Ten Plus African American Companies for Holiday Shopping (2018)

                                                           Photo courtesy of Ebony 2018
This Holiday 2018 season, we want to celebrate 10+ African American Companies and endorse thousands (maybe even hundreds of thousands) of dollars to their bottom-line. Support of African American Companies is the cornerstone of our economic development policy and is the first step in the African American revitalization of community. The ability to provide jobs to the African American community and to support African American communities around the United States, is essential to the future and a vital component of the American Dream. And remember this important fact, if you are going to buy African, make sure the seller is African or African American, so that the benefit is felt within our community.

Our recommendations have passed the first line of research, but in this day and age, it is important to be both mindful and careful shopping online. The following websites are not affiliated with this blog, and any purchases or discrepancies must be handled directly with the featured company. With that said, support your Black businesses!

Beauty & Body Care
Loc Inspirations
This beautiful Sister's company is the one stop shop for all your beauty and body care needs. You will not be disappointed and book her for a class to teach your group!

Naturally Yours Hair and Skin Care
Another beautiful Sister bringing quality products to the market!

The Honey Pot
A Place for Feminine Products, all plant based, for that special time of the month!

Polish and Company
Nail polish without the chemicals! Treat yourself and heal yourself at the same time!

Beauty Bakerie
No, not an Ice Cream Shop or a Bakery. But this company's Dessert inspired cosmetics are the business! Powder your face with many custom Nubian tones like Glaze So Icy, and share your beautiful Black tone with the world to adore!

Foxie Bombs
This girl uses all her products and we all can use a good bath soak... Check her out and enter her world.

Laws of Nature Cosmetics
Beautiful Kemetic Kush and Nubian tones for all your Sistas and made with great ingredients including love you can trust. Check out Jasmine and support!

Bekura
Salt scrubs, Body Butters, and remedies... A piece of heaven just came down and treated your skin like the Deity you are...

Oyin Handmade
Looking for quality soaps, butters, and the occassional hair products, check this company out!

Beija Flor Naturals (Concept Forty Seven)
This Sistah has an awesome store front with quality products that will keep you coming back!


Fashion

1. D'Iyanu
My favorite website for authentic African style clothing. Buy a couple and thank me later!

2. Nakimuli
America's Funky Sweetheart... And if you don't know, now you know!

3. Ashro
From traditional African styles to church, this is a place you will come to love!

4. Sean John
The classic style of P. Diddy, Puff Daddy Combs, is time tested and mother approved!

5. Rocawear
Made for everyone in the family and still fresh from day one!

6. Africa Fashion House
Hands down the most underrated designer in African fashion. See for yourself and convert your money for a shirt. And buy three!

7. African Imports USA
Find Fraternity & Sorority wear here, as well as Dashikis and church supplies.

8. Yatsa Fashions
An eclectic array of African fashion including dresses, shirts, and bags. You will not be disappointed at all! Shoutout to Yatsa!

9. Dupsie's
Look and find something special for someone you love!

10. Dashiki Pride 
An awesome collection of African fabrics and prints.

11. Juan Jayzz Designs
Great style, a bit pricy but well worth the personal touch. Don't sleep on this company!

12. Duro Olowu
Do not go broke trying to keep up with the Jones on this site. Hands down the most expensive. But when Michelle Obama wears his brand, this Nigerian Designer is saying something, or rather making something...

13. SecurbyKBS (Secur)
Fashion Designer Keely B Styles, presents her boutique fashion with customers ranging from Chris Rock, to Lil Kim. From fashion designing entire movie sets, red carpet events, Fashion Week,  to beautiful weddings, or everyday great clothing, you will not be disappointed!

Food
The sheer number of Black owned restaurants, distributors, grocers, and farms is not to be taken for granted. Check some of these food giants out!

1. The Carolina Kitchen (DC Area)
2. Patti Labelle's Good Life (Nationwide)
3. First World Imports (Nationwide)
4. Everett & Jones (The Bay Area)
5. Cake In the City (Central Florida)
6. Sweet Home Cafe (Washington D.C.)
7. Sweet Fingers (Oakland, CA)
8. JKUB Distribution (Worldwide)
9. Scott Family Farms (Black Owned Organic Farm)
10. Grocery Outlet (Compton, California)
11. The EarthGiven Company- EarthGiven Juices


Musical Instruments
1. Africa Imports
Purchase that Djembe drum you've always wanted!

2. Motherland Music
The instruments and the classes you need. This is the one!

3. African Musical Instrument
This foreign site may help you find the quality you need.

Must Have Fashions
Women
1. Li Li' Gal Sheath Dress

Literature & Education
1. Papa Lemon Book
2. ABC Flash Me Cards
3. Anansi and The Pot of Beans (This is not a Black site, but features black authors)
4. Meltrek (An African American History Cartoon!)
5. Kirikou & The Sorceress (Recommended)
6. Kirikou & The Wild Beast

African American Bookstores
1. African Bookstore
Find your favorite book and support African American bookstores across the country!
2. Mahogany Books
Another Black online bookstore featuring many contemporary authors.

Toys
1. Ethnic Babies
An outfit for the baby and a matching doll. Sweet as can be!


Art
1. Art of Maisha
The gift of art is both a lifestyle and painting for this beautiful Sistah. When you see what you like, get yours before it's gone. Her paintings are the business!

2. Its A Black Thing
This site has everything from calendars, Christmas Cards, to Artwork & Jackets

3. The Black Art Depot
Hands down my new favorite art site! I'm sure you'll find the exact picture, poster, or stationary you want.

4. Sahel Pride
Looking for that African Mask for the wall?

5. Artyfactory
Another African Mask Site...

6. African Sculptures
Find a true seller from this ebay link

Film of the Month: Roman J. Israel, Esq (2017) & The Black Klansman (1966)

"97% of Federal and 94% of State criminal cases never go to trial (NOLO 2018)?"

Americans are overrun by television shows, movies, commercials, and television programming which decides many of our choices before we even have the thought to think about what exactly is our desire. To help chart your course through the forest of images, brands, and celebrities, AMP, would like to suggest monthly films which appeal to your intelligence rather than your impulse. This month's film is Roman J. Israel, Esq, written and directed by Dan Gilroy. Denzel Washington, Carmen Ejogo, and Colin Farrell give a stunning portrayal of the state of the American Justice System and American legal apparatus through the downward spiraling life of an activist lawyer. Much is to be gained from this film and we hope you sit your family down to watch, and conduct a reflective questionnaire to determine if the lesson was learned.

The Black Klansman (1966)

In the spirit of the upcoming film by Spike Lee, we present the black & white version of The Black Klansman (1966). No spoilers, just engage.

Books of the Month: "Going to Meet The Man."

Before we launch our publication, we would like to feature a series of ideas which would capture our readers and push them not only into reading, but reading stories that relate to and are about our African American experience. One idea is the Book of the Month. This month, we would like to present James Baldwin's Short Story, "Going to Meet the Man (1965)." It is told from the perspective of an White American and describes an eerie custom which used to be common in American society during the fourth of July. In Post Modern America, police brutality and shootings of unarmed Blacks have replaced the domestic American terrorism of yesterday. Still, domestic terrorism reigns and has become as traditional as the 4th of July. It is important for readers to discover the evolution of American society yesterday to understand America today.

The Lost Jewel of Knowledge: How to Love a Woman

The Lost Jewel of Knowledge

It is impractical, insensible, and ultimately, dangerous to learn the tenets of how to love on television,
through the internet, or from equally inexperienced contemporaries. The dynamic relationship between a man and a woman has changed very little since the dawn of humanity 200,000 years ago. However, Post-Modern American society has managed to alter the fundamental relationship between the man and woman, the core of the family unit, using psychology, social norms, and hegemonic agendas which institute new ideas and new dynamics of the family unit. Therefore, in order to provide clarity for the inexperienced, expose & repel dangerous ideas, and identify the natural practical framework for loving what is, the beautiful human woman, we present this essay.

Small Changes
"She's just a girl!" "Good girls love bad guys!" "Love conquers all!" Post-modern American society has bombarded its citzenry in the advent of propaganda in the early 1900s, from childhood with a variety of ideas, when it comes to the relationship between the man and woman. When considering these ideas, one must take into account, that small changes which effect large populations are not small details, but significant and powerfully impactful. For example, there was a time in human history when there was no such thing as marriage. Polygamy and monogamy was as natural as who could provide the most secure environment to raise a stable family & Clan. The idea of marriage is a human construct, a man made invention, and when instituted was a small change and most assurely accompanied by most of the traditions now associated with marriage. The most important detail between the time before and after marriage is, ownership. Before the advent of marriage, the male or female, though not independent of the family or clan, was a full member of the clan equip with all the benefits and ills of membership, whether having adequate living facilities, proper defense, or starving. After the advent of marriage, the male & female was now claimed by another, tied ("tie the not"), and some could speculate, now co-owned by each other, the husband & wife. The man would now be represented by his woman. The woman would be represented by her mate, who provided security, protection, and provisions. In exchange, the woman provided benefits as well, such as clothing, gathering goods to nest, nurturing love, and most importantly, children for the succession of the family and clan. The natural evolution of the relationship between the male and female was in fact, necessary for the survival of the Clan, the strengthening establishment of the core family unit, and the exchange of mutually benefitual advantages creating social standing within the larger clan. Small changes in the relationship between Men and Women are significant because of its effect on the larger population.

The Inextricable Idea of Love & Romance

Men & Women before & after the advent of the marriage union, have built and created families for thousands of years and generations before the advent of the modern description of love or the notion of Romance. The union of mates traditionally was a matter of security, alliance, and success of the family and Clan. Men and women were united in marriage to secure success of the family. The very description of love to describe the tenderness of one towards one's mate, is a mere afterthought or product of the union. Love was a product of marriage and feeling of deep infinity towards what one man or woman owned, each other, and their children. The oldest myths and folklore support this claim from the legends of Isis & Horus, the Vedas, the Epic of Gilgamesh. However, in modernity & post modernity, love has been promoted as the cause of marriage and to include the idea of sensual romance as the root cause of the union between men and women. Instead, of the other way around, which is proper.  

Rent Seekers: Those Who Use Unscrupulous Practices to Get Rich At the Expense of the Common American

Email CFAmayeobu@gmail.com for article.

Return of the Robber Barons: How Google, Facebook, and Uber Successfully Made Themselves The Enemy of The People

                                              Photo Courtesy of RI Futures.Org 2018

                Raubritters, or Robber Barons were medieval German Nobles, who charged tolls on roads which crossed their land, unauthorized by their Holy government, to line their pockets at the expense of the public. They were villified as "Rent seekers." In the late 19th & 20th Century United States, major corporations were blasted as Robber Barons for their unscrupulous methods to get rich, creating Americas first monopolies during the second industrial revolution. Ironically, the most powerful Robber Barons like JD Rockerfeller, Cornelius Vanderbuilt, Thomas Edison, and JP Morgan were a new breed of corporate technology giants, seeking profits over safety, and power over the American people, sparking the Marxist and Populous waves, which brought Worker Unions to the defense of the American worker. Some will say much has changed since the days of corporate abuses like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, the major Railroad strikes, or the mysterious death of Jimmy Hoffa? Yay, but today, in the 21st Century, how many Americans are aware that the once innovative and common friend of all internet users, Google, was fined for $2.7 Billion for monopoly abuses in Europe by the European Union? Or, that Facebook's recent major breach of trust in collusion with Cambridge Analytica, to take personal information of users without formal consent, to create products solutions for political campaigns and corporate advertisers, is nothing to fear? How many people know that the user friendly, Uber service has exploited its operatives to the tune of gross revenues at $37 Billion, but their drivers pay their own insurance, gas, and maintenance for their vehicles? Unfortunately, it is sorry to say, the return of the Robber Baron is here and we ask what our American Politicians will do to justly balance the massive inequities being placed on ordinary defenseless American workers and consumers.

To Be Continued... CFAmayeobu@gmail.com for full article.

Sources:
1. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/20/google-accused-of-abusing-android-smartphone-monopoly-in-new-bat/
2. https://www.wired.com/story/google-big-eu-fine/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robber_baron_(industrialist)#1860s%E2%80%931920s
4. http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-uber-earnings-20180214-story.html

Death of Ideas Series: Death to the Deadbeat Black Father & Single Black Mother (AMP Article)

                        Courtesy of African American Museum 2018

"Loss of the Family Thing, Roxanne Shante."

The loss of the family and birth of the “Single Black Woman” Image is a powerful creation. “The Deadbeat Father,” caricature has rendered a lasting effect on the conscience and lives of both African American boys and girls, who will one day address both ideas for themselves in their own precious experience of courtship, love, marriage, and parentship. The Single Black Mother and Deadbeat Father caricatures’ very existence is the cornerstone and epitome of the failure of the Black American family. Two generations ago, an idea, which existed only on the fringes of our society and at the most extreme circumstance, a daughter with child, and an absent father was immediately subject to ridicule, persecution, and the target of a good Father’s or brother’s munition. Therefore, the acceptance of such a societal taboo, and the establishing of their immoral example as portrayed in social and popular media, while the blood of our Grandparents and Forebearers still courses our veins, is the union of apostasy and the will of our enemies to destroy the very fiber of our existence by the destruction of our families and the propagation of an idea which should not be, but also avoided at all cost. The confusion of why the house is burning has failed the victims to find water and even more myopic, as the fire spreads to the other homes and threatens the entire village, is the devaluing of the African woman and man, as full bodied agents to their own happiness, which is obtained through the true character of committment, longsuffering hardships, faith, faithfulness to righteousness,compassion, mercy, grace, meditation, evaluation, dedication to family, celebration, and the blessing of experience in age. These tenets of character have been attributed to great men and women, long before religious sects have borrowed their ideas for productive rearing. The confusion of liberty is largely the culprit in spreading the poison of the Deadbeat Father and Single Black Woman. This liberty produces the dread of reality in the man and the scorn of the woman, and altogether both are useless and counter to the healthy family, village, community, and nation. Individualism, is an illusion, for there has never existed one human being born, without the precious nurture of a mother and the guiding seed of a father. Liberty has been supplanted by naked individualism and separated from the idea of freedom. The truth is, liberty and freedom are one in the same, but these ideas have been used to prop up and confused with individualism, which has been the source of even more sore evils than the Deadbeat Father and consequently, the Single Mother. The three of which, have always existed among ill-fated families, but today, are post-modern characters, and the creation of which, is as unnatural, dangerous, and temporarily useful to an entire society, as plastic. The African or the African American family must overthrow and defend itself from the very idea of the Deadbeat Father and the suffering of the Single Mother, whose experiences are not bound to racial color but the lack of character. Both ideas were unfortunately ships necessary for the lastest survival for the traumatic experience of Africans in these States, and the hardships are both unimaginable and immeasureable. Yet, the idea must not live, and must be fought against on a massive scale, family to family and community to community. It must be acknowledged, even our own failures, and wrongs righted, or alms paid especially in case of the widow and the unfortunate, orphan children. We, the African American family, shall not perish in the confused corruption of individualism, disguised as freedom and liberty. Both freedom and liberty have never been the enemy of the family. Brothers, take care of your women and children. There is no such as Peter Pan (living forever) or naked individualism. You will find yourselves and better character in the makings of your family. Sisters, take care of your men. There is no such thing as Fairies (living forever) or naked individualism. You will find yourself and better character in the makings of your family as you bring again your Ancestors, whose blood courses through your veins and who face shines exactly like yours.

Written by Mr. Cowan Amaye-Obu

The Dawn of An Age: The First Tenets of Obuism

The Sacred Shape

The circle of life is the most important concept in our civilization. All actions return in a cycle. If one village throws their rubbish into the river, the river then feeds the village water, and so the village poisons itself. There is no line of civilization, where actions disappear, like a line which never returns to its original point. The circle, the sphere is the sacred notion of life and reverence. It honors the seasons, the Ancestors, the tribe, the clan, the family, and the children, as the living resurrection. The minuscule and enormous bodies are spherical, and so, the circle is the most important concept in our civilization. Remember this tenet, dedicate yourself in reverence to it, and you shall return, in time, to your glory. -A Holy Tenet of Godism

The following are the teachings of Godism. Rever them and be made a new man and a new women. A sparking light in a cold dark world. In the previous Age, the ministers of light revealed knowledge and reverence to the Holy Spirit to save the people darken by immorality and ignorance. In the dawn of this Age, knowledge has become the darkness and its uses have become immoral in desecration of the same Holy Spirit and his created people. Thus, the Ministers of light, have returned again among us to uplift that which has been thrown down. The people, the love of people, shall be before the love of god. For it is written, “How can one love god, who you have not seen, when one has not loved those whom you see.” In this Age, The People before god. This is the first tenet of Godism.

-Written by Mr. Cowan F. Amaye-Obu