God Made Adam Before He MADE Eve

"Respect yourself by respecting me"

We Follow Your Lead
BY Cheryl 'Salt' James

Of Course a Chick had to Be First:-)

Yes. It's still Black History Month and...yes. I'm dropping a bit o' history on ya'll:-)

Check out the earliest known piece of literature by a black writer in North America. Although she was still a slave, Lucy Terry's poem was the most accurate account of a deadly raid that devastated a small New England town in 1746. It wasn't published until many years later (1855) in Josiah Holland's History of Western Massachusetts.

It's not the most beautiful poem I've ever read, but the historic significance of it gets me all giddy:-)

enjoy!

The Bar's Fight
BY Lucy Terry

Seventeen hundred forty-six
The Indians did in ambush lay
Some very valiant men to slay
The names of whom I'll not leave out
Samuel Allen like a hero fout
And though he was so brave and bold
His face no more shall we behold.

Eleazer Hawks was killed outright
Before he had time to fight
Before he did the Indians see
Was shot and killed immediately.

Oliver Amsden he was slain
Which caused his friends much grief and pain.
Samuel Amsden they found dead
Not many rods off from his head.
Adonijah Gillet we do hear
Did lose his life which was so dear.

John Saddler fled across the water
And so escaped the dreadful slaughter.
Eunice Allen see the Indians comeing
And hoped to save herself by running
And had not her petticoats stopt her
The awful creatures had not cotched her
And tommyhawked her on the head
And left her on the ground for dead.

Young Samuel Allen, Oh! lack a-day
Was taken and carried to Canada.

*Source

Do You Know - Lynn Procope?

If you don't know, now you know:-)

Lynne Procope hails from Trinidad and Tobago and is a full-time poet/ teaching artist living in New York. In over 10 years on the poetry scene, she has made quite a name for herself! In addition to being one of the founders of the New York City louderARTS Project,Lynn was also a member of the Nuyorican Poetry Slam team that went on to win the 1998 National Poetry Slam Championship in Austin, TX.

Her work is influenced by her experiences as a woman and often speaks to the trials of marginalized populations. She is an awesome performer, but her real strength is in her writing. Every line is packed with so much depth that you often have to re-read/ rewind to catch the full meaning. An absolute lyrical master, Lynn is pretty much the defintitin of a deep sister. Some of her most famous works include "Elemental Woman", "Flectere" and "Evidence of Injury".

check her out in this interview -


watch her slam!

On Second Thought
By Lynn Procope
"Black girls in short shorts and last summer’s high heeled shell toes
Blacker than we were last year or a month ago because finally, finally the sun
Black girls in head wraps the season we discovered Africa on Fulton st
Black girls in low, low rise jeans the year our city burned
And all we could do was hold each other’s hands
Laugh with our mouths wide open
Loud enough so each of us could hear the other’s tears
Smothering in the backs of our throats
Pointing to where the towers used to be to
Trying to see through the plumes of soot
Black girls who move to New York
To slay their mother’s perfect church dresses
To raise the ante on their mother’s stole ward hips
To forget the way their fathers came home
To make good on promises to all those old, old black ladies at the family reunion
To play god with their own lives, for a change"

All-Black Italian Vogue Returns — With Barbie

Loves it!! I was raised on Black Barbies and, in my all white neighborhood, it was the closest I ever came to seeing beautiful black women highlighted in pop culture. This tiny piece of plastic brown hottness showed me that pretty comes in many colors.

I'll put my inner feminist aside for the day and say - "bravo Barbie"

Check out the link for more on the feature and the history of the magnificent Black Barbie!

Stuff I Like: Why Tyra's Fat

Anyone remember when this Tyra-frenzy was the buzz up and down the streets? I re-discovered this piece that I saw live a few years ago. So so good! I don't support the title, which I believe was chosen purely for shock value, but the message is crystal clear and 100% on-point. William Evans rocked this out! let me know what you think...

"you saying
big is beautiful
as in
big is good for you
but im tyra f-ing banks!"