International Women's Day

"Fearless Girl" The Wall Street Bull Meets His Match

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action, and the theme for 2017 is "Be Bold For Change."

This holiday has been observed for over a century. In 1975, International Women's Day was celebrated for the first time by the United Nations. Then in December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.  The issues that women faced a hundred years ago are not that much different than the ones we face today, and the problems we face in our community are not that different across the globe. Everyone is encouraged to commemorate the day in her own unique way and work with other women to bring change. This is a year of activism, and International Women's Day is a catalyst.

"So make a difference, think globally and act locally!

Make everyday International Women's Day.

Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding."

Breastfeeding Hits Fashion Week

“Birth is the epicenter of a woman’s power. And we are so powerful! Happy Women’s History Month.”

Black Breastfeeding Week was celebrated in August but for Diandra Forrest getting the message out is important every day of the year.  We all want to give our children the best start in life but for many reasons the benefits of breastfeeding have not reached the African American community. Statistics show that less than 55% of Black mothers are actively involved in breastfeeding.  Compared to other groups the numbers are very low for breastfeeding while the black infant mortality rate is high. Black babies are dying at twice the rate (in some place, nearly triple) the rate of white babies. According to the CDC, increased breastfeeding among black women could decrease infant mortality rates.  The CDC states that, "This persistent gap in breastfeeding rates between black women and women of other races and ethnicities might indicate that black women are more likely to encounter unsupportive cultural norms, perceptions that breastfeeding is inferior to formula feeding, lack of partner support, and an unsupportive work environment." Reasons for this might be the lack of support and the lack of spreading the word on the benefits of nursing in Black communities.

Fortunately, we have mothers like model Diandra Forrest who are advocating to change the image of birth and breastfeeding. Diandra who struts the runways of New York Fashion Week posted pictures on Instagram while nursing her baby daughter, Rain. The pictures were from a shoot called   “The Rebirth of Love,” by photographer, Joey Rosado of Island Boi Photography, and was the brainchild of makeup artist and creative director Moshoodat Sanni. Of course, there was some backlash but  Diandra who is accustom to being scrutinized as one of the few albino models in the fashion industry was up to the challenge. As she explains in a Yahoo Style interview, “I think, too often, women’s bodies are looked at in a sexual manner. So when there is a woman breastfeeding her child, which is nurturing and natural, it may seem wrong if your mind isn’t in the right place.”

The benefits of nursing, definitely, out weight the negativity.  Nursing ignites the hormones that increase the bonding between mother and child,  allows the mother's body to heal quicker, provides the right nutrition for the baby and is cheaper than formula. Also mothers who nurse are more inclined to eat healthy. However, for new mothers having a support system is most important. As Diandra explains, “I love the connection that it’s allowed me to have with my daughter and knowing that she is getting all of the nutrients that she needs. It’s important to speak about it because breastfeeding is actually very hard to do. Between the bleeding nipples, feeding every hour, and sleep deprivation, I wouldn’t have made it a week without lots of support.”

"All breastfeeding women need support, but specific interventions might be needed among populations with lower breastfeeding prevalence," suggest the CDC. To get more information and assistance visit Black Breastfeeding Week and La Leche.  Black Breastfeeding Week is all about encouraging black women to keep breastfeeding, connect with other breastfeeding moms, post breastfeeding selfies and more. La Leche has encouraged mothers to nurse for 60 years. Their mission is to help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother. Their helpline number is 877-4 LA LECHE (452-5324). As women move through their journey of motherhood there is no need to be alone and isolated. Finding and building community is an important part of the job. Women's empowerment is very important in the community. As Diandra signs off on her Instagram picture, “Birth is the epicenter of a woman’s power. And we are so powerful! Happy Women’s History Month.”

Africa's Great Civilizations

This week check out Professor Henry Louis Gate's new six-hour series, Africa’s Great Civilizations on PBS.  Gates takes a new look at the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century.  Young adults need to hear these stories even though the story of colonialism can be very disturbing. The challenge is how to empower young people to embrace their history without the anger that can be crippling. Watch it together but be prepared to discuss their questions.

http://wlww.thirteen.org/unucategorized/africas-great-civilizations-six-hour-series/

Celebrating African American History Month and Beyond

Pinkster Reenactment

As a child, I always wondered why we didn't have African American holidays. Since then I have learned that our ancestor in slavery observed the holidays of their masters but in their own way. This became a time to unite with family and communicate with each other. They also used this as a time to sell and exchange goods in order to better their circumstances. In spite of oppressive conditions, holidays became an incubator for the creation of African American culture in music, song, dance and storytelling. Their spirit of resistance and resilience allowed them to survive in spite of slavery.

Today we recognize and celebrate many special days that have been part of African American History, and the number keeps growing.  Here is a calendar of Holidays and Days of Remembrance that we can share with family and children this year. Please share with us how you celebrate African American culture and any holidays you think should be added to the list.

January 1         Watch Night!  The Watch Night Services in African American communities can be traced back to gatherings on December 31, 1862. On that night, Blacks came together in churches and private homes all across the nation, anxiously awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation actually had become law. When the news was received, there were prayers, shouts and songs of joy as people fell to their knees and thanked God. Today many Black churches still commemorate that day as a day of prayer, thanksgiving and spiritual liberation.

January 1     Signing of the  Emancipation Proclamation commemorates January 1, 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed the document that freed slaves in confederate states.

January 15        Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday - MLK was born January 15, 1929. His birthday is celebrated as a national holiday the third Monday of January. Now it has become a special day of service where everyone is encouraged to volunteer in their community.

February 1-28   African American History Month - was started by Carter Woodson in 1926 as Negro History Month, and then expanded to the whole month.

February 4        Rosa Parks Birthday

February 28     Mardi Gras - "Fat Tuesday," is the last day of the Carnival season and always falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Celebrated with parties, concerts and parades.

May 19             Malcolm X Birthday

May 29            Memorial Day celebrated the last Monday of May has its origins in 1865 when former slaves in South Carolina wanted to honor Union  Soldiers

June 19          Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States.  Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation - which had become official January 1, 1863.

June 4              Pinkster  celebrated the seventh Sunday after Easter refers to the Dutch festivals held by African Americans (both free and slave) in the Northeastern United States, particularly in the early 19th century. For the African slaves, Pinkster was a time free from work and a chance to gather and catch up with family and friends. Today this holiday is celebrated at Philipsburg Manor

381 N. Broadway,  Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591. Festivities include lively presentations of drumming and traditional dance, African folktales, and demonstrations of traditional African instruments and utilitarian wares.

August 28        March on Washington was held on August 28, 1963 where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, a landmark of the Civil Rights Movement.

December 26- January 1   Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States and in other nations of the Western African diaspora in the Americas. The celebration honors African heritage and African-American culture, and is observed from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a feast and gift-giving. Kwanzaa has seven core principles (Nguzo Saba).

Beyonce Reawakens the Fertility Goddess in Her Grammy Appearance

"My intention for the film and album was to create a body of work that would give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness and our history. To confront issues that make us uncomfortable. It's important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror — first through their own families, as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys — and see themselves. And have no doubt that they're beautiful, intelligent and capable. This is something I want for every child of every race, and I feel it's vital that we learn from the past and recognize our tendencies to repeat our mistakes."
                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                     Beyonce

This past Sunday very pregnant Beyonce ignited a fire of goddess power in her visually appealing and very poignant Grammy performance. Using the archetypal image of the Madonna and Oshun (goddess of love, beauty and fertility), she celebrated motherhood, family and the strength of the female spirit. Motherhood for African American women has always been complicated filled with joy and fear, and rarely celebrated.

From the time we arrived on the shores of America being a Black mother has never been easy but Beyonce reminds us it can be a powerful experience. She is an artist who has displayed courage, taken risk and used her platform to explore issues close to the African American community. Her message was clear. Female relationships especially between mothers and daughters are important.  These relationships just like birth and motherhood are sacred. Against a backdrop of stereotypes, we can choose to define ourselves, find our voice and speak our truth. We can embrace the ancient wisdom that teaches us to be strong and love ourselves.

Black History Month

Welcome! Maple Sugar Child has been on hiatus for awhile, taking care of children became a priority last year. Of course, children always have to come first but now I am back with lots to share as we celebrate Black History Month and the African American Child. Returning in time for Black History Month is significant.  We celebrate African American achievement all year long but February gives us an opportunity to access how far we have come and what direction we need to go.  Sometimes African American children are not aware of the important role young people have played in our history. February is the best time to remind them.

Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Celebrate Martin Luther King's Day as a day of service year round by transforming his  dream and teachings into building and empowering your community. Visit this website for more information /www.nationalservice.gov/mlkday.



                                                          I Have A Dream

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

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.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a 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 if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village 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!”