Hard-hitting, sometimes risque, always dramatic and eloquent, the vibrant humor of African-American women is celebrated in this bold, unique, and comprehensive collection, featuring contributions from the antebellum poets, early novelists, and contemporary personalities from Toni Morrison to Whoopi Goldberg.
An inspired herbal guide to natural living with ancient techniques, remedies, and rituals from around the world centered on the rhythms of the seasons. The changing of the seasons is magickal—green leaves transforming into browns and golds, snow melting to show fresh buds. We all recognize these telltale signs, but few of us are aware of the powerful impact each season has on our spiritual lives. Whether sunny, snowy, windy, rainy, cold, or humid, the weather has a dramatic effect on our being wherever we may live. The author, Stephanie Rose Bird, is deeply committed to keeping alive the spiritual wisdom of her indigenous African ancestors. In African American Magick, she examines the magickal ability of the seasons to enhance our lives by unearthing ancient techniques, rituals, and methods from around the world that reflect each season’s inherent energies to supplement body, mind, and soul. Drawing upon her own ancestral heritage, as well as other cultures and those that have influenced her, Bird offers a lifetime of wisdom and expert botanical knowledge while sharing her path to a holistic and magickal life. Guidance from all over the world, and from classical and modern traditions alike, are offered: Spiritual insights from Caribbean African American culture Wisdom from indigenous Native American traditions Buddhist and Hindu meditation practices and rites Practices of classical European spiritual traditions Lessons from Aboriginal Australian “dreaming” practices African American Magick was previously published in 2006 under the title Four Seasons of Mojo. This new edition includes a new preface by the author.
Transformation In Loree's Beauty Shop hot combs sizzled against wet oily scalps branding grown woman fantasies into tender young heads. Thick busy afros became long glossy black curls transforming natural Black queens into commercial mahogany princesses (Boyd, 14). This poem by Julia Boyd from In the Company of My Sisters is tragic, but it happens all the time. Afros and natural hair is transformed into something artificial, "fake boobs, fake hair, men don't seem to care whether a woman is real or false." The hair salon is the main site where the transformation happens. This paper accompanies the web-based project Salon Utopia (now defunct) that aimed to transform its clients in a natural way. In the virtual realm, it is not yet possible to do any hairstyles to transform anyone, but the site did aid in transforming the source of where hair comes from, the mind.
Have you always admired women with flowing hair? Do you long for a wash-and-go style? In Nice Dreads, Lonnice Brittenum Bonner, the author of the classic Good Hair, shares her secrets and personal stories about dreadlocks—from cultivating buds to keeping those locks looking their best! Perfect for women who want dreadlocks but aren’t sure how to start, or for those who’ve already started and want to know the best ways to keep hair healthy, Nice Dreads can help you grow your own lovely locks. From preparing for the haircut to everyday maintenance, Lonnice Brittenum Bonner tells you exactly what to expect, while photographs illustrate each stage of growth and showcase mature dreads in all their glory. The author (who sports locks herself) knows firsthand the challenges of caring for this hairstyle; those intimidated by a drastic cut or shy about showing off the stages of early growth will find personal encouragement from someone who knows exactly how they feel—and how great they’ll look! Learn how to overcome your reservations and wear your style with pride.
Examines how hair and hair care take on situated social meanings among African American women in varied linguistic interactions--whether with one another, with African American men, or with European American women. Based on years of fieldwork in a range of sites, from cosmetology schools in South Carolina to hair care seminars in Beverly Hills, from stand up comedy clubs in Los Angeles to online debates about black hair, Jacob-Huey's multifaceted approach documents how and why hair comes to matter so much in African American women's construction of their identities, and how language both mediates and produces these social meanings. --From publisher description.
In his writings and his career Gregory of Nyssa assumes many roles. He is a Christian Platonist, a spiritual guide for ascetics and those seeking the vision of God, as well as one of those who shaped the Trinitarian doctrine of God espoused at Constantinople in 381. But he is also a popular preacher and, paradoxically, someone unafraid of deeper speculations regarding the meaning of the Christian ideal. The translations in Part One illustrate these various concerns, but are not a sufficient basis for the thesis of Part Two, one that attempts to answer the question of how to describe the coherence of a thinker far from systematic. One solution is to appeal to Gregory's conviction that after this world all Christians, indeed all humans, will be united in diversity, and that this means that all are now on the one path to their destiny, however much their progress may differ. This answer does not pretend to solve all problems, nor does it rule out other approaches to Gregory's thought. But it locates Gregory's work in the liturgical and sacramental life of the church that includes ordinary as well as elite Christians.
Elizabeth Johnson's Resistance and Empowerment in Black Women's Hair Styling develops the argument that one way Black women define themselves and each other, is by the way they style/groom their hair via endorsement by the media through advertisement, idealized identification of Black female celebrities, and encouragement by professional celebrity hair stylists who serve as change agents. As a result, hair becomes a physical manifestation of their self-identity, revealing a private and personal mindset. Her research answers the following questions: What is the relationship between Black females' choice of hairstyles/grooming and transmitted messages of aesthetics by the dominant culture through culturally specific magazines?; What role do the natural hair blogs/vlogs play as a change agent in encouraging or discouraging consumers grooming their hair in its natural state?; What impact does a globalized consumer market of Black hair care products have on Hispanic/Latinas and Bi-Racial women?; Are Black female Generation Y members more likely to receive backlash for failure to conform their hair to dominant standards in their hair adornment in the workplace? Johnson thus demonstrates that the major concern from messages sent to Black women about their hair is its impact on Black identity. Thus, the goal of Black women should be to break with hegemonic modes of seeing, thinking, and being for full liberation. This critical and deep consciousness will debunk the messages told to Black women that their kinky, frizzy, thick hair is undesirable, bad, unmanageable, and shackling.
Taruskin demonstrates how Stravinsky achieved his modernist technique by combining what was most characteristically Russian in his musical training with stylistic elements abstracted from Russian folklore. The stylistic synthesis thus achieved formed Stravinsky as a composer for life, whatever the aesthetic allegiances he later professed.
A significant new study of Rabbula and Christianity in Edessa This volume makes available for the first time both the Syriac text and an English translation of every available original composition by Rabbula, the controversial bishop of Edessa (ca. 411–435 CE). It includes a new edition of the Life of Rabbula and other biographical traditions about him, including his conversion from paganism to Christianity. The texts collected in the volume are a valuable source for studying the reception history of biblical themes. In addition, the corpus offers insights into the beginnings of ecclesiastical legislation in the East, charitable work, pilgrimage, ascetic ideals, and church administration. Horn and Phenix examine Rabbula’s contribution to the Christological controversies of the fifth and sixth centuries, including his influence on Cyril of Alexandria in his debate with Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Theodore of Mopsuestia. Features A critical study of the theological, cultural, and historical development of Syriac Christianity Thorough historical, theological, and socio-cultural analysis provided for each text A previously unidentified Christian Palestinian Aramaic fragment