Last night during our church instrumental rehearsal, I had the opportunity to speak to some of our soon-to-be high school Juniors about my education and career. While the purpose of our ministry is to use the talents we’ve been given to glorify God, the adult leaders in the group felt it was also important for us to make sure the youth could benefit from some of our life experiences as they prepare for college. We didn’t want to lecture them about the “old days” and we wanted it to be in a relaxed environment where they could ask questions.
(more…)

When the economy is rough, people have to tighten the strings when it comes to giving. Scholarship programs are either funded less or cut, making it harder for you to pay for your college education. Finding scholarship money for college can take a lot of time and effort. There are essays to write and applications to fill out, but the end results are definitely worth the time.

I received and email from BlackStudents.com informing me about the 2009 Scholarship Guide and wanted to share it with the readers of this blog. It looks like you have to sign up online to get the guide and someone most likely will call you to get more information, but it’s FREE so it may be worth it. If I decide to sign up for it, I’ll post my opinion of how helpful the guide was to me. Below, I’ve posted the link to the site and some extra info on what’s included in the scholarship guide.

FreeEducationGuide

Free Education Guide gives you access to over 1,900 colleges and university’s across the country and even includes scholarship information to help you pay for it! There’s no excuse good enough to ignore your dreams!

A college degree is as important as ever these days! The path to earning that degree starts with having information on how to go about it! The 2009 Free College Education Guide can be the roadmap to a better and brighter future.

* A free guide to over 1,900 college and universities!
* Scholarship and grant information to help you pay!
* Information on how to earn your Bachelors or Masters degree in just 24 months!

For those who saw the title and thought they were going to read something about services within the adult industry, click the BACK button and try somewhere else. For those looking for government job placement training “for adult individuals”, then continue reading this post. Adult Services encompass workforce investment programs and initiatives that provide millions of adult workers with workforce preparation and talent development services, and help employers find the skilled workers they need. Activities promote and facilitate an integrated public workforce system through which a full array of services is offered. These services are available to workers and employers through the national network of One-Stop Career Centers.

I’ve gone through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Adult Program and they offer some great services for people who’ve been laid off or terminated at their job. Times are still tough and sometimes we need new skills to compete in the workforce. If you are eligible take advantage of what the WIA has to offer. Th training I received was top of the line and best of all it was free. This helped a lot especially since I didn’t have an income from a job to help pay for the training. For more information, visit the link below and visit your local workforce office.

Workforce Investment Act — Adults and Dislocated Workers Program

The twitter explosion has begun and more people are flocking to it as a means of communicating with a mass audience. I get a lot of follow requests via Twitter. Some are worth sharing and the account for StandUpStickOut is tied to a website called Faces Of Our Children.

Faces of Our Children is a Non Profit Organization formed to educate the general public on issues concerning Sickle Cell Anemia and other diseases. The mission of Faces of Our Children, Inc. is dedicated to raising awareness, support and funding for the fight against sickle cell disease worldwide in cooperation with the Howard University Center for Sickle Cell Disease through the development and delivery of educational programs and materials via the internet and mass media at work sites and schools and through community-based organizations that will help effectuate progressive public policy and increase both government and corporate funding in order to significantly improve the lives of families with sickle cell disease and ultimately eliminate this deadly disease that afflicts not only people of color but people from India, Greece, Italy, the Middle East, South and Central American and the Caribbean.

For more information you can follow StandUpStickOut at twitter.com/StandUpStickOut.

I found out about Dallas South Blog via Google while searching for more information about Tavis Smiley’s visit to the Dallas area. I started reading the articles and was hooked on the very well-written, informative posts about the southern sector of Dallas. Due the fact that South Dallas had a large African-American population, the blog became my source of information for what was going on in the community.

Over the last couple of years, Dallas South Blog has grown into a popular online destination for those looking for stimulating political/social dialoug on a local and national level. This growth is largely due to the efforts of blogger Shawn Williams. But with growth, comes new oppotunities to take what you do to a higher level. This is where Dallas South News comes into play.

The Dallas South News will be a nonprofit organization utilizing technology, journalistic principles, and social media to empower and inform diverse communities.  It will provide news coverage in the areas of local politics, education, health, housing, as well as commentary on state and national politics. As with all nonrpofit organizations, help is needed to keep it running and there are three things you can do to get involved.

So, now that I’ve captured your attention, click here to learn more about how you can participate in the Dallas South News endeavor.

Here in Texas, Fort Worth ISD is closing all schools until May 8th due to Swine Flu concerns. The first closures that I’d heard about were in Richardson, TX and there’s talk of more to come. Check out the Star Telegram to learn more about the closings.

Here are some things you can do to protect yourself and lessen the chance of you catching the virus:

• Stay informed. This website will be updated regularly as information becomes available.
• Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
• Take everyday actions to stay healthy.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.
• Stay home if you get sick. CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
• Follow public health advice regarding school closures, avoiding crowds and other social distancing measures.
• Develop a family emergency plan as a precaution. This should include storing a supply of food, medicines, facemasks, alcohol-based hand rubs and other essential supplies.

Call 1-800-CDC-INFO of visit the Center for Disease Control website for more information.

Here are some events in the Dallas and Houston area that I wanted to share.

source – dallassouthblog.com
What: “The Roadmap to Recovery” workshop
Date: Monday, April 20, 2009
Time: 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Location:
The Music Hall at Fair Park
909 1st Ave.
Dallas, TX 75210

The workshop is designed to bring together representatives of financial organizations and federal and state agencies, who will share information on ways for North Texans to access economic recovery funding.

Financial organizations that are sending representatives include Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Dallas and the Dallas Small Business Development Center. John Podvin, an attorney at Haynes and Boone, LLP, will speak about the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) and newly-created Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP).

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert will also give remarks at the workshop.

To RSVP for the workshop, please call Congresswoman Johnson’s office in Dallas at (214) 922-8885 or e-mail recovery.ebjohnson@mail.house.gov. To submit a question to the panelists, e-mail recovery.ebjohnson@mail.house.gov, specifying which agency or financial organization the question is directed to.

source – noahknows.org
Autism Awareness Month Continues at Texas Southern University The Department of Human Services and Consumer Sciences
Monday, April 20, 2009
12:00 Noon

Cynthia Singleton Presents
“Top Ten Things A Parent Wants You to Know About Autism”
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
11:00 am

Officer Mark Caronna Presents HPD’s Autism/Alzheimers Emergency Response Program
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Dr. Dawn”Dee” Jackson Bradford Presents
“The Joy of Parenting A Child with Autism”

For more information contact Kim Dixon (Noah Knows!) @ 713.313.7630 or kim4child@sbcglobal.net

In the comments are of my post about the Sallie Mae scholarship, I was asked to share the Planning and Preparing for College blog with you all. The blog is a college preparation infrastructure for high school students, parents, undergraduates and graduates students. The blog has over 250 postings on scholarships, internships, fellowships and summer programs.

I checked it out and it really is very informative. Not only do you get information for getting in college, they also have some inspiring posts to get keep you motivated on your quest for higher education. During these tough economic times, finding money for college can be tough. But if you start early and reference this website, you’ll be on your way.

I received this information in the comments section of the previous post and thought I’d share it.

Hi guys! This Conference sounds to be great! They have very interesting panels on identity and a featured panel on Barak Obama and you can also make a real African Safari… The Institute of Identity Research (IDmap) announces an international conference on Identity Politics on the Internet to be held in Kenya on the 27th to 29th of August 2009. The aim of the Conference is to create discourse in the area of Identity politics on the Internet and other related topics.

The Conference will be graced by several leading scholars who have written and researched extensively on issues of Identity. We hope that this conference will result in solutions and better understanding of the problems facing issues of identity in the contemporary context.

AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
IDENTITY POLITICS ON THE INTERNET
August 27-29, 2009
Organized by Institute of Identity Research (IDmap)
http://www.idmap-conferences.net
Will be held in Amboseli Wildlife National Park, Kenya
Featured panel: Barack Obama’ Election and Kenyan politics of Identity:
Will he identify himself with the World or with his People?

• The deadline for submission of the Abstracts is 01.05.2009 (200-500 words) in Word or PDF formats
• The deadline for submission of full-text papers is 01.07.2009 Preliminary program of the Conference includes the following panels:
• Kenyan 2007 Presidential elections and the Internet
• Traditions and Identity in Kenyan politics: Barak Obama as a Luo representative of Kenyan identity politics
• Facebook and Identity: do old ethnicity definitions still matter?
• World Identity politics: Case-studies and Comparative Analysis
• Parties and recruitment in the digital world
• Gender, ethnicity and empowerment: what is better to be a white man or a black woman?
• When religion comes to the Internet: the new ways to build and reinforce religious identity
• Government on the Internet: new ways to preserve Nation-state and its identity on the Net
• New English and E-Linguistic: jargon and vocabulary of Internet campaigns

Participants are welcomed to join the following working groups:
• Computers and identity
• Culture and identity
• Mathematical expressions of identity
• Internet and Politics
• Internet Vocabulary

Best Identity MA/PhD Thesis work award:
During the conference the Institute will award the best MA/PhD work submitted for the evaluation. The work should reveal an original and innovative approach in the field of Identity with its expression on the Internet. Information regarding submission procedure can be found on our site or through direct contact of our Administrators.

http://www.idmap.net

Just a quick reminder. The American Dream Scholarship Program is accepting applications. The deadline to submit your application is April 15th and the award amount is from $500-$5,000.

APPLY NOW