Sex Crimes Against Black Girls: The Anthology - Share Your Story

Two sistah girl friends of mine are calling for submissions for this very important anthology they are editing.  Here is a note they sent me recently.  Please read the instructions below if you're interested in participating.

sex crimes against black girls: the anthology

Edited by:
Shantrelle P. Lewis & Yaba A. Blay, Ph.D.

Share your Story.

Since we put out the Call for Submissions last month, we have been overwhelmed with not only inquiries and submissions, but with general words of support and encouragement. Many of the people we've spoken to have said to us I want to submit something...but I don't know what to write. Knowing that the topic of sex crimes touches so many of us, we want to make every effort to include as many people as would like to be a part of the project as possible. After all, part of the purpose of this work is to "give voice" to those who have been silenced.

We would like to include a series of first-person narratives (memoirs) in the sex crimes against black girls anthology. Each memoir will be accompanied by the person's portrait taken by a professional photographer. In doing this, we intend to put a face with a story - figuratively and literally. Potential contributors would not have to write their own memoir. Instead, we will interview you, transcribe the conversation, and edit your memoir from it. We will work with you on the final edits - you will have the final say in what gets published. We will then arrange to have your photograph taken.

Have a story to share? Please email us at blackgirlvoice@gmail.com by May 30, 2011. Please include "my story" in the subject line and give a brief, general description of your personal story (1 paragraph). Though we anticipate receiving a large number of stories, we will not be able to include each and every one. Should we select your story, we will contact you by June 15 to schedule the phone interview.

Please note that although we welcome the participation of women of all ages, we are particularly interested in connecting with women in the 40+ age sets.

Because of the location of the photographers we will be working with, we are only able to accept stories from individuals in, near, or who can easily get to one of the following cities:

NYC

Newark, NJ

Philadelphia

Washington D.C.

New Orleans, LA

Kingston Jamaica

Lima, Peru

Port au Prince, Haiti

For more information about the Sex Crimes against Black Girls project, please visit http://www.sexcrimesagainstblackgirls.com/.

When sistahs say, “That White boy can saaaang!”

As most of my friends know, I tend to get out and about “on the town” almost every weekend.  No more needs to be said here on that topic.

Early last month, my homegirls (yes I still use this term…exclusively actually to describe my “besties”, as my kids will say), and I were meeting up in the Village to celebrate the birthdays of two other homegirls.  First, we hit a comedy club to check out an old high school friend who was hosting for the night (Mike Britt in case you’re wondering).  He did his thing.  We laughed and drank (I was actually a little tipsy from a couple of vodkas at the salon beforehand), and continued on to our next stop to hit the party.  Without getting into details, we never quite made it into the full swing of things at the club and ended up leaving after spending only 15 minutes there (UGH!  I’m so mad at myself for that but hopefully I am forgiven by now).

Eventually we “landed” at a live music venue I used to frequent like a second home.  I hadn’t been there in a long bit, but it was close by and my homies were down to go and just wanted to get out of the cold.  I know just about every soul who works there and was happy to see everyone for the most part. 

Nothing had really changed.  I was pleased to hear the band singing a few new songs but what really struck a chord for the four of us, was this new White dude playing guitar in the back.  I personally didn’t pay him any mind; thinking he was just another pretty face they had found to fill the shoes of the former guitar player (who I actually love and respect) who used to play there.

It wasn’t until this dude opened his mouth, or larynx, or whatever the f*** he uses to sing, that all of our mouths dropped in unison to exclaim “Whoa! that White boy can saaaang!”  Needless to say (but since not all of my 13 readers know me personally, maybe it does need to be said), I am uber-critical and I typically hang with like-minded folks.  I don’t and won’t give props to anyone if I don’t like them.  Maybe they’ll get a silent nod that signifies, “hey, it looks like you’re trying your best buddy”, and I am a mother after all, so I’ve had a ton of  practice getting the nod just right.

Anyway, back to the scene.  I really can’t recall everything he sang but the cover of U2’s Carry Each Other was…OMG!!! (yep I went there…yuck.).

Normally I pay close attention to the deets on my new “finds”, but again, we were partying heavy, had one too many pineapple vodkas, and I left the place forgetting to find out “who the HAIL was THAT!”

It took me a few weeks before I remembered that there was a live stream from this club and I immediately made an appointment with my computer for the night, with the hope that this dude wasn’t just there sitting in for that night…and dreams really do come true…it CAN happen to you…

Colin Smith

You MUST….nah you HAFTA click on his name.  I will not fill the rest of these pages tellin’ you anything else about him.  Once you click and listen, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Wait, wait, wait one more thing…and it kills me to do this…

You have to go and listen to him live.  I’m not going to tell you where.  Follow him…Facebook him…whatever…lemme know what you think.

Wait, wait, sorry one more thing; a disclaimer of sorts. His music is available on his website and I did download the free version, but what I did promise to do in return was to let my peeps know about him…I would have done it regardless.

Keepin’ it Real in Social Media…a long overdue note regarding high-profile and celebrity posts

The term is “social” media!  Not “stiff” media. 

I have held my tongue long enough.  I have been using all of the top social networks for quite a few years now.  A few years ago, I was even the “social voice” for a couple of famous recording artists, BUT my intention for those clients was to make sure they were set up technically and strategically to engage their fans without an intermediary.

I’m not trying to put social network promoters out of business.  I believe institutions like corporations, schools or churches should have someone in place to manage a centralized and consistent voice to the public, but I also strongly feel that individuals should speak with their own voice on social networks.  The beauty of these networks is that they allow you and your fans to feel more connected and by not speaking in your own voice, you’re gonna get busted (by me eventually) which may lead to a drop off in your following or lackluster engagement with your peeps.

I stay on Facebook and Twitter (I can hear my friends cheering, “yes yes it’s true!”) and I come across a myriad of posts and tweets from “celebrities” or high-profile individuals.  You can instantly tell who is really posting for themselves and who isn’t.  I have purposely refrained from naming names (I need a job!), but what I would love to advise those that aren’t posting for themselves is this…

Text your assistant or whomever you do have working on this for you, what you’re thinking throughout the day.  Let them post YOUR words for you (frankly if you have enough time to text someone, you should have the time to post the tidbit your damn self).

Here’s a link to a cool article on Black Enterprise magazine’s website (thanks to Alfred for finding this for me).  They offer some other great, more general, advice on “keeping it real”.

3 Simple Ways to Shine on Social Media - BLACK ENTERPRISE

Baby it's You! - when The Shirelles Made the Headlines...

In the 70's I was the lead singer of a girl group....

Unfortunately I can't recall the name of the group because I was only 8 or 9 years old at the time, but I do remember our #1 cover hit called: Sending Out an SOS (which was altered to include a special time sensitive militant message of course). Our rise and fall began and ended in a small classroom where we practiced under the tutelage of Atiba Coard*; a kid from one of the older grades who we thought was the Berry Gordy to our Supremes.

I think quite a few of you can relate. I often recall my high school homeboys harmonizing to It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday (the original of course) while we girls sat on the sidelines with supportive yet pained grins through their off key harmonizing sung with such bravado (and intoxication I must add) that they were completely unaware of the cracked high notes they were hitting...poor babies.

This "doowop" style of music is coveted by all and makes a resurgence quite often. That's what speaks to the style's timeless nature. Most modern day (50's to present) generations have a few holdin-that-hair-brush-in-front-of-the-mirror songs we tend to sing like we're big names on the marquee.  These memories are why I personally was so thrilled when I received an invite to see Baby it's You! last night at the Broadhurst Theatre. The tag line reads: The Shirelles made the headlines...She made the Shirelles. 

I made it a point not to read too much about the show in advance to avoid any spoilers. My skimpy knowledge of Shirelles music came from compilation CD commercials (Rhino Records) or more notably from TV shows like Happy Days and movies like American Graffiti as their songs played as a backdrop to the dialogue. Honestly, I had prepared myself to watch the classic band/music group story about a group of girls who grew up together singing in High School who were then discovered and hit the big time with of course a resulting clash of egos resulting in their demise. The story of the Shirelles has always been overshadowed by that of the Supremes and I couldn't wait to see the drama unfold.

My expectations didn't get met, but in a good way.  While there were some dramatic moments, what the audience actually gets to witness is an inspiring story of a suburban housewife by the name of Florence Greenberg wrapped in musical performances that make me mad I wasn't a child of he 50's and 60's.  I immediately found myself relating to Florence.  That may sound odd if anyone looked at our lives in parallel, but what one can take away from the very first scene, is that she had a grand desire to change, to live her dreams and to be free...who among us can't relate to that?

It was a good retrospective.  I loved the stage design treatment and clever costume changes (of which there were many), and I really enjoyed the music.  The voices were flawless and the cast paid close attention to the style of singing and choreography of that era.  I left with some of my favorites repeating themselves in my head during the train ride home and as I write this blog.  Ironically the only song I wasn't familiar with was the title hit Baby It's You...LOL

As an enticement for you to check it out, the folks over at Baby it's You! would like to extend the 40% OFF offer below:

Call 212-947-8844 and use code BBHLM28

OR

Sending Out an SOS - The first song I sang as lead in my girl group.
* - A special note - RIP Atiba...I'll never forget you.


It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday - The song my boys swear they were born to sing.


Rhino Records - Girl Group Greats - The commercial that put me on to this music.

My Favorites:

The song I wasn't familiar with:



Austin Kleon teaches me how to steal and fake it

This is THE most awesome-ist advice I have read in a long time.

How To Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) - Austin Kleon
I was exposed to this article a few days ago and ever since I have forwarded it on to anyone I think would benefit from it’s humorous yet insightful evaluation of what he believes can help make us successful creative beings.
Here are my favorite take-aways: (Visit his blog…it’s fabulous!)

Nothing is original

I say this all of the time even though I sometimes like to think that I could come up with that big idea.  Read what Austin has to say about this particular theory.

Don’t wait until you know who you are to start making things

That’s right!  I’m still “finding myself” as they say. Working on the things we love, only help us to discover who we are…brilliant!

Fake it til you make it

The next time someone asks me, “What do you do?”, you know what I’m going to say?  “I’m a writer”…because I am…I wrote this, didn’t I?

How to Get Into Venues Using a Press Pass | eHow.com

I just might try this! How to Get Into Venues Using a Press Pass eHow.com

Social Media and the Financial Industry

You never know what you don't know, until you learn something...

For anyone in Finance who is interested in using social media to facilitate further engagement with your customers...
I was asked recently by an old colleague of mine, to take a look at a copy of guidelines for the financial industry as outlined by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). At first I thought, I was going to have to break out the law books, but FINRA's Regulatory Notice 10-06: Social Media Web Sites Guidance on Blogs and Social Networking Web Sites, is actually very layman-friendly and not as ominous as I presumed.

The areas that concerned me the most were the rules regarding:

• Q1: Are firms required to retain records of communications related to the broker dealer’s business that are made through social media sites?
• Q3: What factors should firms consider when developing procedures for supervising interactive electronic communications on a social media site that recommend specific investment products?
• Q4: Does a blog constitute an “interactive electronic forum” for purposes of Rule 2210?
• Q8: If a customer or other third party posts content on a social media site established by the firm or its personnel, does FINRA consider the third-party content to be under Rule 2210?

The answers weren't scary at all and I think if planned properly, a social networking strategy can be executed as long as the rules are followed impeccably.