Wednesday, December 30, 2009

One Race Global Film Foundation

Check it out! (Noveau)

The One Race Global Film Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by actor, director and writer Vin Diesel, with the mission of fostering the growth of diverse national and international voices in under-served communities within the global entertainment industry.
Through education and training in film, video, and new media production, One Race students gain hands-on experience as writers producers, directors, actors, cinematographers, physical production technicians and editors of short film and video projects during an intensive summer training program and year-round weekend workshops conducted in host countries.

Good to see and congrats to the foundation and Vin Diesel.

Website Link: http://www.oneraceglobalfilmfoundation.org

More Information? http://culturalcommentaryartist.ning.com

Let Your Inner Voice Rise-
Gloria J Harden-Bailey

Saturday, December 26, 2009

ForbesWoman Views

Welcome Everyone,

I recently was quoted in a Forbes.com Magazine article written by Caroline Howard, the Deputy Online Editor at ForbesWoman.com

My commentary represents my personal statement based on education, work, travel, social, cultural and political history and not necessarily the perspetive of my employer.

Caroline sought the opinion of the ForbesWoman online community group in regards to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor image in the Latina community and her symbolic statement to wear red finger nail polish for her photo shoot for the cover of Latina Magazine.
(See: http://www.latina.com)

I have posted the article: Check it Out!

ForbesWoman Views
Tweets (And More) Of The Week: Why Are We Looking At Sotomayor's Red Nails?
ForbesWoman Community 12.24.09, 12:00 PM ET

Heads turn and mouses click at the sight of "first" photos. Consider the hoopla and steep price tag surrounding the People and Hello! get of the first exclusive photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's newborn twins last year.

While convincing the Hollywood power couple to smile for the camera came in at a reported tune of some $14 million, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor decided to grant her first photo shoot as new justice to Latina magazine. For obvious reasons.

On this month's cover, Sotomayor appears to be pledging allegiance. The colors and her expression convey the muted tones of quiet authority. All except for her bright red nails.

Florian Bachleda, the creative director of the magazine, recently wrote a post about the photo shoot with Sotomayor on the Society of Publication Designers Web site, "A Wise Latina and the Color Red: Latina's Justice Sotomayor Cover." "On the day of the shoot, Justice Sotomayor entered the room with a big smile on her face, and the first thing she did was extend her hand and introduce herself to everyone in the room. Everyone ... it was incredibly refreshing to see."

But what's up with her nails? Bachleda writes that during Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, the justice was fully prepped on everything from potentially explosive questions down to her dress and nail color. She was, apparently, advised to keep the lacquer neutral. But, he continues, "on the day of the White House reception celebrating her appointment, Sotomayor asked the president to look at her freshly manicured nails, holding up her hands to show off her favorite color: a fire-engine red. The president chuckled, saying that she had been warned against that color."

Why red and, really, should we even be looking at her nails? To answer the first question, Latina Editor Mimi Valdés says, "In many Latino families, red is a very important and symbolic color. ... For many, the color is very much a point of pride." We put the second question to the ForbesWoman community.

Gloria J. Bailey, director for Diversity and Outreach at East Carolina University-Fine Arts, weighs in: "Good for judge Sotomayor for being proud of her heritage and the symbols of her Latina Culture. She represents all of the people and also has a right to acknowledge her own history as a part of the American experience. It is time that America accepts the full story of all our people."

Courtney Smith says, "Not sure why this is such an issue ... but after reading the article, very appropriate considering what red is supposed to represent."

Blogger Paola Bonomo, who writes the blog Live From Planet Paola, directs us to two of her posts on similar subjects after informing the community, "I am in favor of women wearing whatever they see fit, including nail colors." One post was on Carme Chacón, the Spanish defense minister who was roundly criticized ("mostly by men, obviously") for presiding over a military parade wearing an elegant pantsuit rather than a dress. The second post was a celebration of the daring décolletage of Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany and No. 1 on this year's ForbesWoman 100 Most Powerful Woman list.

Ratzo Rizzo strikes a similar chord, demanding powerful women have the right to dress feminine: "I wonder why we always want to de-feminize any woman in a position of power or authority. We should feel powerful as women doing all of the things women can do--including wearing fabulous nail polish."

The personal is political, writes Kathleen Meghan Serafin, who sees the red polish as symbol of Sotomayor's bravada: "While I think it is great that a Latina is now a Supreme Court Justice, Sotomayor was the wrong Latina. Based on her previous public statements, it seems she will not make impartial judgments. The red nail polish says 'look at me.' Very distracting. She is supposed to be doing a job, and it is not as the next Oprah."

Marianne Mullen disagrees, noting, "There is nothing wrong or improper about wearing red nail polish. What's next, that women can't color their hair if they are on the bench? Good for her. She's staying true to herself in a man's world."

But a great majority of our community fired barbs at even bringing up the topic. Amy Pietrasanta sighs, "Oh please, who cares? I have a dream--that someday women will be judged by the content of their character and not their nails, hairdos and outfits." Gen Lee adds, "Ditto. She deserves merits on her own, not on how she looks. Let's move on." Jean Kristensen sums up with: "I think that focusing on the color of a woman's nails it ridiculous and completely unfair. I also point out that I love red nail polish and wear it whenever I chose."

Readers, where do you stand in the debate?

Tweets (And More) of the Week is a series of reader-created conversations. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Yahoo! Shine, and we look forward to featuring you on our site.
See Also: Judging Sonia

Enjoy this story? Keep reading at ForbesWoman.

About ForbesWoman Group on Linkedin.com
"Building a global community of smart, accomplished women who
are curious about one another and about business. Connecting
the Forbes newsroom and the Forbes audience. Serving the
interests of executives, entrepreneurs and professionals."

Happy Reading from Rise.
Let Your Inner Voice Rise-
(aka: Gloria J Harden-Bailey)
http://innervoice-rise.blogspot
http://culturalcommentaryartist.ning.com

Sunday, December 20, 2009

NBCD Journal 20 Holidays

NBCD Journal 20
Happy Holidays Everyone and Welcome Back!
Holiday Menu
It has been a pretty busy year and the holiday break will give us all a chance to rest and restore positive energy. The menu for this Christmas will be a combination of homemade and special order.
This year, I decided to keep things light and make Leek Soup for Christmas Eve. It reminds me of a bowl of Leek soup I had at a California Kitchen Restaurant in Manhattan Beach, California several years ago. I like to add sage, turkey ham and a few more golden potatoes to my soup. One of the ingredients in Leek Soup is white wine so I chose Sandy Cross Vineyards Muscadine wine that is bottled in Mount Airy, North Carolina. The Duplin Carolina Bald Head Red Sweet Table wine works well with punch drinks. I am going to try my best to venture to Raleigh/Durham to try the California Kitchen’s new Moroccan Salad or Baja Fish Tacos with Blue Corn Tortilla Chips. I will let you know how it turns out. As a base, I chose Knorr Leek Recipe Mix and just follow the directions on the package. Speaking of special orders, I will be picking up a Whole Cajun Turkey and a mini ham from the Honey Baked Ham store. My menu side items will be scalloped potatoes with reduced fat cheddar cheese. My main vegetable will be the underrepresented Cauliflower. Once I lightly steam my cauliflower, I plan on adding sautéed corn, orange bell pepper, and onions to it. This should give me a colorful dish. I am adding a side of corn bread stuffing for the kids. Homemade stuffing is great but if you are in a hurry, Stove Top stuffing will do fine.
One of the favorite deserts in our house is Pecan Pie and Peach Cobbler so I will have that on hand for everyone to consume. There are also good pecan pies at the Honey Baked Ham store, Food Lion, Kroger, Harris Teeter and Sams Club. I decided to purchase pie crust for the canned peach pie filling and picked up a jar of Delmonte fresh peaches to lighten the taste of the canned filling. You will notice I am bias to the texture, taste, sight and smell of the food I eat which makes cooking more enjoyable for me. For New Years I plan on a seafood menu of crab salad, shrimp, black eye peas and rice for good luck and the addition of Chinese food. As a child, my family would go to our favorite Chinese food restaurant for New Years Eve and come home and ring in the New Year.

Stress Release
The holidays can be stressful on the cook so I de-stress by playing holiday music of old school, new school, jazz and classics. Some of the holiday classic songs I listen to while I cook were my father’s favorite singers such as Nat King Cole and Johnny Mathis. Natalie Cole is unforgettable also.
The Luciana Souza/Romero Lubambo Duos II acoustic jazz CD is wonderful. Luciana’s voice is crisp and melodic. Lately, I have been burning up the Al Jarreau song “Brite N’ Sunny Babe”. Yep ladies, I consider myself a Brite N’ Sunny Babe for the New Year. I hope you do too.
Thanks Natalie Cole for making us fabulous 40 and up women of today look good. A Class Act.
Meanwhile, my kids and I are listening to everything from the Black Eye Peas, Lupe Fiasco, Barcelona, Beyonce’, Shakira, The Fray, Mary J Blige, John Legend ,Alicia Keys, The Avett Brothers and many others.
Don’t forget to dance to the music while cooking. It’s a fun way to burn off those holiday calories.

Check it out:
You can find other health and cultural commentary by visiting the blogs:
http://innervoice-rise.blogspot.com
http://culturalcommentaryartist.ning.com
Web Tip: http://www.nataliecole.com
I wish you a positive, energetic and bright New Year.
Keep the faith and stay mentally, physically and spiritually healthy!
Gloria J Harden-Bailey

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Hate vs. Love

Hate is powerful and comes in many forms. Some hate manifest itself on the surface while other forms of hate remain hidden until impulsively forced to the surface. The latter is more dangerous at times than the surface hate because it is slow growing and perpetually builds. The events that are happening in the world today is the same hate from the past. The difference is that it is suttle and dressed up, wrapped in false sincerity with a bow on top. The irony of hidden hate is that it deteriorates the person who expresses such anger by slowly dispiriting their soul and eating away at the love that wishes to enter their lives. When that dispiriting takes place they become half of the person they seek to be. Hate crosses boundaries into family, friends, associates, organizations and religious life. We give hate false power.
Humans mindlessly hate over petty jealousy, status, culture, religions, historical views, lack of love and the list goes on.
Love on the other hand turns jealousy into admiration; status into praise; culture into appreciation; religions into profound spirituality and disagareeable historical views into understanding. The power of love transcends time, perspectives and emotions without giving thought to who it embraces. It is the perfect pinnacle of acceptance in the face of superiority, inferiority and prejudice.
Love cares for the disheartened; the elderly; the children and the human spirit. It is the care giver and care taker of all. It transforms your life and those around you. Love cries our tears and weeps for the soul. Love forces us to seek a deeper meaning. Love is eternal and fulfilling and ever so faithful in it's elation and joy.
Love must and always will eliminate hate.

Let Your Inner Voice Rise-
Gloria J Harden-Bailey

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

What's all this Hair Business About?

NBCD Journal 17

What is all this hair business about?

Over the past few years I have changed hair styles, some by choice and other styles by no choice but it’s a journey that all women take and particularly as it relates to African American hair. There are so many directions the hair industry has lead, pushed and shoved African American women to invent and re-invent the next trendy hairstyle without analyzing the consequence that plays out every day on our subconscious mind and the damage of the hair follicles. While I am certainly grateful that we have come a long way in advancing the health of a hair product or the versatility of how we can wear our hair, it has taken a long time for the industry to combine a diversity of beauty and hair fashion from the old school straight- fried- and laid to the side to free flowing locks, curly wavy coifs and natural styles. We as Black women have endured a lot of pressure to conform to a standard main stream beauty which does not accept us in the state we enter this world from birth. What if tomorrow all the hair products disappeared from the face of the earth, would we still feel beautiful? Think about that for a minute.
I like to stay active and choose hairstyles that will allow me to exercise without worrying about my hair.
Unfortunately, there are Black women who will not work out or swim as much just to keep their hair perfect. I choose my health over the image of a hairstyle any day. Don’t get me wrong, I like to look pretty but hair should not compromise my health and weight goals. God willing, I want to stick around in this life to look and feel good for many more years.

Stay, mentally, physically and spiritually healthy—

Let Your Inner Voice Rise-
Gloria J Harden-Bailey