Marcus Garvey, a Sister Love Hero

Today, in Black History month we honor Marcus Garvey who was a Political Activist, Publisher, and Entrepreneur born in 1887 to a moderately prosperous family in Jamaica.

Garveys first foray into political activism came in 1914 when he founded UNIA  - The Universal Negro Improvement Association. He  expanded the organisation when he moved to New York and set up its headquarters in 1916. Some 3 years later Garvey purchased  an Auditorium in Harlem  and named it Liberty Hall where he preached his  “Back To Africa”  and “Race First” messages to the masses.  His black nationalist and pan-african  ideologies have become widely known as ‘Garveyism’. 

By the early 1920’s Garvey had established over 700 branches of UNIA in 38 American States, and was elected by its members as provisional President of Africa where he dressed in his now infamous military uniform. 

Garvey also went on to establish a slew of businesses that employed over 1,000 black people, the most notable  being the Black Star Line Shipping Company, that was to facilitate the  movement of people  back and forth to Africa. He also founded the Negro World Newspaper to which he was a regular contributor.

Garvey's UNIA was bigger than the Civil Rights Movement and had a tremendous influence on  Rastafarianism, the Black Power Movement and the Nation of Islam . He inspired many black leaders including Malcolm X, Dr Martin Luther King and Minister Louis Farrafhan.

A lasting tribute to Garvey’s legacy is a statue that stands in St. Anne’s Bay the town where he was born in Jamaica.

Marcus Garvey, we honor and Salute you as a black HERO.

Contributed and narration by Colleen Morgan

AT THE STARTING GATE Of HEALTH & WELLNESS

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Almost everyone under stay-in-place is feeling the downside of the lockdown with weight gain.  If you’re thinking of doing a little better with your health and making changes to your diet and exercise be prepared to be accountable.  You need to speak it and announce it outloud and be held accountable for your success or failure.

When an entire nation faces tough times and we need to check in

Embarking on a journey for a positive change of deliberate intent can be a lonesome one and a burden that ends in failure.  There will come a time when you feel like you are underwater and you will need someone, anyone to toss you a buoy.  Noone wants to be totally alone. Someone available to provide support is your best measure and can be a life jacket.  

Purging and eetoxing at micro levels means getting rid of all things that do not provide value including relationships. Many things can sabotage your new journey like bad relationships that cause pain.

Let’s take a look at pain, a pressing disease that impacts your mood, energy, attitude, spirit as well as mental and physical; the entire well being.  Pain is felt physically and emotionally.    Tackling it is not going to be an easy feat.  Pain may never go away. And the truth is that there may be nothing we can do to eradicate pain; however there may be things we can do to reduce or alleviate such as light yoga, isolated therapeutic exercises, massages and hot/cold compression and soaking.   Managing physical pain without control medication takes great levels of tolerance and patience to endure.  Once it is becomes too extreme beyond tolerable then it becomes torture and torment just like bad relationships.  

I recommend using a straightforward approach to change.  Begin with a strict detox and immediately eliminate everything negative from your diet and associations.  However, some situations are like bodily pain, it may not disappear overnight; however you can do everything possible to reduce it, make it dissipate  if not eliminated entirely.     If you fall or get off track just get back up.   We all fall but that's not important.  Most important is that you started, now you must finish. Learn to forgive yourself, get it off your chest and talk to your support.  Get up and get back on the horse and ride to see the horizon and where change will take you.

Begin with a design for yourself and your health.  We are the architects and engineers of our lives.  Embarking on a journey of health improvements begins with discipline and tough love.   

Start with writing down your goals or create a vision board. 

Set your goals week to week to make it achievable.  Create and connect with a support system to help you reach your milestones.

The Land of the ‘FREE’ is not 'FREE' for All!

The recent slaughter of George LLyod has me angry and upset that since the slaying of Rodney

King in 1991 in Los Angeles we are still witnessing brutality on a large scale of black men in the ‘United’ States of America. As cities across America uprising in protest at yet another senseless killing, today in London a protest took place in  Trafalgar Square.  "Say his name," some shouted, while others held placards reading "I can't breathe," the last words uttered by George Floyd, 46, before he died after a Minnesota police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck during an arrest on Monday 25th May.

Although Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday 28th May, riots across the U.S. continued over the weekend. Why?

Because black people across major american cities have had enough!! Enough of being treated as sub-standard human beings!  Enough of being treated as if their lives don’t matter. People around the world were still reeling from the Ahmad Abery killing by two white racists in February, and just 3 months later another senseless killing.

Since the inception of Black Lives Matter in 2013 where their goal is to encourage empathy for black communities, illustrate lingering institutional oppression and work towards policy changes that makes everyone safer, not much seems to have changed!

For instance, there have been 100’s of killings across American cities of black men and women at the hands of police brutality,  many of which do not make the mainstream news.  More worryingly,  in most cases, no charges have been brought against the officer/officers involved. A slew of data evidencing  this has been gathered by a research collaborative called Mapping Police Violence; which, makes for very interesting, but disturbing reading. (https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/)

I  lived in the San Francisco Bay area for almost 5 years in the early 2000’s and my reason for moving there was to escape the lack of opportunities here and the underlying racism that still pervades the United Kingdom.  My goal was to create a better life for me and my son by chasing the ‘American Dream’.   Although I created a great life for us, and to this day I miss the Bay area for a multitude of reasons, I am glad in many ways to be back in London  for all that I see happening to innocent black men and women across the pond. Racism here is definitely more covert, and yes black men in the UK have died at the hands of police brutality but not on the scale and frequency that is occurring in cities across America.

So whilst I sit here writing this piece and reading countless news reports from around the world of citizens protesting and uprising at yet another mindless killing of an innocent man,  I sadly suspect it will not be the last of 2020.

For more on this, listen to Sister Love: Untethered and Under the Radar Episode 26 podcast.

Author: Colleen Morgan 

Discovering Your Strengths and Core Skills

Lockdown has somehow become our new normal, and freedom to go where we choose has become a distant memory. As Millions of us adjust to new ways of managing our lives, one thing is for sure, Coronavirus will have a lasting impact for years to come.

I live in the UK and I am hearing of huge layoffs in both the UK and the United States as companies are having to downsize and restructure their workforce.  Weekly, I've received a numerous calls from friends and associates worried about what the future holds. I listen, offer constructive advice and encourage them to think outside the box in ways they may never have before.

There is no career for life anymore! Gone are the days when you stayed in a job for 10 years plus, or even retired from the job you started in! According to a 2019 Bureau of Labour Statistics of baby boomers, the average number of jobs in a lifetime is 12!

Nowadays its about having multiple streams of income, so that if one area ‘dries-up’ you have other things to fall back on.

The Squiggly Career

I recently delved into a really interested book called the Squiggly Career by Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis. It’s a guide to creating your own working life where they suggest that you ditch the career ladder, discover opportunities and design your own own career.

In order to achieve this they say you need to develop a set of five career skills which are:

1. Super strengths – The things you are great at!

2. Values – what makes you ‘you’

3. Confidence – belief in yourself and your abilities.

4. Networks – Build relationships that work for you.

5. Future Opportunities – exploring options and future possibilities.

Developing these core skills are increasing important in this enormous time of change, and there are definitely ways that you can achieve this during lockdown.

We are all relying on technology more than ever to inform us, educate us and connect us to others.

5 Strength finding tests and questionnaires you can do today

HIGH5 is a free strengths test that helps you to discover the areas where you are naturally good.    https://high5test.com/ 

The Richard Step Strengths and Weaknesses Aptitude Test (RSWAT) is a tool to help you get a better look at who you really are and how much you could grow. https://richardstep.com/richardstep-strengths-weaknesses-aptitude-test/

This is more a personality quiz based on Jung and the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory. You’ll get a general description of yourself. https://www.41q.com/

Find your strengths with this assessment based on psychologist Martin Seligman's pioneering research in positive psychology. https://www.truity.com/test/personal-strengths-inventory

Take this simple character test in 15 minutes or less and reveal your greatest strengths. https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register

More discussion, listen to Sister Love Untethered podcast episode 25 'Opportunity in Lockdown' episode 25.

 Written by Colleen Morgan