In the spirit of this month’s affirmation, faith, the shirt shows what it looks like.
A true element of faith is how women of God stick together.
You can purchase this shirt or tote at: Jesus Girls Stick Together
or tote Totes
T-Shirt of the Month
BlackGyrlArt
Art of the Month
In 1786 the Governor of the French Colonies in North America signed a law that created a slave class of people. It determined how they could dress and wear their hair. They always had to dress in lower class, less beautiful clothes.
In the British Colonies there were slave codes that required slaves clothing be made from a cheap rough cloth. This cloth was usually blue which made it more of a slave uniform.
Slaves were forbidden from wearing hand me downs from their masters. If local law enforcement caught them in hand me downs, they could take the clothes for themselves.
The irony is that many of the slaves made their masters clothes which they could not wear.
Zelda Wynn Valdes, born in 1905, decided to be a fashion designer but discovered she could work in some great fashion houses, but they only allowed her to be a seamstress. They would steal her designs and put their names on the label.
Valdes opened her own fashion house on Broadway in New York City. She created designs for Dorothy Dandridge, Josephine Baker and Mae West. She designed for many people.
As a child I often wondered why my people made such a show out of their Sunday best. Because when it comes to clothes there is no wrong color or cut. As I have learned, deciding how you cloth yourself is a big deal.
They worked very hard in those old boots just so they could purchase that big hat for Sunday service.
Yet whether they were in the boots or the hat, they came to a point where they could decide how they were clothed.
Even Though He Wouldn’t Shut Up
The music was amazing and it took me back. How about y’all?
Remember the time when all of the food had been cooked, everyone was getting ready to play cards, and they put the records on the player. Everyone in the room knew all the worlds to all the songs.
This past weekend, which was also Easter weekend, the guys at Versuz served up some music and memories. More important they taught us some history we need to hear right from the horses mouth.
On Instagram it was supposed to be an epic battle between two historic R&B bands: Earth Wind & Fire v The Isley Brothers. The way it works is they have the bands side by side and they play hits from each other to see which is the greatest.
Not how it went off.
We danced and sang for almost four hours Sunday evening. Everyone sang with every song. Those old dudes got stamina, cause I was ready for bed by 10, but Ron Isley was still standing and singing with his cane in hand.
Philip Bailey, of Earth Wind & Fire was still throwing that falsetto at us.
Earth Wind and Fire was a band founded in 1969 by Maurice White. It has won Grammys, American Music Awards but more important to me, has created music that shaped my life.
The Isley Brothers started in the 1950s with brothers, O’Kelly, Rudolph and Ronald. Their first big hit was Shout! in 1959. This is a song that had shape many a party.
Epic doesn’t even describe this versuz battle. I loved the music. I loved the live social media chats. I too wanted Steve Harvey to shut up, cause I was tired of our drunk uncle.
The best part was the storytelling from the bands. It was good to hear that they were all friends, but you could see that as they sang each other songs. It was good to hear how a song was made or why. It just added another level of love for the music.
It is always good to hear our history from our people.
Affirmation
This month’s affirmation is faith. It is the complete trust or confidence in someone or something. We all have faith in something.
My faith is in Jesus as the Son of God. Every day it looks different.
I admit in the beginning it was small and could barely be seen. It blended in with the backdrop. It wasn’t trying to stand out or stand up. It just was.
What does your faith look like?
We Need A Hero
The first episode of Season Two has the Sistas look at how African American images have been portrayed in American television and film through its short history. After a dive in to the first shows with African American actors, they talk about what a real hero looks and acts like.
Episode We Need A Hero
T-Shirt of the Month
The Affirmation this month is FAITH. A true element of faith is how women of God stick together.
You can purchase this shirt or tote at: Jesus Girls Stick Together
or tote Totes
Art of the Month
Although history has tried to erase them, these women are written on the souls of black women and we know how to wear them.
She refused to be what they demanded she be. She decided to take some friends with her.
After leading many people to freedom through the underground railroad over 8 years, Araminta Ross, joined the women’s suffrage movement. Later in life she cared for the elderly and evenly established the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged in 1896 on land near her home.
She would hold a mirror up so they could face their hypocrisy.
Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, Ida B Wells grew up to become an investigative journalist who brought notice to lynchings, discrimination and sexism in the United States. She also spoke and wrote about them to the point it caused conflict with many of the white suffrage organizers because she called them on their silence to racist behavior. She was associated with the founding of the NAACP and National Association of Colored Women’s Club.
She wanted to capture the history and soul of a people.
The lives of African Americans in the southern part of the United States was documented by Zora Neale Hurston. She lived through the Harlem Renaissance writing novels, short stories, plays and essays. She interviewed the last known person captured by slavers and brought to the US on a slave ship, Cudjoe Lewis.
They wanted to put their name of her work. She knew better than that.
Fashion houses saw her as a seamstress, but she opened her own shop and created high fashion for the up and coming in Harlem. Her clients ranged from Nat King Cole’s wife, Eartha Kitt, Mae West, Josephine Baker, and more. Zelda Wynn Valdes also created one of the first outfits for the Playboy Bunny.
Marcus Garvey taught them to love their hair and features the way God had given them.
Black is Beautiful grew out of a 1950s movement in New York City when men from the AJASS society started holding fashion shows for African American women who wore their hair natural. It promoted beauty to another standard.
Affirmation
Give it. Get it.
Art Is Wearable
Art is a powerful way to tell a story.
My artwork tells the story of a people who rise up from things that try to hold them down. They are made of great things.
This artwork is available on essential items. There are several patterns that have a deeper meaning. The purple circles remind us of God’s word that He knows the plans He has for us. We are different sizes ad different shades, but all with a purpose.
Shop Now My Vida Store
Would You Have Remade These Series?
In this bonus episode of TV Talk with the Sistas, they discuss series that have been remade usually with a twist. In order to draw in a new audience some producers take an old concept like a Texas Ranger or living in Hawaii and add something to it. Does it work?
Listen Remakes: Retelling Old Stories
UPP Creative Media 