Virginia Civil Rights Memorial - Richmond, VA

http://discoverblackheritage.com/virginia-civil-rights-memorial/

On April 23, 1951, 16-year-old Barbara Johns and fellow students led a strike to protest the conditions at their racially segregated school. Under the leadership of Rev. L. Francis Griffin, students and parents contacted NAACP attorneys. The lawsuit that followed was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court and joined with four other cases as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), in which the Court banned school segregation on the grounds that racially separate educational systems are inherently unequal and unconstitutional.

A Cruise on Destiny

On day 1, we arrived at port via Carnival's transport service. A lovely driver named Roberto drove us and told lots of jokes.Boarding the ship I didn't know what to expect. I did, however know it would be fantastic. We went through security which was similar but more lax than airport security. That said, I still had to show my boarding pass and passport about 4 times AFTER security before getting on the boat.

The Carnival Destiny is nothing short of amazing when you walk in! I suppose I never thought about a ship having multiple floors and elevators but lo and behold there they both were! The Destiny boasts 10 levels you can access via elevator and two others that are accessible by using the lido deck on the top floor and climbing stairs.

For those worried about being bored on a boat for five days, this is a non issue. The boat has a casino, internet cafe, many bars and clubs, mini golf course, multiple decks for sunbathing, several pools and hot tubs and more!

Tuesday night was the captains dinner where everyone dresses up. There was show at dinner but unfortunately where we were sitting we could not see it. Our concern at that point was when the lobster and steak was coming not the show so no biggie.

The night life on the ship has something for everyone. There is a dance club, jazz bar, sing-a-long piano bar, comedy shows, and even karaoke under the stars to name a few.

I know you're thinking, McLovin, how could it be this awesome and you haven't even gotten to a port of call yet? Well, my dear readers, (both of you) you are in luck! It's day 3 and we are in Grand Turk. First off when I woke up this morning there was Grand Turk outside my window. We all loaded out of the ship and into Grand Turk. This is the capital of the Turk islands, however not the biggest or most populated. The island is about 7 miles long and a mile and a half wide. Approximately 4,000 people live here including the Governor of these islands. Only 9 of the 30 Turks Islands are inhabited by people. The island is actually a british colony, but their currency is the American dollar. They produce nothing in the island so everything must be imported. Their main industries are fishing and tourism.

During this shore leave me and some fellow cruisers went on a clear kayaking trip. It was my first time kayaking, but I had canoed before so it wasn't too far off from that. We went on a guided tour of this creek area that feeds into the ocean with our guides Andre, Louie, and the Captain. The water was beautiful! They showed us a number of creatures native to the area such as jack fish, needle fish, and konch which we got to experience eating raw. Konch is the only meat that you can eat raw right on the beach where you found it. These creatures are found in protective shells and the natives - called belongers (because they belong there - I'm not making this stuff up y'all) as well as the other residents know how to cut a one inch hole in just the right spot in the shell to free the creature for cleaning and eating. All he needed was a special hammer and a knife and five minutes later we all enjoyed some konch- so did the fish since only half of what is pulled out is normally eaten by humans.

Thursday we went to Half Moon Cay. This is a Carnival owned island in the Bahamas about 90 miles away from Nassau. The water and beaches were beautiful and the group had a great time swimming in the clear blue water.

On Friday we stopped in Nassau. I hate to say it but this was my least favorite of all our stops. However it was mostly a good day so I can't complain. First we tried to rent scooters but that didn't work out because of lack of cash and the credit card machine being down. Then we tried eating lunch and again another business' machine was down. Oh well lesson learned....always carry enough cash. We took a taxi and come to find out it may have been a blessing in disguise about the scooters. Those people drive all kinda crazy, and I might have kilt myself (yes I said kilt not killed).

The day ended up being lots of fun. We spent the day on a beautiful beach and got to play in the huge waves! After a while at the beach and a reenactment of a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (those birds are crazy, hungry, and have a problem hounding you for even the tiniest morsel of food), we made our way back to the shops to get a few souvenirs and then board our boat.

Tips for fellow travelers the liquor store on board is CHEAP! Not the pre mixed drinks they walk around selling - those are avg bar prices. But when I say cheap I mean they had big bottles of rum like the one I paid $23 for on land for $8.99. Did I mention it's tax and duty free people!? They had all kinds of liquor avail all at great prices. The catch is you get it when you disembark the sip at the end of the trip, so get that idea of drinking it onboard out ya head. You also may want to bring an extra bag since anything you saved on the liquor could easily be a fraction of the overweight bag fee to get it home.

A far as the gift shop they were hit or miss on prices. Some things were ridiculously expensive and others were pretty cheap. For example, I saw a cotton hoodie for $70 But T-shirts were $10 each.

The coolest thing about the ship is it is a multicultural melting pot. While most people spoke English many were not American. I heard so many languages throughout that week both on and off the boat.

This was a wonderful vacation and for the money it seems one of the best vacations you could go on. I’ve honestly been looking for my food buffet at all my meals for the last week!

Should Mom's Have A Vacation?

The title of this post is a question but honestly, I know the answer is YES! However, I am hearing more and more women that feel guilty about leaving their children to "enjoy" themselves for a weekend or a week.  What is wrong with this picture? I rarely hear men say they feel bad about going away with their wives, friends or anyone for that matter when it is time to leave the kids behind for a few days. It is usually their wives that are worried and calling to check on the kids a thousand times, right? As women we need to learn to let go and enjoy ourselves.

If it is imperative that we get our 15 to 30 minutes a day to have some "me" time, so how come it isn't just as important to have a "vacate"?  It is important that we take a few days to just be ourselves. We need to have time to not be "mommy" for just a moment without feeling any guilt. There are 365 days in a year. As long as we leave our children in capable hands then we should be free to let go, even if it is just for one night. I am serious, start out slow with a night out then move on to a long weekend. After your kids get older, then extend it out a little until you get to the point of a week away or more! Trust me, when you get back home you will be on top of the world and REFRESHED!

My friends and I have decided to take at least one adult only vacation a year. In addition to that, we will are planning to take joint vacations with the children too. This way the kids are included. I will let you in on a little secret, some of the children look forward to the mom's going away on vacation. I know that couldn't possibly be your children (smile). I know I wasn't terribly upset when my mom went on vacation. I was able to go to my Grandparent's house where I was spoiled rotten. Yeah, that is just the pits. Getting almost everything I wanted and enjoying every moment of my mom being away. Give yourself and your children a break, even if it is just for a day.

Picture of The Day - Is Everything Bigger In Texas?

Skyline - Houston, Texas

Picture of The Day - Parthenon - Nashville, Tennessee

Let's Go! My Trip to Ghana by Stephanie

On March 11, I boarded a plane and began what would become the most amazing and life changing experience of my life. At about 10:00am on March 12, that plane landed and I took my first steps onto the continent of Africa, yes, the motherland. I had arrived in the country of Ghana, in the city of Accra. I traveled with a group of my church members. We went for the purpose of doing a historical and cultural tour of the country and, along the way, do a little mission work. I was very excited about this trip even though I really did not know what to expect. I, like most of you, had this misperception of Africa that was based on what we see in today’s media. I was expecting to be hot and dusty and see a bunch of disease and poverty stricken people lying in the streets. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the lush greenery, beautiful coconut, palm nut, and plantain trees, sandy beaches, beautiful waters, and a sea of beautiful black skinned people. Everywhere we went there was a smiling face, greeting us with “Akwaaba”, which means welcome.

We experienced many African traditions, including traditional drumming and dancing and a naming ceremony where I found out that if I had been born in Ghana, my name would be Akua, which means female born on a Wednesday imbued with the qualities of service and general helpfulness. We ate traditional African meals consisting of chicken, goat, fish, different types of rice, fried plantains, and many different sauces to accompany the dishes. Even though these meal items can be found on American dinner tables on any given night, the spices used and the way the food is prepared make the taste very different from anything I am used to eating. One restaurant even had a sign saying “This ain’t no fast food. It could take up to 2 hours to get your food.” All their food is prepared fresh when ordered, no sitting under heat lamps for hours…

I guess I should get on to the life changing and amazing parts of the trip. There were three parts of the trip that really had a major impact on me. These all happened in the third city we visited, Elmina. Our group did a canopy walk in the rainforest. Unfortunately my asthma did not allow me to climb the 250 foot elevation to see the forest floor from a canopy bridge. But as I sat and waited on the rest of the group to finish their canopy walk, it began to rain. My initial thought was that it is not supposed to rain when you are on vacation. But in just a few seconds it hit me that I was sitting watching the rain fall in the rainforest in Africa, and I was instantly filled with awe at the beauty of it all. I actually had to restrain myself from running out to just stand in the rain. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in nature.

On the drive from the city of Kumasi to the city of Elmina, we stopped to see what is known as Slave River. During the slave trade, captured slaves were chained together and forced to walk for months to reach the coast of Elmina where they were held in dungeons until ships came to bring them to the US. They were made to walk through wooded areas, no shoes, often no clothes. BY the time they made it here they were dirty and bloody at the very least. Keep in mind that if you had to urinate or defecate or if you were a woman with menses, you just had to go where you stood. Here at the Slave River, slaves were given their last bath before being put on the auction block. For years the waters of this river were red, blood stained from our tortured ancestors. Standing beside the river is a very large, lush, and thriving plot of bamboo. This bamboo grows on the place that the Portuguese used as a mass grave for Africans. If you were too weak to continue, or too old to continue, you were just thrown into the mass grave. If you gave birth to a baby, the baby would be thrown into the grave. There are no words to describe the feeling of standing on the banks of this river and being able to actually dip my hand into the waters where these ancestors had their last bath in their homeland.

While traveling to our hotel, The Coconut Groove Beach Resort, we passed this big beautiful white stone building sitting right on the water. Little did I know that the next day my opinion of this regal looking structure would be greatly diminished. Elmina Castle is the oldest structure on African soil built by any of the Europeans. As soon as you walk into this structure, you know that the beauty of the outside can never hide the hell that took place inside Elmina Dungeon. This place was built by the Portuguese, and used by both the Portuguese and the Dutch to facilitate their slave trade. The top floor was the Governor’s living quarters. Below this were the living quarters for the soldiers. The lower two levels were dungeons used to hold hundreds and hundreds of slaves until ships came to take them to America. The female dungeon was particularly difficult to see. As soon as you step into it, there is this smell that hits you so hard that it almost knocks you down. These women were forced to live crammed together in this tiny space, living in heat, urine, feces, menses, and death. And you can smell every ounce of it. You can feel the souls of those who were tortured and died here. Just outside these dungeons is a courtyard that is overlooked by a balcony 2 floors up. This balcony is where the Governor would stand and observe the female slaves and decide which one he wanted to rape. His chosen victim was then bathed and taken up a back stairwell to his bedroom. From the males dungeon, there is a door that my be 5 feet high that leads to the final holding space before being put onto a ship. The Door of No Return is in this space. This is the actual door that once you walk through it you never returned to your homeland and your family. By this time the slaves had been starved so they would loose weight and more could be piled into a ship. Standing in this dark, dusty, musty room, imagining the fear that my ancestors must have felt is something that I will never forget.

One of my fellow travelers said that on her first visit to Africa, she felt as if she had a hole in her filled in, a hole she did not even realize was there until it was filled. At first I did not understand. Now I do. I have always had a clear understanding that the story we have always heard about the slave trade was not a complete story. This trip allowed some of those inconsistencies and untruths to finally be cleared up. I believe I learned more about myself and my ancestors during this 10 day trip than I have in 33 years of living. This is an experience that I wish everyone could have at least once in their lifetime.