She was born 7:13, or has the clock read 1913
The doctor said she wasn’t the easiest birth
But she was born to be free, huh the irony
With a name as beautiful as a single rose in the park
That spark of hope in the dark
This is the story of Rosa parks

First December, Montgomery
A date and a place to remember
But she said “I never done this for you to remember me”
Well sorry Rosa your act of bravery will always be in our memories
An AA, no alcoholic, she was drunk of the essence off time
She felt laws preventing desegregation was a crime
So Jim crow be aware
Numbered is your time

After a long day of sewing, she weren’t prepared to cloak her feelings
So this seamstress seemed stress
The real shame was, the fact she was on a bus was seen as a progress
Cause she remembers when she was young, and had to walk to school
While the white kids had the bus driver as a personal chauffeur
And she kept walking (and kept walking) x3
Even doe Plessy fought Jackson in 1896
Which made us (separate but equal) x2
Hmm didn’t know segregation had its loopholes
But hay what do I know
Yet, loophole or no loophole, it was still a step forward
And just goes to show how we can all move forward, literally in this
case,
If just one person takes action
No one progresses as a coward

She wasn’t the first of her kind
A suffering African American
Nah, but she wasn’t the first of those too
I’m talking bout a revolutionist
Caused a revolutionary
It was fate that decided
That it will be her name that will be put down in history
But lets no forget the others
No caped crusaders
But their names and efforts seem to be covered in a shroud of mystery
1944 Jackie Robinson
Sarah Keys and Irene Morgan
Not to say their efforts where not important
But you need to understand that Rosa’s involvements in the fight for
black rights
Before this event was not dormant
And active member for the advancement of coloured people
Its weird, how colour can make some see others as feeble
Colour made some see others as lesser people
But on this day, this lady proved colour meant nothing
When it came to being equal

Now let me take you back 1955
Same year, just a couple months back
15-year-old Claudette Colvin also fought back
She also believed black was not just a throw back
So she stood up for her rights by also refusing to stand up for a white
But she was still a baby
But this foetus grew
Ate of the hate that was gave
Drank the piss take that the whites told them to behave
If you ask me it was a late birth
So don’t watch black time
You never complained when our freedom was delayed
But still
Time was ticking and the clocks where spinning
Like the veins on a windmill
Tick, tock, tick, then suddenly
The ice cracked and water broke
And labour was induced by the death of Emmett Till
It took some time but finally
Yes, December 1st 1955 a baby was born
Rosa parks, a mother, a mother of freedom
The mother of the freedom movement
As if she was married to the cause
She was the First lady of civil rights
As if a spokesman for the monarchy she gave the king a say
And he gave us he’s dream
And this gave us hope
Gave us strength
And in turn, gave us freedom
And there, my friends, black or white
I give you, the story of Rosa parks
A quiet protest that screamed freedom

Written by Mr Dauda Ladejobi

Poet of the Year 2014 – Tony Tokunbo Fernandez National Poetry Competition for UK Residents

Enotie Ogbebor was born in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. A prolific award winning Fine Artist and Singer/Songwriter .He says thus’’ I seek through consistent experiments to use my Art in the quest to encourage humanity to seek for Truth through beauty and harmony. I have been influenced deeply by an intuitive style of Painting, sculpting with colours perceptions/experiences of my environment, people and imagery that come to me.
Documenting his environment the good and the ugly, he has produced works that highlight the plight of child hawkers . These series of paintings focus on children exposed to the vagaries of the streets away from school eking out a living to support their families, a reflection of values gone wrong in society.

Regarded as a foremost authority on Benin Court Art, he has painted in documentary detail in his unique style and colours all the major festivals of the Benin Royal Palace. He recently photo documented & painted the Igue festivals in December 2010 with two world acclaimed National geographic photographers Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher. His works are included in the globally acclaimed book ‘’ Benin; Kings and Rituals’’ edited by Barbara Plankensteiner, His landscapes are breathtaking and cathartic, capturing the splendour of nature . They also document old architecture, the chaos and energy of city life, the rustic lifestyle of rural life, Enotie’s use of colour and texture is unique in the expression of his impressions.
The Carpetbaggers series showing capitalism at work man ,woman, business, hustle, the grind, progress, motion, stress ,resilience, success, challenges, chaos, upheavals, triumphs, the boom/burst of banking, stock markets, economies, the loss of identity, communalism ,privacy are captured in explosive colours and strokes uniquely Enotie’s style reflecting the energy of the bustle .
The mother and child series which captures the special bond which womanhood shares with her off spring. The hope & struggle to create a good environment for her children is humanising in its selflessness. something which transcends money and power.
The bouquet series captures a glorious moment in the life of the floral arrangement and holds it before the viewers gaze, Nature celebrates beauty, we all need to celebrate beauty more in our thoughts, words and deeds and eventually only beauty will be found in all things .
Enotie is a self taught multi-talented artist who has produced short 2D/3D animation as well as music. His obvious talent at an early age made his parents employ an Art teacher for private lessons at home. He has a degree in Economics/Statistics University of Benin Nigeria and has entrepreneurial experience.

He set up Curio studios a Fine Art/digital art studio in 1995 as a 24hour studio. The studio remains home to some of the leading contemporary artists in Nigeria and also we continue to train a lot of younger artists .
He was commissioned in 1996 by the Great Benin centenary committee to produce and organise National/International Art exhibitions to commemorate the Centennial commemoration of the British Invasion of Benin Kingdom in 1897.
His clients include The Oba Of Benin, UBA Plc, Polo, The FAAN in charge of all airports in Nigera, Templars Solicitors, Vetiva, The Ethnographic Museum Vienna Austria, GTB Plc, ACCESS Bank Plc, Quintessence Gallery, Ikoyi, Lagos, Terra Kulture V.I. Lagos, Nike Art Center Lekki, Lagos, Thought Pyramid, Abuja, Ed Cross Fine Art Ltd London.
Enotie has visited various global historical Art and culture places like the Parthenon and Acropolis in Greece, the Pyramids of Giza, Statue of Ramses in Egypt, Safaris in Kenya, Ethiopia, The Louvre in Paris, Art Basel in Switzerland, Museums and Galleries all over the world.

Selected Awards/Exhibitions
F.A.C.E awards for Best visual Artist of the Year 2014 Atlanta, Georgia USA.
L.M.A awards for best visual Artist 2014 Lagos, Nigeria
2011: Promises Kept, Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.
2010: Generational Statement, Thought Pyramid Gallery, Abuja.
2007: Eclectic Treasures, Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.
1997; Colours of festivity, Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre Benin,Nigeria
1996; Colours of festivity, Goethe institute Victoria Island ,Lagos
Contact
GSM:+234- 08057-319415
Email: enotimages@yahoo.com / enotimages@gmail.com
Artwanted.com, Saatchiart.com / enotie Ogbebor

ABOUT IBITOLA OJOYA ADEBAYO

Ibitola Ojoye-Adebayo is a graduate of the University of Portsmouth with a BSc in Pharmacology. She is a writer of Contemporary romance with a twist. Her writing is a portal into her mind and soul.  Sparked with a passion for gothic horror, mystery and romance novels; her top writing influences include Virginia Andrews and Stephen King. In 2013 she completed her first Novella “Acceptance,” a powerful testimony of love, Loss and Betrayal. “Into the darkness” is her sequel to “Acceptance.” When Ibitola isn’t raising three children with her husband, she continues to inspire and create in various online communities through her writing and research.

Overview of story:

Acceptance is a family drama about love, loss and betrayal and is the first of a series. The novel shows the tragic consequences of secrets and lies and what happens when an ordinary girl is let down and pushed to extremes by the people she loves; her husband and family.

The main plot is about Eva and her passionate relationship with husband, Richard, with a back story about her family history and her mother’s experiences in Nigeria during the Biafran war. As the story unfolds we discover that no one is quite what they seem and Eva gradually uncovers the truth about their deception with tragic consequences.

Book blurb to Acceptance: Into the darkness

‘There is that part of me that doesn’t want to think that we need to feel pain and to go into the darkness in order to see the light and to experience the beauty of life. There is another part of me that just wants to hide in the darkness, fearing what others will think of me when they see my own shame, the part of me that I unleashed so unexpectedly.
The thought of those betrayals, those horrible blows to my trust, cracking the very core of my being, made this dark nightmare I now inhabited feel a little more welcoming. But I could still feel the cold weight of the knife in my hand, feel it sinking into Richard’s soft flesh. I had to wake. I had to know if my anger and rage had turned me into a monster. I had to know what those cracks had set free……’

Official Book Trailer for ‘ACCEPTANCE’: http://youtu.be/8H2PevOR5Yk

Official Book Trailer for ‘INTO THE DARKNESS’ by …: http://youtu.be/Tz0siTbn2F8

On behalf of Ibitola, I wish to thank you again for your kind gesture.

Thanks and God bless you

Oluseyi Ogunlana

Public Relations Manager to Ibitola Ojoye-Adebayo

Phone: 07983220648

•  Rukayat Aderewa Basaru popularly known as Adebeauty love is a Speaker, Parent Governor, Entrepreneur and Mother.

  She has three Organisations in UK that help promote  Africans  both home and abroad in different ways i.e. Education, Immigration, Family Issue, Marriage/Divorce, children Advise, Youth empowerment, Employment, Business and many more.

  She has been nominated for different awards including International Achievers Awards and Life Changers Awards, MBE Awards, NEA Awards etc. She believes in giving back to the community like she always say, inspire before you expire.

  Adebeauty is a down to earth Role Model with lots of drive, energy and a selfless vision to serve and make a difference. She is very passionate about networking, community engagement and social harmony

  
  Founder of True African Heritage,
  Founder of African Business and Entrepreneur Networking,
  Founder/Award Coordinator of True African Awards
  http://www.trueafricanheritage.co.uk/
  http://www.meetup.com/African-Business-Entrepreneur-Networking/
  Email: trueafricanheritage@gmail.com
  Obasaru@gmail.com

The official Black History Month has now passed but the world will never stop presenting

us with events to document as part of our history. Tony Tokunbo Eteka Fernandez’s

mission has always been to remind the entire community to take ownership of our stories,

and preserve our African heritage.

On the 30th October, along with Zimlink’s founder- Zac Darkes, both men used their

organisations and respected positions, within the community, to produce the second edition of this historic event at London’s Houses of Parliament.

It was an empowering and inspirational day with an array of speakers which included

Lecturers, Historians, Professors and Community Leaders who each revealed what black history personally signifies to them.

As with many traditional African ‘storytelling sessions,’ music was included to enhance the

ambience and evoke the cultural theme. These who were still sleepy from an early start were fiercely awaked, as heads and feet couldn’t resist moving in rhythm to the drums and string percussion sounds.

Performances by Mosi Conde;- an artist from Guinea, who was followed by a group of

Zimbabwean artists;- Zee Guveya and his Heritage Band.

During the course of the morning, the essence of ‘storytelling’ and celebrating history

continued, as delegates senses were further ignited by informative talks from speakers,

who revealed new discoveries and essential aspects of Black History, whilst reminding

each and every person to always carry within their hearts, the legacies created by our

great heroes.

Jacqueline Wabara’s speech revealed some personal reference to her own life in order to share how her journey towards creating her organisation; the Miss Nubian Foundation which promotes heritage and unity amongst females of colour has now become a part of history. Jacqueline intends to continue her mission to inspire many more young women to create their own history by joining her legacy.

One vital message that hit home very hard was; – ‘we must celebrate the achievements of our

great historical leaders and as we do so, we must strive to create future leaders! The youth must be encouraged to aspire to be global leaders.’ Pauline Long is appealing to every youth and encouraging them to rise up and have a say in the development of our society.

This day brought pride and reminded us all to be thankful for our knowledge, power and liberty but to never take it for granted.  When you are sitting within the politically astute, Houses of Parliament;- a place where a multitude of decisions have been made, that have influenced all of our history and will continue to, you cannot help but give thanks for being a part the unique and great legacy of Black History.

Much in the way that many group associations were formed in response to civil war, apartheid and slavery, to re-establish unity and create peace, Zac Darkes, along with Zimlink manager-

Simba Chioto, are bringing this ethos back to life. Both of their speeches were breath taking and even included a cinematic documentary screening to reveal to delegates, that this global organisation- ZImlink;  are not only striving to create unity, but also to remind us that there is more to us as a people, than the legacy of slavery. Zac Darkes also went into depth about

Zimlink’s aims for future development and the establishment of links across Africa.

This annual event is an inspiration to the entire community. By creating this event, Tony

Tokunbo Eteka Fernandez has not only raised the bar in how we celebrate Black History

Month, as a community, but he has also highlighted the distinct differences between

success and extreme success. He is well known for his positive morale and abilities in

maintaining ‘Community spirit’ and this was felt throughout his event, as each delegate

walked away having danced, laughed and celebrated a renewed sense of unity. Tony’s

annual Black History Month event, succeeds in elevating the mindsets of attendees

because it ignites the pride within everybody!

From today, when we think of those great successful leaders and what they went through

on their journey, we must not forget to give thanks for their perseverance despite

suffering extreme injustice and trauma. For if they had not endured those great levels of

horror and made the crucial choices they did, then none of us would be where we are

today!

.

AUTHOR Nasilele Ailola

As well as being a gifted writer for various platforms and her own online magazine;( NVLife Mag)

Nasilele is also a Holistic Marketing, PR and Social Media Expert. This lady with a big heart is a keen advocate for great causes such as mental illness, gender abuse and many other causes which lie close to her heart. Her organisation Holistic Visions, has a mission to bring awareness and put holistic sector, health, wellness brands and charitable organisations on the map, as well promote their life changing services, products and events. To find out more about Nasilele, or read more of her written works, visit her website http://www.nasileleaiola.com.

Oscar is True African Heritage Awards nominee. As part of the management team of ZippedMultimedia, we recently won the best online TV and Educational Programs at the recent True African Heritage Awards in London.

He is a Media Persona, a professional Master of Ceremony, Inspirational Speaker and Entrepreneur.

He is currently the CEO of Train2inspire Consultancy (T2i) which is a business training firm for self employed professionals, SMEs and Corporate Organisations based in London. At the moment T2i have offices in Botswana, Ghana and Nigeria. T2i focuses on the training needs of businesses in areas of Management, Leadership, Customer Services, Change Management,

Business Coaching, Church Empowerment and Growth etc. T2i Consultancy was born out of the successful Radio and TV shows hosted by Oscar who had a great feedback and with the shows concentration on inspiration and business minded topics meant a lot of individuals,groups and organisations benefited from the discussions. Currently Train2inspire have built a wealth of Consultants that have been in the industry between 10 to 30 years experience that delivers our training programs across the Globe. For more information, you can visit

http://www.train2inspireconsultancy.com for more details.

Moreover Oscar have run successful businesses in the past. He was the CEO of Ospra Ventures which was a publishing house. He has a deep understanding of how the business world operates, how to stay competitive and differentiate your organisation from its competitors.  Ospra Consult was a subsidiary of Ospra Ventures and it was a very successful business training and development firm that dealt with the informal sector and small and medium enterprises in Ghana. It worked in partnership with the Business Advisory Centre, a Government Institution in Ghana to provide business training for the Small and Medium enterprises, the tourism industry and Corporate Ghana.

Furthermore Oscar is passionate about radio. He was the renowned Host of “THE

PLATFORM”, a Radio Talk Show on Fire Live Radio in London. ‘The Platform’ had

listeners averaging in over 50 countries at any point in time with a peak listenership of over 70 countries. Currently the concept of ‘The Platform’ is now dubbed ‘The Next Level TV Talk Show on ZIPPED TV which is shown every Sunday at 5pm Prompt UK time

http://www.zippedtv.com at Zipped TV2 and also viewers on Roku Digital Box can access it live

on their TV screens.

The TV Talk Show is about inspiring people towards achieving their dreams in today’s challenging world; creating a positive mindset capable of establishing a solid foundation forthe fulfilment of those dreams. ‘THE NEXT LEVEL’ TV Talk Show has hosted experts on various fields of endeavours and all works of life, discussing relevant topics capable of enhancing the capability of listeners in the pursuit of their dreams.

As a host, Oscar has developed insights into becoming a powerful Inspirational speaker

delivering speeches full of practical ideas specializing on YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE and

ENTREPRENEURSHIP. These insights together with his membership of Toastmasters

International, has given him the opportunity to learn and perfect his skills in Public Speaking.

He also have a powerful ministry where he empowers Christians based on Biblical principles to help them achieve their dreams and also develop training programs that help in Church Empowerment and Growth.

Oscar is a perfect Master of Ceremony for all your occasions, he understands how to mix professionalism with humour and engage your guests to leave your ceremony with a lasting memory. One of the biggest challenges as an MC is your ability to engage a multi-cultural guests and this is where Oscar and his team shines. Engage us and you will have value for money.

Oscar holds a Masters Degree from the prestigious Cardiff Metropolitan University majoring in International Marketing Management and International Business. His understanding of today’s business climate makes him a force to reckon with.

Bernadette Gaye Kerr is born in Jamaica.

She is now becoming the nation’s foremost inspirational writer. Her journey through life conveys message of hope, faith, patience and inspiration. She is a past student of the Bromley College of Further and Higher Education incorporating the University of Greenwich, London and Harrison Memorial High School a privately operated Christian School in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

In spite of her hurdles she has beat the odds by demonstrating that God has full control of her destiny and with God all things are possible. She is a qualified and experienced Business Administrator and is the Campus Manager at Global Institute of Certified Specialists, a government registered nursing institution in Jamaica. She is a member of the (AMT) American Medical Technologists, USA.

She is the Leadership Mind Ambassador Award (LMA) Best Female Author of the year 2014 and Black Entertainment Film, Fashion, Television and Arts (Beffta UK) nominee for Best Author of the year 2014.

She is well known for her contribution in motivating others especially students to rise above the hurdles or other limitations and to soar to new heights in achieving their career and personal goals. Her aim and aspiration is to enlightened the world especially the youth with her vision and inspiration that will make our world a better place.

Overcoming the Hurdles of Life is a book that will take you on an incredible journey, understanding how hurdles can affect an individual and how a solution can be made with hard work, commitment, consistency and spiritual interventions. She would love comments from readers. Please send correspondence to Bernadette Kerr email: binspirems@yahoo.com.

THE Africa4U ACHIEVEMENTS AWARDS FOR AFRICANS IN GERMANY TOOK PLACE YESTERDAY FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME AT THE EXCLUSUVE CHRISTYS WEST AFRICAN RESTAURANT IN BREMEN CITY-

THIS WAS ALSO A FOLLOW UP TO THE AFRICA4U ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS FOR AFRICANS IN HOLLAND WHICH TOOK PLACE EARLIER THIS YEAR AT Clubdafrique Rotterdam HOLLAND

6 AWARDS HAVE BEEN AWARDED TO GREAT OUTSTANDING AFRICAN ACHIEVERS IN GERMANY FOR ALL THEIR HARD WORK, PURPOSE AND VISION