Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Great topic for discussion on...Around The Way Curls: Are White Women the Ultimate Prize for "Successful...
Around The Way Curls: Are White Women the Ultimate Prize for "Successful...: So, Shanti and I are working 'round the clock to make sure Curls Gone Wild is not only a dope event, but that it runs smoothly and tha...
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Curly Nikki | Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care: You Don't Know NeNe Leakes- Exclusive Interview!
Curly Nikki Natural Hair Styles and Curly Hair Care: You Don't Know NeNe Leakes- Exclusive Interview!: Arguably one of the most popular of all of the Real Housewives, this diva needs no introduction, honey. With her no nonsense attitude and ...
Thursday, October 27, 2011
"When I See People With Nappy Hair I Think They're Lower Class"
I came across this clip from the Tyra Banks show that I saw while back and, I just wanted to share with those who have not seen it already. It is sad and heart breaking to hear these little girls dislike for their physical beauty and their race. We must change the way young girls perceive themselves for the better.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Why Are So Many Young People Still Living At Home With Their Parents?
Homesick Kids and Helicopter Parents: Are Today's Young Adults Too Emotionally Dependent on Parents?
A Back to School Discussion Paper prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families
By Susan Matt, Presidential Distinguished Professor of History and Chair of the History Department, Weber State University
September 12, 2011
As colleges across the country begin the new school year, we hear a chorus of warnings about a generation of young adults unable or unwilling to "leave the nest." Phrases are bandied about: "Failure to launch"; "the Peter Pan syndrome"; "boomerang kids" who can't seem to leave home and establish an independent life. Undergirding these warnings is a fear that the younger generation is growing soft, losing the pioneer independence and rugged individualism that once built this nation.
But a glance at the past suggests it may not be the behavior of youths that has changed so much as the response by adults. Only over the past 90 years did American culture come to define young adults' continued reliance on parental guidance and their longing to return home as a sign of psychological maladjustment.
These days, in an effort to help students develop more individual self-reliance, some colleges have developed "Parting Ceremonies," designed to establish a decisive separation from their parents. At Morehouse College, the ceremony ends with the incoming freshmen marching through the campus gates, which then swing closed, shutting all parents outside. Other educational institutions have created formal "hit the road" departure rituals designed to hustle parents off campus and encourage students to start organizing their own lives. College counseling centers advise students to limit the time they spend thinking of home or talking with family and to combat unproductive feelings of homesickness by getting involved in new activities and making new friends.
Yet to the consternation of many, it is hard to break young people of their desire to "call home"-or actually return there. A recent study found that college students at Middlebury and University of Michigan were in touch with their parents an average of 13 times each week. One New York Times columnist lamented that this "alarmingly frequent" contact "significantly reduces independence." Others have described the cell phone as "the world's longest umbilical cord," inhibiting the ability of young people to stand on their own two feet.
According to social media expert Sherry Turkle, Director of MIT's Initiative on Technology and Self, many young people today grow up "with the idea that they don't have to separate from their parents," a process that 20th century psychologists saw as an essential part of maturation. "Something has become the norm that was [once] considered pathological."
A look back at the history of homesickness, however, suggests that earlier generations had just as difficult a time leaving home as do modern Americans. But in the nineteenth century, homesickness was not seen as a symptom of poor adjustment or psychological imbalance. It was considered a serious medical condition that might strike any person who was separated from home and family. According to physicians of the era, symptoms of acute homesickness, then called nostalgia, included loss of appetite, "mental dejection," "irregular action of the bowels," hysterical weeping, "throbbing of the temporal arteries," "incontinence," "cerebral derangement," and sometimes even death. Since love of home and mother were considered signs of a virtuous character, no shame was attached to being diagnosed with this potentially fatal condition. The only known cure was to send the sufferer home.
Of course, this was not always possible. For example, soldiers who went off to war could not be sent home when they came down with a bout of nostalgia. So military officials often prohibited army bands from playing "Home, Sweet Home," for fear it might touch off an epidemic of homesickness in the ranks. Despite such precautions, during the Civil War doctors diagnosed 5000 Union soldiers with serious clinical cases of nostalgia, and determined that 74 men had died from it.
Perhaps it is true that many young Americans today are too dependent on their parents. But a look back at the history of homesickness suggests that, long before e-mail and the cell phone, earlier generations also had a hard time leaving home and parents behind. Then, however, instead of blaming parents for not sufficiently preparing their children for independence, traditional American culture encouraged such interdependence between the generations.
For more information, contact Susan Matt, Presidential Distinguished Professor of History and Chair, History Department, Weber State University, 801-626-7325, smatt@weber.edu , author, Homesickness: An American History (Oxford University Press, September 2011)
A Back to School Discussion Paper prepared for the Council on Contemporary Families
By Susan Matt, Presidential Distinguished Professor of History and Chair of the History Department, Weber State University
September 12, 2011
As colleges across the country begin the new school year, we hear a chorus of warnings about a generation of young adults unable or unwilling to "leave the nest." Phrases are bandied about: "Failure to launch"; "the Peter Pan syndrome"; "boomerang kids" who can't seem to leave home and establish an independent life. Undergirding these warnings is a fear that the younger generation is growing soft, losing the pioneer independence and rugged individualism that once built this nation.
But a glance at the past suggests it may not be the behavior of youths that has changed so much as the response by adults. Only over the past 90 years did American culture come to define young adults' continued reliance on parental guidance and their longing to return home as a sign of psychological maladjustment.
These days, in an effort to help students develop more individual self-reliance, some colleges have developed "Parting Ceremonies," designed to establish a decisive separation from their parents. At Morehouse College, the ceremony ends with the incoming freshmen marching through the campus gates, which then swing closed, shutting all parents outside. Other educational institutions have created formal "hit the road" departure rituals designed to hustle parents off campus and encourage students to start organizing their own lives. College counseling centers advise students to limit the time they spend thinking of home or talking with family and to combat unproductive feelings of homesickness by getting involved in new activities and making new friends.
Yet to the consternation of many, it is hard to break young people of their desire to "call home"-or actually return there. A recent study found that college students at Middlebury and University of Michigan were in touch with their parents an average of 13 times each week. One New York Times columnist lamented that this "alarmingly frequent" contact "significantly reduces independence." Others have described the cell phone as "the world's longest umbilical cord," inhibiting the ability of young people to stand on their own two feet.
According to social media expert Sherry Turkle, Director of MIT's Initiative on Technology and Self, many young people today grow up "with the idea that they don't have to separate from their parents," a process that 20th century psychologists saw as an essential part of maturation. "Something has become the norm that was [once] considered pathological."
A look back at the history of homesickness, however, suggests that earlier generations had just as difficult a time leaving home as do modern Americans. But in the nineteenth century, homesickness was not seen as a symptom of poor adjustment or psychological imbalance. It was considered a serious medical condition that might strike any person who was separated from home and family. According to physicians of the era, symptoms of acute homesickness, then called nostalgia, included loss of appetite, "mental dejection," "irregular action of the bowels," hysterical weeping, "throbbing of the temporal arteries," "incontinence," "cerebral derangement," and sometimes even death. Since love of home and mother were considered signs of a virtuous character, no shame was attached to being diagnosed with this potentially fatal condition. The only known cure was to send the sufferer home.
Of course, this was not always possible. For example, soldiers who went off to war could not be sent home when they came down with a bout of nostalgia. So military officials often prohibited army bands from playing "Home, Sweet Home," for fear it might touch off an epidemic of homesickness in the ranks. Despite such precautions, during the Civil War doctors diagnosed 5000 Union soldiers with serious clinical cases of nostalgia, and determined that 74 men had died from it.
Perhaps it is true that many young Americans today are too dependent on their parents. But a look back at the history of homesickness suggests that, long before e-mail and the cell phone, earlier generations also had a hard time leaving home and parents behind. Then, however, instead of blaming parents for not sufficiently preparing their children for independence, traditional American culture encouraged such interdependence between the generations.
For more information, contact Susan Matt, Presidential Distinguished Professor of History and Chair, History Department, Weber State University, 801-626-7325, smatt@weber.edu , author, Homesickness: An American History (Oxford University Press, September 2011)
Friday, September 16, 2011
NaturallyCurly Pool Party Summer 2011
I went to the Naturally Curly Pool party 2011 with my niece this summer. Can you find me?
Monday, September 12, 2011
"I'm A African"
Don't even think about correcting my grammar, I said it right the first time.
I went to see a show titled The Rap Guide to Evolution by Baba Brinkman. Through the lyrics of "I'm a African" by rap group Dead Prez, Baba reminds us that we are all brothers and sisters.
Here is the original song by Dead Prez:
This show is funny, insightful and thought provoking. I was extremely impressed by Baba's way of teaching through rap, who knew that you could learn so much through this genre of music. I wish Professors would use this method of teaching through the art of rap music, I bet the # of successful people would increase in volumes.
If you are in the New York City area go check out the show you won't regret it.
I went to see a show titled The Rap Guide to Evolution by Baba Brinkman. Through the lyrics of "I'm a African" by rap group Dead Prez, Baba reminds us that we are all brothers and sisters.
Here is the original song by Dead Prez:
Baba Brinkman's version of I'm A African:
Some of the topics discussed throughout the show range from teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, the inequalities in wealth fortune as well as evolution. This show is funny, insightful and thought provoking. I was extremely impressed by Baba's way of teaching through rap, who knew that you could learn so much through this genre of music. I wish Professors would use this method of teaching through the art of rap music, I bet the # of successful people would increase in volumes.
If you are in the New York City area go check out the show you won't regret it.
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