THE COMPOUND GIVES BACK!

The Compound has kicked off their Brooklyn summer series Part 1 to benefit Dare to Dream , Create a Path, and Voices of New York. Supporting our causes to provide Creative Arts to youth for the greater good of their development! It's an honor to have been pick out to be showcased for the work VONY wants to do. They are supporting the 1st Annual Voices of New York Speak Youth Media/Arts conference this June 27th by raising money for the project and making sure that it is a reality for parents, educators and youth advocates to attend. FOR MORE INFO GO TO: www.thecompoundbkny.blogspot.com
SEE YOU THERE!!!!

Flow For Change Poetry Event Fundraiser!

The Flow for Change Poetry event fundraiser at Drom was a hit! We had some of the most inspirational poets perform for the cause of raising money for the 1st Annual Youth Media/Arts Conference this June 27th. We were able to make close to our goal and most of all we had a world premier screening of the Voices of New York Speak PSA (public service announcement) for our guests.

Our guests had a great time and enjoyed the spoken word of Marxman, Helen D. Lewis, Oveous Maximus, Kesed, from the HBO series Brave New Voices Joshua Bennet and Queen GodIs, and last but not least Def Poetry Jams very own Black Ice. These poets brought their own unique style and graced the stage with lyrics that moved, inspired, and gave us a good laugh.

Thanks to everyone who supported and contributed to making this Conference a reality for parents, educators and teaching artists to attend and discuss youth media and the education system and learn key tools that will assist with bringing our youth an updated school curriculum integrated with multimedia resources and creative arts programs.



Photos courtesy of M.Johnson

Interview w/ me on Coup d'etat Brooklyn

Coup d' etat interviewed me for their "Live to change something" section of their site, to check it out please click the link:
http://cdtbk.com/site/2009/05/vony/

VONY PSA photoshoot

Raw Diet Update!

Day 5 of my raw fast. So far it's been very challenging doing the fast during the winter time. The couple times I did the fast it was warmer weather, however I must say I am face to face with my will. I can honestly say I almost gave up the fast for a warm bowl of oatmeal until I realized I was faced with the decision to give up on my health. This fast has been very enlightening in the respect that I have been able to notice all my weaknesses and release them for strength. I have been eating lots of different salads mixing fruits, veggies, and nuts. I made some dishes that came out okay. I took avocado, tomato, garlic, lemon juice and mixed in chopper in to a dip which I used for broccoli florets and string beans to dip in. This actually was good, it made a great snack . I took carrots, garlic, lemon juice that I put in a chopper and stuffed into avocado halves, I drizzled raw apple cider vinegar and flax seed over top. This also was good, the carrots offered sweetness, and the garlic gave a spicy kick. I also made a chopped spinach salad, with avocado, sun dried tomato, cut up tomato, chopped cashews, tossed in pesto sauce. Now this was very flavorful. I am doing research everyday, learning the ins and outs of this diet. There are people that live on a raw diet everyday, who have given up the whole idea of cooking food practically dead for the benefits of live foods. There are restaurants, cook books, sites dedicated to Cooking live foods. The list of what one can eat and flavor with is quite extensive, though it takes a lot of creativity and trials before you can really enjoying cooking live foods. I have kept things for the most part pretty basic, I'm sure the more times I do this fast I will consider trying newer things. My intake of greens and fruits has been high and I realized how easy it is to eat junk rather than making a fruit salad or snacking on nuts or veggies. My son isn't on the fast with us 100%, he is fasting though from meat, sugar, dairy, processes foods, etc, he is enjoying high intake of beans, lentils, veggies, fish, fruit. For snacks instead of crackers or yogurt he has been eating carrots, grapes, nuts, he loves when I make raw apple sauce. He has been eating cooked foods, however I include raw every way I can, for example by chopping in spinach into his rice bowls, or tossing pasta with pesto and peas. Juicing has been great. My favorite juice is carrots, celery, beets, ginger, apples. This juice tastes great. If anything improved so far during this fast, it has been my ability to focus and think clearer. My husband is appreciating the fast he actually was my driving force when I started to come up with excuses to just stop. I can so far say it's going well, there is 9 days of the fast left, and then we have to ween back grains, fish, ect. thanks for stopping by. Peace and lite!