Happy Tuesday Loves!!

Check out Keke Palmer’s vid for Man in the Mirror.

Be Inspired!

Drive, determination and pure talent are just a few of the amazing qualities that Gabrielle Clover displays! Taking off with the piano at age 9, Gabrielle took her instrumental ventures to a higher level by introducing herself to other musical elements like the violin, and choir.  She even took on the xylophone and snare drum in her high school percussion ensemble with no prior experience!  With great music teachers in piano and violin, Gabby competed in the Florida State Junior Music Convention annually, taking home state titles every year in events like sight reading, fiddling, and several duet categories as well.  Aside from music performance, she took on the theoretical side of music by studying in-depth music theory as well.  Although she is currently a full time student at Fordham University in New York City majoring in Psychology, she still has a passion for performing and making music in her spare time.

Let’s get to know this remarkable young lady better…

Music is a powerful tool to express yourself, how has it impacted your life?

Music has been my ultimate release and therapy.  I love performing for others because it’s a great way to express yourself without words.  Whenever you’re having a bad day, it’s such a great release to be able to channel any stresses or frustrations by playing beautiful music.

My favorite song to cover is actually one I’m working on now, “Someone Like You” by Adele.  The piano instrumental meshes so nicely with the violin I may do a couple more after this one! It took me about a week to learn completely, and right now I’m in the process of recording it so I can finally get it on YouTube.

First, I’d say embrace your true potential.  I believe in the saying “you can do anything if you put your mind to it,” and that includes music as well.

Second, you have to really want to play an instrument to accomplish your goal.  It doesn’t come easy, but is definitely possible if you truly work at it and are dedicated.

Third, go for it! Being a musician is such an accomplished feat, and is definitely possible for anyone who wants to do so.

I would love to perform with Alicia Keys on stage.  After seeing her perform live in concert I was absolutely amazed! She’s extremely talented and I admire her musical diversity.

Empowerment, to me, means embracing your true identity to the fullest and not being afraid to be yourself.  Target your inner talents and strengths, and take advantage of the beautiful woman that you are.

While I am currently in school as a psychology major, music is still a significant hobby for me.  In the next 5 years, I hope to continue performing and playing beautiful music. After graduating, I would love to begin teaching and to possibly find some ensembles to perform with.  Who knows, maybe one of my covers will get noticed by a celebrity!

Fave food would have to be cheez-it’s. I can eat those things all day!

Artist – it would have to be a tie between Erykah Badu and Dwele

Song – that’s a tough one…I have such a wide range of favorites because I listen to so many genres!

Celeb Crush – Will Smith is definitely a charmer!

Check out more of  Gabrielle …

YOUtube

Erykah Badu has an unmatchable voice with an eclectic style to match! Check it out…

The countdown to prom is right around the corner. Make sure you start planning early. Try to do trial make up, nails and most important hairstyles! Check out some natural hairstyles that will have you all glammed up this prom!

“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They’re what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm.” -Cicely Tyson

“I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved something, then there’s nothing left for you to work towards. I want to believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire life striving to reach the top of it. ” -Cicely Tyson

“You never know what motivates you.”  -Cicely Tyson

Happy Thursday!

Check out Asia Thompson as she covers Rihanna’s Princess of China and You Da One

Good Morning Ladies!

On February 26, 17 year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in his gated community as he was walking to a family member’s home from a convenience store where he had just bought some candy.

Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, admitted to police that he shot Trayvon in the chest. Zimmerman, the community’s self appointed “neighborhood watch leader,” called the police to report a suspicious person when he saw Trayvon, a young black man, walking from the store. 

When Zimmerman reported Trayvon to the police, they told him not to confront him. But he did and shot the unarmed 17 year old.  Zimmerman still hasn’t been charged for murdering Trayvon Martin.

Trayvon was an admirable teen and son.  Only at the age 9, Trayvon pulled his father from a burning kitchen, saving his life. He loved sports and horseback riding. He had a bright future ahead of him with dreams of attending college and becoming an aviation mechanic. In a split second it was all taken away from him.

CLICK HERE to sign a petition demanding that Florida’s 18th District State’s Attorney investigate the death of Trayvon Martin and prosecute George Zimmerman for his murder.

Hey Ladies make YOUR voice heard by signing the petition———-> CLICK HERE TO SIGN

Good Morning Fly Ladies!

Need a morning boost?? Check out Yuna- Live Your Life

“Find your light
Don’t hide from what you are
And rise before you fall
And hope for something more
Live if you really want to”

Hello Coremag readers,

Thank you so much for the nice comments following my first blog last month. It was well received. That is the reason I’m feeling the pressure for the one you are reading now. You know how when you do something so well the first time, that is what people come to expect from you all the time. The first time I gave a speech in front of thousands, everything just clicked. I didn’t stumble. I felt comfortable and relaxed. People could relate to what I was saying. It was a day where everything fell into place. Fast forward to March 17. I was speaking on postal closings in front of about 200 people. After standing there and yelling three times, “Are we fired up?” I started talking about the possible consequences of the US postal service closing 3700 post offices. I also talked about the National Save Our Post Offices Day which is April 6, 2012 that the Youth Move is sponsoring. It was a short and to the point speech. I felt is it was not as good as speeches I have given in the past. I have always heard the saying, “First impressions are the most important.” While that is true, the second counts for a lot also. Like Anita Baker I want to give the readers the best that I got, especially Coremag readers. I take my responsibilities seriously and want to do a good job.

Part of my responsibilities as a regional youth director is opening new youth chapters from Maine to Washington. At a recent meeting to open a new chapter, it hit me hard that so many African American people have been brain washed, especially the young people, to feel inferior. I first heard my mother use the term, “dumbing down” about two years ago. Lately, this has become a popular term in speeches. It was thrown at me long before it became a popular term in motivation speaking, but I only recently started paying attention to what it really means and how we as young people are really suffering from it. What is causing some young African Americans to dumb themselves down and more important, how is it that sometimes we don‘t even realize we are doing it.

When talking to groups of young people for the first time, I always ask them to introduce themselves as an ice breaker. Nobody wants to go first. Everybody look around to see who is going to be the first to stand and say something. I can tell by the looks on some of the faces that they want to say something but are afraid someone is going to make fun or laugh at them. That is when my mother will step up and say, “So, we have no leaders in here?” Usually after that, somebody will stand up and introduce themselves. Why did it take an adult, to question our ability, before somebody had the courage to stand up and speak? Why do we wait for someone else to go first when we are capable of doing it first ourselves? How come we do not tap into the power that we all possess but is to afraid to unleash? What makes us commit, “dumbing down?” The word that comes to my mind is a word I’ve heard a lot in the past year, suppression.

We have been so suppressed as a people that we are afraid to let our light shine. As I write this, I realize that even in church, we sing, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.” How come we can’t have a big light? People of other cultures are never afraid to be the best they can be. It is expected of them. I have never heard anyone ask an Asian youth if he or she can dance or rap. At the Apollo Theater in New York city, I see young Asians doing mind blowing dance moves, but that is not how society view them. Can they dance or rap is not what come to mind. Usually it is, “can they tutor my child in Math or Science?” When I watch the national spelling bee, I see Caucasians sweat when they are spelling beside someone of Indian descent but have no fear if an African American is standing there. If it is a talent contest, other ethnic groups are nervous as can be against young people of color. Why would I, as a 12 year old, notice stuff like this? When you live with my mother you have no choice! Every time she points out perceived social stereo types, I will see something later that day or the next day that proves her point. I always get the, “See God is confirming what I told you.” look.

The meeting to open up the new youth move chapter was an evening packed with the, “See God is confirming what I told you.” look. My mother is chairperson of the Youth Move Adult Advisory Committee, so she is always advising. The frustrating part is, she is mostly always right in her advising, and God will give me confirmation pretty soon afterward she knew what she was talking about. If I miss God’s confirmation, mom is going to point it out with a look or with a forceful verbal “I told you and God confirmed it.”

Back to the meeting. I ask the question, “who likes rap music?” The room became alive. All of a sudden, everyone had something to say. When we were talking about issues such as gangs, drugs, bullying, and school closing nobody had much to say. Bring up the rap music, and I had to stop everyone from talking at once. My mother was upset that music was more front and center than the problems we face as a people until one of our young adult advisors told her that music was something that everyone in the room could relate to. I then followed up the rap question with the “n” word, the “h” word, and the “b” word that is used so much in the music that our young people listen to. There were a lot of different opinions, but too many of the young people didn’t mind being degraded in the music they listen to.

My mother used that moment to say something that made everybody in the room, with the exception of one person, to think really hard about not only what they are listening to, but to who they are listening to. She told them that she had noticed whenever P Diddy or Jay Z pose for Vibe, Source or a hip hop magazine they always had the hood or gangster look. The clothes are always hoodies, mean and tough faces, bling everywhere, alcohol in the shot, any and everything that represent the hood. Now let’s flip this to Forbes magazine which my mother subscribes to along with magazines like Fortune. Jay Z has on a suit standing beside Warren Buffet. When Diddy poses besides Donald Trump for magazine covers he is wearing a suit looking like the millions he is worth. They talk about their financial blueprints for increasing their wealth. They talk about their stock portfolio. The magazines that make their way into the corners stores, that stands beside the liquor stores, which stands beside the check cashing place, have the ‘keeping it real in the hood’ articles, and nothing about financial literacy. The magazines you find in downtown doctor offices, first class in airplanes, news stands on Madison ave, and upscale spas and salons, have the millionaire rappers standing beside their billionaire friends and the articles are about their financial blueprint. This is what my mother tells the group. Only one person gave a comment that made us go “huh”. She said we (meaning African Americans) didn’t want to see our rappers in suits so we wouldn’t buy magazines that highlighted them as successful businessmen. We wanted to see the hood shots.

It is so sad that we don’t expect the best from the entertainers that our communities made rich. We don’t care what they call us, how they portray us, or how they brainwash us. A day after Martin Luther King’s birthday, Kanye West and Jay Z’s song, N_ _ gas in Paris, went to first place on the Billboard record chart; the first song to contain the “N” word to become number one. How sad that Martin Luther King was probably called an “N” word before James Earl Ray shot him. I don’t believe Ray said, “let me go shoot Mr King.” No, I believe he used the “N” word before pulling the trigger. The very word that Dr King and others suffered being called every day was in the title of the number one song on the Billboards chart during his birthday week. Now we have people that are not African Americans feeling so comfortable in using that word again that it is even used against our President. If only our entertainers would use that power they have for something good instead of taking us back to the 60’s when the The Ku Klux Klan, George Wallaces and Bull O’Connor’s used it so freely to degrade and suppress us.

Though music and media, we are led to believe that we need two hundred dollars Nike’s so badly that we will stand in line for hours and break mall windows to get a pair. Kids pay a hundred and fifty dollars to see a Itty Bitty Wayne concert, but will not go to a free educational class. We are better than that. When are we going to start acting like we are better than that? A lady saw our 11 year old male secretary to the Youth Move reading a book that was meant for older students. She actually told him how surprised she was to see a young person reading. We know she meant a young male person of color. We are NOT inferior. We deserve fine dining and knowing the salad fork from the dinner fork. We deserve to ride in first class. We deserve to read Fortune, Forbes, Bloomberg News, and The Wall Street Journal instead of XXL which is totally degrading. We deserve to dress in suits and dresses instead of too tight skirts and below the butt pants. We deserve to know about bail bonds instead of stocks and bonds. Our young people should be making money on Wall Street and not on the corner of the street. We deserve the best, but if we can’t see our own self worth how can anyone else know our value. I’m determined to let other young people know they are priceless. Thanks for reading reading and I will see you next month in my little corner of the world.

-Victoria Pannell

“Travel the world and have the time of your life”is the motto that world traveler Nathan Fluellen lives by! Nathan has traveled to four continents covering 30 countries including Taiwan, Vatican City, Mexico, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Sweden, and England just to name a few! Inspiring and educating others about numerous cultures, Nathan continues to motivate and empower young people to conquer their dreams and live a life they have always imagined!

Let’s get to know Nathan Fluellen better….

What first motivated you to create a life based on traveling the world?

The motivation started in college while attending Tennessee State. I came to a cross roads when I started to think about what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life as I approached graduation. A large portion of my family has traveled or lived abroad. My classmates at TSU were doing amazing things and I wanted to do something amazing too. And my college professor was the tipping point when he challenged me to see more countries then him. He has been to over 80 countries at the time so my goal has become to hit the century mark and visit 100 countries. During a trip to Roatan it become more evident as I was walking on a white sand beach I dawned on me that it would be selfish for me to continue to have these amazing experiences and not share them with people.

I’m sure you have thousands of places you love but what are your top 3 places to visit and why?

South Africa, the motherland, I was blessed to spend two weeks in SA and visit Johannesburg, Kruger Park, Cape Town and Durban. Each place had its distinction and the common factor that made each location wonderful were the people. The people of South Africa have the warmest spirit; the people always make a country memorable.

Rio de Janeiro the energy of the city is non-stop. The food, music and beaches are electric. Rio feels like visiting an alternate universe to the States because the history, music and culture all developed from the new world exploration. The city is a gorgeous with its mix of tropical weather, city life and beaches. All the people are gorgeous and welcoming too.

Roatan, Honduras is an island off the coast of Honduras and it is perfectly underdeveloped. Divers mostly visit here but it has the perfect balance of luxury and old world charge. The second largest great barrier reef runs along the island that makes for warm, calm water and the best snorkeling and scuba diving in North America.

Sometimes young people are nervous or worried about traveling outside of the country, why is it important to travel the world? What does it teach you?

My college professor quoted the rapper, The Rza in his book when he said “a wise man is a traveling man”. That statement holds true because the world is a diverse place, not everyone does things like we do in the States. When you visit another country and see an entire nation do things different your perspective changes, you see new possibilities and appreciate different approaches to life. Traveling is instinctive because anything can go wrong and you can be miles away from home but you learn how to be responsible, courteous to others, your own accountant, and utilize networking skills. `

When creating your amazing life of jet-setting, what was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?

The biggest obstacle was balancing earning a living and traveling. Once I figured out how to generate cash flow to fund my traveling then the ball started to roll a lot easier.

You’re always on the go visiting incredible places around the world, what are 3 pieces of advice would you give to teens who want to travel the world?

1. Network before you travel by using websites like courchsurfing.com to meet people locally. A local contact can make a world of difference.
2. Contact tourism boards, their job is to provide you with all the information you need to have a wonderful trip so you can come back home and spread the word about what a great time you had and other people will come visit.
3. Travel with your ears and not your mouth. Traveling is great but with the good comes the bad and there are people who target tourists. Being the loud America in an unfamiliar environment can lead to bad results. Be wise as a serpent and humble as a dove is what my mother always says.

C.O.R.E is all about empowerment, What does empowerment mean to you?

Empowerment is educating yourself. Take every opportunity to learn as much as you can and you will do yourself the ultimate justice. Knowledge is definitely power.

Fun Faves- Food? Song? Artist? Quote?
Food
Seafood: crayfish, lobster, shrimp

Artist
Fela Kuti, Kanye West, Little Dragon, Lykke Li, Common, Mos Def, Grizzly Bear

Quote
Matthew 10:16
be therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Check out more Worldwide Nate here…

World Wide Nate

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