Originally published at Kenya Allmond: In My Own Words. You can comment here or there.

Now I'm in Chesapeake, Virginia, for the weekend and I have to admit that I miss that connectivity. So I have fashioned together my Palm LifeDrive and my Motorola RAZR to get online. I'm using the RAZR as a modem via a Bluetooth connection to the LifeDrive. I admit that it is slow but it's faster than trying to use the browser on the phone and definitely easier to enter text. Also, I can no longer use GMail mobile or the GMail app on the RAZR itself. I haven't looked into it so I don't know why.

I did consider buying my own Blackberry but my new employer will most likely supply me with one when I start in June. The device I really want is the iPhone but I would like to be able to use it on T-Mobile. I am not willing to shell out all the money for an unlocked one or willing to destroy one in an attempt to unlock it, so I wait. Though, if the rumors are true about AT&T lowering the price by $200 when the 3G models come out, I may no longer be able to resist the AT&T bandwagon.

I have a few more trips planned before June so there are going to be more instances when I have to use this combination to get online if WiFi is not available. But it should be okay as I did this when I was in Argentina on vacation last year. I'll probably do it in the Dominican Republic later this month as well. Maybe I'll learn to appreciate a less connected life. Who knows?

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Originally published at Kenya Allmond: In My Own Words. You can comment here or there.

I had the opportunity to attend screening of The Souls of Black Girls
as a part of the Urban Film Series last night. The film produced by Daphne Valerius questions whether women of color suffer from a self image disorder as a result of media images. It features discussions with teenage girls as well as the familiar faces of actresses Juanita Jennings, Regina King, Amelia Marshall and Jada Pinkett Smith; PBS's Washington Week moderator, Gwen Ifill; and rapper/activist Chuck D.

The film's premise is that Black girls and girls of color in general are given two images to aspire to by the media: 1) the European standard of beauty and 2) the video vixen which essentially equates to a Black prostitute. The girls see that they don't fit the standard of European beauty so they manipulate themselves in an effort to fit that image or gravitate to what looks most like them - the video vixen. In heartfelt interviews, the teenage girls intimate that because what is considered beautiful on TV, in movies, in magazines and the like, looks nothing like them, they feel that they must be ugly. The famous guests give a Hollywood perspective as to which images of Black women are shown. Images that challenge the status quo which are often more realistic are not chosen because executives making the decisions believe they don't sell.

Valerius' piece leaves us with the message that in order to counter these images we must hold ourselves accountable for being complicit in promoting them and also for putting positive and realistic images out there. The documentary is a must see not only for girls and women but also for boys and men.

Valerius started this film as a research project at St. Johns University as a Ronald McNair Scholar . Her motivation for studying this subject was that she too as a girl felt that she wasn't pretty because the images of women in the media looked nothing like her. At that time she had no idea that she would eventually make a documentary based on that research. She went on to make the film as her final project in the broadcast journalism masters program at Emerson College.

Visit the site for listings of screenings in your area. Screenings can also be requested through the site.

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JS Online: African Hut takes a break in business

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.a...

For 15 years, Yinka and Moji Adedokun have served up peanut stew, Jollof rice and chicken, and sweet yam fries at their downtown Milwaukee restaurant, the African Hut, along with a side dish of education about their homeland.

When I lived in Milwaukee, I always looked for an opportunity to go downtown to African Hut for some joloff rice and peanut stew.  It appears that after 15 years African Hut will no longer exist.  There was a restaurant African Harvest owned by a Liberian family in Center City that I frequented as well but it closed before I left Milwaukee in 2001.  Their spiced tea was especially delicious.

Something that stands out in the article to me is "the restaurant never generated strong support among African-Americans in Milwaukee."  I definitely know this to be true.  My ex-husband took his entire staff to African Harvest for some sort of celebration and the majority of them (all African Americans) would not eat anything.  I remember him not understanding that they would eat all kinds of pig feet and chitterlings but wouldn't eat chicken dishes from this restaurant.  The reason they wouldn't eat the food had nothing to do with the food itself but more so with their attitudes toward Africans and "not knowing what they do with the food".

African Hut probably was able to last longer because of its downtown location since the main customers were suburbanites and African Americans not native to Milwaukee.  I would guess that African Harvest failed sooner as it, being in the Black part of town, did not get that foot traffic of suburbanites and tourist.  It's definitely a sad day.

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Originally published at Kenya Allmond: In My Own Words. You can comment here or there.

Pamela also sent me the following message that I said that I would get out to the masses. I pray that her grandmother is okay. This is not how our elders should be treated.

The children and grandchildren of Mrs. Emmitt Jenkins Little of Washington, NC are asking for your help in locating Mrs. Little (age 97) who was kidnapped earlier this year and is believed to be held in the Gary, Indiana area. Please visit www.have-you-seen-ejlittle.org.

On Saturday, June 16, 2007, Mrs. Emmitt Jenkins Little was falsely removed from the Britthaven Nursing Facility in Washington, NC by her estranged granddaughter, Gloria Moreno of Gary, Indiana. She was "kidnapped" because Ms. Moreno was not authorized to remove Mrs. Little from the facility by any of Mrs. Little's five (5) children. Ms. Moreno lied to the Britthaven Nursing Facility staff by communicating that Mrs. Little's oldest daughter; Mrs. Stella L. Johnson, was with her and approved of her taking Mrs. Little. The nursing facility contacted Mrs. Johnson and she asked that Ms. Moreno return Mrs. Little to the nursing facility. Ms. Moreno did not obey Mrs. Johnson and traveled to Gary, Indiana with Mrs. Little against the will and permission of her five (5) children. Since this incident, the children have, but unsuccessfully, attempted to get Mrs. Little back to Washington, NC.

The children/grandchildren fear for Mrs. Little because they do not know how she is being cared for and none of them have been contacted by the estranged granddaughter, Ms. Moreno, who kidnapped her. This estranged granddaughter, Ms. Moreno, who had not seen her grandmother since 1999, also contacted her attorney, John Henry Hall of Hall Legal Services of Gary, Indiana, when she returned home in Gary, Indiana. Atty. Hall advised Ms. Moreno that Mrs. Little's children have the legal rights on deciding her care and she was advised to return Mrs. Little to Washington, NC.

Mrs. Little, who suffers from dementia, was blessed to see 97 years on August 5th. This was her first birthday where at least one of her five (5) children was not there to celebrate it with her. Early this year, she suffered a hairline hip fracture and was admitted to the Britthaven Nursing Facility for rehabilitation and 24-hour care. This was an agreement (100 percent) by her five (5) children who relied on medical advice and personal research as to what facility was deemed adequate for Mrs. Little's needs. After being admitted, the children were pleased with the care and feel of the Britthaven Nursing Facility. Mrs. Little's five (5) children and their children continued to visit EVERY weekend and also during the week. For more than 70 years, Mrs. Little has always been loved and cared for by her family.

The children and grandchildren are desperately seeking help from the government and the public to assist them in bringing Mrs. Little back to Washington, NC. Please visit the website for ALL legal details, www.have-you-seen-ejlittle.org.

Please email the family at helpus@have-you-seen-ejlittle.org if you are able to help in any way! Thank you in advance for your support!

Pamela L. Johnson
Tags: emmitt jenkins little abduction family pamela johnson nursing home indiana north carolina

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I've been out of it for the past week.  I completely missed following the results of the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania.  I woke up Wednesday morning to hear that Clinton had won.  Don't count Obama out yet though.  (Interestingly I ended up in Pittsburgh at the end of the week.)

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Originally published at Kenya Allmond: In My Own Words. You can comment here or there.

It is ridiculous that a business would essentially have to "import" gas from Mexico to stay afloat. Yet, the media wants to keep the presidential candidates focused on smear campaigns and non-issues. I would rather hear the candidates addressing real issues.

Gas prices are astronomical; the economy is down the tubes. Can we start talking about things that really matter instead of whether a candidate was scratching his face or not? Seriously.

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Originally published at Kenya Allmond: In My Own Words. You can comment here or there.

I watch my web site statistics regularly to see how people find me. I normally do so both by using Google Analytics and by looking at the web logs directly. Here are a few searches from yesterday that have resulted in visits to my site.

• my life story from kenya to usa


• taxis in kenya


• what kind of name is Obama?

At any rate, I believe I have found the answer to the Kenyans finding my site by mistake. If you are looking for information in the Republic of Kenya, use Google's Kenyan site. Note the difference in the search for taxis in kenya. Similarly if you are looking for YouTube videos about Kenya, do not search on Google but on YouTube instead. I do not use "Kenya" as a tag and my videos are not in the results of a search of Kenya.

I have to give some credit to Nil Simmonds who did a presentation called "Web 2.0 and Africa" as PodCampDC last weekend as I had not thought of this until I was listening to his presentation.

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Rating Barack Obama Non-Scandals | The Nappy Diatribe | Blogs | Vibe.com

http://blogs.vibe.com/humanitycritic/...

One thing that truly boggles the mind, besides the success of CBS's "Two and a Half Men" and the fact that not every stripper you come across accepts money for sexual favors, is the commonly regurgitated theme that Barack Obama had at one time received a "free ride" from the news media. Sure, he was a relatively new face in politics and people desperately wanted to know more about the Junior Senator from Illinois, but don't confuse that with the media ever being in the tank for Obama. Because to the trained eye nothing could be further from the truth. For one thing, like most star black athletes who are called "disruptive" when they publicly call out teammates, when their white counterpart is described as "showing leadership" for doing the exact same thing - I noticed that Obama was immediately a victim of the "adjective game" by many in the mainstream media. If Hillary was telling a group of supporters that she was the only candidate who could reform health care because of her years of experience on the matter, or if John McCain expressed in some interview how he was best positioned out of all the candidates to protect America based on his foreign policy credentials - both of them, more times than not, were characterized as being "confident". Obama on the other hand, exuding the same levels of confidence when talking about his ability to bring people together, or how he is the only candidate who can beat McCain come November, is often characterized as "arrogant" or "cocky". Out of the three remanding candidates, Obama is the only one I've ever seen described as "whining" when he responds to attacks, just further outlining how many people are truly threatened by an assertive black person.(See Michelle Obama). Then there was Farrakhan. You know what, they'd only ask a black guy to disassociate himself from a person who he has never had a personal relationship with - I'm fully expecting Tim Russert, during one of the presidential debates when Obama takes on McCain ...

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I received the following from Leah Oviedo.  I have contacted Jasmine Gray since the official end date for the drive has passed; she says that she will collect pajamas until May 1.  At any rate, this is something worth supporting.

Pajama collector get name on the MTSU "A List"

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You have friggin' GOT to be kidding me!  Bob Johnson apparently doesn't live in the same world that I live in.

Charlotte Observer | 04/15/2008 | Johnson cites race in Obama's surge

http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/58...

Johnson's comments to the Observer echoed those of former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro. She stepped down as an adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton last month after saying Obama wouldn't be where he is if he were white.

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