Young children need support and encouragement as they learn to value themselves and recognize their own worth--"not because of the things I do, not because of what I look like, not because of what I have . . . just because I am." This book of sweet, simple affirmations for children helps them respect their bodies, acknowledge their own needs, and name their feelings. Just Because I Am invites little ones to love, accept, and feel good about themselves exactly as they are. A special section for parents, teachers, and caregivers includes activities and discussion questions to use with children.
Khafre K. Abif has been thriving with HIV for 24 years, and is a father of two college aged young men. He holds a masters degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Abif is the Founder/Executive Director of Cycle for Freedom, a national mobilizing campaign founded in 2010, to reduce the spread of HIV among African Americans and Latinos. During the 75-day campaign, Cycle for Freedom will engage fourteen (14) African American and Latino communities along the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route by developing strategies designed to increase HIV testing, and confront HIV-related stigma, homophobia, and lack or mis-education. www.cycleforfreedom.org Abif is one of five men in the inaugural class of The HEALTH (Health Executive Approaches to Leadership and Training in HIV) Seminar Program, a year long program designed to enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities for assuming leadership/management positions in the field of health with a particular focus on HIV for the next generation of African American MSM leaders and community based organizational practices. Abif also serves as Community Educator/Test Counselor for ONE Life of Pittsburgh, PA, as well as the Georgia HIV Prevention Community Planning Group. He formerly served on the Pennsylvania HIV Prevention Community Planning Group and was the Community Co-Chair for the New Jersey HIV Prevention Community Planning Group where he ensured PIR for the group. As a librarian, Abif managed Childrens Services for Brooklyn Public Library and was the first recipient of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) Dr. John C. Tyson Emerging Leader Award. As former Director of the Langston Hughes Library for the Childrens Defense Fund (CDF) at the former Alex Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee, Abif was responsible for meeting the librarys mission to serve as the intellectual commons of the movement to Leave No Child Behind. Publications include co-editing with Teresa Y. Neely, In Our Own Voices: The Changing Face of Librarianship, and is contributing author in the anthologies Poor People and Library Services, and Handbook of Black Librarianship. Forthcoming work includes Raising Kazembe, and Fall to Grace. Visit Abif at TheBody.com http://www.thebody.com/content/art60852.html
There are those to whom we naturally turn for prayer, and Greg Johnson is such a one. Called into ministry with those who carry heavy burden he never fails to find the grace that lives even within the hardest of times. Though this is a gift from God, the ability to receive it is hard-won. No human challenge goes unacknowledged, and no human person unloved, in these prayers and meditations. The Rev. Dr. Barbara C. Crafton How can you carry on when supporting your loved one seems to demand more than you can give at times? Marion Gambardella and Gregory Johnson are two people who know the answer to that question. They have walked the path! Marion Gambardella has blessed me and my family with her love and rich spiritual insights. This book offers us the nourishment that can give us the strength to meet the caregivers demands. Rev. Phillip Pierson, former co-host of the The Best is Yet to Be television program and vice president of Unity School of Christianity Peace, Be Still is a deeply religious book - in the best sense of the word. In their intensely compassionate way, Reverends Johnson and Gambardella have provided encouragement and a Divine shoulder on which to lean for those who give so much of themselves to care for loved ones. Even for those who are non-believers, this volumes meditations can focus the mind and provide inspiration for the noble task of caring for a fellow human being. The book ranges from the poetic to the practical by including an essential guide to resources for family caregiving. Georgette F. Bennett, Ph.D. President and Founder Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding
A teen girl hiding the scars of a past relationship finds home and healing in the words of strong Black writers. A beautiful sophomore novel from a critically acclaimed author and poet that explores how words have the power to shape and uplift our world even in the midst of pain. "A true embodiment of the term Black Girl Magic.” –Booklist When Darius told Angel he loved her, she believed him. But five weeks after the incident, Angel finds herself in Brooklyn, far from her family, from him, and from the California life she has known. Angel feels out of sync with her new neighborhood. At school, she can’t shake the feeling everyone knows what happened—and that it was her fault. The only place that makes sense is Ms. G’s class. There, Angel’s classmates share their own stories of pain, joy, and fortitude. And as Angel becomes immersed in her revolutionary literature course, the words from Black writers like Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, and Zora NEale Hurston speak to her and begin to heal the wounds of her past. This stunning novel weaves together prose, poems, and vignettes to tell the story of Angel, a young woman whose past was shaped by domestic violence but whose love of language and music and the gift of community grant her the chance to find herself again.
Based on a viral video comes the story of one boy's positive energy and how a sunny outlook can turn everything around. It's a new day and Ayaan has woken up on the wrong side of the bed, where nothing feels quite right. What if he doesn't know the answer at school? What if he messes up? But as he sets out that morning, all it takes is a few reminders from his mom and some friends in the neighborhood to remind him that a new day is a good day because... HE IS SMART, HE IS BLESSED, AND HE CAN DO ANYTHING!
Transform your life with daily inspiration, affirmations, and meditations from A Year of Positive Thinking. Yes, you can change your life by changing your thoughts. In A Year of Positive Thinking, you'll transform your mindset and motivate positive life changes one thought, one day, and one year at a time. From day one, this book teaches you the power of positive thinking through quick and digestible affirmations based in positive psychology, neuroscience, and personal development. Spanning one full year, from January to December, these daily meditations guide you towards visualizing and living your best life. A Year of Positive Thinking includes: 365 days of positive thinking with exercises, mantras, and reflections for self-respect, kindness, and love. A flexible structure around the calendar year (January-December) that can be started any time, any day, and any moment that you're ready. Inspiration for personal development that draws on positive psychology, neuroscience, and other secular schools of thought for motivating positive thinking. Choose to see the good over the bad. Choose optimism over pessimism. Choose positive over negative thinking with A Year of Positive Thinking.
