If you ain't a gardener, you ain't gangsta - Ron Finley

“We gotta flip the script on what a gangsta is — if you ain't a gardener, you ain't gangsta.” - Ron Finley

Gardening is GANGSTA ! Artist and designer Ron Finley couldn’t help but notice what was going on in his backyard. “South Central Los Angeles,” he quips, “home of the drive-thru and the drive-by.” And it's the drive-thru fast-food stands that contribute more to the area’s poor health and high mortality rate, with one in two kids contracting a curable disease like Type 2 diabetes.

Finley’s vision for a healthy, accessible “food forest” started with the curbside veggie garden he planted in the strip of dirt in front of his own house. When the city tried to shut it down, Finley’s fight gave voice to a larger movement that provides nourishment, empowerment, education -- and healthy, hopeful futures -- one urban garden at a time.

“South Central Los Angeles [is the] home of the drive-thru and the drive-by. Funny thing is, the drive-thrus are killing more people than the drive-bys.” - Ron Finley

The direct link to the video described above:
http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.html


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(Video) Not only that - More of the Dr. Martin Luther King we somehow miss....

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The absolute weight doesn't matter

Republished from 2008
From BIB contributor John Jessup:

A  lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water? "Answers called out ranged from 8oz. to 20oz.The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.. "If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.""In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. " He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. "As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. " "So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.""Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy! "And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

01* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
02* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
03* Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
04* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker.
05* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
06* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
07* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
08* Never buy a car you can't push.
09* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
10* Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
11* Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late..
12* The second mouse gets the cheese.
13* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
17* We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp,some are prettyand some are dull. Somehave weird
       names and all are different colors,but they all have to live in the same box.
18* A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

My father is now my ancestor - Seko Varner

3 years ago ! Ashee, ashee, ashee. For three years the memory of my father, and his crossing the bar into ancestor-ship brought pains to my stomach, tension in my voice, and very often uncontrollable tears.
Today I rejoice that he is home, or closer to his home in Glory.... Tears, pains, and all. May the almighty be praised. May my father's memory and legacy continue to be a blessing. May his 'ancestorship' remain a blessing. May my mother's heart heal. As Luther said...... "Dear Lord she dying, to dance with my father again." - Seko Varner 09/22/2012

'Sunday Schooled' is a collection of blog posts from Seko Varner's former blogs. This original post is dated 09/25/2009 a few days after Seko's father died. Originally posted here: http://drivingmrdaddy.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-father-is-now-my-ancestor.html   

Dr. Rev. Samuel Lee Varner: Sunrise 10/19/1937. 
Sunset 09/22/2009.
9.22.2009 I was awoken suddenly at 1:37 a.m. I couldn't determine what awoke me. I couldn't immediately return to sleep. 10 minutes or so later I was snoring. At 1:51 a.m. I'm awakened by a phone call. I hear my mother's muffled voice crying hysterically. My sister in-law then appears on the line saying "Seko, Papi's gone. He's gone."

I couldn't breathe......... "Are you saying that he's dead ? Is that what you're saying ?" hoping that Dad was moved to another room in the Rehab' Center. Life nudged me and I fought back throwing the telephone receiver at the mirror shocking my wife awake. "What, what is it Seko ?" I couldn't answer........Too busy screaming.......Too busy crying.....I wanted to break everything in sight. I ran out of the room yelling and grabbed a lamp on the way out hurling it towards the window. Rhonda's trying to calm me down while I run down the stairs and out of the house screaming. "Don't drive, don't get in the car" she begged as I ran down the streets of my neighborhood. I had to get somewhere where I couldn't break anything else. Finally I fell to my knees on a patch of grass near the main street. After a while I sobbingly returned to my house, dried my eyes, and gathered myself........ Until I looked into the worried face of my 7 year old daughter. The look on her face weakened me as I fell to the floor crying and trying to catch my breath. I couldn't look at my son, I didn't want to make eye contact with him as I couldn't be a strong supportive father at this moment in time. I hated that he saw me completely floored and unable to control myself. I tried to breathe to calm myself but I couldn't. I felt as if I lost the reason to breathe.

Eight hours ago I returned from an anniversary trip to New Orleans with my wife of twelve years. I planned to see Dad as soon as I returned, but became wrapped up in seeing a few counseling client's instead thinking that I'd be able to see Dad tomorrow. Tomorrow never came, tomorrow will never come. Enroute to the nursing home to hold the lifeless hand of my father I sent the text: "My father is now my ancestor."

Seko Benjamin-Eric Varner, 09/22/2009
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Seko Varner is from Positive Vibes Financial, a World Financial Group team of financial services agents. They specialize in debt reduction, investments, and insurances. Seko is in high demand as a special events DJ and owns an event marketing service. Seko has diverse background in business, counseling and education. He has been real estate agent, a school counselor, a teacher, and an Intensive In-Home Counselor. Seko is active with numerous Youth Mentorship programs and has a background in radio and television. Visit www.HappilyEverAfter.Be or call 757-248-3820 for more details. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Subscribe! imanifoundation-subscribe@yahoogroups.com . Visit our Black History Online Class http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com Getting married ? Visit www.happilyeverafter.be We got Books ! Positive Vibes Litterature 757-523-1399

Viola Davis Shows her Royalty for Oscar's Red Carpet

Viola Davis Skips Wig for Oscar's Red Carpet

By Megan Riley Lopez, Yahoo! Contributor Network | Coverage of The 84th Annual Academy Awards® – 1 hour 21 minutes ago

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Viola Davis stepped on to the Oscar's red carpet in a beautiful, strapless emerald green Vera Wang gown and said she purposefully skipped the wig she wears on red carpets and for film roles. It is the first time the actress has rocked her natural short locks on a worldwide stage, and she says her husband, Julius Tennon, saw it as a potential opportunity for empowerment.  "My husband wanted me to take the wig off," she told InStyle at a pre-Oscar dinner in Los Angeles. "He said, 'If you want to wear it for your career, that's fine, but in your life wear your hair. Step into who you are!'"

[ Photos: Red carpet arrivals at the Oscars ]

And while Viola has said she's not giving up the wigs for good, wearing her own hair was an excellent choice for a big event like the Oscars. Perhaps she is preparing for a win and a chance to make a statement about her au naturel appearance? Win or lose, the natural look ended up being an excellent choice, proving her family knew best.

Megan Riley Lopez is a pop-culture writer who has covered events ranging from the Grammys to the Golden Globes. She has previously contributed to In Style magazine, and now writes for the Yahoo! Movies, omg! and Music. Her online writing has been featured internationally.
http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/oscars/viola-davis-skips-wig-oscars-red-carpet-235950899.html
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Tuskegee Airmen who were Omegas #2

Here is a second photo of the Red Tail Angels who were Purple and Gold.
Greek Lettered not Greek cultured.

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Brave Bessie Coleman (Black History for Kids)

http://sweetblackberry.org/2011/11/18/brave-bessie 

Bessie Coleman, the first African American female pilot, grew up in a cruel world of poverty and discrimination. Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892 as the tenth of thirteen children. They settled in Waxahachie, Texas, and worked as sharecroppers. Her mother encouraged Bessie’s schooling when she showed an aptitude for math. She eventually moved to Chicago and lived with her brother Walter, a Pullman porter. She became a manicurist and worked in the White Sox barbershop. After learning French, she attended the famous flight school, Ecole d’Aviation des Frères Caudron in Northern France. No schools in America would train a black person.

Coleman returned to the states and performed acrobatics in air shows around the country and gave lectures inspiring audiences that included many children. She believed that there was freedom in the skies and would not perform in an air show with a segregated audience.

In 1998, Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of world-renowned aviator, Charles Lindbergh, wrote the children’s book, “Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of ‘Brave Bessie’.”

Lindbergh, first learned about Bessie Coleman in 1986, the 60th anniversary of her father’s famous flight. “Bessie was an incredibly brave person who was hardly noticed, while my parents got so much publicity it was difficult for them to live their normal lives. I saw a crazy imbalance and wanted to try to set things right.”

People said she was crazy; it wouldn’t be right.

“You’re a girl, not a man, and you’re not even white!”

But did she stop dreaming? Not quite!

Sweet Blackberry was founded by actor/writer, Karyn Parsons (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air). As a new mom, Parsons was motivated by a strong desire to instill a sense of culture and heritage to her daughter. Inspired by her own mother and upbringing, Parsons created Sweet Blackberry—delivering to all children, stories that need to be told and heard.
http://sweetblackberry.org/about/
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