HAPPY BIRTHDAY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King!

January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born.

He grew to become one of the greatest Social Activists the world has ever known. at 35, he became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace prize.

He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 while making a speech from the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee.

His Birthday became a National Holiday by an act of Congress in 1983.

Dr. King I thank you for being such a great example for the world.
When I think of Dr. King I think of Love, Peace, Unity, Freedom... and OBAMA!! I'm so grateful for the life he lived and the path he created.

I can't imagine what life could've been like if Dr. Martin Luther King was never born

Address at March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (Aug 1963)
"Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

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IT'S OFFICIALLY 2010!

Hello World!! (I'm back)

HAPPY NEW YEARS!! IT'S OFFICIALLY 2010!
(FEELING BLESSED AND THANKFUL TO SEE ANOTHER YEAR)


I'm excited about this new year! New Year! New Start!

First I want to summarize all of the Kwanzaa Principles

The Kwanzaa Principles are good to recognize and demonstrate all through the year

The foundation of Kwanzaa are the Seven Principles, or Nguzo Saba. When Dr. Karenga created the celebration of Kwanzaa he wanted to reflect the best qualities and characteristics of the "first fruit" or harvest festivals that were celebrated throughout Africa. It was these qualities that established the Nguzo Saba, or Seven Principles of Kwanzaa. (Nguzo Saba is Kiswahili for Seven Principles).


The Seven Principles (Nguzo Saba) of Kwanzaa are:

Umoja (Unity)
Kujichagulia (Self-determination)
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
Nia (Purpose)
Kuumba (Creativity)
Imani (Faith)


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UMOJA
Umoja (ooh-MOE-jah) means Unity, and it is the principle for the first day
of Kwanzaa. Our families and communities need unity in order for them to be
productive and to survive. On this day, we pledge to strive for -- and to maintain
-- unity in the family, in the community, in the nation that we have helped to build,
and with our PEOPLE.

===

KUJICHAGULIA
Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-ah) means self-determination
and is the second day of Kwanzaa. On this day, we pledge to define
ourselves, to NAME ourselves, to create for ourselves, and to speak for ourselves,
instead of being defined, named by, created for and spoken for by others.
On this day we design for ourselves a positive future and then vow to make that
prophecy -- that DREAM -- a self-fulfilling one.

====

UJIMA
Ujima (ooh-GEE-mah) is the third day of Kwanzaa and means "collective work
and responsibility". On this day we celebrate working together in the community to
help others. For Ujima, we pledge to rebuild our communities and to help our people
solve our own problems by working together to do it.

===
UJAMAA
Ujamaa (OOH-jah mah) means cooperative economics and is the fourth day
of Kwanzaa. On this day of Kwanzaa, we pledge to develop our own businesses
and to support them, to maintain shops, stores and industry that contribute to
the well-being of our community and to drive out businesses (boycott, etc.) that take
FROM our communities and give nothing back.

=====

NIA
Nia (NEE-ah) is the fifth day of Kwanzaa and it means "purpose". On this day,
we pledge to build and develop our communities, our schools and our families.
We also pledge to provide a strong communal foundation from which our children
can develop into strong and productive people.

=====

KUUMBA
Kuumba (koo-OOM-bah) is the sixth day of Kwanzaa, and it means "creativity".
On this day, we pledge several things. We pledge to do whatever
we can to make our communities and homes more beautiful
and better than we found them. We also pledge to use our creative
talents and energies to improve young minds and hearts.


=====

Imani
Imani (ee-MAH-nee) is the seventh and last day of Kwanzaa. Imani means faith.
On this day, the beginning of the new year we pledge to believe with all our hearts
and minds in our people, our parents, our good and dedicated teachers and leaders,
and in the greater good of the work we do with and for one another, for the community
and for the PEOPLE.

www.theholidayspot.com/kwanzaa/sevendays.htm





Like I said earlier... IT'S 2010!!

New start, new focuses, new visions and a new year!!
I'm very excited about this year. Hoping and praying for a beautiful year.

I started my year off by doing things I said I wanted and needed to do...
I'm still sticking to the Healthy Hair Challenge - drinking 64 oz. of water per day for 6 weeks. (Thanks to this beautiful site... it really inspired me to really push to drink more water - )I'm hoping to continue the water drinking for the rest of my life.

Water is soooo important and it's one of those things I need to do on a constant basis.





I read on a site that "Water consumption is the key to keeping skin supple, moist and soft. The finest approach to moisturize is definitely from the inside. Drinking ample amount of pure water can even delay your skin aging process.

More drinking water benefits regularly include the significant reduction and prevention of many common sicknesses - like back pain, headaches, ulcers, hypertension, asthma, arthritis, morning sickness, fatigue, and even hangovers.

Pure water is a natural healer. Continuous regeneration of bones, skin, nails, hair, organ lining, damaged nerves, and many other normal bodily functions are reliant on a healthy consumption of pure water."


We all need WATER - so drink to your health

www.health-plus-fitness.com/2009/04/10-great-health-benefits-of-water.html


Health this year is a big deal to me and I want to be as healthy as I can.
I need strength and health in order to accomplish goals I have set for myself.

I started off with my walking group today!
The walk was great this morning although I know... I'm going to be so sore in the morning BUT I will endure. I had my water with me (smiling) and after the walk this morning I drank 64 oz in about an hour. I didn't stop there... I actually kept drinking for the remainder of my day and I feel good about it.

Physical Fitness is also important to me this year and ENDURANCE!!




Endurance - noun

1. the fact or power of enduring or bearing pain, hardships, etc.
2. the ability or strength to continue or last, esp. despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina: He has amazing physical endurance.
3. lasting quality; duration: His friendships have little endurance.

Endurance can be applied to so many areas in my life
(no need to list them all here!! LOL!! BUT you can imagine)

On the walk of life... you will sometimes see and stumble into curves, pot holes, grass valleys with lil flowers and sometimes you'll find a cactus plant here or there LOL! THATS WHERE ENDURANCE comes into play.


Raising my glass of wate to Faith,Endurance, Water & Walking for 2010!
(and of course... you know I gotta keep it SASSY)

Here are a couple of links to check out

www.womensheart.org/content/Exercise/starting_a_walking_program.asp
http://www.sexxisassylocked.blogspot.com/
http://www.naturalsunshine.ning.com/
http://www.tnochcorporation.com/
http://www.thecurvyfashionista.mariedenee.com/