1Blessed Natural Mag

1BlessedNatural- Black History Month: Jennifer Hudson in "Nighthawks" Inspired Commercial This week, I saw Jennifer Hudson in American Family Insurance's #DreamFearlessly commercial. It originally aired during the Super Bowl, but I missed it. The thing that I found super cool about the commercial was that it was based on the "Nighthawks" painting by Edward Hopper. The painting features 3 people sitting at a counter inside of an eatery. There is a couple sitting on the left side and a mysterious man with his back facing the front left side of the painting... Read More on  The Motley News Related Articles: Jennifer Hudson Rocks New Pixie Cut                             Black History Month: Dominique Dawes

House of Dies Drear (photo courtesy of Flickr- Shavar Ross.com by CC BY-SA 2.0 ) Yes, it is Black History Month! This is the time where we as African-Americans reflect on our history. This is the time where many television networks like to show Black programming. More often than not, those programs include slavery movies. It never fails! I sit down on my couch and decide to start watching one of them. After watching the movie for a short period of time, I'm angry! I'm angry at the injustices done to my people, but that's only part of it. My anger also originates from the fact that it seems like there is a special place in Hollywood for the next slavery movie. We watch year after year when slavery movies emerge on the scene (not just during Black History Month), and they are awarded and talked about until the next one comes out. We as Black people have more experiences to our history than slavery. What about Black inventors? Why is it that we do not see mo...

1BlessedNatural| Black History Month: Diahann Carroll in Julia Award-winning actress and singer, Diahann Carroll starred in the 1968 NBC television show Julia . She was the first African-American actress to star in a show where she did not play a servant. The show was about a widowed mother who worked as a nurse to support herself and her son "Corey." The premise of the show was unheard of and Carroll received negative feedback about it. She was hospitalized for a short time due to stress. In the beginning, Carroll faced much criticism because she was an African-American woman. In a 2009 interview by the " National Leadership Visionary Project ", the actress says that African-American men were less likely to get roles (at that time) than African-American women, because they were seen as a threat. She said, "The objection was that the female was always given the opportunity. That the black male causes a kind of fear running through the working white h...

Mary H. Graham (photo courtesy (cropped) of Flickr- MLibrary ) I can only imagine being an African-American woman attempting to finish college in the 1880's when race relations between Blacks and whites were chaotic. Kudos to Mary H. Graham who was said to be the first Black woman to be accepted and graduated from the University of Michigan. Graham earned a bachelor's degree. Read more about her story...  If Mary H. Graham were alive today, what would you want to say to her? Related Articles: Black History Month: Dominique Dawes                           Black History Month: Don Cornelius (1936-2012)                           1BlessedNatural Spotlight: Venus Williams        ...

Dominique Dawes and Gabrielle Douglas (photo courtesy of Dominique Dawes Facebook page) I remember being a little girl and watching gymnast, Dominique Dawes on television. She was an excellent gymnast. When I would try and do flips like her, my grandfather would tell me to stop before I broke my neck, lol. I remember seeing the determination in her eyes, and I loved it. I never became a gymnast, but I enjoyed watching Dawes because I saw myself in her. Dominique Dawes gave every Black girl who flipped or tumble salted on a mat, hope that they could become a gymnast. Dawes paved the way for women like Olympic gold medal winner, Gabrielle Douglas .  She was a 1992 Olympic medal winner. She was also a member of the 1996 " Magnificent Seven " United States Olympic Team. The other 6 members included Shannon Miller (another favorite), Kerri Shrug, Dominique Moceanu, Amanda Borden, Amy Chow, and Jaycie Phelps.  Dawes made history as the first African-American female ...

Don Cornelius: creator of the "Soul Train" TV show (photo courtesy of Flickr- danxoneil -(cropped) There is not an event you can attend where someone will scream "SOUL TRAIN LINE" and nobody won't not know what it means. Thanks to creator and host, Don Corneliu s, the hit TV show " Soul Train " (1971-2006) gave us 35 years of great music and dance performances and was known as the "the hippest trip in America." I also might add that Don Cornelius rocked a mean fro back in the day! (smile) Several years after the show aired, the "Soul Train Music Awards" and "Lady of Soul Awards" shows continue to carry on Cornelius' legacy. What did you like most about "Soul Train?"   The 1BlessedNatural t-shirts have arrived!