Learn about Christmas Traditions Worldwide Here

Afrikaans: Gesëende Kersfees…Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees….African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats…Albanian: Gezur Krislinjden…Arabic: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah…Argentine: Feliz Navidad….Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand…Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun…Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal…Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!…..Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha-Subo Nababarsha….Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce…. Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo….Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat …Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo….Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!..Chile: Feliz Navidad…Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun…Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan…(Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun…Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito...Colombia*: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo…..Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth….Corsian: Pace e salute….Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo…Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi….Croatian: Sretan Bozic…Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok….Danish: Glædelig Jul…Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak…Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar or Zalig Kerstfeast…English: Merry Christmas…Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!…Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon…Estonian: Ruumsaid juulup|hi…Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!…Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad…Finnish: Hyvaa joulua…Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar…French: Joyeux Noel…Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!...Galician: Bo Nada…Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr! German: Froehliche Weihnachten…Greek: Kala Christouyenna!….Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!….Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka…Hebrew: Mo’adim Lesimkha. Chena tova….Hindi: Shub Naya Baras…Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!…Hawaian: Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!…Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket…Icelandic: Gledileg Jol…Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal…Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah…Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat…Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay…Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie…Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto….Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags….Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha…Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!…Latvian: Prieci’gus Ziemsve’tkus un Laimi’gu Jauno Gadu!…Lausitzian: Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto…Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus…Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu…Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar…Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik…Maltese: LL Milied Lt-tajjeb…Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa…Maori: Meri Kirihimete…Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh…Navajo: Merry Keshmish…Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul…Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado…Papiamento: Bon Pasco…Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu…Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!…Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo…Philipines: Maligayan Pasko!…Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie…Portuguese: Feliz Natal…Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha…Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua…Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn…Romanche (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!…Romanian: Craciun Fericit**…Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom…Sami: Buorrit Juovllat…Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou…Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou…Serbian: Hristos se rodi…Slovakian: Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce…Sami: Buorrit Juovllat…Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou…Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh…Serb-Croatian: Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina…Serbian: Hristos se rodi… Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa…Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok…Slovene: Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto…Spanish: Feliz Navidad…Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År…Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon…Tami: Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal…Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!…Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai…Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun…Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym…Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho…Vietnamese: Chung Mung Giang Sinh…Welsh: Nadolig Llawen…Yugoslavian: Cestitamo Bozic…Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye’dun!…Akan:AFIHYIA PA …Happy Kwanza, Happy Hanukkah,

Source: Neloo.com

Learn about Celebrating our Global Diversity with the Diversity Calendar

Beres Hammond’s song “It’s not over until it’s done” is a song that we should all keep in our hearts this holiday season & hold with us throughout the new year….

“Last night I learned my lesson well…It couldn’t be clearer…See I thought I was number one…As a true burden bearer…It’s customary we meet in the square…Discussing how hard life is to bear…Another brother couldn’t wait for us to leave…To spread his bed right there…Last night I learned my lesson well…So I have to tell you…Sometimes the thing we cherish most…Has no real value…So I give thanks for life (yeah, yeah)…Even when there seems to be no one way to the problem, yeah…I still give thanks for life…Ever wishing and hoping that the table will turn…Now I know that once you have life…There’s a chance you’ll be able to overcome…Where there’s a will, there’s a way…It’s not over until it’s done…If you believe, you will achieve…Everything can just turn around..” READ MORE

I attended the panel discussion on Helen Jennings’s book “New African Fashion” at the New York Public library the other night. As a great fan of Ghanaian designer Mimi Plange , Somali designers Ayaan and Idyl Mohallim, the website Heritage 1960 & Arise magazine, I figured this would be a great lesson on what this so called “New African Fashion” is because these are some of the top young new faces representing this concept to the world at large. At a time when there is new found glory for African fashion with many African designers trying to navigate their way through international exposure amongst the plethora of non-African designers creating or copying African designs & aesthetics in fabrics & silhouettes, I wanted to finally understand what exactly is so new.

I realized that this idea of “New African Fashion” is only really new to those who have never known nor just chose to ignore African fashion through the centuries until the western world dubbed  our global African flyness worthy of being celebrated once again. I just came back from a trip to Ghana, where I was schooled on the fact that I like many have fallen into the trap of the semantics  of calling things “new” as if we are somehow reinventing the wheel that had already been sprung generations before many of us were even born. I had on a top that I created for my PGF (Product of Global Fusion) capsule collection, which my aunt quickly recognized & informed me that the fabric I was wearing was not just “African Print” but actually had its own individual name & was an old fabric from when she was a child. I was happy to have been taken out of my own ignorance to be educated on the fact that every fabric design, although generalized to the world as “African print” actually had a name , history & story behind it- which I like most in the western world who have embraced what is now the ubiquity of African prints in fashion have been completely oblivious to. I was further made to feel like the ignorant westerner when my mom & my aunt went in to tell me that the pencil skirt & jacket that I wanted made was boring & old & that now they had some hot new styles & silhouettes that I should consider. I nearly gagged in my laughter because here I was thinking that I was so fashion forward as my elders told me to have a seat & schooled me on what was really haute! As I looked through old family photos of my mom, aunt, uncles, grandmother & grandfather,  it became apparent that this whole idea of “New African Fashion” was just the latest buzz term for the regurgitation of what was only new to a new generation without a firm grasp of our history. As Geydu Blay Ambolley,  the father of hip-hop music in Ghana, said in my documentary Black Star Rising “Everything derived from Africa, they just take it, redefine it & sell it back to us“! Truer words have never been spoken as I thumbed through Ms. Jennings’s book to find the same images that those of us in fashion have seen over & over again as representative of African fashion & attempting to educate us on what many of us already know & live as Africans.

“African wax prints are generally known to have patterns that tell stories of relevance to the wearer. These include proverbs, poems and traditional African fables. The colours also hold significance as they can represent social standing, age, tribal orientation and marital status. The term ‘African print’ was generally used by the European textile firms in Africa to identify fabrics that were machine-printed and had wax resins and dyes on both sides of the cloth to achieve batik effect. The history of African prints dates back to when batik wax-resist textiles were first imported into Africa from Indonesia in the 1800s, through West African soldiers that served in Indonesia from early 1800s to just beyond the mid 1800s. These batik wax-resist fabrics were also brought into Africa by European traders, mainly the Dutch. The fabrics were then customized and designed to reflect local African tradition, culture and symbolisms. Many of the designs found on fabrics depict events, proverbs, persons of importance or local flora and fauna. African prints are mostly found in Cote d’ Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal and Nigeria. They can also be found in many Central and Eastern African countries. The use of African wax prints outside of Africa is now also on the increase. Many Westerners are accepting the beautiful and natural blend the fabrics portray in every design. Felix Anaman of Felix Anaman Clothing says his fashion house has excelled over the years because it believes in playing and promoting the African fabric, together with the design concepts that go with it. He stated, “It has been predicted by fashion experts that African prints are what will make fashion fashionable in some few years to come, which is why we, as designers, ought to promote it.” READ MORE

“IN the years since Yves Saint Laurent showed his iconic 1967 “African” collection, fashion designers have repeatedly tapped the heritage of Africa in search of inspiration. Just last season Burberry and Michael Kors were among several labels that mined the continent as a source of ideas. Yet in the popular imagination, especially in the Western hemisphere, African fashion more often than not means animal prints, mud cloth and cowrie shells. In her new work, “New African Fashion” (Prestel; $35), Helen Jennings, a fashion journalist, hopes to broaden that view. Part coffee-table book, part glossary, it highlights designers — some established, some fledgling — whose work is African made or inspired.While there is no single way to describe African style, the fashion industry tends to favor characterizations that to many people smack of condescension. “Fashion is full of meaningless terms like ‘tribal’ and ‘urban,’ ” said Ms. Jennings, who is also the editor of Arise, a two-year-old monthly African fashion and culture glossy. “Like the word ‘exotic’ — it makes me cringe.”“African fashion hasn’t been documented very well,” the author told the audience. She and the panelists were emphatic that African fashion did not have to fit a preconceived notion of what is “African.”Ms. Plange studied architecture and rarely uses traditional prints or textiles in her garments.“I want to prove to people that African fashion can’t be pigeonholed,” she said. “I can compete globally.” Her craftsmanship got the attention of André Leon Talley, who helped edit her fall 2011 collection. She also collaborated with Manolo Blahnik…” READ MORE

It seems that generation after generation we are all complicit in consuming the same ol’ same ol‘ in convincing ourselves that we have invented something new. From global African music, fashion & overall culture it seems we always have to wait & praise westerners for telling our stories & teaching us about our history. This is nothing new, all you have to do is watch films like Cadillac Records or even know the simple history of hip-hop fashion that became the soup dujour to the fashion world after Tommy Hilfiger took it  down the runway, while global Africans like Karl Kani , Willi Smith & so many others had already popularized it on global concrete runways long before Tommy Hilfiger made it so called “acceptable” outside of our global African tribes. Right now the narrative that most western journalist tell about “African Prints” is that most of the African market share come from the Dutch company Vlisco completely negating the fact that there are major and small scale African owned and African based companies like GTP and ATP that design and market homegrown African textiles to a larger African market than their european counterparts, who may have introduced these prints to the African market with Africans perfecting it in African authenticity years later. These African based and owned companies are on a constant battle to survive because they do not have these high powered lawyers or proper government regulations to protect the African’s market share along with fighting off Chinese and European knock offs, international press going out of the box to truly seek the story from the people who have globally popularize “African Prints” to a point now that it it solely associated with the continent instead of just surface research, and the the general overall mindset locally and globally that somehow Africans don’t know their worth until Westerners come to put a price on it. At some point we have to take real responsibility in protecting & preserving our culture globally by not repeating the same mistakes of the past.

I was told that Helen Jennings, Editor of Arise, gave a great presentation of African fashion before I got there, which I missed because I was caught up in yet another Ocuppy Wall Street protest, which this time directly targeted President Obama in yet another multi-million dollar fundraising event in New York with protest signs saying “Obama is owned by Wall Street”, which isn’t too far from the truth when we see how much wall street corporate money goes into financing all political campaigns eventhough politicians swear up & down  that they are somehow different from the rest who serve the interest of lobbyists more than the interests of the people who elect them & who they make tons of campaign promises to every year- to serve them differently than those who came before them. All around the world same song- same fuckery. By the time I was finally able to enter the library through the crowd of protestors outside, the panel was already in full discussion mode with Ms. Jennings seemingly quiet & somehow distracted or disconnected from the discussion as if she didn’t really want to be there anymore as a European selling the history of African fashion to a standing room only crowd of global Africans. I guess it was a good thing that the presentation went on for too long to allow time for a Q & A for someone like me & some others to keep it all the way real-LOL!

“We’ve basically been exporting our culture…the west has taken/borrowed a lot from Africa; whereas Africans have just sat down & let their own culture be taken away from them, but now it’s a renaissance- we are claiming back what is ours & we’re adding value to what is ours to make it globally acceptable & globally appealing!” READ MORE

I was able to catch the part of the discussion that interests me the most when it comes to African fashion, which is the actual business of selling & attaining financial gain from the creations of African designers & a general workforce in the African fashion industry. There was a general consensus amongst the panel with Mimi Plange keeping it all the way real in exclaiming that she is in the business of fashion to make money & not just for the hype of the plethora of African fashion week shows sprouting up all over the world, focused more on hype & publicity rather than getting these designers into retail stores & educating them on the actual business of fashion that is a multi-billion dollar industry, where the financial gain amongst African designers is extremely disproportionate to their western counterparts who are defining this so called “New African Fashion”, much like it has always been for everything invented & created by global Africans throughout the years. I heard the usual & almost insulting excuse of “it takes time” because somehow Africans need to be educated on the basics of just putting together a quality fashion show production as if African owned production houses like ASHA , who I have worked with for many years along with so many others, have never done shows for New York Fashion week & other fashion weeks all over the world before Arise Magazine & others came with their new platforms to showcase African designers. This is all BS to me because I have been working in the industry for over 14 years & I am not the only African who has been doing so on many levels from publicity, to show production, to retail buying & management, to design & everything else that comes with the business of fashion. The main issue here is that African experts in these fields are never sought after by many companies- African or otherwise because we somehow continue to believe that non-Africans know best  & fall in line to always look outside of our communities to get ahead & progress in many & sometimes all of our business ventures, without ever acknowledging that we have excellent resources within our global community.

Why should it take time to bring in buyers to a fashion show when anyone who handles publicity & show production knows that the focus of any fashion show is to sell & make money for the designer; therefore retail buyer outreach is more important than having random celebrities, fashionistas & socialites in your front row, who often will never buy 1 piece from any designer that doesn’t give them something for free. Many of the people who attend these African Fashion Week shows around the world are there mostly to be seen & for the party atmosphere, most of them will never go out of their way to seek out the designers showing to actually patronize them with the money that they freely give to the Guccis  & Vuittons of the world. I have said there was an issue with the fact that I saw very few to no buyers from the beginning, as I applauded the first Arise Magazine New York Fashion Week show that gave new life to showcasing African designers that had been done, sponsored & stopped by Anglogold Ashanti years before Arise Magazine came on the scene. My sentiments have been taken by some as “hating” & being overly critical to those who are trying to do something great for the African fashion industry, but all I can say to that is that we can never grow if we can not accept constructive criticism & it takes resources & money to create an industry because while press hype is great, it doesn’t pay the bills or give anyone but press & those who put out these kinds of books any concrete jobs to support an industry. What Africa needs more than anything in all sectors is real jobs & to build on structures that are already in place to create more jobs, not more applause, pats on the back, more it takes time talk & meager handouts to show that we are trying to build an industry that has already been in place outside of  the structure that is deemed acceptable to the western world.

‎”If you want to address poverty, you have to bring work-it’s value creation. We’re not here to make charity t-shirts , We are here to make a product & why not come here? There’s a skill base that is being developed. We’re doing good. They are capable of doing great things. It’s quite incredible to think we might save the world thru fashion” . Vivienne Westwood & the Westwood Team on manufacturing in Kenya

I thought it was a great step in the right direction when Mimi Plange spoke about looking to manufacture & build factories in Ghana to produce her collection, which will build the industry by creating concrete jobs while building the “Made in Africa” label, just as Made in America, Made in France, Made in Italy, Made in China & other “Made In” labels have built brands that are globally recognized & esteemed with a specific focus in tailoring & manufacturing that is uniquely symbolic of those nations. Africa needs people who are formidable partners in their true growth financially, not just those who want to continue the usual exploitation & telling Africans it takes time to develop while others are profiting without waiting for the so called time it takes to actually see the financial gains. The Somali twins who design Maatano expressed their desire to have the opportunity to be the ones at the forefront to bring Africans designs created by Africans with them specifically in mind before the Zara’s & H&M’s of the world flood Africa, which I also thought was an excellent idea that must come to fruition with Africans supporting them because African Fashion is not based on one specific aesthetic of prints, it cuts across all varieties of cultures & styles from casual to formal, to traditional & all points in between. The designers of Maatano also made it a point to point out that while in their predominantly Muslim mother country of Somalia, there are only really two silhouettes which most of the women wear & add their individuality to it through color palate  & the beautiful jewelry which they adorn themselves with; their personal aesthetic with Maatano is much more than just two silhouettes influenced by their Somali heritage.

This brings me to the fact that we also have to be aware of consuming the idea that there is somehow one set idea of what African Fashion is supposed to represent in a continent that is now broken up into 56 countries. I was actually shocked & taken aback the other day as I walked into my local Jamaican resturant when the gentlemen who was serving me looked at me & said “Are you from Africa?”, I ofcourse happily replied “Yes”, then he went on to tell me that the woman that had just left was from my country. I looked at him with a side eye since I had not mentioned which country I was from  & I could clearly decipher that the woman that just left was from a francophone African country & not from Ghana, so I said “How do you know she’s from my country”, he then went on & replied “you’re from Africa right, she’s from Africa too”.  I replied, “Is Jamaica the same as Trinidad , Haiti, Dominican Republic or St. Lucia even though they are all in the Caribbean?” He looked at me in shamefully realizing his mistake & ignorance & said “Miss that’s not nice”.  I shook my head & thought wow, here we go again with me having to explain to someone that Africa is a continent with many countries, who speak thousands of different languages. I was disheartened especially because I had to explain this to someone who I would have thought would know better coming from the nation of Bob Marley & the Maroons , who have always spoken of their African heritage as Jamaicans, while sighting specific countries of origin. This man who was well into his 40’s was shocked when I told him that we all speak different languages & that there were thousands of languages in Africa. I guess this is the burden & calling we have to take on as global Africans, making sure we are there for these teaching moments with our own firm grasp of our languages & our history, so we can set the record right in our representation.

The generalization that there is one African aesthetic in fashion, outside of the idea that Africa really represents a true global aesthetic in its African authenticity because it is the root of humanity needs to be better addressed & defined in building the African Fashion industry. We have only ourselves to blame in our acceptance of the mixed messages that we often send. We have African designers saying that they just want to be seen as designers & not African designers, while talking about building the African fashion industry & complaining about how non-Africans are copying & defining what the African fashion industry should be or look like. We can’t have it both ways. You don’t hear Dontaella Versace complaining about being called an Italian designer or the house of Chloe & Louise Vuitton being upset by the fact that they are considered the epitome & embodiment of French design & aesthetic. Vivienne Westwood manufacturing her collection in Kenya does not make her any less an English designer or anymore an African designer than her counterparts like Burberry & others who have taken African prints & made them their own, nor does Marc Jacobs designing for Louis Vuitton make him a French designer or make the Louise Vuitton aesthetic considered American instead of authentically French.  African designers do not have to do collections with solely or any wax or mud prints at all to make them authentically part of African fashion.  What differentiates these African designers from the rest is that they are African from their roots; therefore their design influence will always be African inspired with an African personality, whether they are utilizing African prints or not because the history is carried along with them season after season, much like their European & American counterparts. It is up to us as publicist, writers, fashion editors,stylists, buyers,designers, manufacturers, show production entities etc. to speak to the African consumer & to let them know that we have done the research as to what they want, who they are & what suits their African personality in order to bring them in to support African designers just as much or more so than they support European, American & Chinese made goods , which have been flooding the African continent to the peril of the African Fashion Industry.

We need to speak to the African consumer in our advertising & educate them that building the African Fashion Industry means supporting, buying & wearing the products created by African designers not just jumping on the bandwagon & consuming the European, Chinese & American made goods & designers who are selling them their idea of what new African fashion is. We need to come to a point in our industry where each one of us takes personal responsibility in telling our own stories & building our own industry with a true African personality in mind, void of the cliche terms of “new African fashion” & kowtowing to global appeal by westernizing what is & has always been authentically African from the fruit to the root. If we truly believe that Africa is where humanity began & that there is a specific African identity that comes & evolves in newness of creativity from nation to nation, then we have to be more diligent in putting that message out there in a concise & consistent manner instead of just falling in line with the status quo of having our story redefined, pigeonholed & told to us by non-Africans, no matter how much they tell us that they love us & want to help us build by following their way & structure.

As most of you who have read my writings know, I am far from a PC(Politically Correct) African. My concept of Global Fusion is less about some sort of gumbo inspired “kumbaya” melting pot, where Africa with all its rich history & contributions to the world blends in or metamorphosizes into an acceptable western aesthetic, as opposed to shining a light on the fact that Africa is where humanity began with great influence throughout global culture that has now been watered down,devoid of its spices or redefined to appease or appeal to different segments of the world. I prefer my jollof rice authentically flavor filled with the hotness of spices that makes you feel it within your bones & soul without any Asian or Italian noodles added to it- as it is being done now in Ghana- because an Italian or Asian will not kowtow to appeasing me my serving me their national taste with shito & African flavors added to it.

I thumbed through the book “New African Fashion”, but I must admit that I didn’t purchase it because I refuse to continue the same ol’ story of having my history be told to me by those who have never truly been immersed in the culture & history until they saw profit to be made. I am not saying that this is not a great well put together book, but it does not show or tell me anything that I have not already seen & known before, so in that case I would rather give my hard earned money to global Africans who are also telling our stories from an authentically African perspective like Jacqueline Shaw with her new book Fashion Africa. It always seems like for global Africans to share their passion, vision & expertise with the world on the global Africa that they were born into, & live & breath daily -they always have to do it with their own money  to the point of going bankrupt in their labors of love to make their dreams come true. For Instance look at the amazing work done by Nigerian born Oroma Elewa with Pop’ Africana, which gives Vogue such a run for its money that they have had to acknowledge her & her work many times in their own publication. If one woman with a vision & a dream to be & showcase the new face of Africa can create such greatness with her own money & limited resources, imagine what she could do with the right financial backing & the same access  given to the Helen Jennings of the world, who are always sought after to be the face, vision & expert on all things African brought to the world’s attention?  I am not implying that non-global Africans shouldn’t be allowed to write books about Africa; however I am questioning the expert title given to these writers who are telling stories of people & places that they are often no more than passerby’s  & visitors of, while those who actually have been immersed in & live the culture are often passed over for equal opportunities to tell their own stories. This is my real issue in all of this, which goes beyond just one woman’s book. How often, if ever, are non-Europeans given the opportunity to be entitled to the title of “expert” in writing about or presenting European culture to the world? I can hear the loud sounds of crickets in many not being able to find any examples of this.

I am not afraid to be called racist, nationalist or pro-African because I would rather support my fellow global Africans who are truly the ones who have had to live the culture, put in the work, build our industry, give us accolades in support,  & are the true keepers & storytellers of our history, much like Andrew Dosunmu , Yinka Shonibare, James Barnor , Constance C.R. White & so many more past & present who have been telling & showcasing the beauty of global African fashion, culture & aesthetics long before Ms. Jennings thought to teach us about what she considers “New African Fashion”.

“When Franca Sozzani, editor of Vogue Italia, visited the Huffington Post offices last month she revealed that her proudest professional moment was publishing the “Black Issue,” which helped promote diversity in the fashion industry. Well, she continued that campaign with a trip to the African country of Ghana to mentor a group of designers from the WEB-Young Designers Hub. You have lots of potential in this country. During my stay in Africa, I visited Togo and Nigeria but it was only here in Ghana I noted an authentic sense of fashion. In designing your creations, make sure that they feature not only references to Ghanaian culture but also have an international appeal so that your garments can also be successful also abroad.” READ MORE

It always amazes me how we justify our own lack of consistency in rhetoric of what we support & give acclamation to. The same fashionistas who raged all hell about Essence Magazine losing touch with their readership & consumer base by hiring a White Fashion Director as the face of a magazine dedicated to African-American women are the same ones who praise Arise & tout it as the new era representation of global Africa, without acknowledging the fact that the main vision in charge of this so called new global African aesthetic is also a European with a magazine created in Europe with African financial backing. These are the same people who are in charge of Black publications that never think to expand globally into Africa, the Caribbean & Latin America in service of the billion plus global Africans there, who would be more than appreciative to see their own likeness as well, while they consistently hire White photographers to capture our aesthetic in some ill-conceived idea of diversity, as qualified Black photographers sit around waiting to be called upon & to get a fair check by being given the same opportunity & access that is denied to them by non-global African focused publications. These are the same fashionistas who applaud any time Vogue gives a cover to a person of color or a European or American designer puts more than one model of color in an Ad. campaign or on their runway, while failing to challenge global African publications & designers to be the change they want to see by putting more African faces & creatives in their own publications, Ad. campaigns & runways. Why is it so taboo or somehow not representing diversity if Tracy Reese or Oswald Boateng sends all Black models down the runway, or Essence, Arise or Ebony doing special issues with solely global African representation as Vogue Italia & Lanvin did with us all applauding them for doing so as some sort of evolvement in new era progress as an industry since the days of Versailles. It is never considered taboo or shocking for non-Black American & European designers & publications to steadily only utilize European & American White models & designers, as we continue to complain then praise them for giving us special issues in diversity statements by sending all or some global African models down their runways once in awhile, in an attempt to appease us for the mean time.

I am actually a fan of Arise magazine & applaud them for their efforts in bringing about the much needed dialogue of who we are as Africans & our place & progress in the world of fashion &  global culture in general, but I am not going to pretend that it is anything new from the status quo of Africa being sold to us from a European vision. If we want to have an honest conversation about building Africa then let’s start by being honest with ourselves & start supporting global Africans who are doing everything possible to tell our stories without the international & national support, hype & access that has always been afforded to their western counterparts. Let’s start by having a vision & a stance that truly represents a new Africa that does not remain conditioned by its conditioning in being the definition of insanity by doing the same things the same way, over & over again & expecting new results. As Nina Simone said – “We’re in the middle of a revolution & I see the face of things to come” -That face will be an African face telling & teaching the history of African culture from fashion, to film, to art & all points of global African business defined by & for the African personality & sold to the world as is -without any kind of need to water down or appease some new idea of a global market that we have contributed to & enriched for centuries without ever getting our fair share in recognition or financial gain. Let’s stop talking about how things take time when the time is NOW!

“I made it quite clear that from now on -today – we must change our attitudes, our minds, we must realise that from now on, we are no more a colonial but a free and independent people. But also, as I pointed out, that also entails hard work.That new African is ready to fight his own battles and show that after all, the black man is capable of managing his own affairs. We are going to demonstrate to the world, to the other nations, that we are prepared to lay our own foundation.Our own African identity. As I said in the assembly just minutes ago, I made a point that we are going to create our own African personality and identity. It’s the only way that we can show the world that we are ready for own own battles.I am depending upon the millions of the country, and the chiefs and people, to help me to reshape the destiny of this country.We are prepared to pick it up and make it a nation that will be respected by every nation in the world.We know we are going to have difficult beginnings, but again, I’m relying upon your support, I’m relying upon your hard work.Seeing you in this… it doesn’t matter how far my eye goes, I can see that you are here in your millions and my last warning to you is that you are to stand firm behind us so that we can prove to the world that when the African is given a chance he can show the world that he is somebody! We have awakened. We will not sleep anymore. Today, from now on, there is a new African in the world!” Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

When Will This Cease To Be The Picture ? When Will We Start Leading Ourselves Without Having to Be Part of An Entourage Flanking The Same Faces? When Will We See That We Are Just Repeating History Instead of Doing Anything New! When Will Our Global Fusion Include An Equal Gain? When Will We Be Paid For The Work We’ve Done?

“Something in the nature of an economic revolution is required. Our development has been held back for too long by the colonial-type economy. We need to reorganize entirely, so that each country can specialize in producing the goods and crops for which it is best suited.” Neocolonialism- The Last Stage of Imperialism. It is said, of course that we have no capital, no industrial skill, no communications, no internal markets, and that we cannot even agree among ourselves how best to utilize our resources for our own social needs. Yet all the stock exchanges in the world are pre-occupied with Africa’s gold, diamonds, uranium, platinum, copper and iron ores. Our CAPITAL flows out in streams to irrigate the whole system of Western economy. Fifty-two percent of the gold in Fort Knox at this moment, where the USA stores its bullion, is believed to have originated from OUR shores. Africa provides more than 60 per cent of the world’s gold. A great deal of the uranium for nuclear power, of copper for electronics, of titanium for supersonic projectiles, of iron and steel for heavy industries, of other minerals and raw materials for lighter industries – the basic economic might of the foreign Powers – comes from OUR continent…Experts have estimated that the Congo Basin alone can produce enough food crops to satisfy the requirements of nearly HALF the population of the whole world and here we sit talking about regionalism, talking about gradualism, talking about step by step. Are you afraid to tackle the bull by the horn?”  Address to the Conference of African Heads of State and Government, May 24, 1963″ DR. Kwame Nkrumah

As much as most people love to hate on BET or we, Black folks worldwide seem to have a love/hate realtionship with ourselves & those who we pay & are sanctioned to represent us in the world ; I never see anyone coming with real solutions & being the change they want to see, so with that said kudos to BET for bringing the music back & showing us a way forward as we honor & commence Black Music Month!

The performances of so many were thrilling & showed a much needed return of our Soul Singers! A few standouts were Jill Scott -back , bold, grown & as beautiful as ever! Ledisi , Ledisi, Ledisi -Wow is all I can say -this true soul singer gets it right every time & she made our wonderful Vanilla Child-Teena Marie- proud from heaven.  Mary J.Blige lacing us with her classic ‘ol skool’ jams & standing toe to toe with the great & beautiful Anita Baker in humility, pride & power, while showing us why she will always be Queen of Hip-Hop Soul was simply Wikked!

The Pattie Labelle tribute was by far the best highlight of the night showcasing the beauty & longevity of our elders in this beautiful God given gift of music that serves one’s soul! Grand Dame of gospel, Shirley Caesar, the incomparable Gladys Knight & ofcourse Miss Pattie herself looked beautiful, dressed for the occasion & once again led by example to show the youngins that class, hard work, perseverance, pride in your appearance, nurturing your talents and being a true artist can bring you the type of longevity in a survival of the fittest type of industry with one too many fly by night entertainers who work on their celebrity more than their craft. Kelly Rowland can shout from the mountain top that she is “Winning” this time around & as the song says “You can’t stop me…Baby I’mma be your motivation“! Kelly has come into her own with the confidence of a woman who is fit & ready for this year to be her year- take no prisoners style- Kudos Kelly -we support you- get it girl!  Sorry King Bey , you  still remain the beloved but we’ve seen all you have to give in your queendom & kingdom of sequince, gold, body suits, grand stage performances & the usual dance steps, but Kelly is giving us something fresh & new that we have not seen from her already & the streets are not only talking but loving it! It’s time for Ebony Princesses to unanbashingly  shine with class, beauty & graciousness in mainstream global media, while adoring their femininity- fit, proud & powerful because the blonding of Black is getting to be a one sided story too often told, which novelist Chimamanda Adichie explains as The Danger of a Single Story!  If we as a culture say we support & love the multifaceted  story of ourselves then it must be reflective in our actions toward change. Love is a Verb!  (Excuse having to sit thru the singing chippendale Trey Songz to get to Kelly-LOL!)

Marsha Ambrosius, Miss “Late Nights & Early Morning’s” powerfully intoxicating Al Green take em’ to church & the bedroom at the same time & have em’ screaming for “Jesus” -performance of Patti Labelle’s “If Only  You Knew“- had me thinking if the world only knew how great & rare singers like Marsha are. The grand Diva of them all Mr. Cee-Lo Green keeps having the best year ever as he comes for the crowns of Liberace & Elton John all at the same time, while showing us just how much soul he has pent up in that round figure of his as he counts & rounds out zeros in dollar bills & Euros too! There is no voice in gospel that can take the crown of  Miss “No Charge“- Queen Shirley Ceaser -she’s been in the game for a long time & she is not giving up the mic anytime soon. At the age of 73, like a bottle of wine she gets better with age just like everyone’s favorite soul diva -Pattie Labelle, 5 decades  in the business later, at the age of 67  she can still out sing, out dress, out class & outlast most if not all the soul singers of today who are half her age. If you are a true lover of music you will always love & need & want Pattie Labelle. We HEART you Miss Pattie!

BET always brings it hard with the gospel because if there is one thing that Black folks know is church & the music of the church, but this time around  the  gospel performance was lackluster & I was not jumping out of my chair exalting “Amen” for being taken to church in my living room as I have with past performances. As far as the fashion- BET really needs to implement a dress code for those grown folks who just refuse to have some pride & class in their apperance & who just can not seem to comprehend that there is a time & place for everything . Well there’s never a time & place for grown men to be showing their underpants to the world, but we can only fight ignorance & ill teachings 1 day at a time- like the global financial crisis it took a long time to get us to this point of self destruction & self loathing -so it may take us twice as long to get back on the right track. It was painful to watch the insanity of grown women who have no friends to tell them that when you are of a certain age & you gain weight in so many places without physical fitness being part of your everyday routine- you can not wear certain things because you only come off looking like somebody’s auntie who refuses to accept her age & weight & who desperately needs to be Free from the uncomfortable packed in snausages look in trying to stuff all that junk in a trunk that is already overloaded. Nia Long looked beautifully radiant &  with a pregnant belly & all was able to outshine, outclass & out dress most of the women in attendance. If that is what pregnancy  looks like , I will do it 100 times over! As for the not so gentle just because you pack a stick between your legs does not a man make -gentlemen, who couldn’t have enough class & self respect to dress appropriately for the occasion -All I can say is just have a look at Idris Elba, his career & how well respected he is in the industry globally- it takes more than talent to earn respect & longevity in career & life.  The way too tight, overly exposed, overly shiny disco ball , blinged out, pants on the ground, everyone rocking the same ridiculous shade of Beyonce blonde that only really works for Beyonce -if that-  is getting old & needs to stop immediately! We need to take some pride back into our culture, our appearance & our lives by bringing back some class & charm!

As for it being Chris Brown’s night-it was well deserved-we forgive so many for so much worse & if we are all God fearing people & so called Christians -then let the young man live & have the chance to make peace with his maker on judgement day! As far as that flub with the viewer’s choice award -I really can’t help but be cynical that BET producers may have done this so called “human error” intentionally with a poor fan left to take the heat just to guarantee press & tongues wagging about the award show  the next day. I hope it is not a fact, but in this media thirsty society that we live in, I don’t put anything past anyone doing the unthinkable or even the unforgivable in selling their soul to the devil just to be a trending topic on twitter. Chris Brown’s talents are incomparable & we do need him in the game because as far as talent & performance symbiotically blending together in greatness of what makes future legends , no one can touch him & he proves it every time. Usher has already lost the crown & can’t seem to find his place in his grown man-ness that grown women of his age want to see, as he belts out passionate grown man music like his Prince like  ”do it to me“. If Justin Beiber is his air apparent then we definitely need Chris Brown in the game!

As far as recognizing that Black Music, Black Entertainment & Black People are global , BET continues to get a failing grade each & every time. No one would even know that there is a BET International with access to the world of Black music & entertainment outside of the 50 United States of America. It is really a shame as the world gets more global, Black people in America always seem to be the last to embrace global blackness, just as Elle Magazine was first to put Alek Wek on a cover while Essence turned her down until after most of their mainstream  competitors showed them that yes- this beautiful Black African is relevant in mainstream America & worldwide , while Ebony Magazine finally found a reason to put her on the cover to tell us all that Black is Back ,as we all wondered when it ever left. I guess when mainstream award shows & radio start awarding & playing more music & films from the African continent & her Diaspora outside of the US, maybe then BET & others who are supposed to represent Blackness will see the relevance! Until then global Africa will keep forging forward with or without you & kudos to bringing back the soul of Black music in America & showing that this year the soul singers are taking back the Mic in truly honoring Black Music Month!

For My Global Fusionists, here are the Nominees & Winners for the International acts that were not worthy of live BET broadcast even if it meant canceling some of the tomfoolery to show BET’s movement toward a more global perspective. We could have done without the usual Trey Songz  multiple shirtless performances & Rick Ross -damn how many times did we really need to hear him perform. The Super Eagle Nation of Nigeria took the award home for best international act-  going to both Mr. “Fall In love”  & newly minted member of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D Music family, D’Banj &  Mr. I took the African Queen global- 2Face Idbia, who both came in dressed to impress as African Kings with global grown man swag!

BET Best International Act(Africa) Winner. If these are the lyrics & sentiments of Future Global Africa then Africa is Winning! Africa is the Future -Don’t Let anyone tell u differently! If ♥ 4 Nation, Family,Craft, Self, Mama Africa & ♥ is a crime Den I Want 2 B Wanted, If ♥ Is A Crime I’m Willing 2 B Hunted,Everytime Dat I Look Into Ur Eyes I See Fire In There, & If U Look Into My Eyes U See Desire In There,Keep D Fire Burning! To Whom Much Is Given ..Much Is Expected… Dedicated to the  Global Daughters of  Yaa Asantewaa…You Are Worthy! There Are Many Ways To The Dream… MUSIC IS A WEAPON!

There’s Been A Lot Of Toasting, Lot Of Guys Hve Been Up To Her But She Told Them She Was Waiting, For The One That God Sent To Fulfill Her Kind Of Craving, A Special Kind Of Loving, One With Luv Dat Undastanding, Come Rain Come Shining, Ppl Started 2 Say Dat She Wanted More Dan Mr. Rite, All Dat She Want Is A Man Dat Sees D Lite, Dey Say She’s A Fool 4 Being Uptight, All Dat She Want Is Good Luv No Be Fight, Special Kind Of Girl Hard 2 Come By, Dis Kind Of Girl Na Him I Want 2 Make My Wife, U R D One, Say No More, Don’t Bother About What D Ppl Say, Cos I Say

[Chorus:]
Everytime Dat I Look Into Ur Eyes I See Fire In There(Fire), And If U Look Into My Eyes U See Desire In There(Desire), Gal If Luv Is Crime Den I Want 2 B Wanted, If Luv Is A Crime I’m Willing 2 B Hunted, Got A Lot Of Respect 4 U Cos Ur Kind Is So Rare(So Rare), It’s Kind Of Hard 2 Imagine But I Know (U R Out There)2ce, If Luv Is A Crime Then I Wnt 2 B Wanted, If Luv Is A Crime I Wnt 2 B Hunted.

[Verse 2:]
She Said 2 Me Do U Wanna B D Last Man Standing, She Said 2 Me Do U Wanna B D One Dem Complimenting, Oh Yeah, Gal I Wanna B Ur Beginning & Ur Ending, Oh, I Wanna B D Only 1 Dat U B Sending, I Can’t Believe She’s Still A Virgin, Lots Of Guys Hve Been Up 2 Her But There Was No Compromising, She’d Been Strong, She’d Been Keeping Herself Until D Day Of Her Wedding, Under D Right Ceiling, With D Right Person, A Person Deserving Of Her Special Kind Of Loving…

[Chorus]

[Bridge:]
Keep D Fire Burning, Burning, Burning, Keep D Fire Burning Keep It Burning, If Love Is A Crime, If Love Is A Crime.See, Everytime Dat I Look Into Ur Eyes I See Fire In There, And If U Look Into My Eyes U See Desire In There, Girl If Love Is A Crime, If Love Is A Crime [Till Fade]

[ These are If Love Is A Crime Lyrics on http://www.lyricsman

Jay Z has done it again. This time his creativity & new era pushing the envelope has come in the form of his new website Life + Times, which is basically what I envisioned Global Fusion Productions to be with Africa as its foundation, if I had Jay Z money-LOL! This new site showcases a global fusion of cuisine, politics, sports, technology, music, art & just a nicely curated mashup of  the life & times of locally globally fused cool kids sharing a little part of their world, which despite borders, socioeconomic status or language most can relate to. From elite Manhattan’s Upper East side Spence girl, Gwyneth Paltrow talking about her love for NWA & reciting every last word of “F*@k tha Police“, to the real story of yet another American state falling by the waist side in today’s Gary Indiana , Michael Jackson’s hometown far away from his dreams of Neverland,  to the hottest restaurants all over the world where the cool kids gather, to a crew of freelancers turned creative conglomerate located in Long Island City, NY who decided that there was more bank to be made, creativity to be explored & free dome to be had in their unity rather than on that everyday check to check grind because as the African proverb says “Two Heads Are Better Than One” -so just imagine what a few heads can do…Magic!

Life + Times comes at a time when lifestyle blog sites are taking over the world of printed magazines/newspapers & celebrities creating their own digital magazines & TV/film/art style programming has taken shape in the form of websites like Damon Dash’s Creative Control, Swizz Beatz’s Swizz World , 50 Cent’s This Is 50/ Boo Boo TV, Alicia Keys’ I Am A Super Woman and so many others. All I can say is Jay Z keeps raising the bar for  Hip-Hop & musicians in general as he continues to get global & unusual co-signs taking Hip-Hop where everyone thinks it can’t go: from Oprah’s couch, to a Sade remix, to minority ownership of the Nets in his own hometown of Brooklyn, to Decoded changing the publishing game, to calling Gwyneth Paltrow his sister & making her a new hip-hop darling a la his very own new era Blondie . One can’t help but to see Jay Z as unstoppable in his takeover  &  him single handedly sparking the global legitimization of Hip-Hop as an art form & the Hip-Hop mogul as one to be reckoned with in all areas of global business. As his mission statement for Life + Times states  ”I want to make the extraordinary, ordinary“, well  at the very least Jay Z is happily welcoming us all to the future as he continues …WINNING!

“I tell you the difference between me and them..They tryin to get they ones, I’m tryin to get them M’s..One million, two million, three million, four..In just five years, forty million more..You are now lookin at the forty million boy..I’m rapin Def Jam ’til I’m the hundred million man..R., O., C…” Jay Z-You Don’t Know

I don’t know if I can genuinely cosign Jay Z’s self promoting lyrical prophecy on Kingdom Come…but with the moves he’s making it’s hard to challenge his self proclaimed Hip-Hop’s savior title!

Lyrics 2 Kingdom Come

I don’t know what life will be in H.I.P. H.O.P.
Without the boy H.O.V. (I will be, I will be)
Not only N.Y.C. I’m hip hop’s savior (Yeah)
So after this flow you might owe me a favor (Yeah)
When kingdom come, you ready? (I will be)
When kingdom come, I’m ready (I will be)
When kingdom come (Yeah, yeah) I’m ready
(Hey! Hey! Hey Hey Hey!!!)

[Verse 1: Jay-Z]
Now everywhere I go they like HOV you back
Up out the corner office out the coldasack
Where’s Iceberg Slim he was the coldest cat
Get your swag back daddy where your focus at
Got to admit a little bit I was sick of rap
But despite that the boy is back
And I’m so evolved I’m so involved
I’m showing growth, I’m so in charge
I’m C.E.O. and yeah going god
I’m so indebted, I should have been deaded
Selling blow in the park, this I know in my heart
Now I’m so enlightened I might glow in the dark
I been up in the office you might know him as Clark
But, just when you thought the whole world fell apart
I – take off the blazer loosen up the tie
Step inside the booth Superman is alive

[Chorus: Jay-Z (Sample courtesy of "Superfreak" by Rick James)]
(I will be) The King Of New York (I will be) New York
Not only N.Y.C. I’m hip hop’s savior (Yeah)
So after this flow you might owe me a favor (Yeah)
When kingdom come, you ready? (I will be)
When kingdom come, uh huh (I will be)
Not only N.Y.C. I’m hip hop’s savior (Yeah, yeah)
So after this flow you might owe me a favor
(Hey! Hey! Hey Hey Hey!!!)

[Verse 2: Jay-Z]
I hear “hurry up Hov” when I’m out in the public
Cause niggas like it, you love it; We be it, you’re of it
You breathe it, we need it; bring it back to the hustlas
Had to dust off the Hammer, dance – can’t touch this
C’mon playboys, bring the cars back out
Cause ya boy Hov is back, you know them broads coming out
Got ‘em dancing on the bankhead, like they from Bankhead
Fuck Cristal, so they ask me what we drinking
I thought dudes remark was rude okay
So I moved on to Dom, Krug Rosé
And it’s much bigger issues in the world, I know
But I first had to take care of the world I know
I’m from the bottom, so I still feel em from the bottom
Underdog before my cape, still couldn’t stop him
Flash Gordon when recording, spark the light in the dark
Peter Park, Spiderman, all I do is climb the charts

[Chorus: Jay-Z (Sample courtesy of "Superfreak" by Rick James)]
(I will be) The King Of New York (I will be) New York
Not only N.Y.C. I’m hip hop’s savior (Yeah)
So after this flow you might owe me a favor (Yeah)
When kingdom come, you ready? (I will be)
When kingdom come, uh huh (I will be)
Not only N.Y.C. I’m hip hop’s savior (Yeah, yeah)
So after this flow you might owe me a favor
(Hey! Hey! Hey Hey Hey!!!)

[Verse 3: Jay-Z]
Just when they thought it was all over
I put the whole world on my back and broad shoulders
The War-Hova, but who you know took over tracks like that
Guess what New York, New York – we back
And I ain’t never been afraid of a drought
Since I was six, seventeen been getting money down south
Bout it, bout it, Master P
Ask the nigga Pimp C, ask my homey Bun B
I run the streets the streets don’t run we
Y’all run, we chill still waters run deep
I repeat, sing a long with me
I run the streets the streets don’t run we
Ladies saying where you been Superman?
When niggas spending ten million in media on my hands
The Bruce Wayne of the game have no fear
When you need me just throw your ROC signs in the air, yeah!

[Chorus: Jay-Z (Sample courtesy of "Superfreak" by Rick James)]
(I will be) The King Of New York (I will be) New York
Not only N.Y.C. I’m hip hop’s savior (Yeah)
So after this flow you might owe me a favor (Yeah)
When kingdom come, you ready? (I will be)
When kingdom come, uh huh (I will be)
Not only N.Y.C. I’m hip hop’s savior (Yeah, yeah)
So after this flow you might owe me a favor
(Hey! Hey! Hey Hey Hey!!!)
SOURCE: AZ Lyrics

2010 may have been trying for some & glorious for others , but we can all be thankful that we were given the gift of life to see the new year of 2011! May you make it a great one!
Happy New Year Globalnistas & Global Fusionistas! I wish you peace, health, love & the pursuit of happiness! Salute 2 a New Dawn, A New Day A New Life & Feeling Good! I wish You Greater Continuum of Greatness & Wonderful New Beginnings! AFIHYIA PA , felice anno nuovo, gelukkige nuwe jaar, Boldog Új Évet!, an nou fericit, سنة جديدة سعيدة, glückliches Neues Jahr, ハッピーニューイヤー, manigong bagong taon, feliz año nuevo , Καλή Χρονιά, feliz ano novo, Buon Capo d’Anno, Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu, Maligayang Bagong Taon, Nav Varsh Ki Badhaai, Wilujeng Tahun Baru, Bonne année, Aide shoma mobarak,Shanah tovah, etc.! Let’s Conspire Globally for ONE LOVE-Love, Love, Love feels so good to me…LET’S GO!

“ Freedom is not something that one people can bestow on another as a gift. Thy claim it as their own and none can keep it from them. We face neither East nor West: We Face Forward!” Dr. Kwame Nkrumah

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning“. T. S. Eliot

May we all enjoy the season as we give & receive. May we not forget the meaning of the season in reflection, celebration & honor of the birth of Christ. To all of our Global Fusionists who do not celebrate Christmas may you find joy & happiness in your own reflection & light in faith in oneself & your fellow human. May you find love in your heart to share with others &  bestow well wishes on those less fortunate as well as those who are more fortunate because we share this earth in all its many blessings. Be thankful for life & all that you have & have yet to receive!

Learn about Christmas Traditions Worldwide Here

Afrikaans: Gesëende Kersfees…Afrikander: Een Plesierige Kerfees….African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja: Rehus-Beal-Ledeats…Albanian: Gezur Krislinjden…Arabic: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah…Argentine: Feliz Navidad….Armenian: Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand…Azeri: Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun…Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal…Basque: Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!…..Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha-Subo Nababarsha….Bohemian: Vesele Vanoce…. Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo….Breton: Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat …Bulgarian: Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo….Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!..Chile: Feliz Navidad…Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun…Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan…(Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun…Choctaw: Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito...Colombia*: Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo…..Cornish: Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth….Corsian: Pace e salute….Crazanian: Rot Yikji Dol La Roo…Cree: Mitho Makosi Kesikansi….Croatian: Sretan Bozic…Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok….Danish: Glædelig Jul…Duri: Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak…Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar or Zalig Kerstfeast…English: Merry Christmas…Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!…Esperanto: Gajan Kristnaskon…Estonian: Ruumsaid juulup|hi…Faeroese: Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!…Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad…Finnish: Hyvaa joulua…Flemish: Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar…French: Joyeux Noel…Frisian: Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!...Galician: Bo Nada…Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr! German: Froehliche Weihnachten…Greek: Kala Christouyenna!….Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!….Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka…Hebrew: Mo’adim Lesimkha. Chena tova….Hindi: Shub Naya Baras…Hausa: Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!…Hawaian: Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!…Hungarian: Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket…Icelandic: Gledileg Jol…Indonesian: Selamat Hari Natal…Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah…Irish: Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat…Iroquois: Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay…Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie…Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto….Jiberish: Mithag Crithagsigathmithags….Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha…Latin: Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!…Latvian: Prieci’gus Ziemsve’tkus un Laimi’gu Jauno Gadu!…Lausitzian: Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto…Lettish: Priecigus Ziemassvetkus…Lithuanian: Linksmu Kaledu…Low Saxon: Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar…Macedonian: Sreken Bozhik…Maltese: LL Milied Lt-tajjeb…Manx: Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa…Maori: Meri Kirihimete…Marathi: Shub Naya Varsh…Navajo: Merry Keshmish…Norwegian: God Jul, or Gledelig Jul…Occitan: Pulit nadal e bona annado…Papiamento: Bon Pasco…Papua New Guinea: Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu…Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!…Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo…Philipines: Maligayan Pasko!…Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie…Portuguese: Feliz Natal…Pushto: Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha…Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua…Rhetian: Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn…Romanche (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!…Romanian: Craciun Fericit**…Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom…Sami: Buorrit Juovllat…Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou…Sardinian: Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou…Serbian: Hristos se rodi…Slovakian: Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce…Sami: Buorrit Juovllat…Samoan: La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou…Scots Gaelic: Nollaig chridheil huibh…Serb-Croatian: Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina…Serbian: Hristos se rodi… Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa…Slovak: Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok…Slovene: Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto…Spanish: Feliz Navidad…Swedish: God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År…Tagalog: Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon…Tami: Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal…Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!…Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai…Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun…Ukrainian: Srozhdestvom Kristovym…Urdu: Naya Saal Mubarak Ho…Vietnamese: Chung Mung Giang Sinh…Welsh: Nadolig Llawen…Yugoslavian: Cestitamo Bozic…Yoruba: E ku odun, e ku iye’dun!…Akan:AFIHYIA PA …Happy Kwanza, Happy Hanukkah,

Source: Neloo.com

Learn about Celebrating our Global Diversity with the Diversity Calendar

Beres Hammond’s song “It’s not over until it’s done” is a song that we should all keep in our hearts this holiday season & hold with us throughout the new year….

“Last night I learned my lesson well…It couldn’t be clearer…See I thought I was number one…As a true burden bearer…It’s customary we meet in the square…Discussing how hard life is to bear…Another brother couldn’t wait for us to leave…To spread his bed right there…Last night I learned my lesson well…So I have to tell you…Sometimes the thing we cherish most…Has no real value…So I give thanks for life (yeah, yeah)…Even when there seems to be no one way to the problem, yeah…I still give thanks for life…Ever wishing and hoping that the table will turn…Now I know that once you have life…There’s a chance you’ll be able to overcome…Where there’s a will, there’s a way…It’s not over until it’s done…If you believe, you will achieve…Everything can just turn around..” READ MORE

Some people can’t fathom the idea of why a prestigious artistic institution like NYU would name Swizz Beatz as NYU’s first producer-in-residence of the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at the Tisch School of the Arts, but I say ahhh why not? As an alumni I realize the global “gangsta” of NYU, particularly in recognizing, capturing, spreading & protecting global culture in its world wide Branding. NYU represents New York’s cool factor to the world at its institution of academia. New York, New York so nice they had to name it twice, if you can make it here you can make it anywhere, the big apple, the mecca of the village arts movement, the birthplace of the Harlem Renaissance , the birthplace of  Hip-Hop & the capital of the world in its global fusion. There’s a taste of every part of the world infused into New York & there’s a taste of New York infused in every part of the world.

“Swizz will contribute his skills to the university’s esteemed Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music…”I’m excited to be able to take my many years of experience in the music business and use it as an example to instruct students,” Swizz said in a press release. “The invitation from Mr. Davis and professor Rabhan is humbling and I’m honored.”..In the NYU Tisch School of the Arts position, the hip-hop producer-cum-MC will host group lectures, one-on-one sessions and provide students with songwriting critiques while acting as a liaison between the school and music industry insiders…” READ MORE

NYU has opened its doors from Florence, Italy to Ghana, Africa with a core curriculum in the arts. NYU is at the forefront in the circles of academia pushing a global fusion of the arts point of view with professors like Awam Amkpa curating the Africa: See You, See Me photography exhibit, which finally opens the much needed global dialogue on how the world sees Africa/Africans & how Africans see themselves & their nations thru the raw artistic expression of photography.

“In case you were wondering if we really do go to the coolest school on earth, this week Swizz Beatz was named the official “producer in residence of NYU.” He even has his own professor website! Swizz Beatz is scheduled to visit the Recorded Music department at least four times this semester — Nov. 5, 10, 18, & Dec. 3…” READ MORE

It seems hip-hop is returning to its 4th element-ART! From Jay Z, to Kanye to Swizz Beats there seems to be a new obsession with shouting out Basquait & Warhol as a badge of honor for the new era elevation of the Renaissance man.Swizz Beatz just maybe the shot to the head that the art world needs to live & thrive again globally or at the very least to kill  the boredom & stuffy demeanor of business as usual. Maybe we should have listened when Swizz let out his warning shot on “Red Dot Special” with Spragga Benz saying, “I don’t want hurt nobody…but I’m a monster…I bang out tracks…made hits & made classics…ghetto kid sitting on stoop…a little bastard..sunflower seeds, quarter waters & all that…now I got Basquaits, Warhols & all that”.

We are in a time destined to be a modern day throw back to that era of Basquiats, Warhols  & all their local/global counterparts & cultural revolution creators created through the mash up of artists, academia & corporations coming together to create & produce ART…what ever that art maybe. If it’s thru the influence of Grace Jones at the top of her career creating legacy through her iconic image in collaboration with Keith Herring & Kanye West becoming the modern era reflection of that sentiment by raising the bar of modern day visual artists’ profiles & worth just through collaborations that bring artists to a new audience & platform for creativity, then we should be all for it!

“Kanye West is on a roll. He recently debuted his short-film Runaway, as well as released the intended artwork for his upcoming release, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. However, according to his tweets the original art may have been scrapped due to label concerns. But this is ‘Ye. He can’t release just one cover—he is planning on releasing five album covers to support Fantasy, all of which will be available when you buy the album. No details have been released as to who will produce the artwork, but just in case, we assembled a solid list of five artists we would like to see Kanye collaborate with on this project, and in the future. Peep the full list below…”READ MORE

If this type of juxtaposition of music & fine/visual arts will push forth the type of art that this generation should be making & investing in as future legacy, then yes, this is the shot of culture needed to be mixed into the pot of academia to create a moment in time that will leave lasting legacies as “The” moments in time. NYU’s association with Spike Lee sprung up & gave recognition to future great directors from NYU like Seith Mann & Pete Chatmon who will be counted among other acclaimed filmmakers developed at NYU like Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, M. Night Shyamalan along with so many other artists, directors, writers, producers & actors who will be part of this new renaissance generation, reflective of their society in its fusion of  creativity.

If there’s one thing you can’t take away from Swizz Beatz is that he is passionate about art. His production work can tell you he’s “a monster” when passion & focus are connected. Say what you will, but a great artistic piece of work like Fela! came to life with the star power of global hip-hop’s most powerful couples Jay Z/Beyonce & Will/Jada in a genuine love & passion in being part of & protecting the culture by reviving it, sharing it and of course making great returns on an investment in something they actually had love for, interest in & believed in. It’s an all around win when great collaborations come together in moving forward, creating, producing, owning & sharing the global fusion of ART! We need more wattage in the shine power of many local movements sprouting their wings into the bigness/business of global movements. We need more Targets where corporations cooperate in funding & allowing culture to be created, while sharing the culture through their branding efforts; we need more MADE where Visions of Visionaries can go from crazy ideas to brilliantly crazy realities. From Swizz Beatz to Kanye West, to Jay Z & Damon Dash, it seems the elders of this generation of hip-hop share a like minded goal of bringing back the element of Art to claim its rightful place within global Hip-Hop’s legacy. We now need to create the places & spaces to allow creativity to happen naturally in order to let our future legacy shine!

To the woman who commented on facebook saying “What can he possibly teach anyone, but how to cheat on his wife?”- all I can say is come on now with the foolishness! Personal opinions & beliefs aside, if Swizz Beatz’s influence can excite a generation to be interested in the Arts, the mechanics of it & wanting to collect or just have knowledge about global shared culture & love for the arts, then more power to him for being more than the sum of his parts & being among the dynasty of native sons of hip-hop that are showing us that “grown men do grown things” even after a fire storm comes thru their home.

Global Hip-Hop is reliving its poetic era, whether it is Toni Morrison being inducted in France’s Legion Of Honor , at a time of a rise of Black civil rights protest against the spoken words of racism by Jean Paul Guerlain while laws are being written,passed & enacted to deny the civil rights of some citizens while ousting difference & globalization;  whether it is Maya Angelou giving her papers to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem , passing down a plethora of priceless  knowledge to a new generation of researchers , artists & academics; whether it is Chenua Achebe getting the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize; or whether it is Jay Z’s new era of revisiting the written word in poetic innovation with “Decoded” making history in sharing art in a new innovative way, after cementing his name in Broadway’s history with Fela! Jay Z & many others before him have shown how academia, corporations & the arts can sometimes have an uncomfortable alliance, which can be turned into pure genius when they find the perfect balance in coming together to create! Now I eagerly await to see the level of creativity that will manifest from Swizz Beatz being part of a globally recognized artist community of academia that is well versed in the branding of its corporation in choosing to shine the spotlight on Mr. Beatz as a “Professor”! As the late great Fela Anikulapo Kuti says “Teacher don’t teach me no nonsense”, so I await  a monstrosity of Official Artistic Banga!LOL!

“I want to tell you that you incarnate what’s most beautiful about America … (that) which gives a black child, born during segregation into a modest family in a medium-sized Ohio city an exceptional destiny,” Mitterrand told Morrison, as she listened on from a gilt-covered armchair nearby. “You were the first woman writer to tell the painful history of Afro-Americans.”..”I am very moved because I think it’s very special to be with you, Toni Morrison, and to be able to tell you how much we admire you and we love you…. You’re ‘beloved,’ he said, with a nod to the 1987 novel “Beloved,” which won Morrison international acclaim.…” READ MORE

“Africa’s foremost novelist Chinua Achebe yesterday declared himself a “lucky man.” Achebe, who holds the Mariana Fisher Professorship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, made the statement last night at the Hudson Theatre in New York City where he received the 2010 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize….The prize, established under the will of Lillian Gish, is awarded annually to “a man or a woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind’s enjoyment and understanding of life.” Lillian Gish and her sister, Dorothy, were actresses who ruled the big screen in the first half of the 20th century….“Though I did not meet the two sisters,” Chinua said, “I feel that I know them. And that they knew me in my little corner…” READ MORE

There is a a renewal of global culture being created & shared with a need for great collaborations to make them shine! Where would hip-hop be without all of its artistic elements from rapping, to Djing, to break dancing, to graffiti/tagging/painting brought together to create the most prolific movement in global branding within the past 3-4 decades? I say Welcome to NYU Prof. Beatzs, now when can we have that meeting, a tour of your art collection & what made you decide to collect art! Inquiring minds want to know.

“We are in the middle of a revolution because I see the face of things to come…How can you be an artist & not reflect the times”,  the great prophetic words of Nina Simone gives me hope that the face of things to come will be Brilliant because these times call for brilliance & innovation to shine through! Having the right balance between academia & the arts is exactly what we need to tell a beautiful well balanced, creative & intelligent story of our times to be lamented in history.

Thanks 4 The Twitter Shout Out Swizzy.. Follow Swizz Beats @TheRealSwizzz ..Follow us @Globalfusionist

For True  Global Music Lovers , you have probably already heard & fallen in love with Miri Ben-Ari AKA The Hip-Hop Violinist. The Israeli beauty who has rocked the world renown Apollo Theater  & played her melodic violin along side hard hitting hip-hop beats & lyrics of artists like Wyclef Jean , Jay Z, Styles P. & Twista, as well as global music legends such as Patti Labelle, Winton Marsalis & Donna Summer, brings a fresh take to world music & a new face & sound to the globalization of hip-hop.

I fell in love with the sound of Miri Ben Ari when I first heard her “out the box” violin skills along the hauntingly powerful soul of Anthony Hamilton’s voice & the classic style of hip-hop legend & Southern hip-hop’s finest Scarface on the song “Sunshine to the Rain”. Miri Ben-Ari can rock a crowd from classic traditional opera houses to gritty  hip-hop clubs. “Symphony of Brotherhood” like sunshine to the rain finds Miri Ben Ari paying homage at the perfect center of who she is as a classically trained violinist, an artist, an activist & a lover of hip-hop & its global Black culture!

“Miri Ben-Ari (Hebrew: מירי בן-ארי‎) (born December 4, 1978 in Israel) is an Israeli violinist, who currently resides in the United States. Miri Ben-Ari, a Grammy Award-winning violinist originally from Israel, has created her own unique sound by a revolutionary fusion of classical style with jazz, R&B and hip hop. She has been recognized as a musical pioneer…” READ MORE

Global Hip-Hop is the way forward ..”They move in Circles.. We Move Forward“! I feel like a broken record as I constantly find myself telling people that not only is Hip-Hop not dead, but it has found new life globally with the type of mass influence that changes nations from the Americas, to Europe, to Africa & Asia! Montreal, Canada’s own Nomadic Massive is part of the global hip-hop resurrection that is deeply rooted in its traditional musical roots of live instrumentation & jam session style collaborations of true hip-hop heads & global music enthusiasts who defined an era in hip-hop when you didn’t have to wait for a Rock The Bells festival to find hip-hop giants all on one stage giving you the best in live hip-hop performances. The days when Jungle Brothers, Black Sheep, Tribe Called Quest, Leaders of the New School , Queen  Latifah , Monie Love, De La Soul created a movement of Native Tongues while doing their own thing in bringing us the Scenario of Electric Relaxation in the name of love for our Buddies!

“ENGLISH, FRENCH, CREOLE, SPANISH AND ARABIC Nomadic Massive is a Montreal based collective of independent Hip-Hop artists who have come together in an effort to combine their energies and spread their music across borders. The crew is made up of independent artists who share a similar vision of music and life as well as a desire to travel and experience the cultures of the world through their art…” READ MORE

” Hamduillah” & an artist like The Narcicyst seem to be right in time as we debate the very thin line between what is considered protecting sacred ground & hatred toward those who choose to practice the religion of Islam in a city that is known to be the capital of the world, in the fact that all are welcomed & represented here. It seems right on time as we debate legacy & freedom in the fine line between protecting global African culture in minimizing/eliminating  the takeover of the current state of vulture culturalism verses recognizing our global fusions in accepting ALL as one ancestral Africa, welcomed to feed on the culture irresepctive of color, creed or religion.  The idea of culture regardless of the heathens, hypocrites and vultures who may prey on culture is in its global fusion in sharing & evolving in acceptance & respect.Vultures rarely kill prey, they depend on the leftovers from the mighty lion for their food. Culture vultures are those who do not pay homage or give due recognition & praise to the roots of the culture by which they feed.

Much props to the beautiful voice of Shadia Mansour which beautifully soothes as the calm before the storm of the thought provoking lyrical stylings of the Narciyst.This song, video & artists represent a globally local expansion of Hip-Hop that is truly world/global music in its best unified form, paying homage in respect of its global culture. THE FUTURE  OF HIP-HOP IS GLOBAL & POWERFUL IN NUMBERS!

Get to know The Narcicyst

Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name The Narcicyst (or Narcy), is an Iraqi hip hop performer. Originating from Basra, he was born and raised in Dubai. Now living in Montreal, Canada, he has experienced both the Western world and the Arab world. He was frontman to hip hop band Euphrates, but is now going solo after the loss of one of the band members…..Rapping in both Iraqi Arabic and English, his complex lyrics address some of the most politically charged issues of our time, including the 9/11 attacks, the invasion of Iraq, Islamophobia and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. He has also done shows in Spain, United States, Canada and the Middle East. One of his songs, “Commodore 64″, was a club hit on the East Coast of North America. READ MORE

America should never forget what it stands for within its borders & the example it represents outside of its shores.

The Statue of Liberty Plaque Inscription:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Alhamdulillah or Elhamdulillah (الحمد لله) is an Arabic phrase meaning “Praise to God” or “All praise is due to Allah,” similar to the Hebrew phrase Halelu Yah (Hallelujah). In everyday speech it simply means “Thank God!” It is used by Arabic-speakers of all religions, but more frequently by Muslims due to the centrality of this specific phrase within the texts of the Qur’an and the words of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. However, its meanings and in-depth explanation have been the subject of much exegesis and explanation. The phrase has three basic parts:
Al – The
Hamd-u – meaning the “feeling of gratitude”, as opposed to Shokr, “words of gratitude”.
Li ‘llah – preposition + noun Allah. Li is a preposition meaning, for, belonging to, etc. The word “Allah” is said to be derived from ilah — the Arabic word for God. READ MORE