POW: Sesame Street

"As I plop my too-young-to-watch-TV 18-month-old son in front of YouTube to enjoy a couple of minutes of Sesame Street clips, I feel comforted that what he’s going to see represents the world I want him to live in. He’s transfixed, bopping and swaying to Ray Charles singing the ABCs. He claps when the song is over. He's too young to tell me what he's thinking or feeling, but it's nice to know that his companions on his journey of childhood include a big yellow bird, a counting vampire, a garbage-can-dwelling misanthrope and a multiracial cast of human beings who value his worth as a child of color in this world. What a village." -Lome A. Aseron

Celebrating its 40th anniversary this season, multiple Emmy Award winning Sesame Street - OBG's POW (Place of the Week) - is the preeminent educational television program for preschoolers, a pioneer of the contemporary standard which combines education and entertainment in children's television shows, and a fictional place in the slightly idealized New York City.  The central characters - Susan, Gordon, and later, Miles; Maria, Luis, and later, Gabi; and in the basement apartment, Ernie and Bert - live at 123 Sesame Street and to the right of 123 Sesame Street are the somewhat more unusual abodes of Muppets Oscar the Grouch (and his pet worm Slimey) and Big Bird.  Other beloved Muppet characters include Mr. Snuffleupagus (aka Snuffy), Grundgetta, Ernie, Bert, the Twiddlebugs, Papa Bear, Mama Bear, Curly Bear, Baby Bear, monsters Telly, Zoe, Mexican-born Rosita, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Prairie Dawn, Count von Count, Humphrey, Ingrid, baby Natasha, bellhop Benny Rabbit, Kermit the Frog, The Two-Headed Monster and more (whew)!  Currently, Grover's regular segment, "Global Grover," follows the self-described "lovable, furry pal" around the world exploring local cultures and traditions.

Tying in with its multiculturalist perspective, the show pioneered the idea of occasionally inserting very basic Spanish words and phrases to acquaint young children to the concept of knowing more than one language with Sesame Street's reach ultimately becoming global.   [Source: Muppet.wikia.com]

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Thanksgiving: Reality or Myth?

"For an Indian, who is also a school teacher, Thanksgiving was never an easy holiday for me to deal with in class. I sometimes have felt like I learned too much about 'the Pilgrims and the Indians.' Every year I have been faced with the professional and moral dilemma of just how to be honest and informative with my children at Thanksgiving without passing on historical distortions, and racial and cultural stereotypes. The problem is that part of what you and I learned in our own childhood about the 'Pilgrims' and 'Squanto' and  the 'First Thanksgiving' is a mixture of both history and myth."  Read more here.

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Children & Racial Bias

"Most children actively notice and think about race.... Between ages 5 and 11....researchers found [that] children become aware that many people believe stereotypes, including stereotypes about academic ability (for example, how intelligent certain racial and ethnic groups are). When children become aware of these types of bias about their own racial or ethnic group, it can affect how they respond to everyday situations, ranging from interacting with others to taking tests.... [This] new study has found that children develop an awareness about racial stereotypes early, and that those biases can be damaging."  Read more here.  Also, listen to The Danger of the Single Story.

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OBG Adventure Camps' CampCaribe

Please click the title headline above & help change the life of a deserving Brown Girl

by making a tax deductible donation today!

(Just in time for your year end tax deduction.)

Whether it is $1 or $10,000, you can help make a difference.

CampCaribe's fiscal sponsor is The Kemet Foundation,

a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.

The Idea Behind CampCaribe

can be found on Oprah's Angel Network.

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It's Free-For-All Friday!

Ni'ihau, "The Forbidden Isle," is a place of mystery to outsiders. The Island is the smallest of the seven inhabited Hawaiian Islands and is a sanctuary for its 130 residents, nearly all of whom are Native Hawaiians. For over a century, access has been limited to those Hawaiian families who work on its privately owned cattle and sheep ranch.  Residents speak the Hawaiian language which preserves Hawaiian culture and tradition although the Niʻihau dialect differs from standard Hawaiian.  It is the only Hawaiian island where the Hawaiian language is spoken as a primary language and where English is actually its second language.  [Source: Wikipedia]

(Above) Vintage photos of Hawaiian Brown Girls

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The One Brown Girl Challenge

Go ahead and ask.

Whether it's asking for help or asking that burning question, don't let unanswered questions linger.  After all, having an answer (no matter what it is) is better than the anxiety of being left in the dark. Be careful, though. If you're asking for something in particular, you might just get it!

"He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes;

he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever."

-Chinese proverb

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Global Entrepreneurship Week

For one week (November 16-22), millions of young people around the world will join a growing movement of entrepreneurial people, to generate new ideas and seek better ways of doing things. Countries across six continents are coming together to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity. To think big. To turn their ideas into reality. To make their mark. Read more here.

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The Brown Girl World: Lisa's Story

Sometimes it is the field between the two roads where the richest soil is toiled.

Where do Filipinas fit in the United States? Where do I want to fit in the United States? Growing up Filipina, bi-cultured, and questioning my identity was an unanswered and fathomless feat. It was not until my mid-twenties when I began to sharpen an under-utilized tool: my voice. Independence, significant relationships, and deepening my career brought a carriage of hard-edged stones as I contemplated heavy issues, such as belonging, ethnicity, sexuality, race, and gender.

I was born and raised with Brown skin and thick black hair in middle-class, blond and brunette Midwest North America. In the classroom, I rebelled against the model minority stereotype in my love of writing, not natural sciences. In any free moment, I wrote poetry, essays, and letters about the world, my world, and dreams of being a journalist. My brothers and I wrestled. I sang Broadway classics with my sister while she played the piano, and my family reunions were legendary in time and food consumption.  Read more here.

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Spotlight on One Brown Girl

Cristeta Pasia Comerford, a Brown Girl of Filipino descent, grew up in Manila and has been the White House Executive Chef since 2005. She is the first female executive chef, the first person of ethnic minority, and the first Filipina to hold this position. She completed her secondary education at the Manila Science High School, and attended the University of the Philippines, Diliman in Quezon City majoring in food technology. Although Comerford did not earn her degree (she left school to emigrate to the United States at the age of 23), she worked at the Sheraton Hotel (Chicago), at the Hyatt Regency hotel (Chicago), as a chef at two restaurants in Washington, D.C., and spent six months in Vienna as a rotating chef.  Appointed by First Lady Laura Bush, the Obama transition team announced (in January 2009) that Chef Comerford would be retained as the administration's head chef.  Michelle Obama stated, "Also the mom of a young daughter, I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families."  [Source: Wikipedia]

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WOW: Negrito

(Above) Thai Negrito; mother & child.

(Above) Young Negrito Girl, Mariveles (Philippines) in the year 1901

OBG's WOW (Word of the Week) - Negrito - is a collective term widely used among anthropologists, meaning Asian tribal people (that live in Oceania and the southeastern part of Asia) with a dark-skinned complexion, small stature and "peppercorn" curled hair (besides other characteristics) speaking Aslian languages.  The Negrito are also described as a semi-nomadic group in Southeast Asia. They include the Aeta, Ati and at least 25 other tribes of the Philippines, the Semang of the Malay peninsula, the Mani of Thailand and 12 Andamanese tribes of the Andaman Islands.  Occasionally, some Negrito are referred to as Pygmies, bundling them with unrelated peoples of similar physical stature in Central Africa.  [Source: Merriam-Webster & Wikipedia & Wikipilipinas]

Mani is what the Thai Negrito call themselves.  The word is of Mon-Khmer origin and means "human being."  The physical characteristics of the Mani people are superficially similar to Negroid Africans. There are major differences, however, and the Negrito are not Africans or Negroids.  The Thai Mani speak the Aslian Tonga language (they really are Semang living in Thailand, the differences are not great and Tonga is closely related to the Semang language.)  The Malaysian Semang are the "classical" Malaysian Negrito and speak a variety of different Aslian languages.  The Orang Darat is a group rather similar to the Semang but is thought to have arrived in a later wave of migration and to be physically a little shorter than the Semang. They also speak Aslian languages.  [Source: Andaman.org]

(Above) The Thai Mani hanging out.

(Above) Thai Mani family

(Above) Pure Negrito woman and mixed blood, with babies / Zambales (Philippines) in the year 1903

(Above) Negrito girls of Zambales (Philippines), one wearing necklace of dried berries in the year 1903

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Travel Channel's "Meet the Natives: USA"

Click here for more info about this Must See

from the Travel Channel!

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It's Foto Friday!

Marcus Maye is a husband, a poet

and the proud father of two beautiful Brown Girls.

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The One Brown Girl Challenge

Be Fearless.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." - Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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The Brown Girl World: Chimamanda's Story

"Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice -- and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding."  [Source: Ted.com]

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Spotlight on One Brown Girl

Did you know that the entire Commonwealth of Virginia used to be Virginia Indian territory, an area estimated to have been occupied by indigenous peoples for more than 12,000 years with an estimated population of about 50,000?  Once such Virginia Indian was Pocohantas, a Native American Brown Girl and daughter of Wahunsunacock, chief or leader of what is now known as the Powhatan Indian Chiefdom.  Pocahontas' formal names were Matoaka (or Matoika) and Amonute, however, she converted to Christianity (after her marriage to English settler John Rolfe) and after her baptism, Pocahontas was called Rebecca Rolfe.  After her death, increasingly fanciful and romanticized representations of Pocahontas were produced. The only contemporary portrait of Pocahontas is Simon van de Passe's engraving of 1616 (see image above). In this portrait, he tried to portray her Virginia Indian features whereas later portraits often portrayed her as more European in appearance.  [Source: Wikipedia]

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WOW: Pow-Wow

Using OBG's WOW (Word of the Week) - pow wow - to describe a meeting of powerful people might be viewed as disrespectful to Native American culture.  Instead, the appropriate definition of pow-wow (or pau wau) is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning spiritual leader.  A modern pow-wow is a specific type of event where both Native American and non-Native American people meet to dance, sing, socialize, and honor American Indian culture. There is generally a dancing competition, often with significant prize money awarded. Pow-wows vary in length from one day session of 5 to 6 hours to three days. Major pow-wows or pow-wows called for a special occasion can be up to one week long.  [Source: Wikipedia] It might not be a bad idea to give it some thought before you use the word pow-wow to describe that group of folks sitting at Starbucks having a meeting and a cup of coffee.

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Native American Brown Girls

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as intact political communities.  Though cultural features, language, clothing, and customs vary enormously from one tribe to another, there are certain elements which are encountered frequently and shared by many tribes.  [Source: Wikipedia] Please enjoy this mini-pictorial of our beautiful Native American Brown Girls in traditional dress.

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The Spoken Word

Spoken word is a style of performance poetry that began in New York City and became popular in the early nineties. It evolved from the oral tradition of free-style hip hop artists and poets who would perform at local open mics. Unlike previous styles of poetry, spoken word is usually written with the intention of being performed. It emphasizes the tone of the human voice, which adds another layer of meaning for interpretation. While spoken word poems may vary in style, most have a narrative, [and] include some form of social commentary.... [Source: Wikipedia]

This spoken word piece is written by Marcus Maye, a poet, a husband, and a father of two beautiful Brown Girls.

One Brown Girl

by Marcus Maye

You can be the manifestation of class, style and grace

on your baby face

no trace

of America's scars and scrapes of disgrace.

My girls, I know by you

is how the world go;

portrayed as whores and maids but you're a pearl though.

People might treat you as second to a man

but this race would be misplaced without you.

Understand?

Things ain't always good,
but you can overcome it.

You can be born in the hood,
but you don't have to be from it.

Glass celings you'll shatter,
infinity's your summit.

Keep God in your heart, mind and soul
and you will be of one world.

America's future could be controlled
by One Brown Girl.

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National Chocolate Day

We missed it! National Chocolate Day is October 28 and for some reason, OneBrownGirl.com®, a brand dedicated to celebrating all things brown, missed celebrating one of the most important days of the year.  Wow.  (Guess we'll all just have to make up for it somehow.)

FUN FACT:  The oldest chocolate in U.S. was found in New Mexico (Feb. 09).  Evidence of chocolate dating to between 1000 and 1125 A.D. has been found in what is now New Mexico, in Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon.  This is the earliest indication of the tasty substance north of Mexico according to Patricia L. Crown of the University of New Mexico and W. Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition report.  Drinking chocolate was associated with a variety of rituals in ancient Central America, including weddings, but Crown said she is not sure of its exact uses in her area.  The discovery, dated to between A.D. 1000 and 1125, indicates trade was under way between the Chaco Canyon residents and cacao growers in Central America.  [Source: Discoverynews.com]

(Above) Chocolate-Drinking Mugs

Twelve cylinder jars from Pueblo Bonito housed in the Smithsonian Institution Department of Anthropology.

The Maya used such jars for drinking chocolate.

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The One Brown Girl Challenge

Drink (more) water.

We all know the benefits of drinking water:  It enhances weight loss, hydrates skin, reduces hunger, relieves fatigue, helps digestion, yada yada yada.  But some of us skimp on our water intake and it shows in one form or another.  Re-commit to taking in more water, even in the cooler months.  And if water bores you (yawn), try adding a slice of citrus (lemon, lime, orange) to your glass or drinking sodium-free seltzer water for the bubble-effect.  You might even try alternating between your morning coffee or tea with a hot water, lemon and honey toddie substitute.  Water is cool (and necessary).  So go ahead, drink up!

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The Brown Girl World: Raquel's Story

"Let's all pretend to be the astrologer Walter Mercado for a moment. Say we predict that the Obama administration's master plan to engage people of Latino/Hispanic/Spanish origin proves to be effective.  Let's say that along with strategic partners Telemundo and the Census Bureau, they somehow manage to corral the millions of 'Latinos' into filling out the 2010 census forms in April. Say the idea of plot-kneading the message into an already half-baked yet inexplicably popular telenovela, 'Mas Sabe el Diablo,' wins over the hearts and minds of 'Latinos' everywhere.  But what's a Latino?  While we all may speak a version of our Spanish colonizer's language, contrary to popular belief, we're not all Mexican. Yes, the majority of Latinos in America are of Mexican descent, but we also hail from other countries around the world."  Read more from this CNN article here.

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Spotlight on One Brown Girl

Spotlight on Sonal Shah

Sonal R. Shah (born May 20, 1968 in Mumbai, India), is an American economist and public official. Shah moved to the USA in 1972 at the age of 4 and grew up in Houston, Texas. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Economics and received a Master’s degree in Economics from Duke University.  In April 2009, she was appointed Director of the new Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the White House. The objective of this office is to coordinate governmental efforts to aid innovative nonprofit groups and social entrepreneurs, and to expand approaches which have been successful in tackling pressing social problems.  Previously, Shah was a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Project and was the head of Global Development Initiatives, a philanthropic arm of Google.org.  [Source: Wikipedia]

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Project Implicit®

"Are you racially biased? Harvard University has been trying to find out with its racism test, Project Implicit®. The less than 10-minute test throws different races at you and has you identify the images as 'bad' or 'good' as quickly as you can. The idea is that your first reaction is usually the most honest.  Started 11 years ago by Harvard, the University of Washington and the University of Virginia, Project Implicit® is a joint investigation into our subconscious biases. Most people would say that they are not biased against those with darker skin, obese people or women, but researchers say that we often harbor biases that we are unaware of." Click the Demonstration icon here to take the test.  [Source: BV Black Spin]

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POW! Cuba

Enjoy these images of Cuba - OBG's POW (Place of the Week) - an island country in the Caribbean. Cuba consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples; the period of Spanish colonialism; the introduction of African slaves; and its proximity to the United States.

According to the census of 2002, the racial make-up was 7,271,926 whites, 1,126,894 blacks and 2,778,923 mulattoes (or mestizos). The population of Cuba has very complex origins and intermarriage between diverse groups is general. There is[, however,] disagreement about racial statistics. The Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami says that 62% is black, whereas statistics from the Cuban census state that 65.05% of the population was white in 2002. The Minority Rights Group International says that "An objective assessment of the situation of Afro-Cubans remains problematic due to scant records and a paucity of systematic studies both pre- and post-revolution. Estimates of the percentage of people of African descent in the Cuban population vary enormously, ranging from 33.9 per cent to 62 per cent".[Source: Wikiipedia]

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