Black History Month is...History

This will officially be my last Black History Month post... this year. Those short 28 days will soon be past and on we, and the world, are to other things. I hope that you've watched a few great shows, remembered a few great moments and learned a few great things. I know that I did.

I spent my Black History Month catching some good programming (my husband and I just LOVE the Black List... all volumes) and I attended a Black History fair, just this past weekend, organized by my mother-in-law. I have to tell you, the Black History fair was fun and informative. For me, the highlights of the event were the presentations from the kids. How sweet and cute, each and every one. While I can't share all the presentations from the event, I did want to share my daughter's presentation... a Black History Month song/poem written by yours truly.



I know she was quite mumbly, so here are the lyrics, sung to the tune of BINGO...

I know my history I'm proud
I'm Black and I will say it loud
B L A C K, B L A C K, B L A C K,
I'm Black and proud every day!

We live a dream that's heaven sent
We have our first Black President
First Black President, First Black President, First Black President
We live a dream that's heaven sent!

BUT celebrating our contributions doesn't, and shouldn't, stop on February 28th. Continue to the take the opportunity to share with your children. Play the Black History games, watch the historic movies and definitely continue to explore your family history... heck, if you started working on family history in February, trust me your work has only just begun.

If you are interested in continuing the celebration, here are a few resources for you:
Black Heritage Trivia Game
Kids Book of Black Heros Matching Game
Kids Black Heritage Trivia Game
Brain Quest Black History Game
Roots DVD Series
Eyes on the Prize DVD
Black history books

Enjoy!

Obama Baby Welcome- Get Your Piece of Black History

I can only assume that you, like me, celebrated the momentous occasion on that cold November evening when history was made and we got our first Black president. That you, like me, held on to your voting stub (your piece of history), proudly wore your Obama t-shirt (your show of pride) and beamed on the inside, smiled from ear to ear, and let tears fall down your cheeks to show the happiness and pride in your heart. The impossible was made possible, the unthinkable was reality, history was made and we did it... Yes We Did.

I can also only assume that you, like me, think- boy are our kids lucky... no, blessed, to live during a time when we have a Black president. They didn't have to live a lifetime to see it. They see it now, in living color during their formative and innocent years. And our babies... some of which have never seen a day when America did not have a Black president will have a view on life, and possibilities, that is leaps and bounds beyond ours. When we say "you can be whatever you want," it really does mean the moon and stars because they, like us, know that a Black man was president, a Black woman was First Lady and two darling little Black girls lived and laughed in the White House.

My sweet baby Keyah was born in June 2009, right into the Obama administration. She is an Obama baby, blessed with gift of a Black president from the day she was born. So when I found out that I could get a White House Greeting for her with signatures from both Barack and Michelle Obama me, being a frantic Obama mama, jumped right on making it happen.

I beamed with pride and excitement when the envelope arrived addressed to her... how precious "Miss Keyah." Our piece of Obama history. It is something that I will treasure and preserve forever.

Now, if you've had a baby during Obama's term you have a chance to get your piece of Obama Black History too. It's free, it easy, and you owe it to your baby. So make like Nike and just do it.

Provide the following information:
Baby's name
Mailing address
Date (day, month, year) of birth
Requestor's name (You) and daytime phone number

Mail to:
The White House
Attn: White House Greetings Office Room 39
Washington, D.C. 20502-0039

Or Fax to 202-395-1232

There is no email submission option anymore. Trust me... I looked and looked and searched and searched. Your only options are fax or mail.

Both options work. Be prepared to wait. The Greetings Office is flooded with requests due to the historic nature of the Obama term (you can also get marriage, anniversary and milestone birthday greetings). Be patient, it will come. And when it arrives take caution with the envelope! Your child's name will only be on the outside of the envelope (it won't be anywhere on the inside), and you want that intact. Take time and use an envelope opener (or a knife) and cut the flap from the back.

Then... enjoy your Obama baby's piece of Black history.

Introducing Kimberly Ward

Hello my name is Kimberly. I am a designer and new contributing columnist for the soul mom blog. I am so excited to have this opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas with you. As you start to gather nursery and bedroom ideas bookmark this site and visit it often. There will be lots of new products and amazing ideas for you to try in your home.

This blog is for you. Send me your tried and true ideas and suggestions for making a better home. You might just see them in future posts. Finally, don’t forget the pictures. Send me images of your kid’s rooms, baby nurseries or playrooms. There are a lot of great ideas out there. Share them with us. We want to hear from you.

To learn more about Kimberly's inspiring design visit her blog.

The Soul Mom Expert Panel

The Soul Mom is proud to bring you experts in a variety of subjects that are important to all you soul moms out there. Look out for future posts and Q&As.

We only have two experts at the moment, but our list will grow, so be on the lookout!

Kimberly Ward- Home Design
Janice Black- Preschool Education

We are looking to expand the panel and if you are interested in joining, please contact me directly!

Black History Month Quotes

This was passed along to me and I thought that I would share it with you. Use these words for inspiration, share them with your kids or even use them for a Black History Month guessing game. Whatever you do with these quotes... enjoy them!

Top 20 Black History Month Quotations

1. I am America. I am the part you won't recognize. But get used to me. Black, confident, cocky; my name, not yours; my religion, not yours; my goals, my own; get used to me.
-- Muhammad Ali The Greatest (1975)

2. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.
-- Maya Angelou "Still I rise," And Still I Rise (1978)

3. Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.
-- Arthur Ashe quoted in Sports Illustrated

4. Just like you can buy grades of silk, you can buy grades of justice
-- Ray Charles

5. The past is a ghost, the future a dream. All we ever have is now.
-- Bill Cosby

6. There is no negro problem. The problem is whether the American people have loyalty enough, honor enough, patriotism enough, to live up to their own constitution...
-- Frederick Douglass

7. You can be up to your boobies in white satin, with gardenias in your hair and no sugar cane for miles, but you can still be working on a plantation.
-- Billie Holiday

8. Greatness occurs when your children love you, when your critics respect you and when you have peace of mind.
-- Quincy Jones

9. Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.
-- Barbara Jordan

10. Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

11. The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself—the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us—that's where it's at.
-- Jesse Owens, Blackthink (1970)

12. I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminshes fear.
-- Rosa Parks

13. Have a vision. Be demanding.
-- Colin Powell

14. Be black, shine, aim high.
-- Leontyne Price

15. God gives nothing to those who keep their arms crossed.
-- African Proverb

16. Freedom is never given; it is won.
-- A. Philip Randolph in keynote speech given at the Second National Negro Congress in 1937

17. When I found I had crossed that line, [on her first escape from slavery, 1845] I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything.
-- Harriet Tubman

18. Black people have always been America's wilderness in search of a promised land.
-- Cornel West, Race Matters

19. Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
-- Booker T. Washington

20. Yes we can.
-- Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

Black History Month Resources

I provided some thoughts on how to celebrate Black History month, but wanted to provide some additional resources and information to aid in your celebration.

I didn't mention Black History Month TV programming in my previous post, but it is definitely something to look out for. There is a lot of great programming during February and you don't want to miss it!

Listed below are some of the TV programming options that I found. If you have Comcast BOY are you lucky!! Click each for more details and check local listing for airings. Feel free to comment and add more:

• PBS- For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots 
• HBO- Black List Volume 3
• VHI Classic- Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America
• TVOne- Way Black When
• PBS- Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement
• Showtime- Why We laugh
• Gospel Music Channel- Gospel Music Channel BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards
• Gospel Music Channel- Stellar Awards
• Cable TV- Black History Month programming (On Demand and original programming)
• Comcast- Black Cinema On Demand launches

Planning a Black History Fair or just want to play some Black History games? Here are some resources:

• National Geographic's online Underground Railroad journey
• Online black history challenge
• Brainquest Black History
• Children's Black History matching game
• Black Heritage Trivia
• Biography Channel's Quoting Greatnesss quiz
• Coming Soon- The Underground Railroad video game for the PC

If you want to make your own game... go ahead! Wikipedia can be a great resource!

Looking to start on your family history? Well you have to start with a family tree. Here are some great templates to get you going.

• How to make an online family tree
• Powerpoint family tree template
• PDF family tree templates (multiple options)

Good luck and have fun!

Black History Month... Celebrate!

It's February and it's Black History Month. A time to celebrate our history, at least that's what corporate America will attempt to do. Watch TV and look for Black History commercials, there are bound to be quite a few. Maybe there are even pictures of Dr. King and President Obama on display at your child's school or your job... maybe.

So, yes, I am trying to say that Black History, in my humble opinion, has become quite commercialized. Used to try and sell more products, patronize corporate employees and parents of color all over our great nation. But it doesn't have to be that way.

We can all celebrate Black History Month in your own personal ways. We can teach our children about those things that we feel are important to know. You don't have to rely solely on your child's school to celebrate Black history and teach our kids... heck, we can do it too. And I am going to share some thoughts on two great ways.

Organize a Black History fair for your family and friends. My husband's family introduced me to this concept and I have to say... it is quite wonderful. The concept is simple, have everyone you invite prepare a Black History presentation. This can be a song, a poster board, an essay, a poem, a video... whatever your heart's desire. We also sing the black national anthem and play Black History games like trivia, photo recognition, etc. You can even make your own games like Win Lose or Draw... let your creativity flow. It's a great reason to get the family together for some fun, food and celebrating our great history.

Explore your family history. Black History doesn't always have to be about well-known figures that made things like the shoe-lasting machine, the cotton gin, the Underground Railroad or the stop light. We also have very rich history in our own families and Black History Month is a perfect time to learn more about our blood line and from what wonderful history our families arose. Both my husband and I luckily traced our history back in grade school thanks to a school project, but many people haven't. Unlike my genealogy tracing in grade school, there are tons of tools available now, like ancestry.com, familysearch.org, and genealogy.com. Start working on your family tree. Do a little research and find an interesting story to share that the entire family can be proud of... like a Civil War solider, a Negro League baseball player, or a slave. And if you have already traced your family history, try going up the branches then down another path to find relatives that you never knew.

Now here are just two ideas on how to celebrate Black History Month and there are probably thousands of others. Whatever you choose... have fun doing it and Happy Black History Month to you!

The Soul Mom

For a while now, I have had a thought about creating a website for African American moms... for Soul Moms. Not that there aren't some sites already out there, because there are. But I wanted to create something of my own that addressed all the issues that I face daily as a mom of color in the ways that I wanted them addressed. From my perspective. Issues like raising our children of color to have a strong sense of culture, combing African American kids hair, ethnic authors and book reviews, women of color and breastfeeding and so on and so forth. The list is endless....!

So this blog will be a place where these topics and issues are covered. Hopefully it will be a place where people can learn and share and right off the back I am asking for participation. Send me the topics that you want covered or explored, books that your are enjoying or recommend, activities or resources that you'd like to share. And become a follower, become a Soul Mom.

Thanks and here's to soulful motherhood!