Should There be an Obama Holiday?

I hope everyone enjoyed their Holiday break! Speaking of holidays, should Barack Obama get a holiday named after him? I know that it is too early to ask this question; for he has not even taken office yet. But do you think he should get one? I think about a great leader that came before him named Martin Luther King. I look all around me and can see streets, schools, and buildings named after MLK. I remember hearing the stories on how people fought hard for a holiday to be named after him also. I think about how we take off work that day, and a lot of people dedicate that day to service. Is Barack following down that same path?

The day after Obama got named president- elect, there were a number of babies that were born with the name Obama. Recently, Ludlum Elementary School in Long Island, changed their name to Barack Obama Elementary, becoming the first school in the nation to have their name changed to the president-elects. Students expressed how proud they were to go to a school named after him. The students were actually the ones that wanted the change, and wrote letters on why the change should be made.

I am sure that his name will be attached to many things to come...but should he get a holiday?
Lincoln, Columbus, and Martin have holidays. These were men that played a significant role in American history and I think that Obama does also. I want to wait until he has some accomlishments as President, but if he gets one...

This is how we should celebrate:

1. Day off
2. A day of service
3. Join with another race in doing your day of service. (for Obama brought a nation together)
4. Every school should do a huge service project also.
5. Of course EAT!

Do you think that Obama should get a holiday named after him and why?

How do you think that Holiday should be spent?

What do you usually do on MLK day?

Friday's Top Five Ways to Keep up with the Huxtables..

1. Catch the deals on Black Friday! And don't miss out on what they now call Cyber Mondays. On Cyber Monday's you will be able to get online deals. http://www.cybermonday.com/

2. Check out Cadillac Records on December 5th. This movie chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artist. Beyonce Knowles will play Etta James. Will this performance finally give her the Oscar she has been working for? I don't know...I just hope that they managed to create another classic like The Five Heartbeats. Do they even make classic Black movies anymore?

3. Don't let major companies get away with ignorance. A lady name Brenda McElmore went to JCPenny's to get her hair dyed and they told her no. The receptionist told her that they don't do African American hair. This lady asked for her hair to be dyed, not permed or pressed. I didn't know that it was extremely different dying techniques. But if they felt that they were not properly trained to deal with her texture of hair, they could have said that. Not, "We don't do African American hair".

4. Read Walter Mosley, the man in my basement. I am reading this book right now and it has truly kept my attention the entire time. "The book tells the story of Charles Blakey, a young black man who can't find a job, drinks too much, and, worst of all, stands to lose the beautiful home that has belonged to his family for generations. But Charles's fortunes take an odd turn when a stranger offers nearly $50,000 to rent out Charles's basement. Soon the boarder transforms the basement into a prison cell, Charles finds himself drawn into circumstances almost unimaginably bizarre and profoundly unsettling."

What book are you currently reading?

Do you have anything that has been passed down from generations in your home?

I have one of the pens that signed the right for women to vote, from my Great Grandmother. It is very important to hold on and pass down things that make up the history of your family.

5. Remember during the Holiday season that they biggest gift you can give your family members, is spending quality time with them. Take time this season to reach out to a family member that you do not speak to on a regular.

His Last Wish....Feed the Homeless

Some of you might have already seen this video, but if you have not...WATCH IT!

This is an amazing story of a little boy that was told he had two weeks to live. When asked what his last wish was, he stated that he just wanted to feed the homeless. Most kids usually ask to meet their favorite celebrity, take a trip, or have a certain toy, this little boy wanted to give to other people. His request inspired people all over to participate in a food drive to feed the homeless.

This little boy has left a legacy behind of service...

What legacy will you leave behind?

Have you ever done a major selfless act?

During the week of Thanksgiving think of one thing that you are going to do for someone else.
Write it down below and share with the rest of us. We will hold you to it! :)

Let this little boy be an inspiration to give back as much as you can to other people! The more you are blessed...the more you should bless others.

(Check the comment section to see what I plan on doing this week for someone else)

In search of my better half...

I have had the same discussion with different friends for the past two weeks...."Why can't we find our better halves?" I am sure that this is not a conversation that just me and my friends have; I am positive that women all over share the same type of concerns.

The conversation becomes really heated right around the mid-twenties, when everyone is slowly counting the years til the deadline we set for our ideal age to get married. Women begin to panic and think that it's impossible that they are going to reach their well thoughtout goal.

If you are feeling this way as you read this post, don't worry you are not alone. I used to be someone that worried about meeting someone, and spent a lot of my time putting myself in the right situations to meet guys. I would sometimes even settle for going on dates with guys that I knew there was no future with.

It wasn't until recently that I developed a new approach to this whole finding my better half thing. I begin to pay attention more at church and read a few books on relationships. The constant theme that begin to come up, was that I needed to work on myself before I could find my better half.

I need to understand what makes me whole, before I can find someone that completes me. So often as people we develop a list of things that we think we are looking for in a person, never understanding that the list is probably not correct if we don't understand who we are first.

Steps to finding your better half:

1. Develop who you are a person. Work on personal and career goals. Let your first priority be yourself. How can you truly be great for someone else, if you don't have your own stuff together? Yes there is room for people to grow together, but you have to at least lay a foundation for yourself.

2. Understand what makes you happy. If you are looking for someone to spend the rest of your life with, you need to already know what makes you happy. Work on enjoying life alone and with friends/family before you look for someone else to make you happy.

3. Throw away the list. Stop creating list of things that you are looking for in a person. Usually the list that we create are full of superficial garbage anyway. It's like when we write a Christmas list, it is going to be filled with things that we would love to have, and rarely have anything on there that we need. When you are looking for a mate your list is going to have to include things that you need. Because most people cannot figure out the difference between needs and wants, don't even bother making them. Once you have developed who your are, you will begin to attract people that match self. The list won't be needed, because what you need will be reflected in who you are.

4. Just be friends at first. When you finally do meet a person, just be their friend. Taking the time to really get to know a person is key. You want to be able to thoroughly get to know their character and not the superficial things about them. So often if we don't take the time to get to know a person, we let our physical attractions for a person take over. You begin to think that the feelings that you have when you are having sex is indication of deep feelings for a person. It begins to confuse you; you ignore the signs that this person isn't right for you. If someone can truly be your friend, then that is the first sign that they relate to you in someway or another.

5. For females, stop looking so much and let the man find you. If you have developed yourself and have become the ultimate catch, then you will be caught. The key is having confidence in who you are....that will shine in a room full of a million girls all wearing short skirts. Never seem so thirsty to be in a relationship. If a guy thinks that you will give your all to any guy because you are desperate to be in a relationship, then he will assume that it is not him that you really want, it's any guy that will accept your offer. Chill, relax...they will come to you.

6. Never try to change someone. Naturally people grow, but it is not your job to re-create who they are. So often girls take a guy for who he is, but then try to shape him into their ideal man. It does not work like this, and for the most part you will fail. You will set high expectations for the relationship, never meeting any of them.

The key is that if both men and women are working on becoming better people, then by the time they come together, they will be able to concentrate on being good husbands and wives. Neo said it best, "I'm a movement by myself, but were a force when were together."

More advice to come...Feel free to ask me questions. Ill give the best advice I can. Always take people's advice and apply it with ease to your situation. All advice doesn't work for your personal situation.

Friday's Top Three Ways to Keep UP!

1. Today the new Blackberry Storm came out, and the lines at Verizon are ridiculus this morning. Why is it that every time something new comes out, people want to be the first to have it? As if you now become so much cooler then you were a day ago, because you have the latest new item. The crazy thing about trying to get the hottest new electronic first....is that the first batches are always messed up anyway. You end up having to take it in and trade it for a new one. The price is also really high when it first comes out, but like a week later the price drops like crazy.

How to Keep Up:

a. Never wait in a long line for the hottest new item just to say that you had something first.

b. Never hang around people that care that much that you have it. lol

c. Wait for the second batch to come out, because you are going to have to return it anyways.

d. Wait for the price to drop so that you are not spending $500 for it.

e. Never be that into material things, that you wait longer in line then you did to vote for President of the United States.

2. It is nice to be able to still see artist that strive to be unique, and really show us that music artist can still be creative. We are stuck in a current world where everyone has gone mainstream and the poster child for talent is Beyonce.


There is something to say about someone who can come out today and can go against the grain. Earlier this week Janelle Monae showed us that Black Girls really do Rock!!!

Photo by Selena Singleton

Janelle Monae with her unstraightened hair, boyish look, and rock star personality, is definitely a change from our typical female artist today. This girl was smashing speakers with guitars, surfing the crowd, and had the audience truly partying like rock stars.

How to Keep Up: If you are an artist of any form....stay true to who you are, and show the world something new! The beauty of art is that it can not be defined by one standard; art is defined by the artist.

3. Let's go into this weekend with the idea of taking the time to truly show the people that we care about that we Love them. Remember God's idea of Love:

"It is patient, kind, not jealous, doesn't brag, is not arrogant, doesn't act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not easily provoked, does not take into account any wrongs suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails!"

Have a Great Weekend Keeping Up Fam. Love you much...Keep UP!

Al-Quaida No. 2 calls Obama a House Slave...

In a recent video, Al-Quaida's No. 2 leader was recorded describing how he thinks that the president-elect does the bidding of whites, and refers to him as a House Negro, which also means House Slave. He includes leaders such as Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice in the list of House Negroes.

The translation of his message further goes on to point out that the leader says that Obama is the direct opposite of Honorable Blacks such as Malcolm X. Clippings then flash across the screen of Obama praying with Jewish leaders.

Finally, he states that Obama's plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist.

So here is the issue:

Of course when you compare Barack Obama to the original Malcolm X, then hands down it would appear that Obama is a "House Negro". That is what people called Martin when comparing his approach to Malcolm's. Whenever a Black person tries to cater to all races and not just Black's, people will probably question who they truly represent.

I think that it becomes hard for Black's when they become political figures, or are in the spot light, because they begin to have an obligation to the people, and not just one particular race. Barack Obama is president-elect and has been given the task of running an entire country. There is no way that he can have the same fight as great figures such as Malcolm X.

Barack Obama must learn how to carefully answers the concerns of all races. I do hope that in the process that he does not forget about the struggles of African Americans, and totally cater to the majority. I ask that everyone remember that he is a politician at the end of the day...never forget that. If he would have been outward about racism and Black Power, do you think he would have got elected?

Please do not join in with this leader in calling Barack Obama a House Slave. Give him a chance to do his job, and cater to the needs of the entire nation. He has already done a large deed for our race alone, and that was showing our youth that they can be more than just rappers and actors. He has actually given them a new set of dreams and hopes.

What I do ask is that instead of sitting around and waiting for the next Martin or Malcolm, why don't you become the person you are waiting for. You can be the activist we need for our community. Everyone in our community is going to have to hold a different job...let Obama do his.

Are you Living or Just Existing?

Are you living or are you just existing?

I heard an interesting question the other day, “Are you living or are you just existing?” The question hit hard, and made me really sit back and think. Everyday we wake up and do our daily routines. Some of us occasionally alter our daily task, and insert extra activities that come up here and there. But how many people are truly living?

Below is a list of questions to ask yourself to determine if you are living or existing…

Do you wake up and follow the same schedule everyday?

Do you enjoy trying new things and going new places?

Do you feel like you have grown as a person since the beginning of the year?

Have you added any new activities to your life that were different from last month?

Have you overcome a challenge in your life?

Do you take time everyday to enjoy the company of your friends and family?

Do you smile and laugh throughout the day?

Do you set weekly short and long-term goals?

Do you ever do something without putting much thought into it?

Do you feel like your life has a purpose?

Take these questions and answer them every week to determine if you are truly living.

Please take the time to live life! KEEP UP!