Books: The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho

I bought this book on my way to Washington, D.C. Memorial Day weekend. I'm surprised I was able to put it down to enjoy the company of friends! Finishing before I returned to NYC, I was left amazed by Coelho's powerful novel. In addition to The Alchemist, this novel inspires to pursue passions, purposes, and love deeply.

From Publishers Weekly
Multimillion-seller Coelho (The Devil and Miss Prym, etc.) returns with another uncanny fusion of philosophy, religious miracle and moral parable. The Portobello of the title is London's Portobello Road, where Sherine Khalil, aka Athena, finds the worship meeting she's leading—where she becomes an omniscient goddess named Hagia Sophia—disrupted by a Protestant protest. Framed as a set of interviews conducted with those who knew Athena, who is dead as the book opens, the story recounts her birth in Transylvania to a Gypsy mother, her adoption by wealthy Lebanese Christians; her short, early marriage to a man she meets at a London college (one of the interviewees); her son Viorel's birth; and her stint selling real estate in Dubai. Back in London in the book's second half, Athena learns to harness the powers that have been present but inchoate within her, and the story picks up as she acquires a "teacher" (Deidre O'Neill, aka Edda, another interviewee), then disciples (also interviewed), and speeds toward a spectacular end. Coelho veers between his signature criticism of modern life and the hydra-headed alternative that Athena taps into. Athena's earliest years don't end up having much plot, but the second half's intrigue sustains the book. (May)

Can Hip-Hop culture survive without the N word, the B word, and the H word?

From Yahoo! Group Black on Black Vibe (BOBV):

That seems to be the million-dollar question being asked now that
the Don Imus incident has put the spotlight on the hip-hop and urban
slang vernacular.

Because rappers and rap have been the main vehicles that have
chronicled hip-hop and urban culture, many outside the culture have
only been exposed to the negative lingo within the culture. Those
who live, grow up, and who are the culture know that everyone from
the urban community/culture DO NOT use and/or promote that type of
language.

One person in particular is Randy Kearse Aka Mo Betta, author of,
STREET TALK: Da Official Guide to Hip-Hop & Urban Slangauge. A 700
page lexicon which documents the unique language spoken in the hip-
hop and urban culture.

What makes this one of a kind dictionary/guide so unique is... You
will NOT find the N word, the B word or the H word (used in a way to
degrade women) anywhere in STREET TALK. Once asked in an
interview, "why did you leave these words out of the dictionary when
they're so widely used in the music and culture?" Mo Betta response
was, "just because people use these words fluently doesn't make the
usage right. No matter how you spell a derogatory word, its
derogatory meaning still stays the same."

Mr. Kearse self published STREET TALK in September 2005. Ninety days
later it was picked up by on of the leading independent publishing
houses in the country, Barricade Books Inc. December 2005. STREET
TALK hit stores in winter 2006.

Way ahead of the controversy that surrounds the hip-hop and urban
verbiage today, Randy has compiled the most extensive and authentic
array of hip-hop and urban slang ever as a means to document the
intricate way that people within these cultures communicate.

The answer is.... YES! Hip-Hop can survive without the N word, the B
word, and the H word... STREET TALK: Da Official Guide to Hip-Hop &
Urban Slanguage proves that.

TUNE IN MAY 17th, 11:30pm to the Colbert Report on Comedy Central
and watch Mr. Kearse discuss the intricacies of hip-hop and urban
lingo with host Stephen Colbert

-Randy Kearse

70% of African American Women are Single!

Success: Is it your degree or when you start your family?

"I wish that someone had said to me when I was twenty years old that having a baby is an incredibly powerful experience, that if you have the slightest inkling that you might want to do it, you should pay attention to that inkling and factor in wanting to have a child and have a family as ardently as you're factoring in your professional trajectory, and no one said that to me. What happened was I spent most of my life trying not to have a baby and thinking that the time would be right and that having a baby was as easy as riding a bicycle, nothing I had to think too hard about, because I could just get pregnant at any point. I really wish someone had told me that. Instead I was told a lot of, "Develop yourself, cultivate yourself, travel, excel at your academic pursuits." Somehow the idea of developing yourself was separate from having a child. I've grown much more from having a child than going to Yale, for instance." Rebecca Walker, daughter of writer Alice Walker

One day in high school, my math teacher and the class were discussing our different views of success. He added that for some people, being successful is starting a family and for others, it is their academic and/or career achievements. Lately, I have been thinking about my personal view on success compared to what others my age "may" be thinking. Although I am proud of my friends who have decided to start a family in their early twenties, I sometimes feel a sense of hurt seeing their talent "wasted". Sonny from The Bronx Tale (my favorite movie) said, "There's nothing sadder than wasted talent" and I totally agree. However, like a good friend of mine pointed out, in addition to the above quote, sometimes people become better after having a baby or starting their family. For some reason, that never crossed my mind. I've been so wrapped up in my academic/career achievement model that the success of having a family at this day and age seemed crazy to me. However, as an educator, I see how young children can bring out the best in you. I now realize that all levels and ideas of success definitely count for something. The talent is never wasted, it is just directed to the important task of raising a strong, healthy child.

This post is dedicated to my friends and family members who are young, educated, and successful mothers.