John Lewis: Good Trouble

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Do not become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. 

(photo kidnapped from cnn)

Black History Month Donations 2023

I Love Thy Hood

Our mission.

I Love Thy Hood seeks to educate the community on the importance of keeping our cities and streets clean. With the splash of an orange trash can, we strive to enrich residents and neighborhoods alike with more options of recycling and waste management while bringing everyone together to help those in their hood.

(photo kidnapped from whyy)

From Founder/Chief Executive Officer Matthew George:

My whole life, I grew up in a neighborhood where it was cool to throw your trash on the ground, where there was no one telling us to respect the area we called home. In a city where the budget in certain sections is forgotten and citizens are left to fend for themselves, the downtown area remains clean. It’s hard to even find a candy wrapper on the sidewalk. To put it simply: my city is not helping the litter problem in my section, and I get it. The people that are making the issue are people like me, who'd rather throw something out of the window instead of waiting until they can throw it into a trash can - but we are humans, and we mimic our environment.

But, we, at I Love Thy Hood, have found a simple solution that will solve a big problem, and this was all discovered when a neighbor of mine put one trash can on a block that didn’t have one on it already. He wrote “street trash” on it. One day, I saw this can empty, and the next day, half full. By the end of the week, trash was piled to the brim!! It was then that I realized why the trash can was there. 

We mimic what what we see. If I walked by that block and saw a pile of trash and I just finished a soda, guess what I would probably do...but if I see a can full of trash, 99% of the time I will throw that same bottle in the can. If that can was not there, most likely, all those bottles and fast food bags would have been laying in the street, in yards, in playgrounds, in the sewers. The messed up part is: that’s what the next block looks like, simply because there’s no trash can.... We have the power to change that. 

A 44-gallon trash can costs $50. Because of commercial businesses, fast food eateries, foot traffic, and commuters in the community, we have to do our best to stop pollution in the inner city. We love our city. So let’s act like it. A simple $1 can go a long way. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to our hood. Thank you for listening and thank you for your donations!

Black Girl Ventures

Our mission is to provide Black/Brown woman-identifying founders with access to community, capital, and capacity building in order to meet business milestones that lead to economic advancement through entrepreneurship.

We fund and scale tech-enabled, revenue-generating businesses (under $1M) founded by people who identify as Black/Brown and woman. We ignite civic engagement and hyperlocal infrastructure at the intersection of business support services, supplier diversity, social and financial capital.

Founded in 2016 by Serial Entrepreneur and Computer Scientist Shelly Bell, Black Girl Ventures addresses the unique challenges Black and Brown women face in accessing social and financial capital to grow their businesses. The BGV Style competition is the largest pitch competition globally for Black women founders. It uniquely combines the premise of Shark Tank and Kickstarter by activating community participation in donating to support women-owned businesses directly. We have funded 76 women of color, held over 25 BGV Pitch Programs across 8 cities and served over 170 participants. 

Black Girl Ventures pledges to accelerate 100,000 Black and Brown women-identifying entrepreneurs through Community Building as a Service (CBaaS). Shifting the idea of community building from being viewed solely as a community service to a valid and viable business offering to ensure the development and growth of small businesses. 

We believe in a world where ALL ideas have a chance to succeed. 

Please join me in the Low Budget Philanthropy movement and help out your community and beyond in the simplest way - donating any amount to whatever charity or organisation that you care about!

Stuntboy: In the Meantime

At the end of December Bishop and I went to lunch in Collingswood and popped in to Ida's Bookshop. Whenever I'm there I always head right back to the kids section. I prefer my real-life grown-up books in audio form, but kids books are better when you can hold a physical book in your hands. I spotted a comic-y sort of book that reminded me a bit of the Dog Man series - hardcover and fun. I bought it with the intention of saving it for Black History Month. I am loving it so far! Great idea - awkward and often anxious Portico Reeves decides to be a superhero and his power is to be a stunt-boy. When it looks like someone else may fall or possibly get hurt he dives right in and acts as their stuntman, er, boy. I love it and I saw on Simon & Schuster that there will be a second book!!

(ps - usually Ida's will wrap your books in twine, which I love, but since it was still December, they tied it in a lovely holiday ribbon!)

Activist Mug

Here's my go-to mug for drinking my Republic of Tea Immunity brew. Back when I bought this I knew of everyone pictured except for Shirley Chisholm, John Lewis, Fred Korematsu, and Sylvia Rivera. Now that I am familiar with all, I tend to hold the mug so as to see the image of John Lewis. While I admire all (although Angelou a bit less than the others), I think so highly of John Lewis and after reading his books and watching him in documentaries, I also really like him. He seemed like such a kind man and that is the character trait that I hold as a prize when it is found in someone.

(Rosa Parks, Bayard Rustin, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Susan B. Anthony, Gloria Steinem, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harvey Milk, and Angela Davis)

Shirley Chisholm

Years ago I saw a trailer for the documentary Chisholm '72: Unbought & Unbossed and made a mental note to check it out when it was released on dvd or streaming. Then I forgot all about it until she was mentioned in another doc and I was lucky enough to see her film on Kanopy. (That library app is a goldmine of fab documentaries!) Shirley Chisholm came across as a very real and down-to-earth, no-nonsense lady. If you would like to meet her, I urge you to do so by watching Chisholm '72. You will not regret it!

(photo kidnapped from hammer.ucla)

Here's a little bit about Ms. Chisholm; for the rest of the bio, please visit womenshistory.

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was the first African American woman in Congress (1968) and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties (1972). Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbought and Unbossed—illustrates her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Black History Month Playlist - Sable

Hazel Scott - I Wish I Didn't Love You So

The 5th Dimension - One Less Bell to Answer

Salt and Pepa - Push It!

Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream

Billie Holiday - I'm a Fool to Want You

Cassandra Wilson - Black Orpheus

BB King - The Thrill is Gone

The Emotions - Flowers

Bob Marley - Three Little Birds

India.Arie - The Little Things

The Jackson 5 - Show You the Way to Go

Diana Ross - Upside Down

James Brown - I Feel Good

Art Blakey - Nica's Dream

Incognito - Deep Waters

Anita Baker - Angel

Jay-Z - Hard Knock Life

Terry Callier - I'd Rather Be With You

Sudan Archives - Confessions

Angela Bofill -  I Try

Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced?

Aretha Franklin - Jump To It [yes, I know you don't like her, but it's a good song]

The Village Potter

Here's more about Philly artist Robert Lugo and his pieces displayed at Grounds for Sculpture.