On Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending a rap session, through the invite of Tammie Williams . I am so glad that I was able to attend something so important. The program was a collaboration of Girls PRIDE Project and The Kulture Movement, it was held in St. Albans, Queens, NY at the African Center for Community Empowerment. If you were not there, you missed something major.
The hosts and advisers were none other than Shani Kulture the producer of the HOT 97 Morning Show and my great friend Roxie Digital (Barbara De Laleu) from the new Radio 103.9.
I'm going to give you a quick recap but I suggest that you get to know about these organizations and movements before you get left out!
Here goes...
We sat in a circle, in the presence of brilliant 18 year old young women. These young women have their heads on their shoulders, they have plans and noble ambitions for their lives. They motivated me and I am sure, Tammie, Shani and Roxie- to keep going and doing what we do because they're watching and learning. They're up next!
Questions were thrown fast and furiously about time management, networking, being better persons, not losing hope while going after your dreams and embracing culture as well as teaching self-love to the youth that surround us.
Responses came strong!
Shani Kulture: Balancing sleep and hustle, you have to push and get through it. Get a calendar or some one who would keep you on track. When you go after your dreams there is never enough time to sleep, sleep is something you look forward to in the future. It is not at your finger tips.
Roxie Digital: Fear and failure will keep you from achieving your dreams. That is the thought that helps to keep hope alive. Be focused on your determination to succeed. Submerge yourself in what you're interested in. Surround yourself with people that push and encourage you. Make 'To-Do Lists' to keep you on track and give you a sense of pride when you complete a task that gets you one step closer to your goals.
Tammie: Try vision boards to help keep you focused on your goals.
With all of this great advice filling their minds, the ladies began to ask about the beast we know as "Networking".
Roxie: Networking is about your presentation, just know that you are being judged. Present yourself in the manner you want to be received, it should be a manner that lines up directly with the goal you have in life. Use the mirror technique to practice your visual self-representation (how you appear to others: confident, sloppy, unfocused?).
Crystal from CrystalSays.com: Video record yourself speaking as though you're meeting some one. Have a full conversation and then look at it. Judge it. Correct it. Improve it. This method helps you identify weaknesses such as lack of eye contact, poor diction, posture, over use of conversational fillers such as "like", "umm" and "uhh".
Finally the question was asked "What is The Kulture Movement" ?
Shani: The Kulture Movement is about highlighting people in the culture. People who have come from nothing but made something of themselves. It is about showing that "we can make it too." The #NoDisrespect Campaign brings light to the negative that is out there. It also brings awareness to respecting self so that others will give you the respect owed to you as well. It is an attack on the negative to bring forth the positive. It is a "Lighthouse in a dark space." We in The Kulture Movement are "Publicists for Injustice".
After such a powerful description of an equally powerful movement a passionate young woman brought up the topic of legacies, asking "What is my legacy going to be about?" This stirred her after her best friend was killed. She said his legacy was that he was making a way for himself.
Another young woman, a student at Lincoln University, pushed the legacy of "us", stressing that our youth (those coming up after us) should know their history. We must educate ourselves so that we can educate others. All that we are taught in secondary school or shown on the media is not always as it really is.
Just as I thought we were on inspiration overload the owner of the African Center for Community Empowerment (ACCE) came in to drop some knowledge. He said "We are all in the same boat. Africa is the cradle of civilization. Celebrate diversity and heritage. Remember we come from Kings and Queens."
WOW!
So, that was my Wednesday. How was yours?
