Black People are the First Wonders of the World...

"Until the Lion writes his own story, the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter"
--African proverb --

Thought for the Week

Aristotle once said, "Anyone can become angry--that is easy. But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way--that is not easy."

Happy Mother’s Day

Do some good things for mothers on Mother’s Day, after all she gave birth to civilization, Happy Mother’s Day to my mother Kathryn Jackson and all mothers of the world.

Holla-Outs

To: Moses Drew over at the Ritz Fish Market.

To: Richard Abdul-Haqq and Brenda Favsee over at Scruggs & Sons Shoe Shine Parlor.

Hey, Bobbie Simpson and Willie Patterson Jr. just hollering at you!

Hey, Sheneka Rucker and Sharrie Bell: Holla, Holla.

To: Annie Washington over at Wal-Mart in the Midtown Shopping Center.

To: Eddie Banks, just want to say Holla.

To: Sadie (Zsa, Zsa) Lay. I know you will do well with your grandsons.

Hey, Rachelle Bland over at McArthur Square Municipal Parking, Holla!

To: Tisha Houston over at subway.

To: Balia Wellness Center. I love using the West African 100% natural shea butter on my skin. My skin is not so dry now. Balia Wellness center has shea butters and creams that are good for all parts of your body.

Condolences

To: Bishop William James Strong of Greater New Bethel Church on the passing on his mother. Our prayers are with you.

Birthday Holla-Outs

Hey, Ensley Brown over at Brown’s Ham House! I just felt like singing and thought I would sing to you: "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday you, Hap-py Birth-day to you, Happy Birthday you!"

Girl Scouts of America celebrate the Legacy of African Americans in Scouting

(Photo at left) Members of the Girls Scouts of America and their supporters recently gathered at WE Energies for a Spring Soiree Celebrating the Legacy of African Americans in Scouting. (Bottom photo) The participants take the Girl Scouts oath during a special ceremony. (photos by Barbara White)

"On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country. To help people at all times and to live by the Girls Scouts’ law."

--The Girls Scouts’ Promise

"I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect others and myself, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout."

--The Girl Scouts’ Law

The Girl Scouts of America hosted a Spring Soiree Celebrating the Legacy of African Americans in Girl Scouts at We Energies. It is the Girl Scouts 95th Birthday this October.

The call went out for all Girl Scouts past and present. The Spring Soiree opened with a reception where Girl Scouts old and new were brought together to celebrate being Girl Scouts and to celebrate the legacy of Black women in scouting.

Debra Kenner-Klepp was the Mistress of Ceremonies and led us in the Black National Anthem. She also talked of how we help girls grow strong. "We must commit to helping girls grow strong by doing it through Girl Scouts," she said.

There was a moment of silence in tribute to our ancestor Lorraine Carter who fought for social justice for children and family and maintaining her Afrocentric traditions. She was a Girl Scout from way back.

The moment of silence continued with its tribute to Una Thompson who worked for Girl Scouts for more than 40 years; everyone looked up to her. Both Carter and Thompson passed this year. Troop 93 at V.E. Carter made all the beautiful centerpieces for the event.

Danyell Oby led us in the Girl Scouts Promise and Law. Joan Shafer who is a board member of Girl Scouts and works for WE Energies welcomed us stating, "we at WE Energies support Girl Scouts."

Many folks were in the house to support Girl Scouts: County Board Chairman Lee Holloway, State Representative Barbara Toles, County Supervisors Willie Johnson, Michael Mayo and Beth Coggs-Jones who is a big time Girl Scout. Supervisor Coggs-Jones knows that Girl Scouts rock. Linda Sowell, Auriea Mosley, Freida Webb, Girl Scouts Mable Lamb, ReDonna Rogers and Cecelia Gore were also in attendance.

Thelma Sias of WE Energies talked of the importance of having character, confidence and courage. "In rural Mississippi, we did not have the opportunity to join Girl Scouts so we must always make sure this Sista Hood is available to all sistas," she said.

She continued: "It is important to give girls access to leadership. Leadership has a responsibility to it. Be sure of the kind of character we are building. Confidence, having skills and ability but we need to listen and accept feedback.

"The character of a person, be careful how you judge them. Courage, be ready to be knocked on your butt and get up to start over again. Courage, Confidence and Character, somebody took a chance to invest in our future who believed that we should have an opportunity. Once a Girl Scout always a Girl Scout."

We were entertained with spoken word artist Mamie Dupri Hegwood aka Gran-Gran’s with a poem called "Sisters."

We had Girl Scouts moments with Mary Beth Malm who was at the helm of Girl Scouts for more than 15 years. She states: "I had the feeling of bliss and I would come to work where I could make a difference in a girl’s life. I do not do it alone. I thank all the volunteers and staff. We want every girl no matter what her circumstance she can be a part of Girl Scouts."

She shared some of the many accomplishments of the Girl Scouts organization.

"We have done many things in our seven years of working in partnership with the Milwaukee Brewers in a program we call Summer Girls. We also work with girls whose parents are incarcerated it is our national signature program. We have 1,600 girls in 17 sites and we are proud of our teen girls who have created a ‘Real Talk’ for other girls.

"We are doing many things with the girls in the community. Forty percent of Girl Scouts are of color. Girl Scouts are a part of a world association. Over 20% of our volunteers are people of color. We at Girl Scouts care about girls."

Daphne Little, State Representative Polly Williams, Diane Hamiel, Debra Saunders, Teresa Brown, Stanthia Grier, Sheila Payton, Sarita Felder, Bernadette Karay, Azie Bonds Jr., Brenda Smith and my favorite Girl Scout ’cause she knows Girl Scouts rock is Sue Stadler all were in the house.

Marcia Hamiel-Goins and Devon Turner brought us Girl Scouts Treasures, which were the nice raffle gifts.

Finally, Deidra Y.A. Edwards closed us out. Said Edwards: "A true worth of a race must be judged by the character of its womanhood." She went on to thank all of the hostesses for the legacy of Girl Scouts, with a special thanks to WE Energies.

"Once you become a part of Girl Scouts, you are truly connected," she said. "I know our legend ancestors are looking down on us."

Culver’s and the #1 Stunnas

Local custard shop and sports club unite for a good cause

Left photo: Members of the #1 Stunnas Sports Club gather on the parking lot at Culver’s Restaurant in the Midtown Shopping Center to show off their rides and show youngsters how to peacefully have fun. (right photo) I-Witness herself is decked out in motorcycle safety gear, as she poses on a beautiful bike. (photos by Barbara White)

After showing off their rides at Culver’s in the Midtown Shopping Center, the #1 Stunnas partied at Questions Night Club. (photo by Barbara White)

Imagine ice cream, fish sandwiches, fries, leather, boots and motorcycles. Doesn’t sound like that goes together.

Well that’s exactly what we had in Milwaukee this week when Culver’s in the Midtown Shopping Center partnered with the #1 Stunners Sports Club and sponsored a portion of the Stunna’s Regional Set, "Anniversary Back On Top Weekend" right there on the lot at Culver’s.

I came at the invitation of Mama Raisin. (Val McCallum) It was wild there. Bikes from everywhere; there were even all kinds of customized sports bikes, like Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda and the granddaddy of them all the Harley Davidson. They even had a Reese’s Peanut Butter cycle. I loved it! If you think the bikes are something, then you should have heard some of the riders’ names; they were hilarious.

More than six states throughout the Midwest region blurred their engines and came to Milwaukee.

I loved how the Stunnas has used every bit of our community in hosting the region. All Black businesses were used for all their events and there were no incidents just pure pleasure and fun. Most are unaware that the urban rider clubs are working class and professional riders who have jobs, businesses, families and they do many charitable activities within their community, from feeding families to back to school events. They even ride across country for college scholarships. Wherever they are in the nation, you can believe that they are doing good things in their community.

On the parking lot of Culver’s, there were customized vans, trucks, and bikes galore.

Antoine Sawyer has a 2007 Road King it is laid. I got a chance to sit on Sawyer’s bike while wearing all my safety gear.

Train (Anthony Anderson) guided me through the importance of safety when riding a cycle. He states, "you need a good pair of leather boots non-slip or resist bottoms, good jeans, leather jacket and gloves, a loud horn, eyewear and a helmet. No weaving in and out of traffic, always check your blind sides and stay out of blind spots."
He told me to ride the bike like semi-truck drivers, with a good amount of space, about 4-7 cars in between you."
I guess I was looking good, just like a rider on Antoine’s bike. So good that this couple Lee and Lisa English came up taking my picture and telling me, I had a bad bike.
Sue Steinbreecher had a nice looking bike that we called purple passion.
There was a bike contest for the freshest bike. Everybody had their cell phones or camera out taking pictures of the bikes, trucks and cars.
The founders of the #1 Stunnas were in attendance as well. The Stunnas Club was started in Chicago. Co-Founder Demon Child (Deotis Barron) shared with me that they started the Stunnas in 2003 and that they are a motor sports club, now they have 17 chapters across the nation. Wheeler who is the Road Captain for the Chicago group says none of the Stunnas can move unless I give the go ahead.
Gig (George R.) is the other co-founders of the #1 Stunnas. "We started the club to bring something new to the old bikers and the urban community. We cover from cars to, trucks, bikes anything that has a motor. In Chicago, we work with the city and different community events; we are a part of the Bud Billiken Parade that is held annual."
They had vendors on the lot like Ace 'Em Up Car detailing, which is owned Paulette Smith. Smith is the mother of Stacy Smith (ACE) who was gunned for his car. Now Paulette, like her son, has a great passion for cars and she details and washes them.
Debra Janessen of the Balia Wellness Center was on hand selling 100% natural Shea Butter, their were scarf vendors, corn was being sold you name it.
Of course, Culvers was getting its share of business. I stopped in to chat with the manager to find out what made partner with the #1 Stunnas. Myron Smith is the general manager and business partner of Culver’s, who is also the grandson of The Perkins over at Perkins Family Restaurant. He shared with me how the Stunnas and Culvers came together.
"A Stunna’s representative came to me and pitted their idea that they could show young black people that Black People could congregate together in a peaceful environment. I was a bit nervous but I said ‘yes.’ Many of those from Detroit have shared with me today that they could not have anything as nice and peaceful as this in Detroit."
Smith said people were amazed at how peaceful the event was.
"They could not believe people were together here with no conflict, the young cruisers could now see that they can get together and have a peaceful time," he said.
Culver’s issued all of the Stunnas a gift card worth $3.80, something they can carry with them all the time and just put money on it if the chose.
I had my favorites at Culvers the walleye fish sandwich and the chili fries.
Many of the Milwaukee County elected officials came out to support and welcome the Stunnas, Chairman Holloway, Michael Mayo, and Beth Coggs-Jones.
As the event ended, a clean up crew in a matter of minutes had picked up the entire liter off the parking structure leaving it spic and span. Respecting our city and showing we are excellent host. The local Stunna’s directed the traffic coming in and out of Culvers and maintain excellent order. There was one police car on sight with two officers but there was no need for them on that day, but it was a good thing. It was a great time.
Stunna’s Part 2
Later that evening the Stunna’s held their dance at Question’s Night Club where I got a chance to see one of I-Witness’s favorites Tooty, who is just fine for no reason, and all the women just love saying his name, Tooty, Tooty, Tooty, Holla! Y’all have to go see Tooty on Tuesdays for Tooty’s Taco Tuesdays for tacos, karaoke and $2 margaritas.
Here the party was on and V100.7 D.J DA (David Allen) was playing my song, "Bossy," ok y’all quit hatin', Holla! My other favorite bartenders, Marlene and Dena were in the house as well as Devon Reid the owner. They have remodeled a bit at Questions. Again, I loved that the Stunnas used the businesses in our community for their events.
Cover girl (Alea Benson) is the marketing and promotional Director for the Milwaukee Chapter of the Stunnas as well as the event coordinator for the Brew City Club. She states, "there are over 17 chapters now across the nation. Every month a chapter host an Anniversary Weekend, we have Stunnas here from Michigan, Chicago, St. Louis and Ohio."
Cover girl was the representative who set up the Culver partnership. She says the goal was to expose the Stunnas to our youth. "We wanted to show them that they could be a part of something other then cruising. We have these anniversary celebrations for three reasons, 1) to celebrate our anniversary, 2) to host a bike and car show and 3) we wanted to do something with our youth to show our presence in the community and to show them something constructive," she said.
V.P. Quo City (Corey Colean) stated, "wherever we can help or are needed; we will be there to help. We are family."