What Would Angelou Do?

The world feels a little emptier now, more hollow, less sincere, as we have lost a hero, a leader, a mother and a friend. Through her words, she will live on, through her wisdom, we will grow, and in her absence we must rise up and fill the void she left us with the courage and sagacity she always knew we had within us. 

As a writer, this is a call to action. As a woman, this is an awakening. As a human being, this is a chance to follow in the footsteps of the great human being we have lost.

In her passing, as a flood of her quotes fill Facebook and Twitter feeds around the world, one cannot help but to (or maybe it's just me) pause and take inventory of our lives. Not everyone will be remembered in the same way or in the same capacity that she is, but everyone has the ability to, as she once said, "Try to be a rainbow in someone else's cloud". Not everyone will publish great American novels, receive 50 honorary degrees and touch the hearts of millions with poems but everyone can be their own version of phenomenal.

So I ask, W.W.A.D? What would Angelou do? 

And I answer, be courageous. 

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues 

because without courage, 

you can't practice any other virtue consistently."

- Maya Angelou        

                       

         

Chocolate Compass is about more than just travel for the sake of travel. It's about opening eyes around the world, exposing ourselves to and exploring other cultures and taking steps towards understand and creating a better tomorrow.

 An' ain't we bad?

An' ain't we Black?

An' ain't we fine?

I want to write and I want to travel. Not only that, I want to encourage others to do the same. I don't need to make millions, I don't need a fancy house or shiny jewelry, I just want to be happy and to find ways to bring happiness to other. To me, that's success. To me, that's living.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, 

but by the moments that take our breath away."

I want to use what I love to a make positive changes in the world. I won't change the world as a whole, but I can put a dent in it. I can be a light and a rainbow to generations of youth who waste away, anonymously and quietly in the shadows of poverty and misfortune; the chocolate youth who haven't been afforded the same opportunities as others, whose interests aren't catered to and whose lives aren't always depicted in a positive light. I want to spend my life encouraging and exposing youth to people and places and things and ideas that may change their lives for the better.

Maybe that's too much to ask. Maybe it's not feasible in this economy. But as long as the necessity exists, so exists my desire to beat the odds and make that dream a reality.

Chocolate Compass WILL rise.
Chocolate Compass WILL not be defeated.
Chocolate Compass WILL be phenomenal.

"Nothing will work unless you do."

"Nothing can dim the light which shines from within."

                          

Dr. Maya Angelou

April 4, 1928 - May 28, 2014

Our Kids Don't Even Know They're Beautiful, How Do We Expect Them To Know They Matter?

If you had your doubts as to why projects like Chocolate Compass are relevant and necessary, please watch.

Post by The Page Formally Known As Nate Kizerian.

33

There is really nothing I can write here that can express this issue any better than these students have. 

 

As we still battle public and personal demons on a daily basis, as we feel the constant weight of needing to "prove ourselves" some how we must try to remember the words of Dr. Maya Angelou, "You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody". 

 

Easier said than done. Easier read than believed. But let's continue to raise awareness and continue to support one another because no matter how some may try they can never fully understand what it is like. They may empathize, and though the empathy is appreciated (as long as it is sincere and not for show), they will never be able to walk in our shoes. They will struggle to understand the weight and the pressure. They are not to blame. This is not a call to action against a people, it's a raising of awareness for our people. It's an acknowledgment, stating that it's tough, it's been tough and it will continue to be tough. 

 

We need to fill those gaps and have faith in ourselves as a culture and as a community because the pressure of being and feeling alone is too great a burden to bare. 33. It's not enough, yet it's more than enough. It's not enough to be an end but it's more than enough for a beginning.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Spread some chocolate love, y'all! 

Whether you're single, married, on-again-off-again, just keep spreading the love.

Thug Notes: Making Reading "Street" or "Trill"

Thug Notes is the main hookup for classical literature summary and analysis. What more can we say.

Your host, Sparky Sweets, PhD, takes you on a literary journey the only way literary journeys should be taken, like a thug, offering brilliant summaries and analyses of some of our favorite pieces of literature. From Hamlet to The Hobbit, Sparky Sweets tells it how it is once a week as he entertains and educates the masses. Minus the curse words, we wouldn't have it any other way.

More than just comedy, Thug Notes serves a legitimate purpose and has a following of well over 100,000. Started back in 2013, Thug Notes has produced over 45 videos and has received upward to 4.5 million views.

Some of our favorites:

To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee

Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Thug Notes is a prime example of "get in where you fit in". We ain't mad at ya! Keep 'em comin'!

Maya Penn: It's Never Too Early For Great Ideas

Naturally, when you see someone doing great things you want to help celebrate and help spread the word. When that someone is a chocolate drop set on making the world a better place you want to help raise them up even more and shout from the mountain top "There's hope for this generation yet!"

Maya Penn, age 13, is already deep into a career, something most people don't do until much later in life. She has yet to stroll the halls of high school but has already graced the stage of TED Talks,  The Steve Harvey Show and many other venues promoting Maya's Ideas, her Eco-friendly clothing and accessories as well as her educational animated cartoons (Maya Penn). 

Maya is proof that a little vision coupled with a sense of purpose can create something wonderfully grand. We love her heart, her spirit and, without a doubt, her hair and we can't wait to see what more she has in store. 

Good work, Maya! Chocolate Compass is proud of you! Way to be a part of the Chocolate Current!

Check out more on Maya: Maya's Ideas.

Just What The Doctor Ordered

When the animated children's show "Doc McStuffins" debuted, Dr. Myiesha Taylor, a physician with a 4-year-old daughter, was excited to see "child of color in a starring role... and she’s an aspiring intellectual professional, not a singer or dancer or athlete.” Taylor was inspired and later created an online collage featuring an image of little Doc surrounded by 131 photos of real-life African-American female doctors, writing: "We are trailblazers. We are women of color. We are physicians. We ARE role-models. We are Doc McStuffins all grown up!"

Since then, Taylor and other physicians have taken the "We Are Doc McStuffins" concept to a whole new level -- they founded an organization, the Artemis Medical Society, a new organization to support and nurture a "global sisterhood of women physicians of color," and have signed up more than 3,000 doctors and medical students from around the world. In addition to supporting practicing doctors and students, they also want to encourage more young girls of color to consider medicine.

In an interview with Ebony Magazine Taylor explains, “Doc McStuffins is important to me because I am that little girl. And it’s not just me. My female friends who are physicians have all been talking about Doc. We love what she represents... We didn’t have Doc or anything close to her on television when we were growing up. Many of the cartoons we watched contained stereotypes regarding minorities that would never be aired today.”

She continues, “In 20 years we should see the first group of medical school graduates who will say their dream of becoming a doctor began when they saw their first telecast of Doc McStuffins. Then someone can write the story or thesis about the Doc McStuffins effect on healthcare. Won’t that be amazing?”

To learn more about the  Artemis Medical Society, visit http://artemismedicalsociety.org/. To read the full article in Ebony, visit Ebony, "We Are Doc McStuffins".

The Chocolate Current

We love Black History Month here at Chocolate Compass, don't get it twisted. As you never know where you're going until you know where you've been, this year we'd like to focus not only on the history of our beautiful chocolate people but on the Chocolate Current, the present day chocolate people making history now.

We will never forget the blood, sweat and tears of our ancestors. To honor them we will highlight our chocolate warriors currently fighting the good fight and forging a path in the world, for without our chocolate past we would be nothing.

Let Go + Show Up = Grow

As a people, as a culture, especially our youth, we sometimes surround ourselves with people and things that do nothing but bring negativity into our world. It's so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when there's always someone or something there forcing you to look back at the darkness behind you. It's so hard to see the silver lining in the clouds when there are people and things around you constantly highlighting the rain. And it's even harder to rise up and shine when there people and things whose pull and weight on you is so great that you constantly mistake it as your own baggage or issues.

We like to say that there's nothing holding you back in the world but you. Easier said than fixed, I say. But there are steps to be taken to ensure that your path has less stumbling blocks and fewer back slides. We are a race and a culture whose greatest triumphs have and will continue to come through the face of oppression and adversity. We are a present, living reminder that we are more than what people think and show us to be. We are more. So be more. Do more. Show more. More than just show, show up more.

If you want positivity in your life, if you want growth and change and light and fun and prosperity and purpose and meaning then you must first show up. Take steps to being and doing just those things, those good things, and let go of all the people and things, the "haters and excuses" as you will, that are pulling you or slowing you down.

See and Be Seen

So often...too often...we are flooded with an overwhelming amount of negativity regarding our race and our culture. Every single day the media tries to sell us an impossible, not to mention inaccurate, image of what and who we are as a people and of what we should aspire to. We are celebrated on designated holidays and months, recognized for how far we have come only to be ignored and mocked and hidden when the sun is no longer shining on our days. 

We are athletes, we are entertainers, we are educators, we are visionaries but we are so much more. We need to encourage the media to promote the positives in our homes and communities year round.

How can we do this? With social media, of course. Get off World Star, as it promotes every negative stereotype that's been created for us--people aren't laughing with us, they are laughing at us. Promote and support black-owned businesses and products, not in a way that puts down everyone else, but in a way that helps to raise them up to shine among the rest.

Chocolate Compass wants to search the world, find the positives, the inspirations, the Chocolate Successes out there and shine some light their way. We you help?
 
We, like any other human on this planet, just want to be seen, heard and respected for what we have to offer this world. It is up to us to see and be seen.

What do YOU have to offer?

Chocolate Compass

Have a Chocolate New Year!!

On this, the first day of the year 2014, we begin our new year with hopes, dreams and promises. Our hope is to help make a change, our dream is to create once in a lifetime adventures, and our promise is to do all that we can to service all the chocolate hopes and dreams floating around out there. 

Have a Chocolate New Year! 

http://www.gofundme.com/chocolatecompass