrolysis Machines and other special waters with healing properties for humanity. She devoted the latter part of her life’s work as a service to humanity. 23 The focus february 2016
What does that mean? Alkaline
The definition of alkaline is any substance having a base pH higher than 7. pH (potential of hydrogen) is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution. The pH is measured on a scale of 0 to 14--the lower the pH the more acidic the solution, the higher the pH the more alkaline (or base) the solution. When a body is healthy, the pH of blood is 7.4, the pH of urine is 7.4, and the pH of saliva is 7.4. The pH of saliva or urine parallels the extra cellular fluid. Certain areas of the body should be more acidic than others - such as the stomach. Other areas should be more on the alkaline side. When testing the urine or saliva with pH paper sticks, aim for a level of 7.4. Certain types of food (such as broccoli) are examples of something alkaline because their pH is higher than 7.
Famous Firsts in Black History Other Areas
Licensed Pilot: Bessie Coleman, 1921. Millionaire: Madame C. J. Walker. Billionaire: Robert Johnson, 2001, owner of Black Entertainment Television; Oprah Winfrey, 2003. Portrayal on a postage stamp: Booker T. Washington, 1940 (and also 1956). Miss America: Vanessa Williams, 1984, representing New York. When controversial photos surfaced and Williams resigned, Suzette Charles, the runner-up and also an African American, assumed the title. She represented New Jersey. Three additional African Americans have been Miss Americas: Debbye Turner (1990), Marjorie Vincent (1991), and Kimberly Aiken (1994). Explorer, North Pole: Matthew A. Henson, 1909, accompanied Robert E. Peary on the first successful U.S. expedition to the North Pole. Explorer, South Pole: George Gibbs, 1939–1941 accompanied Richard Byrd. Flight around the world: Barrington Irving, 2007, from Miami Gardens, Florida, flew a Columbia 400 plane named Inspiration around the world in 96 days, 150 hours (March 23-June 27).
“I am America. I am the part you won’t recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.” Muhammad Ali (1942- ) The Greatest (1975) The focus february 2016
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‘Congo’
Art by Aaron Douglas 1898-1979 The focus JANUARY 2016
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Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a Shining Star
No Matter Who you are
Coming Summer 2016
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THIS IS WHY WE NEED BLACK HISTORY! “I don’t want a Black History month. Black history is American history.” -Morgan Freeman There are many people who will often fail to recognize the value of Black History, or Black History Month. They get sick of hearing it. Or, they feel as if all races should be recognized as one. Or, they feel that if there is a Black History month, then there should be a white history month. Or, they feel that the past is the past, and it should just be forgotten. The problem with these theories is that they don’t support the very premise on which they are supposedly based. I’m pretty sure black folks were tired of hearing about all of the accomplishments of white folks, while their accomplishments were bypassed, or even stolen. Yet, they endured that exclusion for a monumental period of time. And, yes, all races should be recognized as one. The problem is that has not happened. We have not been taught history. For hundreds of years, we have been taught white history. Certainly, one month out of the year doesn’t adequately fill that void. Black History would have to be incorporated three hundred and sixty-five days a year for hundreds of years to even begin to make up for that deficiency. To illustrate this point, I have a sign in my classroom that says: Black History Year. My new students and visitors always go to correct me, which offers a great opportunity to encourage the idea that Black History is every day of the year—that it has nothing to do with exclusion, and everything do with inclusion for individuals who spent an astronomical amount of time not being recognized for their greatness. Then I ask them who invented the light bulb, and they quickly and easily answer correctly—followed by an inquiry about who invented the filament in the light bulb so that it would last longer than two days…or who was a pioneer in developing the blood bank, at which time the room falls silent. Point made! Our history abounds with African American individuals who have, through their hard work and ingenuity, made our lives today better! Black History should not be something we celebrate during one month of the year. We have all heard of Bell, Edison and Einstein, so much so that they may be referred to by their last name alone. Until we reach the point that Black History makers become commonplace in that same capacity, where we understand more than just a few token black contributors—until Black History has been snuggly woven into the recognizable fabric of our history in general—until we reach a time when the names of black history makers quickly and easily roll off the tongues of our children, Black History Month is a necessary vehicle to begin to re-educate folks, so that American history becomes just that—American history!
JoAnnA Perkin English Chair/T.A. Wilson Academy Columnist
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Virginia Blood Services is proud to observe Black History Month and the contributions that African-Americans have made to American history. In an effort to inspire our community as well as honor these accomplishments of our history as a nation, VBS is asking for a response to support life with blood donation throughout the month of February.
Fe White Oak Village Richmond, VA Radio One Blood Drive
Donate Blood. Support Life.
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Gift cards and prizes are nontransferable, nonrefundable and not redeemable for cash.
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Those Who Made it Happen
BEAST
HERE ARE A FEW FACES TO SHOW OF THOSE WHO PAVED A WAY FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Know Some of these faces? Contact us on our facebook page and ler us know @TheFocusMagazine The focus february 2016
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Art by Gwendolyn Knight 1913-2005
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Marketing. Social Media. Bizness Branding. Event Management. Build a Show Up & Show Out! Brand. Lady Bizness is a Lifestyle Brand focused on building entrepreneurs through Social Media Engagement and Bizness Branding. We work with a number of Small Business Centers in North Carolina to provide programming for business startup & marketing.
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LOOKING GOOD AND FEELING GREAT Ms. Shamon L. Gilbert aka “Money Mon” 35 The focus february 2016
Women and men
are always looking for new ways to look good and feel great at the same time. So why not go all out for yourself and your mate everyday not just on a special occasion or holiday. Some may not even get dressed up or put on makeup until there is a special holiday/special occasion. We all have preferences, however, looking good and feeling great should be a part of everyone’s daily regimen and it can even boost your confidence level and self esteem. Statistical research has proven that in your 20’s that the sun and environmental factors, can be an effect of aging skin. A decade later in your 30’s, more water is lost which leads to drying and a decrease in the skin’s natural protection barrier. By your 40’s you begin to notice more age spots, freckles, discoloration, uneven skin tone and a decrease in moisture. In your 50’s is when gravity becomes a factor, your skin is weaker, more fragile and thinner, decreased natural oils start to lead to visible dehydration. Adding supplements to target your specific needs and combatting the signs of aging, you will want to use as an advanced age-fighting skin care regimen. With all the changes that accompany aging one may lose self-confidence, or become less attractive to themselves which can cause multiple effects on an individual physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Your face is the most important part of our body. It is the first thing you see and others see, and taking care of it is key. Lets face it you only get one face! So lets get started with your exciting journey of always looking good and feeling great! In this process you will need: oil-free eye-makeup remover, two moistened face cloths, a mirror, age-fighting 3-in-1 cleanser, day and night solution w/ SPF 3, and age-fighting moisturizer. Before cleansing the face first choose a skin care product that best fits your skin type. Skin types can range from Normal to Dry and Combination to Oily. If you don’t know exactly which type of skin you have. A test is always recommended on your hand or wrist area before application. Once you have selected the correct type of skin care then its time to start taking time out of your day for your skin care. Always start with a clean pallet. Remove any makeup from your face with an oil-free eye-makeup remover to remove the eye make up from your eyes. It is essential that you take this step because you must properly clean your eyes to prevent infections, and to promote a healthier eye area all together. To apply, squeeze a dime-sized onto a cotton ball, or face pad and gently wipe-off eye area and any make-up, debris, or any other types of environmental elements. You will only need this amount because a little goes a long way. Next, you would need to moisten your face with a splash of warm water or a warm face towelette. Apply age-fighting 3-in-1 cleanser to all areas of the face and massage into pores in an upward circular motion. Be sure you do not get it in your eyes. Rinse or wipe off with a dampened cloth. Apply a dime -sized amount of the age-fighting day solution for (daytime) and age-fighting night solution for (nighttime), Do not rinse. This formula repairs, freshens, protects, and rejuvenates the skins natural agents. The tiny bubbles in the night solution explode into your pores releasing natural vitamins and minerals, such as: vitamins A,C,D,E. These agents penetrate the dermis/epidermis to promote more better feeling, vibrant, and healthier looking skin. The most important and final step is applying your age-fighting moisturizer. Apply a dime-sized amount to all areas of your face massage into face in an upward circular motion. Remember ladies and gentlemen a little goes a long way. These three products together as a set provide your skin with eleven age-defying benefits. By cleansing, exfoliating, freshening, energizing, hydrating, smoothing, visibly firming, softening, protecting, renewing, and reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, using this precious product is a true win-win situation, in which you pamper yourself, and save time/money in three easy steps. I am most positive that all of us have had days where we wish we have had more of all three! This is a twice daily regimen of pure pampering, only 10-15 minutes twice daily a maximum total of 30 minutes daily to promote your skin to looking good and feeling great! You only get one face! Be encouraged to enhance your beauty women, as for men, your handsomeness daily! Be disciplined with applying this skin care regimen to your life, and you will quickly see results! This makes for a seamless transition on holidays/occasions, such as the ones we have in this month; Valentines Day, Presidents Day, and Black History month. As always applying healthier habits and taking care of your skin, enhances your beauty and your confidence and you will continue to Look Good and Feel Great! Best Wishes, Ms. Shamon L. Gilbert aka “Money Mon” “Remember always dress for success”
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Art by Kehinde Wiley 37The focus february 2016
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FOCUSED
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RADIO Nufocus October 2015