Meah Tweh

I love when I come across people doing things in creative new ways, so I was enchanted to find out Meah Tweh.

Meah's a Detroit girl publishing her own book of poetry Color Me Beautiful and Other Poems about Life, Love and Dreams and is doing via her own publishing company, Zealot Press.

The book is a collection of Meah's recent poetry. It aims to uplift women of all races, especially black women, to stand up and be who you are. It's a message that black women in any part of the world can appreciate. Ms. Tweh happens to be born of a black American mother and a Liberian father, making her a Liberian American girl :).







Another unique aspect of this project is that Meah is using Kickstarter.com to raise a portion of the funds. Kickstarter allows people with an idea to put it in front of the world and receive pledges from backers. The person sets a goal and if met, Kickstarter collects the pledges and gives the money for their project. However, if the goal is not met, Kickstarter cancels all pledges. It's all or nothing! Either way though, Meah's book release party is set for July 22.

So far Meah's got $370 of her $500 goal and Tuesday June 14 is the last day. I know she can do it! If you're interested in supporting Meah you can do so on her Kickstarter page by clicking here or going to Kickstarter.com and searching Meah Tweh. To find out more about Meah you can go to her website www.meahtweh.com.

It's funny because I only found out about Meah because of a Facebook suggestion to like her fan page. It turns out that we both graduated from Wayne State and have quite a few friends in common. It's a small world indeed :)

Today was a good day... (Icecube) Lol

Today was a pretty great day for me, I must admit. Early in the day I went to meeting for this business meeting and it was pretty inspiring. I came away with these words of wisdom:

The way you do anything is the way you do everything
Character isn't compartmentalized. The kind of person you are in one area of your life is the kind of person you are in all areas of your life.

Successful people are never busy people
Because they plan, and plan, and plan so when the time comes to do things, they've got it all figured out and it goes smoothly. No rush, no fuss, no bother.

It's not who you know; it's what you know
Definitely heard this one and it's true.

Later in the day, I went to a Zumba class for the first time and it way HYPE! I had so much fun, sweated like a Christmas goat (lol), and hope it's the beginning of a new workout habit. I've been doing workouts using videos on Youtube and stuff on my own, but being in a class full of people gives more motivation to keep going.

I went with my sister and my best friend. They played some really good Latino music, including a Latino version of Waving Flag. You may be familiar with the Naija remix with K'Naan, Banky W, and M.I. Love that song. They also played Jessy Matador's Décalé Gwada which made my sister and I smile. That song's a bit of a legend around here cause two years ago the guys in our African student group did a routine to that song that really put them on the map.

Anyways, like I constantly remind myself, it's really the little things that make me smile....... :)

3 Months Plus

Yep, that's how long it's been since my last post. Terrible, I know. One of my friends called me Sunday and lamented my lack of updates. So I just thought I'd let anyone interested know that I'm still alive and kickin'. Hehehee....

So what's been up? I've really been focusing on some personal goals and learning a lot in my new school. The world's really a changed place since I last wrote. So many things have happened, no need to repeat the news broadcasts here... Just makes me grateful for the life I have. Though imperfect, it's not hard to see that many are in far worse positions than I. Baba God, I thank You.

On another note, I'd like to share a few Naija artists that I discovered on my hiatus and have been jammin' to ever since. Tim Godfrey & Xtreme Crew. A highly skilled gospel musician, Tim Godfrey and his crew mix Igbo and Naija praise with modern instrumentals for a very impressive effect. "Igbo Melody", a medley of several Igbo praise songs, was the first one I heard by the group and it's awesome (as are the group's other tracks) Click the picture to take a listen!

Tim Godfrey & Xtreme Crew

Then there's Axios Choir, whose main instruments are their own voices. Their song "Ibu Ngalaba" is the only one I came across on Youtube, and it's desperately beautiful. The words of the chorus, "Ibu ngalaba jisi ndu mu eeeh" mean "You are the pillar that holds my life," referring to God. The song has been a real encouragement to me.  I also found the disclaimer they put at the beginning of their video quite charming,"Axios Choir will set you free from the habit of bad vocal chords." Hehehehe....

Those of us familiar with the Nigerian church scene know that whenever it's time to sing, our people like to sing loud, no matter the quality of the voice: from average to cracked. And often times those singing the loudest are those with the worst voices (aka those aunties with the high, shrilly, screeching voices LOL!). You can even find some of these individuals in various praise teams and choirs, oddly enough. It's good that our God is a loving God who doesn't put any stipulations on the praise that we give Him other than that it comes from the heart. :) Anyways... Click here to listen to Ibu Ngalaba.  Bye for now!

Amazed at Egypt

Watching the turn of events in Egypt, I can only be amazed. It seems a new way to overthrow leaders who have held their grip on power for so long has been discovered. Everyday as I watched the news, I held my breath and prayed that the protest would not slide into uncontrolled violence among the protesters or just as bad- that the government would retaliate mercilessly, tired of having its power challenged.

But even after small battles between pro and anti Mubarak protesters, the overwhelming tide of the desire for change swept through Egypt and won. It's truly amazing to me. Now that Mubarak has stepped down, my prayer is that as people are rejoicing, their joy is not turned to sadness. Peace is what is needed, no matter what. I pray that Egypt stabilizes and the next rulers of Egypt rule the country with justice and respect for the desires of the Egyptian people.

One of my friends posted a status on Facebook saying that if Nigerians knew that they could oust a president through protesting, they would have brought an end to Ibrahim Babangida's regime. It's an interesting thought. But the victory for Egyptians came because of a combination of things, including the president's unwillingness to unleash violence on his citizens and a multitude of international media attention and pressure on Mubarak. Would the rest of the world care as much if it was a country like Nigeria? There are crises all over Africa, but look at how little coverage they get in western media. Also, so many governments are willing to use harsh violence against their citizens, which is a quick way to put down a revolution of people who are poor and have little to fight with.

Still, it leaves me wondering if this is a new pattern that will be continued across the world in places where people are unsatisfied with their government. We shall see...

Lessons in integrity

Yesterday I went online to check my bank account for my paycheck, which was due to be deposited. I logged onto my account and to my surprise, more than twice the amount I was expecting had been deposited. Chineke me! Instead of to ask for money, dem go even add extra to my account? This na reverse 419!

At first I was like "Oh my goodness! My pastor was prophesying double portion over us on Sunday...Maybe this is it!" Hahaha... That only lasted for a second, though. Though I definitely believe the man of God, I definitely know that anything God gives to me will be done decently and in order with honesty and integrity, not by trickery or mistake. So I decided to just make sure with the payroll office today.

It turns out that somebody's entire check (one Igbo guy named Chi-something) was deposited into my account in addition to my own. Ehhhh wooo. See me see trouble o. The lady that does payroll  mixed our names up and put his hours in my name.

You see, I worked at two university departments last semester. One of the jobs ended when I graduated in December, but the other will last until June. I got paid as usual by the department where I  still work now, but my old department accidentally put that Chi-something guy's hours under my name, resulting in overpayment. Now I have to make a check out to the department's account.

I knew I had to do the right thing, but chei! That money was looking good in my account oh!. I had some things I could have really taken care of with it. God I know you've seen me oh! Please bless me for this act of integrity. I know He will though. And my double portion will come another way. The right way. :)

Back to Bookish

Before I was ever a writer, I was a reader. As a child, I devoured book after book as a favorite pastime. One auntie even seemed worry about me. "Chichi, go play with the other kids," she would say when she came to visit us. Her kids and my siblings would be tearing up the house (inside and out) in a crazy frenzy of raucous noise, but I could still keep my focus on the latest paper treasure that I had found.

As I grew older I got more social, but I still loved to read all the way though high school. Then came college.

No longer was I able to spend vast amounts of time reading books of my own choosing for pleasure, for I had huge reading assignments from textbooks that could put even the most avid reader to sleep. No more free reading for me! At least, not much of it.

Now that I'm done with undergrad, I can read again! I'm excited for that. Reading is a true love of mine. My favorite books are autobiographies. To me, it's just so amazing to hear a person's life story, with all it's twists and turns, and see the person they've become.

Right now I'm reading Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama, his autobiography.

Please excuse the silliness. Lol.

I can remember about four years ago my friend Louise was braiding my hair. She had won the book in a drawing, but she wasn't particularly into it. It was sitting on the floor of her room and I picked it up.  I started reading it, but didn't get far. We had no idea who the man would become. Now that we all know who Obama is, his story is even more fascinating to me. How did he become who he is? So far, the book hasn't disappointed. Obama is eloquent and his written voice tells a story that makes you want to keep reading.

I'm a big fan of the library, so that's where I got the book. I also checked out this book:

Investing Online for Dummies. So far I've learned that I have no business investing money in the stock market until I build up a solid savings. I'm working on that right now. Bringing my lunch everyday instead of buying, buying gas from Kroger because they give great discounts to their customers, not going shopping for those new pairs of jeans, and getting books from the library instead of buying them. Ahhhh frugality.

But anyways, Yaaaaaaay reading! Lol. I sound like a supernerd. But that's ok. :)

Visiting Nigeria: My Rationale

Happy New Year!!!! Yeah, I know I'm extra late. No, I haven't been in a coma or under a rock. Lol. But this does happen to be my first post in 2011 so I just thought I'd start it off right.

The year's gotten off to a good start for me. This is the time I was contemplating visiting in Nigeria, but I'm still here in the States. Things didn't work out, so I'll go when the time is right. Everything happens for a reason...Hopefully though my grandparents could come and visit before then; that would be awesome.

When I was little my grandmother (dad's mom) visited us from Nigeria. She stayed for maybe two years. She only spoke Igbo so it was hard to communicate with her and I was too young to realize the importance of trying to. She was over 90 years old and had lived through Nigeria gaining independence from the British, the Biafran War, and so many milestones in the country's history. But to a kid of 10 and 11 it didn't mean much.

My grandma with me and my two younger sisters at the hospital after my youngest sister was born.

I remember being annoyed when I had to walk slow with her holding my arm because she was a little frail. How silly and impatient, but that's the mind of a child. Now I realize what a living treasure people like that are. And that's the main reason I wanted to go to Nigeria so bad. My dad's mother has been dead for over 10 years, but my mom's parents are still alive and well, though they are of course getting up there in age. I really want to see them both while that is still the case.

Almost three years ago one of my mother's youngest brothers died from malaria (or so the doctors said) in Nigeria. She was so surprised, so sad when it happened. I remember her first telling me when she found out. She started crying, which made me cry too. It was sad to see my mom like that. I imagined what it would be like to lose one of my siblings. The worst part was that she hadn't seen any of her family in over 15 years. I started to really realize the importance of prioritizing what's important. Family is important, and even though when they are overseas it takes extra effort, it's worth it for children to have interaction with their grandparents and of course their uncles, aunties and cousins.

I now understand that people don't want to go back empty-handed; they don't want to go back unless they can do so in style like a big madam or a big oga with lots of money and goods to hand around. They want to be able to build a house for the family. They don't want to be looked at like a failure. While I understand all of this, not seeing one's family for such a long time is not acceptable. In my mom's case, and so many others, it's the expensiveness of the plane ticket that has kept her away for so long, but even that can be overcome with careful budgeting and saving.

Either way, I have made it my personal mission to visit Nigeria as soon as I'm able. For now I will help out from here in the little ways that I can and continue to educate myself so that I can do some big things for them one day. God knows best. In His timing, it will all happen.