Shaolin Dragon School of Kung Fu


Once I saw this group perform their Kung Fu techniques, I knew I had to post a seperate blog to promote them. The Shaolin Dragon School of Kung Fu gives an awe-inspiring performance. It is very rare to see a group African American kids and young adults that can master this Chinese Martial Art. Kung Fu, also known as wushu consist of a number of fighting styles that were developed over the centuries.

In addition to traditional Kung-Fu and Tai Chi training, the Shaolin Dragon School of Kung-Fu performs public exhibitions, sponsors tournaments and facilitates a martial arts summer camp. Through Kung-Fu, students of all ages learn the value of discipline, confidence, self esteem, agility, leadership, self defense and physical fitness. Whether you are an adult seeking to improve your health and fitness, or a parent seeking a worthwhile extracurricular activity for your child, you will find your answer at the Shaolin Dragon School of Kung-Fu.



They offer a variety of martial arts instruction including:

Forms
Weapons
Take downs
Self defense
Tai Chi
Seminars (available upon request)

Class Schedules

Children/Youth (3 - 15)
Monday & Wednesday
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.
Saturday
11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Adults - (16+)
Tuesday & Thursday
6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Saturday
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.


Support the students performance at the following upcoming events:

The Autumn Festival - October 30, 2009 @ The Siegel Center (performance at 7:30PM)

The Christmas Parade - December 5, 2009 Broad Street (Parade starts at 10AM)





For more information :

Phone: (804) 767-6168


Visit them on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ShaolinDragonKungFu



Le Coil


Le Coil is a great website for natural beauties.


It showcases women with natural hairstyles.


Check out the site at http://lecoil.tumblr.com/

Spotlight: God-S Wearable Art


God-S Wearable Art is a unique and creative line that uplifts the image of women. Each image is painted to represent beauty and the feminine spirit. The collection ranges from T-shirts, Jackets, earrings, and handbags to name a few.


Check out these hand painted leather earrings from God-S Wearable Art:




There are plenty more original designs to choose from at http://www.on-que.com/ !

Attention Bloggers & Website Owners

$200 LuShae Sweepstakes


Click on the link below to enter in the sweepstakes to win $200 from LuShae Jewelry.

Select link "Win Jewelry" on the website.

Every entrant will also receive a 15% discount off the entire LuShae Jewelry range.

You have to enter your name, email and the address of your blog/website, if you wish to enter the competition.



jewelry earrings

Event Updates: Down Home Family Reunion, IEC Hair & Fashion Show, Happily Natural Day

I always like to update the blog with pictures of events that we participate in. We have been very busy this past month, but here are a few pictures of our past events this month. As always we meet many vendors and we will update you with the individual businesses info in the future.



Down Home Family Reunion:
The Down Home Family Reunion was a great outing for the entire family. We had many supporters come out and visit Aziza Beauty Supply at the event. We were so busy, that I did not get many pictures, but here a few:








Image Enhancement Center (IEC) & Indulge Hair & Spa Hair & Fashion Show:

This was another great community event that was Free! IEC is the home to a variety of different salons in one building. All of the salons had segments that they produced in this show. They also had the The Shaolin Dragon School of Kung-Fu come out and show out at the event. Check out the pics:











Happily Natural Day 2009 :

Again, another great free event for naturals and everyone. Full of energy, workshops, live music, food, and craft vendors. Here are a few photos:








EVENT: 3rd Annual IEC Summer Celebration


August 23, 2009
Where: Downtown Richmond, Virginia @ Foushee St.
(Between Broad Street and Grace Street)
Time: 4:00 PM - 8:00 Pm
Features:
Food
Fun & Games for children
Hair Showcase
Vendors
Giveaways & More

EVENT: 19th Annual Down Home Family Reunion



A Celebration of African American Folklife
August 15, 2009
Richmond, Virginia

WHEN Saturday, August 15, 2009 • 4 - 11 pm, Free.

WHERE Abner Clay Park, Downtown in Historic Jackson Ward
Belvidere & West Leigh Streets (convenient, at I-95 Interchange, Exit 76B) Richmond, Virginia.

WHO A Family Festival Open to the Public.

Presented by Elegba Folklore Society, Inc.
Richmond's Cultural Ambassador

WHAT A Celebration of African American Folklife. Weekend Event Features an All-Star Line-Up of World Music and Dance, Entertainment and Cultural Traditions.

FEATURES R&B Band and Show, African Dance, Music & the Oral Tradition with Elegba Folklore Society, and more.

Saturday in the Park: Interactive Folkloric Demonstrations,
The Heritage Market, Delicious Down Home Food, and more.

More details will be updated at a later time.

Tribes of the Motherland

Another You Tube video that I love called "Tribes of the Motherland"



After watching the video I was intrigued about how many tribes there actually are in Africa. Here is what I found on "The Africa Guide"

Afar
The Afar people live primarily in Ethiopia and the areas of Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa.
Anlo-Ewe
The Anlo-Ewe people are today in the southeastern corner of the Republic of Ghana. They settled here around 1474 after escaping from their past home of Notsie.
Amhara
The Amhara are the politically and culturally dominant ethnic group of Ethiopia. They are located primarily in the central highland plateau of Ethiopia and comprise the major population element in the provinces of Begemder and Gojjam and in parts of Shoa and Wallo.
Ashanti
The Ashanti live in central Ghana in western Africa approximately 300km. away from the coast. The Ashanti are a major ethnic group of the Akans in Ghana, a fairly new nation, barely more than 50 years old.
Bakongo
The Bakongo people (aka. the Kongo) dwell along the Atlantic coast of Africa from Pointe-Noire, Congo (Brazzaville) to Luanda, Angola.
Bambara
The Bambara are a large Mande racial group located mostly in the country of Mali. They are the largest and most dominant group in that country.
Bemba
The Bemba are located in the northeastern part of Zambia and are the largest ethnic group in the Northern Province of Zambia.
Berber
Berbers have lived in Africa since the earliest recorded time. References date back to 3000 BC. There are many scattered tribes of Berber across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt.
Bobo
The Bobo peple have lived in western Burkina Faso and Mali for centuries. They are known for their masks which are worn with elaborate outfits for celebrations. Primarily agricultral people they also cultivate cotton which they use to trade with others.
Bushmen/San
The 'Bushmen' are the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa, where they have lived for at least 20,000 years. Their home is in the vast expanse of the Kalahari desert.
Chewa
The Chewa, also known as the Cewa or Chichewa is an African culture that has existed since the beginning of the first millennium, A.D. They are primarily located in Zambia, Zimbabwe, with the bulk of the population in Malawi.
Dogon
The Dogon are a cliff-dwelling people who live in Southeastern Mali and Burkina Faso. Among the people groups in Africa they are unique in that they have kept and continued to develop their own culture even in the midst of Islamic invasions which have conquered and adapted many of the current people groups
Fang
The Fang are especially known for their guardian figures which they attached to wooden boxes containing bones of the ancestors. The bones, by tradition, are said to contain the power of the dead person, in fact, the same amount of power that the person had while still alive.
Fon
The Fon of Benin, originally called Dahomey until 1975, are from West Africa. The Fon are said to have originated in the area of Tado, a town in Tago, at approximately the same latitude as Abomey, Benin.
Fulani
The Fulani people of West Africa are the largest nomadic group in the world, primarily nomadic herders and traders. Through their nomadic lifestyle, they established numerous trade routes in West Africa.
Ibos
from Nigerian the Ibos live in villages that have anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand people comprised of numerous extended families.
Kikuyu (Gikuyu)
Having migrated to their current location about four centuries ago, the Kikuyu now make up Kenya’s largest ethnic group.
Maasai
The Maasai, famous as herders and warriors, once dominated the plains of East Africa. Now however they are confined to a fraction of their former range.
Mandinka
The Mandinka are an ethnic group that live in West Africa, primarily Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau, but some also live in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Cote d'Ivoire.
Pygmies
There are many different 'Pygmy' peoples – for example, the Bambuti, the Batwa, the Bayaka and the Bagyeli ('Ba -' means 'people') – who live scattered over a huge area in central and western Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.
Samburu
The Samburu are related to the Masai although they live just above the equator where the foothills of Mount Kenya merge into the northern desert and slightly south of Lake Turkana in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya.
Senufo
The Senufo are a group of people living in northern Cote d'Ivoire and Mali. They are known as excellent farmers and are made up of a number of different groups who moved south to Mali and Cote d'Ivoire in the 15 and 16th centuries.
Tuareg
The Tuareg people are predominently nomadic people of the sahara desert, mostly in the Northern reaches of Mali near Timbuktu and Kidal.
Wolof
The Wolof are one of the largest people groups that inhabit modern-day Senegal. They live anywhere from the desert area of the Sahara to the rain forests. Traditionally many Wolof lived in small villages governed by an extended family unit but now most Wolof move to cities where they are able to get jobs.
Yoruba
The Yoruba people live in Southwest Nigeria and Benin. They have developed a variety of different artistic forms including pottery, weaving, beadwork, metalwork, and mask making.
Zulu
The Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. They are well known for their beautiful brightly colored beads and baskets as well as other small carvings.

JUARA Skincare

I have been hearing some buzz about JUARA skincare. The founders are four women who decided to create a line that included their Asian ancestry with their western upbringing. JUARA products contain Indonesian botanicals that help promote skin health and well being naturally. Check out this video I found of them explaining who they are the JUARA line.




Indulge in decadent botanical skincare treatments that evoke the elegance of ancient Indonesian royalty. Safe, gentle and effective. 100% Vegetarian, no artificial colorants. Made in USA.



Receive 10% OFF your JUARA order. Enter SPECIAL10 at checkout.

Natural Hair Is On The Rise!!



More and more people are deciding to go natural these days. I wrestled with going going natural for a while. When I first tried to go natural, I just did not know what to do with my hair. I went to a hair stylist and she convinced me to get a perm!!! She stated that there was nothing she could do with it in its natural state. It is distressing to know that so many "professional" hair stylist do not know what to do with African American hair in its natural state. Many years later, I decided to do it again this time with the help of online resources such as Motown Girl & Nappturality.


Now, there are so many more resources out there than before to help people with their natural journey. It is refreshing to see so many people embracing their own natural beauty. I wonder sometimes where did we go wrong with what we considered as "beautiful" for African American women and their hair. I can speculate that our history may have had something to do with it.

So for those who are considering going natural or are already natural, here are some useful links:

Hair Care:
Motown Girl
Nappturality
My Natural Hair Care Guide
The Course Hair Diary
Going Natural
Afrobella
Afroniquely You
Curly Nikki
Black Strands
Naturally Curly
Treasured Locks
Urban Curlz
Natural Hair Rules
YMIB
The Coil Review
Kinnks Natural Hair Resources
Hairlicious Inc
Mahogany Butterfly
Clutch Magazine
Sistah Goddess

Other Links(Jewelry/accessories/tools)
Denman
God-s Wearable Art
Zurique
Bohemian Soul
Lunaversoul

I am sure there are other links out there that I may be missing, but this is a start. If you know of any great natural hair sites, please let me know!

Locked Hair Blog Exchange

Hair Products Reviewed - Curls by Str8isis

Ford Model Elaine Wang-Tips for Glowing Skin

Clutch Magazine