Two words: OSCAR BOUND."From director Clint Eastwood, 'Invictus' tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africas rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africas underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match."The poem 'INVICTUS' by William Ernest Henley, from which Nelson Mandela drew strength while in prison."Out of the night that covers me,Black as the Pit from pole to pole,I thank whatever gods may beFor my unconquerable soul.In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chanceMy head is bloody, but unbowed.Beyond this place of wrath and tearsLooms but the Horror of the shade,And yet the menace of the yearsFinds, and shall find, me unafraid.It matters not how strait the gate,How charged with punishments the scroll.I am the master of my fate:I am the captain of my soul." Nelson Mandela Inspires and Creates HistoryRead more…
Watch this beautiful R&B video by Niva “Pretty Butterfly”In this beautiful and true to life R&B Soul music video featuring Niva the Diva and actor/model Will Steen, Niva sings about her triumph through abuse and opposition to go through trials and metamorphosis to become a pretty butterfly indeed.Directed by newblackmusic.netMusic by HitmastazKamal Imani ManagementSoulgriots.com/RevolutionaryARt InnertainmentAvailable at http://cdbaby.com/cd/niva
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Ladies I need to share this with you. That's what blogs are for right? Well, I recently attended the Delaware Black Awards a couple of weeks ago. I am proud to say that Big Gyrl Clothing was a finalist for the Best Retailer Award! Unfortunately we did not win, but we are all winners. Well, according to previous emails sent from DelawareBlack.com, it was going to be an elegant affair so I immediately starting thinking about a fabulous dress to make. Life becomes extremely hectic and busy in an instant and I did not get a chance to make my dress until 3am the day of. I finished the dress at 10am Friday, ran errands like a maniac, and by 6pm, was ready to attend the event. The dress is chocolate brown on the bottom and mint green on the top. There is gold detailing on the bottom of the dress with mint green and chocolate straps on top. The neckline was a braid of mint green and chocolate material. The dress was sleeveless with a train in the back. I wore my open toed gold shoes with an amber stone in the middle. They were strapped around the ankle. The event was held at the Grand Opera House which is a very popular place for comedy shows, concerts, orchestras, and other events. So my man and I finally arrived at the event. While we waiting in line I looked around excited seeing who was there and checking out other dresses. The only thing i saw were suits, business suits, jeans, a couple of plain garments, nothing elegant. Oh well, I always stand out no matter where I go, its just a positive nature and disposition that I have and carry with me, especially at a networking event. What I did not like were elevator eyes looking back at me. I will smile at everyone but most women would look like 'umph'. I am familiar with it, I have always and presently receive the Umph look everyday, but what bothers me is that 1- you are a grown a** woman looking at me like that because I have a beautiful and flattering gown on and you decided to where something casual, who's fault is that. 2- Do not hate on the big gyrl of the room and whisper and laugh when you cannot say anything to my face, who is the weak one? 3- We live in a country now that has a black president and you want to keep a petty mentality like this, come on, are you serious? I tell you ladies of BBC and I hope that I am not talking about anyone here and I pray that you do not act the same way as some of the ladies at the event was. Don't hate on the woman doing her thing. I am a fashion designer, I take risks in business, life, love, and clothing, I am not afraid of wearing anything and do not have a care in the world who talks about me. Until you live for yourself, you are not living at all. For us to overcome the major obstacles of racism, glass ceilings, etc. we must remove the hatred amongst each other. Who was standing there crying at Barack Obama's acceptance speech, Jesse Jackson. Did you know that he was on live television earlier this year saying he wanted to cut barack's testicles off? But yet despite all of this, he was overjoyed that obama won, he stood there crying tears of joy, not hatred and it takes a real man like obama to have someone who said such a thing to be there. I go through the same 'umph' situations at work but eventually the same chicks that talk all that mess, come around and ask where did I get this from, and they learn to respect me and my business. The awards night was wonderful and I met some great contacts for business. I did receive compliments on my dress as well, met some future models, and politic'd with the guys. All in all, with or without creating enemies, I had a great time. This is the first entry of the big gyrl now blog series where I will speak of various big gyrl comedies, tragedies, and life issues and successes. Hope you enjoyed this and if you are a hater or umph girl, don't you think its time you made a change? Maybe if you focused your energy on yourself instead of someone else, you will be halfway close to where they are.Keep motivated and have a fashion fabulous week!SRead more…
Friends!For the second year in a row, SisterSpeak Online Magazine has been nominated for the Black Web Awards! This year, we’ve been nominated in 2 categories as follows:Best E-Zine (We Won Last Year–our first year online!)http://www.blacktvonline.com/best-ezine/Best Site for Sistahs (We’re really proud of this category)!http://www.blacktvonline.com/best-site-for-sistahs/To win (winning is FUN!) WE NEED YOUR VOTES! We’ve got some great competition!Click the live links above to go to the Black Web Awards/Black TV Site to cast your votes for us in each category! Note–when you get to the vote page, you’ll see all the nominated sites listed first with live links. Scroll down to actually vote!YOU CAN VOTE AS MANY TIMES AS POSSIBLE between now and the ballot closing period.So Vote away–everyday (SMILES)!Let’s do this!LisaSisterSpeak Online Magazinewww.sisterspeakonline.comRead more…
