Mic on Monday: An apple a day...

Open your mouth, stick out your tongue, & say, "AAAAAAaaaaUTHENTIC!"

No HMO needed. This is just a check-up.

How's your Post-it Note sticking nowadays, or rather, how are you sticking to your Post-it Note?

You betta ack like you know what I'm talkin' bout!

Remember this.

[Cue dream sequence HERE.]

<<<Press Play.>>>

I thought I told ya'...that we won't stop.

I thought I told ya'...that we won't stop...being AUTHENTIC.

Pull out the pastels and pick up your Post-it Note for 2009. It's Springtime!

Remember: We're never closer to greatness than when we're walking foward arm in arm with fear and promise, our eyes on the horizon, our feet on the ground.

get up.

get real.

get AUTHENTIC.

m./e

WORD OF WISDOM: Pearl Bailey

People see God every day; they just don't recognize Him. - Pearl Bailey

Pearl Mae Bailey was an American singer and actress. After appearing
in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in
1946.[1] She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black
production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968. In 1986, she won a Daytime Emmy
award for her performance as a fairy godmother in the ABC After school
Special, Cindy Eller: A Modern Fairy Tale. (Source)

What up on Wednesday, AUTHENTIC!

So…we're mad late with today's post, but I had to get my hair did
(What? I got hair.) and be assured Kholi and the crew are out saving
the world one AUTHENTIC stride at a time. Nevertheless, we be lovin'
you long time…like Mariah, but ol' skool Mariah. Curls and no make
Mariah. We miss you.

Moment of silence.

Ok. Enough of that. Now, here's what you came here for…drumroll please…

WORD OF WISDOM on WEDNESDAY!

Now, no one's trying to rush you to the nearest church or synagogue so
that you can crank dat with the angels or two-step to salvation or
Harlem Shake the sins away, but as I see it, in most all religions,
God/god/Goddess is love. Therefore, religion & spiritual practices
aside, er'body love somebody or something that may be considered
god-like.

Take a moment on this hump day to see the Love that you may not
recognize on the regular. It's everywhere.

[HINT: He's 6'1, has a perma-smile, has a flare for the fantastic, and
loves you. Still not sure? Ok…he's typing this post. Still not sure?
It's me, silly. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.]

::seriously, this kid should have his own show/movie/magazine:: Yo…I'm on FIYAH!

But, seriously…

Sometimes the parentals may not support you the way you want them to.
Sometimes the friend posse may not show love the way you need them to.
Sometimes your boo is trippin. Period. Sometimes that chick at your
favorite coffee shop forgot that you said soymilk instead of skimmilk
(so…I'm personalizing on this one). And sometimes you forget that
loving yourself is kinda necessary and kinda cool and kinda worth it
and definitely AUTHENTIC. So…[INSERT my Gramma here] "love yourself,
baby."

WE LOVE YOU.

Till next time, get up. get real. get AUTHENTIC.

m./e

Mic on Monday: GET TESTED...for LOVE.

It's yet another Monday, AUTHENTIC, & I think that I will keep today's post simple.

GET TESTED...

for LOVE.

This includes but is not limited to tù familia, your friends (them backstabbers, too!), your boo/booty-call/bedfellow/friend with benefits, & last but NEVER least - YOU! And if that's not enough motivation, get tested for me. That's right people, get tested for the one who loves you most...MIKEY, baby! [Insert my Keri Hilson "Turnin' Me On" intro voice HERE]

It's been a while since my last "Hey, AIDS is real" post. But just in case some of you like reminders, here it is:

*sings*

"Don't you...evah...get...too...comfortable..."




Till next time,

get up.
get real.
get AUTHENTIC.

love,
m./e

P.S. Click the "GET TESTED" to link up with the latest stats concerning HIV/AIDS & the womenfolk.

The Saartjie Project

ok babes ... new addition... you BETTER know we love you to let you in on this!!!

here's what we found out from our loves @ The Saartjie Project ... which we cannot get enough of!!! They are the newest addition to AUTHENTIC and the collective pretty much speaks for itself ... I mean ... all we can say is ... DON'T ACT LIKE WE NEVER TOLD YA!

SAARTJIE HOMECOMING 5.2.09 - We Want You!

Calling all Women Visual Artists, Singers, Poets, Dancers & Musicians!!


To celebrate the anniversary of Sara Saartjie Baartman’s homecoming to South Africa and to support our growing programs and performances, The Saartjie Project is pleased to put out a call for Women Artists -- visual & performing -- to participate in our Homecoming Celebration on Saturday, May 2, 2009 at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop in Washington DC.


Since The Saartjie Project's August 2008 debut, we have performed in sold out shows extending into 2009. This year, we are scheduled to perform in upcoming venues including the Capital Fringe Fest in DC and The International Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed Conference in Minneapolis.


Email a link to your work and a bio to homecoming@thesaartjieproject.org for consideration.


Deadline to submit your work for consideration is April 1, 2009.

Hey Loves!

So ... we know we've been kinda distant lately!

::Sighhhhh:: Nooo, Noooo, it's not YOU! It's US!

Really!

We've been trying to get some BIG things together for you guys! But that means we've been BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!

So .. don't hate us ... so far we've been to NY, San Fran, Oakland, and we're heading to ATL next week! Stay tuned for the pics! and everybody say "Thanks, Mikey!" for holdin' it down for the girls while we've been gone!

Thannnnnks Mikey!!!

Word of Wisdom: Little Girls & Hand Games

Sometimes we forget to be the kids we once were. The world eats away at our innocence in various ways. We become more cognizant of time and it's indifference to our emotions and trials.

Happiness becomes equated with money and job security. Status becomes more than who was kickball champion at recess. Lies become easier to tell. To ourselves. To our loved ones.



Clothes have to match and be trendy and not just armor against mudpies and grass stains.



AUTHENTIC, take some time out of today and remember what it was like to be a kid without fears beyond those under your bed and no Saturday morning cartoons.


Please do your self a favor & check out the author Kyra Gaunt The Games Black Girls Play:Learning the Ropes From Double Dutch to Hip-Hop. She's phenomenal. Quite AUTHENTIC.



get up.
get real.
get AUTHENTIC.

m./e

Mic on Monday: Opening Doors

Good day, AUTHENTIC!

Young men are taught to open doors for ladies. Young women are taught to enter these doors and cross these thresholds. However, when a young man fails to open a door for a lady or when a young woman fails to enter the door and cross the threshold, both are considered deviants or less than man or less than woman.

This weekend my boyfriend took me on a tour of the local aquarium. The animals, the sea life, the people were great. The smells...not so much. But I digress. During one portion of the tour, I witnessed a young girl (no more than 3 or 4 years old) standing with her hands akimbo, complaining to her parents. The father was holding the door open for the little girl and her mother. The mother passed through the door and waited for the young girl to follow suit. However, this precious little mama had something on her mind. As I got closer within earshot, I could hear her explaining to her father, "I want to hold the door for myself." The father watched somewhat amused and a bit confused. Enter the mother. Mom recrossed the threshold and squatted down to eye-level for her daughter and said, "When a man holds a door open for you, you walk through it. You are a lady. That's what ladies do."

"But I'm not lady. I'm a little girl," replied the smart little girl...with some stank on it.

"Well, little girls become ladies when they grow up," explained the mother.

"No they don't!"

"Not if they act like you. Now quit causing a scene and get through this door," commanded the mother.

The father had checked out of this exchange and had focused his attention on the growing bundle of people waiting to walk through the door his daughter sought diligently to not walk through. And this is where my pissedoffedness enters. The mother smacked the little girl on the cheek, grabbed her hand, and told the father, "Come on. We gotta go. She's probably just sleepy and cranky."

Views on corporeal punishment aside, this situation upset me and puzzled me.

Why couldn't the parents allow the little girl to open the door for herself? Why did the mother equate ladyhood with crossing thresholds? Why was the father absent from the conversation?

Am I the only person who thinks that this would have been the perfect opportunity for the parents to recognize their daughter's desire for independence as a growing woman? Why did they not encourage her self-reliance?

Ladies of AUTHENTIC, I need answers.

Till next time...

get up.

get real.

get AUTHENTIC.

m./e

WORD OF WISDOM .... x2!!!

Hey Ladies!  As always!  Mikey's ON IT!  Clearly he had your W.O.W. wayyyyy before I could even get myself away from grading papers and reading 400 pages of 2oth century Black Radical thought to think about you!  But come onnnnn ... WHO LOVES YOU BABY?!?

Soooo ... ok.  I fold.  Maybe Mikey loves you more today. :(

But Look what I brought you!  

Toni Cade Bambara

loves you too!

(so ya ... pay attention!  take notes. -_-)

Sister Warrior,

You called me up without knowing. Through repetition, through attraction. I saw people putting my name on your door. Saw you holding onto that old copy of the The Black Woman. Saw you mis-spelling “irresistable” everywhere you went.

What asha says about you and Audre is true for us. I would have loved you. And I do, through the sisters and daughters who I have sent into your life, who have carried me to you with love. Cheryll, Nikky, Kai and Aishah are the living doorways for our ongoing love. Of course we would love each other, and hear me when they tell you of their love, and I will be listening when you remember to tell them.

Now listen. The most urgent thing to tell you is that your health and the future of this world are caught up intimately. Center your wholeness. Start your day with feeding your spirit, feeding yourself before you get to everyone else you want to feed. And use our examples to truly understand what it means for this culture to be cancerous, and yet to still be the place we live. Grapple with that as you love yourself, as you love your community, as you make choices as to what and who your time and energy will embrace, and as you notice the limits of your body young one, remember your spirit, because we are all here, cheering, laughing, remembering and waiting for you to practice and fulfill being whole and at home.

With all the urgency of morning,

Toni Cade

(source)

I mean DO NOT ACT like you can't use TWO Words of Wisdom this Wednesday.  COME ON!

Stay Real.  Stay AUTHENTIC.

Word of Wisdom: Eleanor Holmes Norton

“There are not many males, black or white, who wish to get involved with a woman who's committed to her own development” - Eleanor Holmes Norton

Born June 13, 1937, this mover and shaker of patriarchial and socio-econmomic hindrances is a Delegate to Congress representing the District of Columbia. In her position, Eleanor Holmes Norton is able to serve on and vote with committees, as well as speak from the House floor. However, she is not permitted to vote on final passage of any legislation because she is not a full member of Congress. In the early 1970s, Eleanor Holmes Norton was a signer of the Black Woman’s Manifesto, a classic document of the Black feminist movement. (Source)

Spring is near and the birth of blossoms carry Mother Universe's promise of second chances and new life. Growth is integral to good health & success. Remember this when your commitment to your worth's manifestation begins to pale.

Get the hump out ya' back.

get up.
get real.
get AUTHENTIC.

m./e

What to DO? What to DO?

Hey, Babes! Looking for something to do this weekend? Are you in Philly? Well If you ARE! Have we got something for you!

Uhhh ... if not ... PRETEND ... and send good vibes. Don't be crabs ladies!


So, remember OLA

Well look what we found in our inbox this morning:

In collaboration with Red Bull and 215 Magazine, you are invited to the Red Bull Music Academy after party @ The Arts Garage. See the attached flyer for details.

Door open at 8:30, please arrive early or be juxtapositioned.


Regards,

Ola O. Solanke

Executive Director

The Arts Garage

215-806-1491

www.theartsgarage.com

...art, entertainment and nightlife!

...mm. don't act like we never told you.

Get Real. Get AUTHENTIC, mamis.

"The L Word f***ed me and left me for broke....with debt

Gay Girls Guide Top 10 "WTF was that?" moments from the L Word Series Finale

...."People have been asking me what I thought about the Series Finale of the L Word and the only thing that can really sum up my opinion are the words, "WTF was that?" I stopped personally re-enacting sex scenes from Season 1 to watch this bullshit....I was highly disappointed and am calling the L Word people to request my hour's worth of orgasms back - immediately...but in semi-seriousness, here is a list of "what the f*** was that" moments that I had on Sunday Night....."

Click the banner below to continue.
~KrisH

Mic on Monday: A Women's Worth

When do you tell a sistafriend that she's falling short of her greatness?

We are almost 1/4 of the way through 2009, and some of us are feeling the weight of our New Year's resolutions. Some of us cheat and eat that extra piece of cheesecake and convince ourselves that Summer is still six months away. Some of us put off calling that old friend thinking that they won't notice you both haven't spoke in months...or years. Some of us haven't told that special someone "I'm sorry," or that they're special. Some of us haven't stopped to appreciate ourselves. Said, "I love me."

Thus, my reason for today's post: this weekend one of my sistafriends received word that her relationship with her boyfriend was over - via text message! As asinine a gesture as this is, my frustration arose because she felt that she deserved this treatment. She's two months away from her Master's degree, beautiful, intelligent, she knows me, [Insert more great adjectives HERE.], so chick is the bomb circa 1995 with all the bells and whistles of the 21st century. Sadly, she has since opted to wait for him to realize that he loves her.

Why?

I am clueless. I've found that this is not uncommon for many of my girls, especially my minority chicks. And with the recent upsettedness that is Rihanna vs. Chris Brown vs. the Media, I find it peculiar that women who, in my opinion, are one step away from ruling the world, have this mindset that they deserve less than their worth when it comes to their romantic life.

Ladies of AUTHENTIC, when do you tell your sistafriend that she's living below her means? In other words, what do you do, what do you say when your girl is cheapening herself and denying her greatness?



get up.
get real.
get AUTHENTIC.

m./e

New York New Yoooork!

Remember that Authentic chick, Denice Frohman we featured before??? She's been doing a lot with her poetry and music and here's one more time you can catch her LIVE...if you are in NYC

Ciao ladies and gents ;)
e a s e

Word of Wisdom: Maya Angelou

Happy Hump Day, AUTHENTIC!

 

Know this:

“You may encounter defeats, but you must not be defeated.” - Maya Angelou

 

This Southern belle born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928 has such a love affair with the pen. Poet/author/playwright/actress/producer/[Insert more impressive slashes and hyphens HERE], Ms. Angelou is active in the Civil Rights Movement (notice the tense of “is” – we’re still pushing for more rights to be right and to be righted by the right. Follow me?). She’s also challenged the realm of writing with her novels and poetry. This woman defies boundaries. A phenomenal woman she is.

 

get that hump out ya’ back.

get real.

 Get AUTHENTIC.

 

MUHSINAH...(mu-see-na) ;)

Our lady Muhsinah!

Incredible voice, extraordinary talent...she is where music is going. Unavailable to categories and labeling..she creates based upon feeling. Some call it experimental, i call it pure musical geeeenius :)

As much as I love live music..i will be present at the Philly show. Come join us!!

"Fresh off tour with Common and a worldwind year or recording with the
likes of Common, DJ Spinna, Flying Lotus, Nicolay & Phonte (The
Foreign Exchange), Grooveman Spot, Om'mas Keith, Exile, Mike Slott,
Dre King, Stacy Epps, Oddisee, Wayna, Finale, Big Pooh, Super Smokey
Soul, Daru and a long list of others... Muhsinah will be be embarking
on a promotional tour in support of her new release, The
Oscillations:Triangle, which drop this April."

The performances will be a 2 set-up @ 25-30 minutes per show (max)
with Muhsinah on Vocals and Synth and SlimKat78 on Live MPC.
(Timeframe: March 15th - May 1st )

Currently the confirmed dates are as follows:

Mar 15 - - - - - - STATES - - - - - - - -
Mar 18 - Philly, Pennsylvania
Mar 24 - San Francisco, California
Mar 25 - San Jose, California
Mar 28 - Miami, Florida (w/ Common)

Apr 02 - - - - - - EUROPE - - - - - - - -
Apr 04 - London and South East
Apr 10 - Bristol
Apr 11 - Rotterdam (Tentative)
Apr 25 - Montreal (Tentative)

Ciao! e a s e

AUTHENTIC Events: Savannah Urban Arts Festival

Hey hey hey! Did you miss me?!?

Awww ... I BET YOU DID! Oh come on now ... stop ::smiles:: you're making me blush!

Anyways ... a friend of ours on facebook gave us little tip for GREAT BIG GIANT FUN! ...

wanna know what it is? maybe this is a hint.




maybe not ....



JUST CLICK HERE if you want to find out!

P.S. tell DaVena Jordan thanks, ladies! Tell her she's so real ... so ...


Visit AUTHENTIC



oh. ;) ... aight. you already know, huh?

Mic on Monday: Happy Women's History Month!

Happy March, AUTHENTIC! March marks the celebration of Women's History. AUTHENTIC's hand is on the pulse of this history. A history marked with Michelle Obama (First Lady of the United States of America), Venus and Serena Williams (tennis professionadas and moguls), Alicia Keys (singer/songwriter/actress), Queen Latifah (singer/actress/producer), and Fatima Robinson (choreographer). Women's History month 2009 is the start of a redefinition and reclamation of feminine energy and its works. Change and the transcending of the shackles of insensitive patriarchy, - Women of AUTHENTIC - you make this happen.

However, there is still much to be done.

In Brazil, a nine-years old girl is pregnant with the twins of her step-father. He is said to have molested her since she was six years old.

And (below), a confined young girl in Seattle, Washington, is beaten senseless by TWO officers.



And my friend Nikki, just witnessed the trial of her rapist be put on hold...because HIS family had unexpected circumstances. Apparently, the fact that their son raped a woman doesn't warrant any humanity. Nikki's life is still in this insecure boy's hands, and his parents are not willing to acknowledge this very big piece of information.



Thus, change must come. Through art, through song, through word, humanity and compassion must overcome the recession of postive energy our world is experiencing. Obama may offer a bailout for our pockets, but it is up to us to bail out our hearts and minds. Dear women of AUTHENTIC, please extend your hand in change and fight to extinguish the blatant inconsistencies of our government, our communities, and our homes.


Happy Women's History Month!

get real. get change. get AUTHENTIC.

mic