SEED boarding school in Washington D.C.

This video is of the SEED boarding school in Washington D.C. serving primarily impoverished American children of Afrikan descent.
The short version:

The full episode:

Watch CBS News Videos Online
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Jonathan McCoy - Lift every voice and cry

AfriCanVIP presents Jonathan McCoy's Motivational Speech



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The Emancipation of Cuban Rumba

The Emancipation of Cuban Rumba

Cuba, the origin of the Salsa movement is back with a lot of fire.
The documentary about Afro-Cuban culture.
How it started, how it is conserved and how it is lived today.

Rumba celebrates life through singing, dancing and drumming. It is a "festival of sound and movement" created through the unison of different cultures, traditions and art forms. It is a mirror that reflects the social, political, religious, and economic conditions surrounding those who create, play, and dance rumba. Rumba evolved from many different musical influences, emerging as a mixture of Afro-Cuban traditions and a diverse, rapidly changing, and extremely expressive culture. It has, and continues to have, a dramatic impact on music today, and is especially recognizable in the extremely popular offshoot known as salsa.

There are three main types of rumba that dominate today - yambu, guaguanco, and columbia. Each descended from the ancestral music and dance brought to Cuba from Africa.
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Mexico's African Presence

This post goes out to Brother Seko of the Imani Foundation who began teaching on this subject (The African presence in the Latino/Hispanic/Chicano) back in the mid 1990s. - Imani

Photo: (Right) Brother Elder Runoko Rashidi with an (Left) Afro-Mexican !

While the spanish where conquering countries througout the Americans they brought free africans over to mexico such as Juan Garrido (born in west african) Even though africans helped the spanish fight battles they were not treated equally beacuse they were african. Afrter the battles many natives had died in mexico, while others faught hard for freedom.In order to produce more labor African Slaves were taken to mexico by the spanish from the coast of Ghana to Angola. Many Africans who were slaves intermarried with natives. Most Afro Mexicans are Zambo (African & Native mixture)

http://blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/2008/11/lesson-18-of-26-black-mexicans.html

Gasper Yanga was one the greatest leaders in slavery. He was a Gabonese who helped african slaves build palenques to esacape the cruelty of slavery. Francisco de la Matosa who was Angolan also helped right battles against the spanish as they destroyed maroon towns. the battle lasted many years and the spanish was unable to defeat the africans. They decided to sign a treaty in the town of veracruz and today it still remains Yanga town.

http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1935-african-roots-stretch-deep-into-mexico

Costa Chica has the largest black population in Mexico. While other areas such Veracruz, and Yucatan have a significant black population.

The song ‘La Bamba’, a traditional folk song and dance, was originally a song sung by African slaves in Veracruz as they worked, since many of the enslaves brought to Mexico by the Spaniards, came from Angola and Congo, with the Africans who originated the song hailing from the MBamba peoples of Angola. Bamba is the name of an African tribe in Angola and in Congo, from the Bamba River, where the MBamba peoples lived. As enslaves, they brought their beautiful culture with them, and the original origins of this song, over 500 years ago, and as so very often, with enslaved Africans in the new world, they fought against enslavement, running away and joining up with the indigenous peoples in the rain forests and mountainous areas.

The song also refers to a specific incident which occurred in the year 1683, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, when pirates attacked the people, free and enslaved, living there. The Spanish officials of Veracruz mistreated the enslaves so horribly that they rebelled in what was known as the “Bambarria”, an enslave uprising that pitted the African enslaves and Indians against the Spanish. (New Spain as it was called, because at the time, the country we now know as Mexico, did not exist as a nation, until approximately 200 years later, when in 1810, Mexico/New Spain gained its independence from Spain).







Refferences:
(1) “MEXICO IN THE CONTEXT OF THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE”, By BOBBY VAUGHN: http://www.blackelectorate.com/articles.asp?ID=1373

UNHCR – REFWORLD: “WORLD DIRECTORY OF MINORITIES AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE – MEXICO: AFRO-MEXICANS”: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,463af2212,49709c232,49749ce5c,0.html

“SE HABLA ESPANOL (TAMBIEN SE CANTA, SE BAILA, Y SE ESCRIBE), By Alexander J. Reyes: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2006/2/06.02.06.x.html

LA BAMBA: CANCION DE VERACUZ: “A SONG THAT STARTED IN 1683″: http://www.johntoddjr.com/143%20Bamba/bamba.htm
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This Man Jesus - Minister Louis Farrakhan

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan delivers a message on meanings of Easter and Jesus to the members and guests of Mosque Maryam during Easter Sunday of 2001.

If Jesus is the Prime Example, and he said, 'I of myself can do nothing, but whatsoever the Father Wills, that I do.', he is telling you that he is dependent. He is not Sovereign Lord. He is dependent upon a Power bigger than himself. Well, that example should be studied by us, for the Qur'an teaches us that Allah loves not any self-conceited boaster, who goes about the land exultingly."

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Small Business Advice - Andrew Morrison

Andrew Morrison's Small Business Advice:

Financing Your Dreams with $0 Down!

Over 225 people are holding themselves accountable to reach a BIG 16 week goal. You can still join us at http://www.16weekchallenge.com/ . One of the biggest issues that people face is how to fund their 16 week goal. Where do you get the money? How do I write a proposal? What should I offer in return for the money? I plan to answer these and more questions on a seminar-by-phone entitled, “Financing Your Dreams with $0 Down!” You can register at http://smallbusinesscamp.com/?page_id=269 to get the phone number. Until then watch the video below:

Here are a few of the concepts that I will share online:

1. Attitude is everything. I know times may be tough, but you have to develop a winning attitude. No one wants to invest in someone who sees themselves as a loser.

2. Be realistic. Have you generated a return for any investors in the past? If not, you want to set a small fund raising goal. And then use this success to go after more money in the future.

3. Who is on your team? People don’t like to invest in a one-person operation. Reach out to a few friends and see if you can add them to your management team.

4. Simple projects sell. Investors want to invest in project that will generate revenue ASAP. Select a project that you can easily manage and flawlessly execute. Book, special event, advertising program and website launch are all focused projects that can show a return.

5. Run the numbers. Come in with a clear understanding of your business model and revenue drivers. You should also be familiar with comparable financial ratios in your industry.

6. Keep Asking. A “No” should be followed with, “Do you know of anyone who would be interested?” Get mentally tough to ask 99 people before your first YES!

7. Get in the News. Investors like concepts that can generate free publicity which in-turn attracts new customers.

8. Use online and micro-lending organization. Project Enterprise in NYC and Virgin Money represents the new trend toward non-traditional lending.

9. Share a 1-page plan. You may still need the 30-page business plan but a one pager is often enough to see if this person is really interested in becoming an investor. Join http://smallbusinesscamp.com/?page_id=269 and I will share with you a sample proposal.

10. Celebrate your victory. Host a party to thank the individuals who made your success possible.

A recording will be available from the call tonight. Sign-up to gain access. I trust these tips will help you secure the funding to pursue their dreams.

Expect the Best,

Andrew Morrison
President, Small Business Camp

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Tell Our Children Our History - Dr. John Henrik Clarke

Tell our children our history part one & part two.

John Henrik Clarke (January 1, 1915 - July 16, 1998), born John Henry Clark, was a Pan-Africanist American writer, historian, professor, and a pioneer in the creation of Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the late 1960s.

He was Professor of African World History and in 1969 founding chairman of the Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College of the City University of New York. He also was the Carter G. Woodson Distinguished Visiting Professor of African History at Cornell University’s Africana Studies and Research Center. In 1968 along with the Black Caucus of the African Studies Association, Clarke founded the African Heritage Studies Association.

A self-educated intellectual, Clarke documented the histories and contributions of African peoples in Africa and the diaspora, creating an Afrocentric perspective.

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Success comes by choice - Del McNeal

Delatorro L. McNeal, II has been transforming the lives of people from all walks of life. As an internationally renowned Professional Speaker and Best Selling Author, Delatorro has spoken in 45 of the 50 US states, and has delivered well over 1000 presentations to major corporations, colleges and universities, professional associations, conventions, churches, and leadership conferences. If he looks familiar, it’s because Delatorro has been featured on national and worldwide television networks like Fox News, NBC, BET, TBN, Daystar, Oxygen, and The Word Network as well as syndicated radio shows all across America. His website is http://www.delmcneal.com . This video was originally aired on a Christian-based television show.

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Oprah Winfrey Commencement Speech 2008

Oprah Winfrey's Commencement Speech 2008 for Stanford University:


"The world has so many lessons to teach you. I consider the world, this Earth, to be like a school and our life the classrooms. And sometimes here in this Planet Earth school the lessons often come dressed up as detours or roadblocks. And sometimes as full-blown crises. And the secret I've learned to getting ahead is being open to the lessons, lessons from the grandest university of all, that is, the universe itself.

It's being able to walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is going to best help you evolve, 'cause that's really why we're here, to evolve as human beings. To grow into more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion and growth.

I think about one of the greatest compliments I've ever received: I interviewed with a reporter when I was first starting out in Chicago. And then many years later, I saw the same reporter. And she said to me, "You know what? You really haven't changed. You've just become more of yourself."

And that is really what we're all trying to do, become more of ourselves. And I believe that there's a lesson in almost everything that you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward. It's how you enrich your spirit. And, trust me, I know that inner wisdom is more precious than wealth. The more you spend it, the more you gain."

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Setting Fire to your goals - Tori Brown

Ann "Tori" Brown The Diva of Motivation Ann "Tori" Brown ...

Ann "Tori" Brown The Diva of Motivation @ Yahoo! Video

If you are receiving this correspondence via email and are not able to view the accompanying video please visit http://www.blackimprovementmedia.blogspot.com/ to watch the video described in the above text or follow this link: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4081435/11016132 . The views expressed in the media presented on this site are not necessarily the views and opinions of the Imani Foundation, our members, staff, or sponsors. Find us on FACEBOOK under the name "The Black Improvement Movement". Subscribe to our posts by emailing imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .