Ayiti Update

Just wanted to inform you that my sister and her family are okay.  However, a few of my cousins did perish.  My family is handling it better than I thought they would.  Thousands of families lost loved ones and I think we find peace in knowing that we are all sharing in suffering. 

I want to thank everyone who has comforted me during these hard times.  I truly appreciate you!  And to those who have given time and donations to this cause, the Haitian Community appreciates your generosity. 

How proud would Dr. King be of our nation if he were alive today?  During these times of suffering for Haiti, you have shown enormous genorsity and love towards our fellow Haitian man, woman, and child. 

King's word are timeless.  They ring ever true even today. 

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. 

It's a recession, unemployment is at an high, and people are giving their last, to people they don't even know.  The giving of your time and money is the perfect way to celebrate this King holdiay.  King would be proud.

Kembe la!

Kembe La Ayiti!

Hold on Ayiti!

As many of you may know, I am of Haitian descent. Both of my parents are from the island. My family is from St. Louis du Nord, about 8 hours away from Port-au-Prince. Just like the other millions of people who left the countryside in hopes of better opportunity in the capital, my remaining family members have done the same. Because a majority of my family has moved out of Haiti, the family that I do have left moved to the capital. My sister, her 3 children, my brother in law, and about 6 first cousins have resided in PAP for a long time. We have yet to hear from them. It’s a waiting game during these times of natural disater. So we are just waiting, hoping that the phone lines will clear up, hoping that the countrymen can institute relief efforts on their own while they wait for US aid.

So in the meantime, Kembe La, Ayiti!

I urge you to act. Help anyway you can: donate money, clothes, canned goods, shoes! Get the word out via twitter, facebook, text messages, youtube, myspace! Pray for the people on the island, Pray for more speedy relief efforts, Pray for peace.

iamkamilah

Stop Snitchin'

What are you thoughts about this "street code?"  Stop Snitchin was a launched in Baltimore (get ya city, CPA!) in 2004.  Baltimore Police then launched a campaign "Keep Talkin" which I think is bullshit to assure the community their safety from retaliation.  Since I was born, this code, although unnamed was what I learned as well.  The streets talk, so when someone was murdered you already knew who did it.  You know the exact story, the entire sequence of events, who shot who, why, when, every single piece of detail before the ambulance arrives. What are your thoughts about this street code especially as it pertains to crimes against people (murder, rape, etc.)?

DIY Homemade Deodorant

ya'll remember when i told ya'll i stopped using deodorants (here and here)-- i did. stopped.  finito.  fine'.  done.

omg, it's been a long and stinky hard road -- but worth every moment of it.

i got a recipe and decided to test it out.  you can view it here. 

so far, so good.  it smells like yummies and my sweating is controlled. 

i still sweat but it's absorbed by the cornstarch and neutralized by the baking soda. 

speaking about sweat.  i promise to God i have never sweat like that before . . . in my entire life. 

i was never that girl with the armpit sweat stains.  so when i started sweating like i was living in a sauna, i was like where the hell did this come from.  maybe years of not sweating? scary.

i must admit, i am very happy to know that I STILL WORK.  the way that my body is supposed to function, it is functiong . 

wearing aluminum based deodorant messes up the process.  now my toxins are being released and i feel like i'm working again. 

i liken this experience to someone not pooping anymore.  you should really be concerned if you don't poop anymore.  RIGHT?

anyways, i just wanted to let you know that I did make some deodorant and in 15 days, I will give you the full scoop!

still chasing honey . . .

Be Where I Am . . .

hello peeps!

these days i am all over the web. 

follow me on twitter: iamkamilah

on youtube i do natural hair tutorials:  iamkamilah

want to see my pictorial natural hair journey:  http://members.fotki.com/iamkamilah

my hair blog:  http://www.thelocdiaries.wordpress.com/  (if you or anyone you know has loc's and want to be featured on this blog hit me up at iamkamilah@gmail.com, and i will fwd some questions.  I would love to have you!)

my personal blog: http://www.theartofres.blogspot.com/

The 13 Most Ridiculous Things About I Am...Yours

I like Beyonce -- sometimes like when she's real. And I'm usually never really LOL. But this made me chuckle!

104 Things I Could Do With 104 Dollars

today, i went window shopping -- okay it was supposed to be window shopping but it turned into just plain oh shopping.  i drove to aventura to go to best buy ONLY to buy a new charger for my laptop (don't ask why just follow). so i get the guy to show me to the chargers and guess how much the charger was?  yea, i was thinking 30.00 no more than 50.00.  I guess this was a recession.  The damn charger was $104.99.  Yes $104.99! 

Ya'll know what i did.  TURNED AROUND and left the damn store.  Yo, I have 104 things I can do with $104 and buying a charger aint it. 

dreams

i have the craziest dreams ever.  i need to start documenting them.  some nights i have 4 different dreams that i remember in full detail, but after a couple of days i forget them.  i never understand what they mean.  maybe you all can help me decode them.  maybe they don't mean anything, right? can't we just have meaningless dreams?

Kwanzaa Day 7: Imani

On the seventh day the black candle is lit, then the farthest left red, the farthest right green, the next red candle, the next green, the final red and then the final green candle. This represents the 7th principle of Kwanzaa - Imani (ee-MAH-nee): Faith

This is the 7th, and final, day of Kwanzaa. Today we celebrate IMANI (Faith). Today we renew our BELIEF in God, our people, our teachers and our leaders, and the virtue and victory of our struggle IMANI!