DECLARATION OF FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT

TODAY IS THE DAY I TAKE CONTROL OF MY FINANCIAL DESTINY. DECLARATION OF FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT

In order to attain a measure of success, power and wealth, I shall uphold the principles of saving and investing as well as controlled spending and disciplined consumerism. I vow to fully participate in the capital markets and make a solid commitment to a program of wealth accumulation. Determination and consistency will serve as my guides, and I shall not allow external or internal forces to keep me from reaching my goals. By adjusting my course and embracing a new mandate that stresses planning, education and fortitude, I lay a strong, unbreakable foundation for the preservation and enrichment of my family, children and children's children.

I, _______________________,from this day forward, declare my vigilant and life-long commitment to financial empowerment. I pledge the following:

1. To use homeownership to build wealth

2. To save and invest 10% to 15% of my after-tax income

3. To commit to a program of retirement planning and investing

4. To engage in sound budget, credit, and tax management practices

5. To measure my personal wealth by net worth, not income

6. To be proactive and knowledgeable about investing, money management, and consumer issues

7. To provide access to programs that will educate my children about business and finance

8. To support the creation and growth of profitable, competitive black-owned enterprises

9. To use a portion of my wealth to strengthen my community

10. To ensure that my wealth is passed on to future generations

I have committed to this unwavering, personal covenant as a means of bolstering myself, my family and my community. In adopting this resolution, I intend to use all available resources, wisdom and power to gain my share of the American Dream.

Agreed and signed: _____________________ Date:______

Source: DECLARATION OF FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT

Article: blackenterprise.com

The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa

NGUZO SABA (The Seven Principles)

1. Umoja (Unity) : To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

2. Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) :To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.

3. Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) : To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together.

4. Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) : To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.

5. Nia (Purpose) : To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

6. Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

7. Imani (Faith) : To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

KWANZAA

Kwanzaa is a unique African American celebration with focus on the traditional African values of family, community responsibility, commerce, and self-improvement. Kwanzaa is neither political nor religious and despite some misconceptions, is not a substitute for Christmas. It is simply a time of reaffirming African-American people, their ancestors and culture. Kwanzaa, which means "first fruits of the harvest" in the African language Kiswahili, has gained tremendous acceptance. Since its founding in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa has come to be observed by more than18 million people worldwide, as reported by the New York Times. When establishing Kwanzaa in 1966, Dr. Karenga included an additional "a" to the end of the spelling to reflect the difference between the African American celebration (kwanzaa) and the Motherland spelling (kwanza).

Official Website: http://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/index.shtml

Source: EVERYTHING ABOUT KWANZAA...

Mychal Wynn: Educator, Author, Consultant and Motivational Speaker

Mychal Wynn is one of the world's premiere authorities on Black male achievement, school improvement planning, closing the achievement gap, and college planning.

A first generation college graduate, he and his wife created a college-bound plan that resulted in their older son's acceptance into Amherst College, the country's top-ranked liberal arts college. Their 12-year-old son is working his plan to be accepted into his top-choice school, "Yale."

While there are no guarantees, armed with the right plan, top-ranked colleges are within the reach of any student.



Published works includes:
Don't Quit
Empowering African-American Males
The Eagles who Thought They were Chickens (Teacher's Guide)
The Eagles who Thought They were Chickens (Student Workbook)
Ten Steps to Helping Your Child Succeed in School
Follow Your Dreams: Lessons That I Learned in School
Teaching, Parenting, and Mentoring Successful Black Males

Source: http://www.rspublishing.com/

Great Debaters

Inspired by a true story, "The Great Debaters" chronicles the journey of Professor Melvin Tolson (Denzel Washington), a brilliant but volatile debate team coach who uses the power of words to shape a group of underdog students from a small African American college in the deep south into a historically elite debate team. A controversial figure, Professor Tolson challenged the social mores of the time and was under constant fire for his unconventional and ferocious teaching methods as well as his radical political views.

Source: The Great Debaters
Related Links: http://www.thegreatdebatersmovie.com/

Aisha's Crowning Glory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local African-American Children’s Author Unveils Aisha's Crowning Glory
Philadelphia, PA – September 2007 – When Eloise Prescott taught in the early 1970s, she noticed that there were very few children’s books that contained pictures of African Americans. This observation encouraged her to make up stories for the children in her class, which later inspired her to write her book, Aisha’s Crowning Glory.

Eloise has introduced the public to young Aisha and the mystical ride that she and the mysterious woman who braids her hair take as she finds self-love, self-esteem and self- initiative. Aisha will ultimately learn that “The greatest gift is knowledge of who you are.”

Aisha’s Crowning Glory contains an educational supplement at the end of the book that provides parents with a methodology for reinforcing some of the material learned in the story. Children will learn more about how to set goals and achieve them, information about African history, and the significance of the Kwanzaa holiday.

Over the past year, the Council of the City of Philadelphia honored Eloise Prescott with an award for her participation in the 15th Annual African American Children’s Book Fair and for her hard work and efforts in the promotion of children’s literacy. The book was featured during the 76ers Game during Black History Month and she also did a reading during half time at the 76ers Game the following month for Women’s History Month. In addition, Aisha’s Crowning Glory was on display at the mid-Manhattan library in New York City last year as part of “The Art Collection.”

Aisha’s Crowning Glory is available through http://www.xlibris.com
Eloise Prescott holds a Bachelor's Degree from Temple University in Journalism. After college, she worked as a teacher in a private school called the Lotus Academy that she co-founded. She has worked in various university administration positions over the last 16 years. Originally from South Philadelphia, she resides in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania with her husband, a financial planner. They have three children; the oldest daughter is an elementary school teacher, their son is a web analyst and the youngest daughter is in a doctoral program at the University of Maryland.

Eloise is currently working on a nutritional cookbook and attending the Won Institute for Graduate Studies to study Acupuncture Medicine.

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Purchase: Aisha's Crowning Glory

Contact: Eloise Prescott
elprescott1@yahoo.com

Leslie Esdaile Banks: New York Times and USA Today Best Selling Author

Ms. Banks is a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania Wharton undergraduate program, and alumnae of Temple University’s Master of Fine Arts in filmmaking program. Ms. Banks began her career in corporate marketing for several Fortune 100 firms and worked as an executive for over a decade at Xerox, Hewlett Packard, and Digital Equipment Corporation. She then subsequently evolved her veteran marketing experience into a solid entrepreneurial career as a marketing consultant within the economic development and community-based organization environment.

In 1992, Banks added another facet to her career, entering the publishing industry. She writes under the pseudonyms; L.A. Banks, Leslie Esdaile, Leslie E. Banks, Leslie Banks, and Leslie Esdaile Banks. She has won several business as well as literary awards, and has penned over 30 novels and 10 novellas in genres as diverse as romance, women’s fiction, crime suspense, and paranormal. She has contributed to magazines, newspaper columns, and has written commercial fiction for five major publishers simultaneously: St. Martin’s Press (NYC), Simon and Schuster (NYC), Kensington Publishing (NYC), BET/Arabesque (NYC), and Genesis Press (MS), now adding Parker Publishing to the list.

Banks’ writing career took a new twist in 2000 when she won the coveted contract with Paramount/Showtime in collaboration with Simon & Schuster/Pocketbooks to write a book series for the popular cable network television series, Soul Food. From there, Banks transitioned into another hot genre—the world of paranormal fiction, where she is currently penning a 12 book Vampire Huntress Legend series under the pen name, L.A. Banks, for St. Martin’s Press: “Minion,” (June 2003), “The Awakening,” (January 2004), “The Hunted,” (June 2004), and “The Bitten,” (January 2005), “The Forbidden” (July 2005), “The Damned,” released January 2006, and “The Forsaken” just released in July 2006, with additional titles to follow in 2007 thru 2008. In addition, Banks was recently signed to a St. Martin’s Press inspired paranormal romance anthology, entitled, “Stroke of Midnight,” contributing with Sherrilyn Kenyon, Amanda Ashley, and Lori Handeland, which hit the New York Times Bestseller extended list in 2004, Her story within that anthology, “Make It Last Forever,” tells of the back story of one of the key Guardians in her Vampire Huntress Legend series (Jack Rider), and how he joined the Guardian team. She has also contributed short stories to “My Big Fat Paranormal Wedding,” and “Love At First Bite” – both St. Martin’s speculative fiction anthologies. Look for a hot new werewolf series from Banks via St. Martin’s in 2007 as well.

She has also worked with other horror anthology collections, Dark Dreams I and Voices From The Other Side for Kensington Publishing. Her most recent project is the novelization of the movie, Scarface, for DH Press (under pen name, L.A. Banks), which takes a look at the main character’s life (Tony Montana) two years before he emigrated from Cuba to American in 1978. That novel will be released in March/April 2006. Currently she is working on the second book in that series.

Source: http://www.leslieesdailebanks.com/about.php