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“I want history to remember me not just as the first black woman to be elected to Congress, not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and dared to be herself.”

Today is the release day for the 40th Anniversary edition of Unbought and Unbossed, telling the great American story of Shirley Chisholm, the very first Black Congresswoman, representing my home birth city of New York. Before there was Hillary Rodham Clinton there was Shirley Chisolm, before there was Barack Obama there was Shirley Chisholm; the very first woman & African-American to run for the presidency of the United States of America. As we embark on the 1st anniversary celebration of electing the first African- American president, Black history month in February & woman’s history month in March ; the Shirley Chisholm freedom story told in Unbought & Unbossed is the perfect storm of inspiration & aspiration in recognition & celebration of the possibilities & accomplishments of all of the aforementioned designated national celebrations culminated in one amazing human being.

I was privileged to have Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm as a guest speaker at my high school in the late 80’s. It meant the world to me as a first generation African-American of Ghanaian decent in a predominately White boarding school in Connecticut. Meeting Mrs. Chisholm (a first generation African-American of Guyanese & Bajan decent) & learning about her story, her trials & accomplishments made me believe that no matter the obstacles, with a little sass, hard work, perseverance, a dream & innate conviction to always be oneself, the sky was the limit in whatever I wanted to be. That same year we had another guest speaker whose name I forget, but she was a well known Indian woman who also read palms. She read my palm & told me that I would be president one day. Well after meeting Mrs. Chisholm, I had no doubt that becoming president was a possibility in my life. The palm reader wouldn’t tell me exactly what type of president I would be, but already that goal has been accomplished because I have been president, founder, CEO & whatever big boss tag that one gets by owning & running my own company for over 14 years. I gave up that company last year to start the path anew to accomplish yet another set of life’s goals “la presidente” way (unbought & unbossed), continuing on the path of my palm reading & the inspiration & aspiration of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, remaining Free, True to self, Unbought & Unbossed.

“I was the first American citizen to be elected to Congress in spite of the double drawbacks of being female and having skin darkened by melanin. When you put it that way, it sounds like a foolish reason for fame. In a just and free society it would be foolish. That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black and a woman proves, I think, that our society is not yet either just or free.”

Run, don’t walk to buy this book & pick up a few copies as great gifts, particularly for the young women in your life. Congresswoman Chisholm probably had no idea of the level of inspiration & aspiration she brought to me & most likely many females, males, Americans, first generation children of immigrants in America & so many across class, race, gender & global lines. This book celebrates Mrs. Shirley Chisholm, the mother, the wife, the daughter, the activist, the politician, the educator, the woman, the human being & her legacy- which continues thru many of us known & unknown.

“The United States was said not to be ready to elect a Catholic to the Presidency when Al Smith ran in the 1920’s. But Smith’s nomination may have helped pave the way for the successful campaign John F. Kennedy waged in 1960. Who can tell? What I hope most is that now there will be others who will feel themselves as capable of running for high political office as any wealthy, good-looking white male”

http://harlemworldblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/unbought-and-unbossed-expanded-40th-anniversary-edition/

14 Let Love Rule

“We are not separate tribes of Latinos and whites and blacks in America,We’ve all mingled, and we have done so for generations” Edward Ball, -Slaves in the Family.

It seems that the whole topic of interracial dating & marriage has come back to surface with recent events in Louisiana & now the possible pardon of Jack Johnson.

We can’t forego the irony that it is a White Republican, John McCain who has been championing the pardon of Jack Johnson & now he has to beg for the pardon from a Black President, who is the product of this same interracial dating that needs pardoning! Oh Irony! Now if Pres. Obama doesn’t give the pardon does it mean he is condemning his own birth?

I decided to write this blog because of a post I read by someone of bi-racial lineage in reference to the pardoning of Jack Johnson with the title “Stay away from White woman”. Perhaps the title was just for provocation sake since he obviously felt Jack Johnson should be pardoned, but at the same time felt he should have stayed away from White woman because that act was what put him in jail. I find it interesting & full of irony that throughout Black history those who have pumped their fists the hardest for Black power have been on the lighter shade of Black or have dated/married interracially: Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Minister Farrakhan etc. I have many bi-racial friends who are against interracial dating, which I find extremely odd because they are a product of it & I am sure they would not be championing the White judge in Louisiana, who denied a black man & a white woman their constitutional right to be married in 2009 because he had some warped concern for their future children & what they would have to face in our very racially confused & obsessed world. We all need to be very careful in how we approach & discuss race because you can’t condone one thing & then condemn it for your own convenience because karma is real. We all, regardless of race & even education level have perpetuated the same type of thinking & rhetoric that the judge in Louisiana is proud of perpetuating in one way or the other. We have all found a way to be proud of or justify the same rhetoric at one time or another. This is far from a post-racial America or even a post racial world at that, but in my many travels around the world I find this disdain for interracial coupling more prevalent in America than many other nations I have been to. I always shake my head when I hear Americans of all races acting so shocked about the behavior that the judge in Louisiana perpetuated when it is very much a behavior amongst us all in our homes, neighborhoods & nation. We always try to sweep it under the rug, but eventually when too much dirt is collected under the rug, we have to lift it up & clean it in order to level the rug, so we are not tripping over the bumps created by the piled up dirt. We can’t be selective in the information we give both in our setbacks & progress. In the past I have had to call out my bi-racial friend who made a rude comment when a black man came into a restaurant with his white girlfriend, even though my friend has blue eyes, curly blonde hair, is a product of a white mother & a black father & was raised by her white mother. The irony many years later after this incident is that she is now in a loving relationship with a white man after never believing she could date a White man.

After seeing & having a dialogue about the disturbingly harsh video below of a Black man’s view of the so called “strong Black woman” losing Black men to White woman, I advised my Italian-American friend who is about to have a child with a Black man to recognize that their child will be categorized as Black, so it is their responsibility to teach, share & have their child own all of his/her history. My bi-racial friend, who is about to have a child with a White man still doesn’t see anything wrong with seriously & jokingly saying that she is a little racist against White people . Perhaps this is the confusion or discourse the judge in Louisiana was addressing in denying the interracial marriage on the basis of concern for their offspring as he stated because how can one who is bi-racial see it as OK to be a little racist against her own & how does that transfer to her children? The same way that my friend can justify saying or feeling a little bit racist against White people is probably the same way this judge in Louisiana can justify what most of us see as being a little or a lot racist against interracial couples. This is why I say we have to be careful about how we address, speak on & act on the topic of race. Why can we make an exception for one form of racism while condemning the other? There seems to be a lot of confusion in the world & we need to confront, address & move on from the issue of race as human beings. In actuality by historical definition spawned from slavery, even 1 drop of black makes one black, so I guess most of the world should be categorized as Black -so let’s all move on in our collective global blackness-LOL!

I just found out a few days ago the that even Angela Simmons (daughter of Rev. Run from Run DMC) has been getting all sorts of ignorant people chiming in on her life via the internet because she has chosen to date a white guy. Seriously people why does who someone else mingles with or lays down with has to concern you so much to the point of hatefulness & sometimes even violence or is it just a camouflage for self hate?

http://globalgrind.com/content/1085630/Rise-Above-The-Hate/

We are living in a globally fused type of world whether we like it or not, by economics, by borders & by love, so in the words of my beautiful bi-racial brother Lenny Kravitz “we got to let love Rule”!

There are countless videos on you-tube on race & race relations from all points of view. I have collected some to show the rhetoric , divide & commonalty on all sides so we can all see the part we play in a world of racial confusion by which we live & we choose to focus on instead of focusing on our human commonality & forward movements & thinking as human beings.

http://www.racialicious.com/2009/10/06/lou-jing-china-and-expressions-of-racism-online/

Controversy arose in China’s show when it was declared that the pop star was half black