Bright Eyes, Brown Skin (the childrens book)

My daughter Nadja is 1 year old as of May 4, 2007. She received a gift for her birthday, a book by Cheryl Willis Hudson and Bernette G. Ford with illustrations by George Ford, title 'Bright Eyes, Brown Skin'. The book has been around for a while because I remember purchasing it for my nephew when he was 3 years old, he is 9 now.

I am writing about this book because I am able to see the immediate difference it has made in my child. My nephew lived in TN and I in MS so I don't know the day to day experiences he had but my daughter, during the first time I read the book to her, sat still and was very attentive as I was reading to her. She saw young black children playing together, smiling, enjoying each others' company, playing dress up and being tucked in for bed or nap time. My 1 year old is imitating these depictions of these children.

Last night, when I wanted her to go to bed, I simply said, 'Warm and toast, and all tucked in' which is the last line of the book and my 1 year old grabbed a blanket to lay down. SHE GOT IT, AT SUCH AN EARLY AGE!

Now, I am thinking, what did I miss when I was her age. The answer, POSITIVE IMAGES, IMAGES OF BLACK CHILDREN THAT LOOKED LIKE ME DOING POSITIVE THINGS.
The illustrator of the book and the authors and editors, chose to put the colorful full of life and warmth illustrations on bright white paper making the children almost glow. This book makes my daughter feel good about herself at 1 year old.

If any of you out there know the authors, tell them I said THANK YOU! and not just for putting the book out there but for the choices made about how the book looks and for lines like "...lips that kiss. A perfect nose. Very special hair and clothes." THANK YOU FOR HELPING MY CHILD SEE THE BEAUTY IN HERSELF!

In peace,
Jolivette 'the poet warrior'

The Dancing Nadja

On yesterday, we attended a birthday party for Chase, Heidi's little princess. Nadja had a good time and it was good for me to see her interacting with other children.

The Weekend was filled with Sam Cooke, sleep, cleaning (believe it or not) and a few phone calls and text messages wishing me a happy mothers day (more on that in a minute).

I noticed Nadja moving her feet to the sound of music. She use to simply rock her upper body back and forth and I was glad to see she has rhythm. I was throughly surprised to see her stomp her feet and step back and forth to the beat. I guess she will take after her father in that respect, he is a professional dancer / choreographer from Ivory Coast, Africa.

The joy in her eyes as she stomps her feet and tries to rock her upper body at the same time, the laughter and the happiness inside of her is humbling to me. I am so proud to be her mother yet I feel so horrible that she does not have a father in the home loving her. Being a single parent is not something I ever wanted to do because I know how important a father is to children and how important a husband is to a wife. Unfortunately, father is absent. I will do my best but I know I can never fill that void in her life and Nadja deserves the best.

Mother's Day for me was not good. My brother, Jethro Jr. called and said, Jamir (my nephew) and I called you earlier to tell you Happy Mothers Day. My response was 'yeah, well, whatever'. He laughed and said, "aw, I guess we could have kept that." I replied, "Yep, pretty much." He said, "Jolly, it will get better, once Nadja starts bringing you hand made cards from school with 'I love you' mispelled and a heart cut with some jagged sissors- you'll look at it like, damn, this look like a real heart, for real."

He made me laugh like he always do, my little brother! He is one of the reasons why I know that BABBIES NEED DADDIES. My baby brother and my dad (amen-ase) are two other reasons.

Peace,
J.

Nadja is 1 !

On May 4, 2007, Nadja turned 1 year old. On May 5, 2007, Natasha Duncan & Dwaine Jengelley hosted a "Jerk Chicken" party for her at my home. In attendance were:

Jolivette & Nadja (of course)
Heidi Freeman and her daughter Chase
Bill & Katie Pope and their daughter Ellie
Odesma Dalrymple
Iman
Chen
Rachel
Cynequa
Kellie Green
Harry and Deena Targ

With Email greetings coming from:

Leo Pate (Nadja's Uncle in Canada)
Laurence (Grand Aunt -grand ma - in London)

She wrote:

NADJA YOUR ARE ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!!!
JOYEUX ANNIVERSAIRE A TOI !!!

SCATTERED ALL OVER THE WORLD AND VOICING FROM LONDON, CANADA, FRANCE , ITALY , AFRICA , AND TAGOURA THE DEEP VILLAGE OF YOUR GREAT GRAND FATHER WITH LOVE WE WISH YOU A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

AS PART OF THE BIG FAMILY YOU ARE NOW BLESSED AND CALLED AFTER ONE OF YOUR GREAT GRAND MOTHER :YADY SHE WAS A BEAUTY QUEEN A STRONG LEADER THAT NO ONE COULD HAVE FACE BUT VERY PEACEFUL

I WANTED TO CALL BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT WAS YOUR OFFICE NUMBER ANYWAY LOOK AFTER YOURSELF WELL AND ENJOY THE PARTY WITH NADJA AND OTHERS

IN PEACE
LAURENCE THE GRAND MOTHER IN LONDON

WISH YOUR ARE KNOWN AS US ACCEPT MY BLESSING TO BE CALL HAUMONON MEAN NEVER LOST TODAY ACCEPT MY POWER AS A YOUR GRAND MOTHER TO CALLND SEND YOU ALL THE BLESSING WE LOVE YOU