Monday, December 22, 2008

1929: WHITE HOUSE TEA AND NO SYMPATHY: THE DePRIEST INCIDENT: THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN INVITED TO TEA AT THE WHITE HOUSE


In the early summer of 1929, citizens in the nation’s capital enjoyed reading about the White
House activities of President Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou Hoover, in their local newspaper.
They learned that a “talking movie” was shown at the White House , that the president’s
pets had acquired silver-plated nametags, and that a policy had been implemented to reduce
the number of handshakes the president had to endure during public receptions. By July, the
Hoovers no doubt sorely missed such whimsical coverage, when it was replaced by reports criticizing
Mrs. Hoover for inviting an African-American woman to attend a White House tea.
Ordinarily, the First Lady’s activities would have been covered in the society news; in this
case, however, Lou Hoover made front page headlines in newspapers across the country. Early
in her husband’s administration, Mrs. Hoover planned to invite the wives of U.S. Congressmen
to the White House, but she faced a dilemma. For the first time in decades, and for the first time
ever outside the South, an African-American man had been elected to the U.S. Congress. Should
she invite his wife, Mrs. Oscar DePriest, to tea at the White House along with the wives of the
other Congressmen? She decided to do so, and Mrs. DePriest accepted the invitation and did
indeed visit the White House, igniting a firestorm that demonstrated the sensitive and symbolic
nature of the White House, as well as the delicate state of race relations in America on the cusp
of the Depression.
The Incident
Oscar DePriest was the first African-American elected as a U.S. Congressman since Reconstruction,
and he was the first African-American ever elected to serve in the U.S. Congress from
outside the South. A Republican from Chicago, DePriest began his term in March 1929, at the
same time President Hoover started his term as president. It quickly became clear that a decision
had to be made about what to do about Mrs. DePriest. While President and Mrs. Hoover
tried to minimize political fallout, there does not seem to be any doubt that they would include
Mrs. DePriest. It would be difficult to ignore White House traditions, so canceling the event was
not really an option. Nor would the Hoovers snub Mrs. DePriest by excluding her.

(I WONDER WHAT "THEY" WOULD SAY TODAY,... THEM DRY BONES MUST BE JUMPING ALL OVER CREATION RIGHT ABOUT NOW)

Friday, December 19, 2008

CERAMIST: SANA MUSASAMA TRAVELS TO CAMBODIA TO DO CULTURAL REHAB & SOCIAL REINTEGRATION ACTIVITIES WITH THE YOUNG GIRLS VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING


MY AMAZING HUMANITARIAN ARTIST FRIEND, SANA MUSASAMA JUST LEFT NEW YORK THE OTHER DAY, TO TRAVEL TO VIETNAM TO DO VOLUNTARY WORK WITH THE GIRLS OF SAMOLY MAM FOUNDATION IN CAMBODIA.

THE SAMOLY MAM FOUNDATION IS AN AMAZING RESCUE FOUNDATION, SHE RECUES, REHABILITATES AND REINTERGRATE YOUNG GIRLS IN CAMBODIA BACK INTO SOCIETY AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN RESCUED FROM BEING VICTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICING IN THE SEX SLAVE TRADE.

SAMOLY MAM WAS KIDNAPPED AND SOLD TO A BROTHAL AS A SEX SLAVE AT THE YOUNG AGE OF 12 IN CAMBODIA, SHE EXSCAPE THIS LIFE OF HORROR AND HAS FOUNDED THE FOUNDATION THAT HAS RESCUED OVER 4,000 YOUNG GIRLS.

SAMOLY MAM HAS WRITTEN A BOOK TITLED "THE ROAD OF LOST INNOCENCE" THAT YOU CAN READ ABOUT HER LIFE, I PLAN TO GET THE CD AND LISTEN TO IT WHILE I CROCHET.

SANA MUSASAMA IS IN VIETNAM RIGHT NOW, SHE WILL BE TRAVELING TO CAMBODIA IN A FEW DAYS TO WORK WITH THE YOUNG GIRLS. I WILL BE POSTING HER E-MAILS OF HER JOURNEY AND WORK.

SANA IS AN AMAZING TRAVELER, SHE HAS WONDERFUL TRAVELING STORIES TO TELL, SHE IS A FIRE SPIRIT, SO THERE ARE ALWAY INTERESTING ENCOUNTERS.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

HOLIDAY GIFTS BY XENOBIA BAILEY: "FUNKY CHIC BEADED CROCHET SKULLCAPS" @ ETSY.COM


MY IMAGES ARE BACK!!!. I'M ON ANOTHER COMPUTER,.. BUT AT LEAST I CAN POST IMAGES....
..
SO... HERE IS MY "SONG AND DANCE" ABOUT MY HATS SELLING ON ETSY.COM AGAIN.

JUST GO TO ETSY.COM, TYPE IN "FUNKY CHIC, CROCHET, BEADED, SKULLCAPS" AND THE RED SKULLCAP THAT IS POSTED HERE WILL APPEAR.

NO TELLING WHEN I WILL STOP CROCHETING THESE HATS COMPLETELY,

SO... IF YOU WANT TO BE AS CUTE AS A BUTTON THIS WINTER, MAKE YOU ORDER WHILE THE OFFER LASTS...

DO'NT SAY I DID'NT GIVE YOU A HEADS-UP ON THIS ALMOST LAST CALL.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

HOLIDAY GIFTS BY XENOBIA BAILEY: "FUNKY CHIC BEADED CROCHET SKULLCAPS" @ ETSY.COM




OK GOOD PEOPLE,... I HAVE TO TAKE A BIG, DEEP BREATH RIGHT ABOUT NOW, AS I MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS JACKED-UP IMAGE ON MY BLOG.

IT LOOKS AS IF, I WILL HAVE TO WORK ON THIS BLOG WITH NO IMAGES OR A JACKED-UP IMAGE FOR A WHILE... IT REMINDS ME OF "BACK IN THE DAY" WHEN THE ELECTRICITY WOULD BE TURN OFF, AND WE WOULD ACT LIKE WE WERE IN THE WILDERNESS WITH ONLY CANDLE LIGHTS.

SO UNTIL I HAVE THE TIME TO REALLY HAVE THIS PROBLEM CORRECTED, WE WILL JUST HAVE TO USE OUR IMAGINATION AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

BY THE WAY... THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR ALL OF THE SUGGESTIONS. I TRIED THEM ALL.

BUT.... ANYWAY...

I AM CROCHETING MY FUNKY, CHIC, BEADED, SKULLCAPS, AND I AM SELLING THEM @ ETSY.COM.

CHECK THEM OUT... WHEN YOU GO TO THE ETSY.COM WEBSITE, GO TO "HANDMADE ITEMS: TAGS, TITLES" THEN COPY & PASTE "FUNKY, CHIC, BEADED CROCHET SKULLCAPS" CLICK ON "SEARCH" AND A IMAGE OF A MODEL WITH A RED FUNKY CHIC, BEADED CROCHET SKULLCAP, WILL APPEAR.

IF YOU DO NOT SEE A COLOR COMBINATION THAT TICKLES YOUR FANCY, JUST WRITE ME A NOTE THROUGH MY ETSY ACCOUNT AND I WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT.

ALL THE HATS ARE HAND CROCHET BY ME, NO ONE ELSE AND THEY ALL COME WITH MY PERSONAL LABEL. SO... I DO'NT KNOW HOW LONG I WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE THESE HATS. BUT MARK MY WORK, THE END OF ME MAKING THESE Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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Thursday, December 11, 2008

NOW THE BLOG HAS GONE HAYWIRE,.. I CAN ONLY PUBLISH IN THE TITLE BLOCK IN A ROUND ABOUT WAY!!

I AM TRYING TO SEE WAHT WORKS AND HOW.... OK... I CAN SOMETIMES GET SOME TEXT POSTED, BUT NO IMAGES.

WHAT I NEED IS FOR EVERYONE TO LAY YOUR HANDS ON YOUR COMPUTER AND SEND MY BLOG AND ME SOME GOOD VIBES.... THIS BLOG NEEDS A GOOD OLD FASHION GLOBAL CYBER HEALING.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE OF HARLEM: AISHA AL ALADAWIYA, THE LOVELY AND GRACIOUS HISTORICAL ARCHIVIST AT THE SCHOMBURG CENTER LIBRARY IN HARLEM


DECEMBER 1 2008, I HAD TO STOP BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES IN HARLEM TO MAKE A DROP-OFF, THE SCHOMBURG CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN BLACK CULTURE LIBRARY,

I WAS MET IN THE LOBBY BY THE BEAUTIFUL SISTAH AISHA AL ALADAWIYA, IT WAS REALLY GREAT SEEING HER, I LOVE HER PERONAL STYLE. SHE IS THE ONLY PERSON THAT I KNOW THAT HAS A BEAUTIFUL LAVENDER COLOR IN HER SKIN TONE, I RALLY LOVE HOW SHE WORKS WITH HER CULTURAL AESTHETIC.... "SHE BE WEARIN HER ADORNMENTS"

I WAS HOPEING TO GET ANOTHER SNEAK VIEW OF THE AARON DOUGLAS EXHIBIT THAT WAS ON VIEW AT THE SCHOMBURG LIBRARY. THE LAST DAY WAS SUNDAY. AARON DOUGLAS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE ARTIST. I LOVE HOW HE PAINTS AND WRITES ABOUT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN IN THE NEW INDUSTRIAL AGE IN AMERICA.. HIS USE OF SPACE, FORM AND COLOR IS SIMPLE YET POWERFUL. I THINK I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TRAVEL TO SEE THE LIBRARY AT FISK UNIVERSITY WHERE HE PAINTED A TIMELESS MURAL ON THE WALLS.