Share a Space in The Black Girls' Corner

Inviting Black girls, ages 10-15, in the Charlotte, NC area to participate in a bi-weekly group, The Black Girls' Corner.

Girls will role-play various topics, show off talents, view/discuss media, play games, establish new friendships, and gain cultural exposure. The mission of the group is to give young girls a voice and an outlet away from their home, school, and church environments. Upcoming topics to be discussed will include the importance of education, negative aspects of media, bullying, and alternatives to violence. Mothers of the girls will participate in separate or joint group discussions each session.

COME SHARE A SPACE IN THE “CORNER” WITH US!

Where:

Peace and Serenity Garden Room @ The ArtHouse (in NoDa)  

3103 Cullman Avenue, Charlotte, NC  

Time:

Saturdays, 10 a.m. - Noon

Next Meeting:
Saturday, September 18

Directions and room views: http://www.peaceandserenitygardenroom.com/

There is a $10 fee per session/per girl to cover room/equipment rental and refreshments.

Contact Vickie L. Hughes at vlhjd@yahoo.com for more information.

Founder of The Black Girls' Corner, Vickie L. Hughes, J.D., is a seasoned professional, with a diverse background in business, civic advocacy, and training. She has also earned Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Psychology. “Miss Vickie” has a genuine passion for mentoring and assisting young people in positive growth development.

A few years ago, the death of a friend's son changed my life. Although I am single with no children, that death affected me so that I devoted the rest of my life to assisting youth/young adults. I have had a great life; I must help those in younger generations. I believe that to be my life's calling and the legacy God wants to leave behind through me.

Within the next year, I plan to be the Executive Director of my own national non-profit entity. Recently, I founded/started a program component of that entity. It is "The Black Girls' Corner," for Black girls ages 10-15. Join me in doing whatever you can to reach out to our youth, our leaders of tomorrow. "Their lives depend on God and US!"

 -- Vickie L. Hughes, J.D.

One of the Great Cities

New Orleans is one of the great cities, yet our country seems indifferent to it.
      -- Douglas Brinkley, author, The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast

My People: Gullah Language and Culture

Listen to Gullah. (Da lettle smaat gal ober yah.)

The Gullah Language
by Dennis Adams and Hillary Barnwell
(of the Beaufort County Library, Beaufort, SC)

Gullah is a creole form of English, indigenous to the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia (the area extends from Georgetown, SC to the Golden Isles of Georgia above Florida). Like all creoles, Gullah began as a pidgin language, transforming into a language in its own right with the first generation born in America. A similar form of plantation creole may have been widespread at one time in the southern United States, but Gullah now differs from other African-American dialects of English (which do not vary greatly from the standard syntax, pronunciation and vocabulary). Though creole languages the world over share a surprisingly similar structure, the speakers of one creole can seldom understand speakers of another on first contact.

According to David Crystal in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, the word "comes from Portuguese crioulo and originally meant a person of European descent who had been born and brought up in a colonial territory. Later, it came to be applied to other people who were native to these areas, and then to the kind of language they spoke." Creole languages have been spoken on every inhabited continent, and are "English based," "French based" – even "Romany based" like Sheldru, used by Gypsies in England. Krio, spoken in Sierra Leone, is just one example of an English-based creole with many similarities to Gullah -- the creole language of the Sea Islands.

"Noon Wash"
by Jonathan Green, an artist out of the Gullah

Most of Gullah vocabulary is of English origin, but the grammar and major elements of pronunciation come from a number of West African language, such as Ewe, Mandinka, Igbo, Twi and Yoruba. The name, "Gullah", itself probably derives from "Angola" (and possibly from the large number of slaves who arrived from that part of Africa in the early 1800s). "Geechee" -- another name for the language and culture of black Sea Islanders -- comes from a tribal name in Liberia. Traditions, language and myth stayed longer with the coastal Carolina Gullahs, who were allowed a greater latitude of self-sufficiency and were relatively isolated on the Sea Islands.

Most Beaufort slaves in the first decades of the 1800s may have been first-generation African arrivals. So it was not merely the remoteness of the Sea Islands that preserved the African culture and language influences among Gullah speakers. 23,773 slaves came to South Carolina from Africa between 1804 through 1807, and 14,217 of these originated from Angola, Congo, or "Congo and Angola". The newly arrived slaves breathed new life into African traditions already established on the islands. A new infusion of pidgin influences would have had a profound impact on the existing creole language.

As with many minority languages the world over, television, education and increased social contact have all undermined Gullah to a large extent. Gullah speakers now use various Black American English dialects in dealings with non-Islanders, though Gullah is the language of home, family and community. Whatever its fate as a living vernacular, Gullah will live on with the general public as the language of Uncle Remus in Joel Chandler Harris's Bre'r Rabbit tales and of the fiction of South Carolina's Ambrose E. Gonzales.

Here Gullah Folk Tales by Aunt Pearlie Sue.

Dey bless fa true, dem wa saaful now, cause God gwine courage um.
(Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.) -- De Nyew Testament

Sand in the Hands at Venice Beach

For you film buffs out there, this reminds me of the shot that Julie Dash captured in her film, Daughters of the Dust. What makes this even more special is that these are the hands of my daughter. Thanks for the image Ms. Dash.

Venice Beach Dust

All About the Santa Monica Pier

Lovely Santa Monica water

Grinnin' at the Santa Monica Pier

I'm so cute in Santa Monica.

California Dreamin': The People 2

Gigi at the California African American Museum

New friends: Gigi and Haley at the pool

Gigi and Solomon

Gigi in front of the fountain

Alicia in front of the fountain

California Dreamin': The People 1

Gigi and I had a grand time in the City of Angels, and we're so grateful for the warm hospitality of my dear friend Cheryl and her family. God bless you Cheryl!

The lovely Miss Odell

Siblings: David, Cheryl and Yolanda

Gigi and her Godmother Cheryl

The regal Miss Inther

Family Reunion Photos by Brandon Miller and Gigi

Sisters united!

"Remember when we danced like this back home?"

We is cousins.

Brandon's T-Shirt design

We are family.

Caught me smilin'

ESL Students Express Cultural Identity

Photo by Kevin Salinas

My Family, Our Stories at the Light Factory

by Alicia Benjamin
(Charlotte Observer, South Charlotte News)

"The kids were allowed to take a video camera home with them one weekend and told to document their life," said Miller. "They usually came back with some really interesting stuff. I think it helped them to gain insight into their families and their own place in that family."

The students, who moved to the U.S. from countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Vietnam, Russia and India, captured families, friends, environments and aspects of their culture from their own perspective.

Photo by Millany Erazo

The Puerto Rican Flag

Silly Putty Sandal

Gigi made a sandal out of silly putty last night -- Ah, the creative minds of children.

All about silly putty (from Wikipedia):

Silly Putty (originally called Nutty Putty] and also marketed by other companies as Thinking Putty, Bouncing Putty, Tricky Putty and Potty Putty), is the Crayola owned trademark name for a class of silicone polymers. It is marketed today as a toy for children, but was originally created by accident during research into potential rubber substitutes for use by the United States in World War II.

After its success as a toy, other uses were found. In the home, it can be used to pick up dirt, lint, and pet hair. The material's unique properties have found niche use in medical and scientific applications. It is used in large quantity by physical therapists for rehabilitative therapy of hand injuries. A number of other brands (such as Power Putty and TheraPutty) alter the material's properties, offering different levels of resistance. The material is also used therapeutically for stress reduction. Because of its adhesive characteristics, it was used by Apollo astronauts to secure their tools in zero-gravity.