Powerful 3 Minute Video On Dating Violence. Definitely Worth Watching & Sharing

This is an excellent video that shows the subtle effects of Dating Violence & Domestic Violence. What we love about this portrayal is that it shows that physical violence is not the only thing that we need to think about when we think of Dating Violence  & Domestic Violence.  Intimidation, subtle coercion and emotional abuse are a huge part of the DV dynamic.

The Signs is a short film created and written by Long Island teenagers for teenagers about teen dating violence that goes beyond the “bruises and black eyes.” The short is the product of a grant from The Allstate Foundation to the Center for Nonprofit Leadership at Adelphi University, produced by the Ghetto Film School and guided by representatives from local domestic violence agencies.

Share this with the ones you love and even the ones you don’t.  No one deserves to suffer in a relationship and then turn around and call it love!

-Aiyana

Grandma Says She Wants Some Dick for her 100th Birthday! Is She Keepin It 100 Or Gone Too Far?

By Aiyana Ma’at
Ok, so I saw this  video on FB and I have to admit there’s not a whole lot that surprises or gets to me. Some folks were amused. Some said “Go Granny!” and others were disturbed and said something is really wrong here.
I thought ….”Hey, she may not have had any in a really long time and that’s what she wants…..some _____. And at 100 years of age—she can say exactly what she wants.
And how refreshing it was to for me to see this video. So many of us don’t stand in our true feelings, keep it real and strive to be 100% authentic.
Granny taught a lesson today.  It’s better to be honest and fully yourself then half-ass it while you try to meet other folks expectations of you!

This Family Got A New Home For Christmas! Hard Work Pays Off.

By Courtland Milloy

It was the day before Christmas, and all through the Johnson family’s new house, everybody was stirring.

 

Except a mouse — which did not come with the house, thankfully.

 

“We are so excited,” said Keianna Johnson, 33, a hairstylist.

 

She and husband Bryan, 34, a cable technician for Comcast, had been saving up for two years to buy a house. Last month, the couple and their five children moved out of a cramped three-bedroom, one-bath rental in Hyattsville and into a spacious four-bedroom, two-bath split level in Waldorf.

 

What a holiday gift to themselves. A commitment to hard work and financial discipline rewarded; a conviction that together they could accomplish what neither parent could do alone affirmed.

 

In this era of economic stagnation, when upward mobility cannot be assured no matter how hard you try, the Johnsons had clung to a belief in the American dream — and made a big piece of it come true. Buying a house was laying down roots.

 

“We’re making great memories for our children — the first Christmas in our new home,” Keianna said.

 

“I feel so proud,” Bryan said. “After work, it feels like I’m really coming home. To our home.”

 

The house has a large family room where the Johnsons will gather to watch their favorite holiday features, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “The Polar Express.”

 

The room even has a gas log fireplace. So, of course, stockings were hung by the chimney with care: for Raequan, 12; the twins, Aaron and Adrian, 9; Brooke, 5; and Brielle, 1.

 

Not huge stockings, though.

 

“We’ve already told the kids not to expect a lot of stuff,” Bryan said. “We’ve changed the way we manage our finances.”

 

That doesn’t mean the youngsters shouldn’t have visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.

 

“They’ll get some gifts,” Keianna said. “They like coloring books. They can use some new hats and gloves, too. I guess we could fit an MP3 player inside a stocking.”

 

The house — that’s the real gift.

 

Brooke had already turned the family room into something of a concert hall, a place to showcase her talents on a toy xylophone. For Brielle, the room was perfect for hide-and-seek, with new nooks and crannies to explore on hands and knees.

 

Aaron and Adrian prefer running up and down the stairs.

 

Dad, on the other hand, says enough already with the commotion. But he’s not in the mood to play Grinch just yet. Maybe it’s because his wife so enjoys the sounds of all the kids’ laughter.

 

“When we were in the apartment, the children couldn’t make any noise — no loud laughter or running,” Keianna said. “We lived on top of another unit, and the people below could hear everything. The children couldn’t even be children.”

 

In the apartment, Raequan had to share a room with his younger brothers. He had longed for a room of his own. Now he has it.

 

“He really likes being able to say, ‘Get out of my room,’ ” Keianna said.

 

The new home has a yard where the kids can play. There is also a driveway and parking space on the street. (At their apartment complex, parking was so restrictive that it was a hassle for friends to visit them.)

 

The Johnsons got a good deal on the house — in no small part due to the bad deal that so many homeowners got when the housing market crashed. Home values plummeted. Suddenly, homeownership was in reach of many who had never even dreamed of buying a place of their own.

 

The Johnsons ended up paying half of what the house had sold for in 2007.

 

“We did not get the most expensive house that we could afford,” Bryan said. “We wanted a house that would give us more room but allow us to live comfortably whether the housing market went up or down.”

 

Then out on the lawn there arose such a clatter. It was the moving van. But it might as well have been Santa.

Originally printed on Washingtonpost.com 

 

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Congrats To Shane & Ariana! Watch The Surprise Marriage Proposal!


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During a recent performance by the Bulls’ Luvabulls cheerleaders in the middle of the third-quarter last Thursday, Zackery’s cheerleader girlfriend, Ariana Rosado, was totally caught off guard when the music suddenly changed and her teammates switched into new choreography she hadn’t learned.

 

Soon after, the team’s mascot, Benny the Bull, popped out of nowhere and sat Ariana down in a rolling chair as her fellow cheerleaders danced around her.

 

Before long two more inflatable “Bennies” come out, and Rosado’s boyfriend, Shane Zackery pops out of one of them and proposes to her.

 

How sweet is that?! Check out the video.

 
Wondering how we GET PAID to make videos, blog, share our thoughts on facebook, and do live google hangouts?  CLICK THE LINK NOW and see how you can MAKE MONEY ONLINE vlogging, blogging, and posting on facebook toohttp://bit.ly/18FHaDK

Nelson Mandela…A Hero Gone … Who Will Never Be Forgotten

If you’ve ever questioned your capacity to love.  If you’ve ever questioned your capacity to forgive.  If you’ve ever questioned your capacity to be compassionate.  If you’ve ever questioned your capacity to fight.  If you’ve ever questioned your ability to overcome.  If you’ve ever questioned your capacity keep pushing when you’re tired.  If you’ve ever questioned your capacity to be a beacon of light to those living in darkness…..you need only look at the greatness of Nelson Mandela and understand that if he can do “it”…you can too.

We at BLAM salute Nelson Mandela and offer our condolences to his family and loved ones.

From CNN.com

Nelson Mandela, the revered statesman who emerged from prison after 27 years to lead South Africa out of decades of apartheid, has died, South African President Jacob Zuma announced late Thursday.

Mandela was 95.

“He is now resting. He is now at peace,” Zuma said. “Our nation has lost its greatest son. Our people have lost a father.”

“What made Nelson Mandela great was precisely what made him human,” the president said in his late-night address. “We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.”

CLICK HERE to read more.

nelson-mandela-prison-bars

Nelson Mandela exchanged vows with three different women over his lifetime. With three wives, six children, 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, Mandela left behind a huge family.

YourTango.com reports

Mandela married his first wife, Evelyn Mase in 1944, the same year he co-founded the African National Congress Youth League.  They were married from 1944-1958.

NelsonMandela_Evelyn

She would confess to Fatima Meer that “I think I loved him the first time I saw him.” Working as a nurse, she supported him as he completed his law studies. Their first years together as newlyweds sounded like typical marital bliss — bathing their three babies and cooking together. But Evelyn soon became resentful of her husband’s increasingly noticeable absences.

Anthony Sampson, a close friend of Mandela and his official biographer, claims that he was a charismatic “ladies man” and even flaunted his female “political colleagues” in front of Evelyn.

Then there was, of course, Winnie. They were married from 1958-1996.  Out of his three marriages and lesser known relationships, his three-decade long relationship with Winnie Madikizela is probably remembered best. When they met at a bus stop, Nelson described it as love at first sight. They were soon married in June 1958, just a year after he divorced Evelyn.

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But the honeymoon phase was short and sweet. Soon after saying “I do”, she was arrested for an incendiary speech, prompting Mandela to remark proudly, “I think I married trouble.” It was then that Mandela was sent to prison. Over the next 27 years, from his jail cell on Robben Island, he penned loving letters to Winnie. In his book, Long Walk To Freedom, he wrote: “My dearest Winnie, your beautiful photo still stands about two feet above my left shoulder as I write this note. I dust it carefully every morning, for to do so gives me the pleasant feeling that I’m caressing you as in the old days. I even touch your nose with mine to recapture the electric current that used to flush through my blood whenever I did so.”

Less than two years after divorcing Winnie, Mandela was dating his soon-to-be third and last wife, Graca Machel.  They were married 1998 –

Nelson Mandela and Graça Machel

When her husband tragically died in an air crash, leaving her widowed, Mandela wrote to Graca from prison. She was still in mourning when they met in person in 1990, but two years later, Mandela became the godfather of her stepchildren. Mandela was in love again, gushing to reporters, “Late in life, I am blooming like a flower because of the love and support she has given me.”

For Mandela, you might consider Amina Cachalia as “the one who got away” in his lifetime of loves.

amina

 

Amina, a longtime Indian anti-apartheid and women’s rights activist, became close friends with Mandela over the years. When her husband, ANC activist Yusuf Cachalia, died in 1995, he professed his love for her.

Nelson Mandela is a global icon that represents courage, hope, passion, strength, forgiveness, humility, and love.  We salute you for your sacrifice in the struggle to end racial injustice.  We honor you as a visionary who epitomized what it means to live compelled by the courage of your conviction.  Thank you Rolihlahla.

Nelson Mandela, pictured in 2009, is receiving hospital treatment for an abdominal problem

Snoop Dogg… I mean Snoop Lion & His Family Release New Video!

Snoop Dogg…. I mean Snoop Lion is back with a new music video for the fifth single off his latest album, Reincarnated. In the continuation of his recent Overtsock.com commercial, “The Good Good” video features the whole Broadus family — Shante, Cori B, Corde, and Cordell ….. We’re loving how Snoop is representing with his family. Sends a powerful message. Check out the vid below and let us know what you think.

Oprah Winfrey, Forrest Whitaker, & The Cast Of ‘The Butler’ Visit The View

We went to check out “The Butler” and felt that it was AWESOME!!!  The story was moving on so many levels.  It made us cry, smile, laugh, flinch, cheer and so on and so on.  Go check it out yall…it’s powerful!

Check out Cuba Gooding Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey’s visit to “The View” to talk with the ladies about their new film, Lee Daniels’ “The Butler.”


VIDEO: Black Folks DO Get Married…And We Look So Fly Doing It!

By Team BLAM

Enjoy touching moments of love and tenderness from the weddings of black couples. Black folks DO get married. We DO exist….and here is some beautiful proof. These images are stunning and inspiring. Sit back and enjoy another one from our sister friend of the EbonyLoveAndMarriage channel over on YOUTUBE. Check her out when you can and tell her BlackLoveAndMarriage.com sent you. 😉

VIDEO: 10 Little Known Facts About Martin Luther King, Jr.

By Team BLAM
Check out this video that highlights 10 little known facts about Dr. King. We stumbled across this video and thought it was interesting. As we celebrate Dr. King and his vision today make it a point to try and learn something new about him and his life. It’s the not so well known things about a person that often teach us the most about who they were and inspire in us the desire to be all that we’re supposed to be.
We salute Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. May his legacy live on forever in each of us.

Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan And Dr. Boyce Watkins Examine “Django Unchained!!”

‘Django Unchained’ has inspired a lot of talk since it’s release on Dec. 25th.  Spike Lee has come out calling it a spaghetti western and it’s representation of slavery in such a manner is disrespectful to our ancestors.  Katt Williams has said that he is going to punch Quentin Tarantino in the mouth when he see’s him because nobody in “niggadom” gave him a pass to use the “N” word over 180 times.  Others have applauded the bold display of heroism and black masculinity in the character Django, alluding to the idea that he was a remix of Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey.  Others have been left questioning, “Where is my Django?”, a brotha that will go through hell and high water to find and fight for his wife.  In the below video Minister Louis Farrakhan and Dr. Boyce Watkins have a candid discussion about the movie and give some additional perspective.  Check it out and let us know what you think.