LIYA KEBEDE WORKS TO HELP MOMS IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES AND BEYOND

Via blackcelebkids.com

"As an Ambassador for Goodwill’s Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health division, Liya Kebede knows a thing or two about motherhood. In addition to having kids of her own, Liya serves as an advocate for thousands of mothers needing guidance in the way of child nourishment and development. The Ethiopian designer and model recently talked with Elizabeth Street about her experiences as a parent and her passion for helping less fortunate moms around the world.

Motherhood and its career affects. 
“Being a mother puts things in perspective and informs everything that I do. It makes everything hit much closer to home. Being born and raised in Ethiopia, I have helplessly witnessed the devastation a family goes through when a mother dies, many times. Living in the Unites States now I see and understand that we can prevent the deaths of those mothers.” 

Issues moms face in developing countries. 
“Giving birth is one of the most joyous gifts to a mother. But sadly in developing countries, giving birth can mean death. Pregnancy and childbirth is one of the main reasons that mothers die in developing countries; they die from preventable or treatable conditions because they do not have any access to basic medical care. Most women around the world do not deliver in clinics or hospitals; this is due to the lack of access, the lack of education among the communities, and the lack of policy makers and international donors that focus on maternal health. The statistics show a devastating need for well-equipped and well-staffed hospitals in developing countries.” 

Hence the Liya Kebede Foundation. 
“The Liya Kebede Foundation is committed to ensuring that every woman, no matter where she lives, has access to life-saving care. Saving mothers’ lives requires the strategic coordination and deployment of resources, skilled doctors and midwives, ambulances, roads, clean sheets and basic medical tools, just to name a few. This year we have successfully equipped a maternity center in the Hawassa region in Ethiopia and have helped train the staff so that the women in the community can have access to quality care. The center started as a pilot program and aims to be an example for other similar maternity centers across the country.” 

What can other moms do to help? 
“Getting the word out is essential, and donating to the Liya Kebede Foundation is a great way to make your voice heard as well. Even as little as $1 provides a woman with a dose of medicine that can stop a hemorrhage, which is the leading cause of death for mothers.” 

 Liya and her husband Kassy Kebede have two children, Suhul and Raee, together."

Justice for Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old Black male who was murdered a month ago in Orlando, FL by a 28-year-old white male who claimed the child looked suspicious. While visiting his father during NBA All-Star weekend in Orlando, Trayvon had just left his father's home, in a gated community, to buy a bag of skittles and can of iced tea from a convenience store just down the street. What Trayvon, nor his family knew, was that he would never make it back home that night.

On his way home, Trayvon, who had his hood on because it was raining, was spotted by self-appointed neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman called the local police department while he was sitting in his vehicle supposedly conducting his watchman duties and told the dispatcher, "There's a real suspicious guy. This guy looks like he's up to no good, on drugs or something... He's checking me out." "These a**holes always get away," he adds. Zimmerman then proceeds to get out of his vehicle to follow and confront Martin. The dispatcher asks, "Are you following him?" Zimmerman replies, "Yes." And the dispatcher is heard trying to discourage Zimmerman, saying, "Okay, we don't need you to do that."

Authorities are uncertain of what happened next, but a series of 911 calls from local residents reveal that Zimmerman did in fact confront Trayvon, a scuffle ensued, and a life was lost. "They're wrestling right in the back of my porch," one frantic caller says. "The guy's yelling help and I'm not going out." A 13-year-old witness claimed, "I saw a man laying on the ground that needed help, that was screaming and then I was going to go over there to try and help him, but my dog got off the leash, so I went and got my dog, and then I heard a loud sound and then the screaming stopped." Many of the calls reveal a voice screaming for help (more than likely Trayvon) and then a single gunshot followed by complete silence. Trayvon was murdered and George Zimmerman has admitted to killing the teen. Yet, he has yet to be arrested or charged for the violent crime.

It was exposed that Zimmerman made 46 calls to police in the past 15 months, most often to report a suspicious person. What Zimmerman had been doing was racial profiling, assuming that a person of color, usually Black, walking in the neighborhood had to be up to no good. And in this case, Zimmerman's actions and misconceptions misguided him into believing that he could take a child's life to fulfill some selfish entity.

There is absolutely no reason that a child should have to lose his/her life because of someone else's ignorance.

We not only need to educate ourselves, but those around us as well. All Trayvon's family is asking is that their son's murderer be brought to justice. Help their voices be heard, sign the petition at change.org. Stand up for Trayvon and let justice be served!


**UPDATE** George Zimmerman is FINALLY charged with 2nd degree murder in the case of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. (4/11/12)

Feature Friday: Red Tails

Based on the true story of the Tuskegee Airmen. "In the fire and chaos of World War II, the U.S. military recruits a fearless group of African-American fighter pilots to help reclaim the skies over Europe. Discriminated against both as citizens and as soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen take flight in planes distinguished by distinctive red tails, and fight to defeat the tyranny of the Axis powers. As a result of their bravery, the pilots emerge as true heroes."
Directed by Anthony Hemingway. Screenplay by John Ridley and Aaron McGruder.

The Dream Lives On

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Why Derrick Rose IS A Role Model

Why Derrick Rose IS A Role Model (Especially In Today's NBA)
This is a really good article in contest to the Mark Yost article from the Chicago Tribune last week (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-1229-rose-20111229,0,5657899.story).

Let me just say that Derrick Rose is a great role model: he’s humble, sincere, consistent, amiable, admirable, an all around class act. Everyone’s ascribed a certain amount of talent and savvy to pursue whatever it is that they are passionate about and they can achieve it with the right work ethic, and it just so happens that Rose was destined to be a ball player (and one hell of a ball player!). There are several routes to success, some accomplished through acts of selfishness and others through acts of selflessness, and I think Rose’s ascent to fame and fortune qualifies as the latter. Just because there are allegations that Rose’s SAT scores were falsified doesn’t make him a bad person or immoral; that is one act of deceit to all of the acts of class and benevolence that Rose has shown repeatedly. And face it, the SAT is a biased assessment of test-taking skills, not an assessment of competence or ability; it’s just another scheme in our capitalistic society to help the rich get richer and the poor to remain poor. So what if Rose had to bend the rules a bit to prove himself on the court. I don’t think his affairs with a “standardized test” qualifies as a good judge of Rose’s character. Not to mention that the Yost article is coming from someone with a very biased opinion and perspective. (Has Yost ever been a low-income minority youth living in and attending public schools in the inner-city? I think not.)

And on that note, going back to my original argument on talent, passion, and persistence. I don’t think it’s false hope for youth to aspire to be athletes like Derrick Rose (they have just as slim a chance of becoming the next Barack Obama, although they should also be encouraged more often to pursue other professional and philanthropic careers). As long as they have the right attitude, understand the probability of experiencing success, and don’t neglect their academic success. And that they get the right attention and assistance. Because it’s those that instruct and assist them along the way that should also come into question when they make such poor judgments/decisions.

Music Monday

Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas is You

Something’s coming ……

Christmas Day, December 25th, 2011 @ 2pm p/t on ABC. The Bulls are Back!!

Backstage w. Ye @ WTT

I wanted to share this video cause I love KanYe. I have my own resignations about Jay Z and the whole Roc*Nation and the objectives behind their movement. And seeing that Kan is a member, he's obviously involved in whatever it is (I don't want to share my thoughts on what exactly their mission might be and project my feelings or perceptions onto anyone else, I'll let everyone form their own because I think actions speak for themselves and some of the images and statements in the video, although minor, are questionable, so I'll just keep my opinions to myself). But anyways, it's a behind-the-scenes and up-close-and-personal look inside Kanye's thought processes and preparations for his tour performances. But it's Yeezy, so it's def worth a look.

Music Monday

Rihanna - We Found Love
Don't know about this video, but the song has a good vibe. (And why does this dude look just like Chris Brown? And why do I get the impression this video was some sort of reenactment?)

We're Back in Business

November 26, 2011 at 10:08 am
‘Tis the Season… For Basketball

The game of chicken is over.

It all ended in Manhattan last night when both cars swerved at the last minute, narrowly avoiding a disastrous collision that would have certainly produced a large number of casualties. It’s been 149-days of empty labor meetings, monotonous press conferences and the complete dismissal of logic and reason. For months, both sides have been essentially saying the same thing:
“We don’t want to lose money, so we’re willingly going to lose money to show you how serious we are about not losing money.”

It was that kind of egotism and downright foolishness that almost wiped out the NBA season (along with about $4 billion in revenue), and while many of us blame greed for what transpired, it was greed that ultimately saved the day. When it came right down to it, the financial ramifications of cancelling NBA basketball on Christmas day just couldn’t be ignored.

Specific details of the agreement are still unclear (and a few system issues still need to be agreed on), but according to sources familiar with the negotiations, the players are set to receive around 50.5% of BRI. The elephant in the room is that both sides still need to hold a formal vote for their members, something Commissioner Stern spoke cautiously about.
“We expect our labor relations committee to endorse this deal, this tentative agreement, and we expect our Board of Governors, at a meeting we will call after that, to endorse the deal.”

NBPA executive director Billy Hunter also spoke with caution, but expressed confidence in the tentative agreement.
“We’re confident that once we present it, the players will support it.”

We expect that specific details of the agreement will spill out over the next several days. While we wait for those, here’s what we know for sure:
__The NBA will begin a 66-game season on Christmas Day.
__The Lakers will host the Bulls as part of a Christmas Day triple-header. Also of note, the Miami Heat will visit the Dallas Mavericks in what will now be Ring Night for the Mavs.
__NBA Training Camps will begin on (or around) December 9th, along with a shortened (and sure to be frenzied) free-agency period.

And with that, we close the chapter on the NBA lockout, and start a new one. Welcome back, NBA. Don’t ever cheat on us like that again.

Source: LakerNation

(I had to post this story, for the last line alone :)