Since 2003, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EM:HE) has provided 188 home renovations to less fortunate families throughout the United States. Each episode has consisted of telling the story of a family that has endured hardships and their attempt to make the best of their situation. Former model, carpenter & TV host Ty Pennington and his team of designers have dramatically changed the lives of many people throughout the last 8 seasons and this season’s premiere with Michelle Obama definitely will definitely tug at the heart.
Michelle Obama joins Ty Pennington to celebrate and honor Barbara Marshall, a 15-year Navy Veteran, who is fighting to end homelessness among her fellow woman veterans. Barbara Marshall established The Steps-N-Stages Jubilee House in Fayetteville, NC, using her own money and hard work. Jubilee House is a place where homeless female veterans can turn to in their time of need. Jubilee House offers the woman veterans shelter, support and services such as career and life coaching. Barbara’s life has been dedicated to making Jubilee House successful and offering the women who come through the doors a second chance at life.
Not only does Barbara Marshall strive to take care of the woman veterans, but she also is a mother herself. Her daughter is currently serving in the military, and her teenage son, who suffers from a learning disability, lives with her full time. At the taping of the show, Jubilee House was the home to three other families as well, and unfortunately the house needed additional space and repairs in order to stay afloat.
Mrs. Obama, Ty Pennington and the “EM: HE” team of designers Paul DiMeo, Tracy Hutson, John Littlefield, Sabrina Soto, local builder Blue Ridge Log Cabins and hundreds of community volunteers helped build the new Jubilee House, which in my opinion, is one of the most amazing homes I’ve seen so far on EM:HE.
The most important aspect of this season premiere is that it also sheds light on the issues so many veterans face after leaving the military. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states roughly five percent of the nations’ homeless veterans are female.
This show does what television does best it shines a light on the best of who we are as a country…She (Barbara Marshall) represents what military familys are….she’s served in the military herself, and continues to serve ~ Michelle Obama
The Season 9 premiere of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” airs SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 (7:00-8:00 & 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.
To learn more about The Steps-N-Stages Jubilee House and to make a donation, visit their website: http://www.stepsnstages.com.
Steps & Stages, Inc.: Resourcing Disabled Women Veterans P.O. Box 9764 Fayetteville, North Carolina 28311-9764 Tel: 910.977.2303 email: womenvets@stepsnstages.com
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Sept. 25 Season Premiere Michelle Obama joins Ty Pennington to celebrate and honor Barbara Marshall, a 15-year Navy Veteran, who is fighting to end homelessness among her fellow woman veterans. Barbara Marshall established The Steps-N-Stages Jubilee House in Fayetteville, NC, using her own money and hard work. Jubilee House is a place where homeless female veterans can turn to in their time of need.
What seemed to be a bit of deja vu with her infamous outbursts, last night at the 2011 US Open, Serena once again voiced her displeasure in a call made by umpire Eva Asderaki.
“I despise you. You’re not only out of control, you’re a hater, and you’re just unattractive inside,”
As I wrote last year, one of the main reasons I started watching tennis as a kid was because of John McEnroe, the original bad boy of tennis. McEnroe’s outbursts were legendary. You knew the moment he hit that court that not only were you in for a hell of a match, but you could probably assume he’d lose his temper as well. McEnroe did every thing from curse, yell and break rackets. In his total career, he received over $91,000 worth of fines, which is nothing in comparison to the fines that Serena have already received. His larger than life attitude also became immortalized in various rap songs, as well as joke punchlines through out several Hollywood movies.
Granted the age of anonymous comments on blogs/news sites weren’t around in McEnroe’s era, but he definitely had his share of “haters” back then as well, but the amount of hate that is spewed online towards Serena Williams pales in comparison.
So far today, I’ve seen her being called:
Man’ish
Boorish
Ape-like
Ugly
Aggressive
Overweight
…and those are the less harsh terms.
I think it’s a sad commentary on society’s views about black women in general. I understand everyone has a freedom of speech and opinion, but to discount the fact that Serena Williams is one of the greatest tennis players ever, to only negate her physical attributes is just ridiculous.
As of this afternoon, Serena Williams has been cited for verbal abuse and the USTA has fined her $2,000 for verbal abuse toward the umpire. Maybe the issue isn’t with Serena’s outbursts but with the archaic ideologies surrounding the rules of tennis. Imagine if you couldn’t express any type of emotion in football, hockey, baseball, basketball? They’d make for pretty boring games. Serena’s intensity and competitiveness is what has gotten her this far in tennis and it’s why she’ll remain a force to be reckoned with.
I hated being sent to the store for groceries. I hated it even more that instead of money, I was sent with food stamps. Even though it was pretty much commonplace to see them being used, there was the stigma attached to them and embarrassment as well. I still remember on one occasion running into a classmate at the corner store. I tried my hardest to hide the food stamps, but failed. He pulled them out of my hand and waved them around. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, but the store owner quickly came and snatched them from the boy’s hands and threw him out of the store.
Since the advent of the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, I guess you can say using public assistance has become a lot more inconspicuous. No one has to see you pull out food stamps from a book, instead your benefits are accessed through your EBT card. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, between 2005-2010, the number of business that accept food stamps have grown by 1/3.
In a report done by USA Today, many restaurants are now trying to get a share of the food stamp/EBT money:
Louisville-based Yum! Brands, whose restaurants include Taco Bell, KFC, Long John Silver’s and Pizza Hut, is trying to get restaurants more involved, federal lobbying records show.
That’s a prospect that anti-hunger advocates welcome, but one that worries some current food stamp vendors and public health advocates.
Federal rules generally prohibit food stamp benefits, which are distributed under the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), from being exchanged for prepared foods. Yet a provision dating to the 1970s allows states to allow restaurants to serve disabled, elderly and homeless people, USDA spokeswoman Jean Daniel said.
Pros? Cons?
Of course there are both to consider.
How would allowing the use of EBT cards at fast food restaurants affect childhood obesity rates? Like my friend Danielle said today, “the hood doesn’t have grocery stores”, and she definitely has a point. When I was a kid, you couldn’t just walk to a grocery store. We had bodegas on just about every corner that accepted food stamps, and let me not forget the Korean owned “fish” markets, where you could get a healthy fried fish sandwich, which most people preferred to the fresh fish they also had available.
Some parents are lazy, and would probably use the EBT access in a heartbeat at the likes of Taco Bell, KFC & Long John Silvers. So I can see why people like Kelly Brownell, director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity would have an issue with it:
But if we’re speaking in regards to the homeless population that typically doesn’t have access to refrigerators and grocery shopping, how preposterous is it for them to have access to already cooked food?
I’ve been natural since ’94, before You Tube tutorials, before the thousands of web sites geared towards natural hair and even before there were a quarter of a billion products (most of which aren’t natural) hit the market. I’ve seen and heard every word of advice given to women before they’ve done the ‘big chop’ after they’ve done the ‘big chop’. I’ve seen people ‘teach’ others on how to maintain their natural hair and everything thing else under the sun pertaining to natural hair.
When I’ve thought I’ve seen and heard it all, I notice my friend “RyceJuanton” tweet this:
So being the nosy inquisitive person that I am, I did the first thing that came to my mind…I headed to the good ole Google. That’s when I sat in my office and couldn’t help but to literally Laugh Out Loud. Well I’ll be damned, there is now a “sorority” (I use the term lightly) called Pi Nappa Kappa. I’m going to assume the “Nappa” is a play on “Nappy”, but to me the whole concept is a play on stupid.
So I’m going to assume this is where the nappier holier than though Natural Hair Nazis, pledge their nappiness. According to their “pledge” site, it states:
More details Pi Nappa Kappa Natural Hair Sorority is dedicated to the advancement of natural hair knowledge, preservation and the development of integrity.
In order to thrive and excel, this natural hair community must preserve the freedom of thought and expression of all its members. A culture of respect that honors the rights, safety, dignity and worth of every individual is essential to preserve such freedom.
By choosing to be members of this natural hair sorority, we pledge our respect for the standards of the
Sorority and for the rights and well-being of all its natural members.
As a member of the Pi Nappa Kappa Natural Hair Sorority, I pledge that:
1. I am a smart, special, valuable person!
2. I respect myself and I respect others.
3. My words and actions are kind and honest.
4. I will respect the dignity and essential worth of all individuals.
5.I will promote the diversity of opinions, ideas, hairstyles and backgrounds which is the lifeblood of the sorority.
6. I will promote a culture of respect throughout the natural hair community.
7. I will not tolerate bigotry, discrimination, violence, or intimidation of any kind.
8. I will practice personal integrity and expect it from others.
9. I will always be proud of my natural born hair.
10. I accept only my best in all I do.
I am PROUD to be ME!
Seriously, is there a Relaxer/Chemically treated sorority out there also?
I have tons of friends, well just about all of them, that have been natural for decades, and never have I heard of such craziness. Sure, be proud of your natural hair, exalt in it as a matter of fact because it can be a beautiful thing, but…
Imagine if it was a real sorority, what would their intake process consist of?
Coming up with the best natural hair products? Making the best two strand twist out? Reciting the ingredients to a jar of relaxer?
Will there be a comb test? If your hair can get through a fine tough comb, will you not be allowed?
Anyways, I’ll just sit around and wait for the “Lye Phi Lye” sorority to pop up, just so those that live for the creamy crack can have something to call their own as well, why should the “naturalistas” at Pi Nappa Kappa- The Natural Hair Sorority have all the fun?
* Before all of yall happy to be nappy nazis get your panties in a bunch and get ready to type 100wpm in the comment section..you’ve missed the 48hr comment period..no new ones will be approved *
“Is this my shirt? Is this the shirt I paid $30 for? Is this the shirt they’re supposed to think is a Gordon Gartrell??” ~ Theo, Cosby Show
I’m pretty sure everyone remembers the infamous Gordon Gartrell shirt Denise called herself making for Theo. The shirt was horrendous. Lopsided sleeves, and lowered pocket, just a hot ass mess. Well in everyone’s life a Gordon Gartrell shirt surfaces. Well maybe it doesn’t, but in my life it did as a dress unfortunately.
See what had happened was (don’t you love when people start stories off like that), a few weeks ago, I was in search of a new birthday dress for my party at One Lounge in Dupont Circle. I searched high & low. I didn’t know what exactly I wanted, but I wanted something different and unique. My closet is lined with Ann Taylor, Calvin Klein, Buffalo and a few other of my favorite dress designers, but I wanted to “think outside of the dress box”. One night during my googling, I came across Wanda Grace, a designer based out of Chicago and I saw this dress:
I immediately fell in like with it. It was definitely unique and I immediately emailed the merchant to see how long it would take to receive the dress, because my birthday was about 3 weeks away. The merchant promptly replied and said I would have it before August 4th, so I went ahead and made my $85 purchase. The only thing that I changed about the dress was the color. The merchant gave me a list of colors to choose from so I went with cream.
Anyone who knows me, knows I’d never pay $85 for a dress. I’m pretty much a frugal shopper when it comes to dresses & shoes. I try to buy most of my items on sale. You can never go wrong with a Macy’s or Nordstroms sale, so for me to spend $85 on a single item was kind of like a big deal. At least to me it was, but hell, it was my birthday. In all of my years of online shopping, I never had a problem with any items I’ve purchased, ever. I’ve purchased every thing from Emu Oil for my hair, to dresses from Amazon.com, so I like to pride myself on being an online shopping connoisseur.
Until this birthday dress fiasco.
A few days before my birthday I was starting to panic. I hadn’t received my dress. I emailed the merchant asking if it’s been shipped and she replied back with a USPS tracking code. Great. The pony express was handling my delivery. If anyone’s ever used USPS to track anything, it’s a major fail. Their system doesn’t update usually until AFTER an item is delivered. Every day I inputted the tracking number on their site to get NOTHING. No information about it at all.
More panic.
Finally two days before my birthday I received my dress. I remember my son calling me to let me know I received a package in the mail and of course his nosy behind opened it.
Kobe: Mommy, you got something in the mail today. It sort of looks like a dress
Me: Um. What do you mean sort of?
Kobe: Well it’s a dress I guess.
Whatever, what does a 12 year old know about fashion. I was excited after work and rushed home to try my new dress on.
I ran into my bedroom and picked up my already opened package.
*record scratches*
*Insert the sound of Theo screaming at Denise*
What in the holy hell was I looking at?
Seriously.
First of all, the dress I ordered was long sleeves. Yes it was a 90+ degree weather week, but I purposefully ordered a long sleeve dress so that it could be worn in the fall.
But guess what, I received a short sleeved dress.
Second of all, the dress was horribly made. The seams/hems weren’t finished; it seemed as though I was sent an unfinished dress:
Yup, so like any angry, pissed, upset person I tweeted:
Immediately, my friend Nikki sent me a text message asking what was wrong and I rambled off about 4 back to back messages about how I’ve been Gordon Gartrelled. Then I texted Danielle (Black Snob) about how I was Gordon Gartrelled. Then I went to Facebook to complain about how I was Gordon Gartrelled.
I WAS GORDON GARTRELLED!
Eventually, I regained what little composure I could muster up. I was succinct in the email I sent to the merchant telling her about my issues with the dress. She responded back asking for a photo, no problem at all. Photo sent. A few hours later she sent her apologies, basically saying that she had a new ‘contractor’ that was doing her sewing and she didn’t inspect the dress before mailing it to me. Um. Why would you not inspect your own product? Did you not notice that it was short sleeved before you stuffed it into the USPS mailing envelop?
She immediately offered another solution. She would send me another dress without any additional cost, and I would mail the original dress back to her.
Ok.
So sure, the different dress is definitely unique and different, but it really wasn’t me, but I had her send it anyways. At this point I was desperate. In the meantime I did find another back-up dress just in case. Thank god for Calvin Klein dresses.
The following day I received the new dress.
I tried it on.
I felt like Aunty Entity (Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome) meets Battlestar Galactica. Aww hell no.
*stuffs dress back into the package*
I emailed the merchant to let her know I was returning the dress immediately because it wasn’t “me”.
That was almost two weeks ago. During that time I have sent several emails requesting a refund. Her first response was that she’ll send me a money order, since I didn’t use Paypal.
Money order? Who uses Money Orders in 2011.
I told her that she could send the refund via WePay (THE BEST ONLINE PAYMENT SYSTEM EVER) and that it was similar to Paypal (which I hate btw). She then informed me that she didn’t know what WePay was, so I sent her a link.
I’ve sent her several links.
I’ve sent several payment requests.
And now here I am writing about my experience.
I’m pissed. My $85 is now sitting in Chicago and not in my pocket, where it should be. I’ve tried being patient. I’ve ran out of patience.
The lesson I’ve learned behind all of this is to be a little more careful with the merchants I deal with online. Not everyone is going to have the Macy’s or Nordstroms reputation.
So you’re probably asking yourself right now, “How Do I Prevent From Getting Gordon Gartrelled?” Well, maybe you’re not but in any case here are few tips to shopping online & maintaining your sanity:
1. Know your Merchant:
This is where I made my mistake. I didn’t know this merchant at all. If you don’t know your merchant’s reputation, it can easily be found by using Google, or checking out their social networking sites, like Facebook, Twitter, etc. But sometimes that’s not even enough.
2. Get the Details:
If you need an item by a certain time, make sure it can be supplied to you before that time frame. Also, since this experience, if I’m buying from a ’boutique’ again, I’m going to make sure to inquire about the exact design. Who wants a short sleeve dress when they’ve ordered a long sleeve dress? Not me. Again.
3. Keep Good Records:
Save every email you have when you’re dealing with a smaller merchant. EVERY EMAIL. A paper trail is always key when disputing any type of transaction or when requesting a refund.
4. Use a Credit Card:
Paypal, WePay, Google Checkout are your friends. Never send a payment through the mail via a Money Order or Check. With the online payment systems, the dispute and resolution process is a piece of cake. Once you send a Money Order or Check and the merchant cashes it, and you’re left without the item you’ve paid for, you’re pretty much assed out.
5. Take It To The Social Networking Streets:
Of course when you feel you’ve been wronged the first thing you want to do is beat up the person that’s wronged you. Wait…maybe this is only me. But in any event, since brawling it out in the middle of the streets isn’t going to work, take it to the mean streets of your social networking circle. Tweet, Facebook, Yelp about it. That will eventually get their attention. Many companies and merchants pride themselves on their “clout” online, so complaints are the last thing they want to see!
Of course none of the above are a sure bet in shopping safely and smarter online, because there’s always going to be that merchant to slip through the cracks, take it from my own experience. In the end, I’m out of a Gordon Gartrell dress and my $85, until she decides to return it.
Apparently this is a monumental age, so said HWSRN.
I guess I should have been more concerned with my impending single hood and the lack of men that actually want to marry black women, instead of getting chocolate wasted. Oh well, everyone has their own set of priorities. When I turned 35, Mojitos were mine.
Honestly, I could give a damn about marriage and anything that comes with it. I’m content with being single at the moment. Maybe that’ll change down the road, but right now, I’m happy. What I don’t understand is why so many other people care if black women are getting married and offering advice on how to end their life of single hood. Apparently the recent round of advice included finding men that aren’t black in helping the black dating crisis.
Once you go White, you’ve been licked right you go right?
Once you go Hispanic, you’ll be able to manage? Maricon.
Once you go Asian, they’ll all be hatin’? Yaky or Virgin hair?
Once you go Indian, you’ll be ….? Red dot not feather
You get my point.
Seriously, why haven’t people pointed out that maybe some women are fine with being single?
AIDS Is An Epidemic-Being A Single Black Woman Is Not!
Instead of pointing out the number of uneducated black men that are in prison, etc. Why not point out the number of black men that are educated and employed that don’t want to get married either? Hell, if you take a look around DC, you’ll see some of the most “eligible” black men out there, but guess what? They’re pretty much content with keeping their options open and running through every “eligible” black woman in the DMV area. I’m pretty sure that’s how it is in any metropolitan area that has a high percentage of professional black men & women.
But women, you’re not getting off so fast either.
Sure, ok. You want to get married. Guess what? Non-black men have been around for quite some time. Want to know something else? They’ll treat you like shit also, if you come across a shitty one. Like Michael Jackson said, “It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white”…wait..or was that Madonna? Anyways, the grass is not always greener on the whiter side. Don’t let your single hood turn you into one of those Dennis Rodman The NFL The NBA Tiger Woods That Fed Ex Guy The Attorney black men that loves to negate black women to the core and have no problem in voicing their opinion on why they refuse to date us. I’m pretty sure you know the type.
Forget about those people offering advice as to why you’re single, and why you can’t find a man. Being a single black woman is not an epidemic. In my world, it’s a choice.
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