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Find something exciting for the lady of the house from Fredericks to celebrate Mother's Day

  Todd Mangatal

Greetings On-Line Family!

It's been a while since I have had an opportunity to say a few words to you.  First, I would like to thank all of you who have been supporting our Corporate Partners, I'm really happy with this addition to our weekly "what's happening" newsletter.  Not only does it give us the opportunity to offer new products and services from our partners, but it also offers you the opportunity to shop and save on many things that you may need or can use.  Our newsletter has become more issue oriented lately from what we intended it to be (as a means to promote events taking place within our community), but since we have the mentality (such as) "we want something for nothing", I refuse to be used to create wealth to those who are not willing to pay the small price to promote their events to such a large targeted audience.  So for now, we will use this medium to continue discussing some of the issues of the day.

Over the past few weeks lots of things have been going on in the news.  One of the big stories was the Don Imus comments directed to the Rutgers University Female Basketball Players.  I think in the long run these comments have been helpful to all black people.  What it is - "is a real eye opener", it shows if we don't respect ourselves how do we expect others to.  I've always said we first must respect each other before we can expect to go further as a race, and I've also said if we continue to treat each other as we do we will only go backwards.  So,  I thank Don Imus and applaud him for his comments because it seems to have opened the eyes of many.  I've noticed Russell Simmons has come out and commented on how many of the negative words used in hip/hop today should not be included in versions of songs that are called the "clean version".  This is good, even though he's made much of his fortune from  these negative images of "his people" (Afro-Americans), but it's never too late to make a change!!!

I truly believe these negative images have created a very violent and disrespectful generation.  It's not hard to see why this would be, if you would just take a few minutes to listen to some of the themes of the popular music of today.  I don't think any of this music should be banned because I believe in freedom of speech, but I do believe if the radio stations and record companies decided not to promote these type of negative images the artist would be forced to find more positive things to sing about.  I really don't think life is all about killing, the disrespect of women, etc...etc...etc...  So hopefully, we will find a way to respect and support one another instead of disrespecting and tearing each other down as we do now.  

For the last few years I've talked about the violence that was taking place in Wash. DC, which unfortunately continues.  It's sad an area with such a high income level is filled with such violence.  On a whole, I don't think there is any logical reason for this violence considering everyone has had the opportunity to get a free education and there are plenty of jobs to go around.  So what's the reason for all the violence?  It must be due to low self esteem, laziness, and just a lack of respect for each other.  What saddens me the most is, as I look back these would be the type of things you would see on TV, but the violence seems to be getting closer and closer.  I've written time and time again about this violence and how it has touched and effected so many very close to me.  A few weeks ago the violence almost affected me.  I was attending a concert in Prince George's County Maryland (a suburb of Wash. DC) on a Sunday night, and I'm thankful that I received a phone call before we got out of the car.  My conversation kept us from exiting the car for about 10 minutes, so as I was finishing up, and was about to leave I noticed lots of police cars speeding past.  It was more than you would usually see on a Sunday night at that hour.  My first thought was an officer must have been hurt "down' in the area, that is usually the only time you see that type of response from the police.  As Susan and I exited the vehicle and walked a few feet around the corner to the venue we noticed the police officers had the building surrounded and they were armed with some mighty big guns.  There were helicopters above as well, which was very unusual.  As we got closer the officers looked very nervous and advised us that "it might not be a good idea to go any closer to the venue".  Of course they didn't forcefully stop us or tell us what was going on, but as we got closer we were told by workers that 3 people had just been shot.  One of the victims was an employee of the venue who was shot in the face by a bullet that entered the building.  Luckily, no one was killed that night, so I guess we can say it was a "good night".  We were in shock because 10 minutes sooner if I hadn't gotten that phone call it could have been us.  

What's so sad about this...is how its just become so normal!  No one seems to really care, it's as if this is how life is suppose to be.  I haven't seen any type of public outcry or sorrow for the victims, just back to business as usual...which is sad.  This type of violence has become too normal!  When will we wake up and realize this is all part of a big plan that was devised long ago, and now we have fallen right into the trap that has been set for us to keep a great and strong race down, and to keep us the 2nd class citizens we have always been in America.

After this experience, it was nice to see TV One was broadcasting the mini series "Roots", which is a depiction of black history in America starting with "how we were brought here from Africa, chained together in the bottom of ships, and once we arrived we were beaten and whipped into conformity".  Watching this brought much sadness to me, especially when you think it was less than 200 years ago, but this country could have never been built without the sweat and blood of black folks.  Many of the things we see today  were built with slave labor, from the cities to the transportation systems, as well as many early industries were manned with slave labor.  Many have built great wealth and fortunes off the sweat and blood of the black man.  

Did you know during Slavery there was no regard for family, if it was economically beneficial for the slave owners to break up families, it would be done (and was done).  There was no regard for women, if the slave owner wanted one he would simply just have her.  Men were made to feel less than a man and was treated less than a man.  Could all of this have something to do with what's going on now?  Such as no family structure in our communities (an alarming 70% single parent homes).  This is sad, but when you look back at history it makes sense.  High incarceration rate of black men?  This must be because of low self esteem.  

It's very important to look at our history, because if we don't understand where we came from, we will have no idea  where we are going.  

So with all of this talk of racism and slavery, this past weekend we ventured out  to take a look at some of history here in Maryland.  If you are in the Maryland/ Virginia area, here is a suggestion for a day trip filled with history.  On Saturday we went to the Hampton Plantation (National Historic Site) located in Towson Maryland, which is a suburb of Baltimore.  The Hampton plantation was at one point home for more than 350 slaves and was one of the largest slave plantations in Maryland which spanned over 25,000 acres (1/2 the size of present day Baltimore).  The Hampton plantation was owned by the Ridgley family dating back to the mid 1700s, this family had great wealth and one generation of The Ridgley's was a Governor of Maryland.  The Ridgley mansion was the largest residence in North America when it was built in the 1700s, and who do you think built it? Slaves!!!  Last month the slave quarters on this plantation was refurbished and opened to the public.  This excursion gives you a great idea of what the living conditions of a slave in Maryland might have been.  This is a must see for you and your family, and there are lots to learn www.nps.gov/hamp.  What's  great about this is...it's free!!!

We welcome you to share your thoughts and feelings on the above issue ariousentertainment@earthlink.net! 

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As always we thank you reading, for your continued support and for browsing through our on-line shopping pages for  ladies, gentlemen, travel and gifts.  

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