is a lifestyle, news and entertainment site for intelligent readers who enjoy reading about all things trending in music, politics, sports and business.
Well, well, well… it was another eventful week and #BrooklynGirlCode™ has all the highlights! Parents-to-be Rihanna & A$AP Rocky exchanged vows in A$AP Rocky’s new music video for his song “D.M.B.” Drake tried his hand in the ancient sport of Fencing in Future’s new video “Wait For U” featuring UK singer TEMS. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited war-stricken Ukraine and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy making Pelosi the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the country since the war began. The stars came out in droves this past Tuesday for Vogue’s annual invite-only Met Gala. And lastly, Muslims all over the world celebrated the end of thirty days of fasting during the month of Ramadan with Eid-al-Fitr on May 2nd.
It was definitely a week for the history books but now that the weekend is here, we can kick back, relax and be happy that we made it! What are your plans for the weekend? Whatever you do, just make sure you enjoy yourself! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode™ <3
Special Google banner designed by Thoka Maer displayed on March 8th, 2022 honoring the progress of women worldwide.
I’m so happy The Creator made me a WOMAN!!!
All over the world women are idolized for their strength, courage and their ability to give life to other humans. And although modern technology has changed the way women are viewed, there’s no changing the genuine DNA of SHE! So, if you’re a woman reading this then today is your day! Celebrate your womanhood especially today on International Woman’s Day. Do something ultra-feminine and be happy that The Creator made you a Woman! -xoxo 🌺💕❣️🎁😎
Kanye West gets trolled by popular British cartoon Peppa Pig.
They say when you’re on top that everyone is going to come for you! Well surprisingly cartoons are not exempt from this group! Kanye West dropped his highly-anticipated tenth studio album Donda this past week and PeppaPig was caught trolling the Chicago rapper in a now-deleted savage and sassy tweet! The popular British animated pig who is no stranger to music also recently dropped her sophomore studio album titled Peppa’s Adventures: The Album. Peppa Pig’s album (which we’re sure is way more kid-friendlier than Kanye’s) was given a higher rating (6.5) by Pitchfork. Unfortunately, Kanye’s Donda album only received a 6.0 rating by the publication.
Well, it didn’t take long for Peppa Pig to let the world know on Twitter that her album was rated higher than Yeezy’s! Peppa Pig got into savage mode real quick taking shots at Yeezy for the whole world to see! Shortly after Peppa Pig’s official twitter account posted the tweet, it was deleted. Still, this has to be the funniest thing we’ve seen all week and we had to share.
Moral of the story… don’t mess with Peppa Pig and her music! Check out the bossy tweet from Peppa Pig’s official Twitter account below! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode <3
Peppa Pig’s official Twitter account trolls Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ album on September 1st, 2021.
Zaila Avant-garde shows off her pretty new hardware after winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee on July 8th, 2021. Photo courtesy of Scripps National Spelling Bee Instagram account.
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the word “Murraya” is defined as a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees (family Rutaceae) having pinnate leaves and flowers with imbricated petals. However, to a young 14-year-old girl from New Orleans, Louisiana by the name of Zaila Avant-garde, the word “Murraya” means a whole lot more than that!
On July 8th, 2021 Zaila Avant-garde made history by becoming the first African-American (Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica was the first Black contestant to win the title in 1998) to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the competition’s 96 year history. The event which was televised live on ESPN on Thursday evening drew a VIP crowd including First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden who was there to witness Avant-garde become a national champion! In addition to her spelling talents, Avant-garde also enjoys playing basketball and holds three Guinness World Records for dribbling the most basketballs at one time. She’s amazing! With everything going on in the world right now, it’s little victories like these that are so special.
Congrats to Zaila Avant-garde and all the contestants of this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee. Watch the video of Avante-garde becoming a national champion by spelling the word “Murraya” below. It was the twirl at the end for us! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode <3
Black Panther Party founders Bobby Seal and Dr. Huey P. Newton in front of the official Black Panther Party headquarters. Photo courtesy of Jason Porter Pinterest page.
Today marks the 84th birthday of Black Panther Party founder, political activist Bobby Seale. Bobby Seale was born in Liberty, Texas on October 22nd, 1936. The oldest of three children, Bobby Seale moved to Oakland, California with his family when he was eight years old. Seale would later go on to form the very controversial, but very important Black Panther Party along with Dr. Huey P. Newton in Oakland in 1966. The party which eventually dissolved in 1982 aimed to inform and educate African-Americans on their civil rights and provide free food to residents in inner-city communities.
Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale. Photo courtesy of The Washington Post.
In his later years, Seale wrote a few books, starred in popular television documentaries and became a college professor teaching Black Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA (where my Temple Owls at?!). At 84 years old, Bobby Seale is still on the move educating and empowering. Happy Birthday to a true American Legend! And thank you for coming together with Dr. Huey P. Newton to form the Black Panther Party because two intelligent Black men are better than one! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode.🖤
Photo of Black Panther Party founder Bobby Seale. Photo courtesy of Moor Info.
#BrooklynGirlCode™ Creator Aziza Hassan in Brooklyn, New York on June 3rd, 2020.
You couldn’t have told me three months ago that this would be the state of the 🌍 today! Everyday it seems like something new is threatening our normal lives. It feels like we’re living in the Apocalypse. As humans and as a Black woman—especially, I’m aware of struggling and facing adversity first hand. But I’m also aware that my ancestors have been through much worse. The events that are currently taking place in America are a clear reminder that we have a whole lot of work to do and that we have to keep pushing. This is what makes us who we are! So please stay strong and keep striving because there is a higher power stronger than all of this chaos! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode™ 🖤
Cover Art for The Last Poets 1970 self-titled debut alum.
The year was 1968. In Harlem and all over the world an uprising was occurring due to the major events that had taken place earlier in the decade. For African-Americans, it seemed like all hope had been lost. All of our prominent leaders had been either erased or shot down by mysterious forces.
To call yourself a musician or an artist in today’s world and not be aware of The Last Poets and what they did for the music culture and American culture—period is an atrocity (in my opinion). You better do your research! And with all that is going on in the world right now, this is the perfect time to do it!
On May 19th, 2020 @ 7pm EST, we will be celebrating The 50th Anniversary with an epic livestream event! Video Music Box, UHHM and Seeds of The Last Poets presents: “Bridging the Gap: An Evening of Conversation w/ The Last Poets.” The virtual event hosted by legendary VJ Ralph McDaniels of Video Music Box will feature appearances from Rakim of Eric B. & Rakim, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Chubb Rock, Doug E. Fresh, Jessica Care Moore, KRS-1, Black Thought, Jadakiss and many more! You don’t want to miss this!
Just hit the link below to reserve your tickets for next Tuesday’s epic livestream event and enjoy the show! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode™ ✊🏾🖤🎵🎶
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition President Desmond Meade. Photo courtesy of Florida Rights Restoration Coalition Instagram page @FLRightsRestore
This past Election Day 2018, History was made in the state of Florida. Amendment 4 which will restore the voting rights of convicted felons was passed. Although this amendment had no major impact on this past Tuesday’s election, this will be huge for the state of Florida and the U.S. for future elections including the upcoming Presidential Election in 2020.
In the United States, more than six million convicted felons have lost their voting rights due to their criminal records. Of this six million, over 1.5 million reside right in the state of Florida. Amendment 4 which will go into effect on January 8, 2019 was a long hard fight fought mostly by a 51 year old man by the name of Desmond Meade who is the President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Meade who was born in St. Croix and relocated to Miami, Florida at the young age of five with his family experienced a bit of trouble during his childhood. This trouble would eventually lead him to being convicted of felony cocaine possession amongst other things. After serving his time and being released in 2004, Meade chose to do better in life and decided to go back to school and successfully obtained his law degree from Florida International University. However, because of his past felonies, Meade was not allowed to sit for the bar exam. This is when Meade began his hard fight to get the voting rights of convicted felons restored.
In 2011 Meade became the head of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. In a quote given to the NY Times for a feature story published on September 26th, 2018 by Emily Bazelon titled Will Florida Ex-Felons finally Regain The Right To Vote?, Meade stated:
“This amazing work that we’re doing, it’s shiny and bright now, and there’s a lot of people that want to attach to it. But there was a time when it wasn’t that shiny. There was a time when I was knocking on doors and nobody wanted to answer.”
Well this last Tuesday, November 6th, all of Meade’s hard work paid off when Amendment 4 was passed! Thank goodness Meade made a decision several years ago after being released from prison to do something more positive with his life. Now millions of reformed criminals will have the right to vote because of Meade’s decision! Thank you Desmond Meade for your courage and bravery and congratulations on this huge victory! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode 🖤
Photo of the Provost Guard of the 107th Colored Infantry, Fort Corcoran, Washington D.C., 1863 courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Another Memorial Day is upon us! And with all the events going on in the world, it’s hard to take a moment to relax and reflect on what Memorial Day really means to us as American citizens. For some, it’s (paid) time off of work and a well deserved break. For others, it’s all about the family gatherings and cookouts and celebrating another season of summer. All of these traditions are well accepted. However, many might not know that the origin of Memorial Day actually started in Charleston, S.C. (a place where most of my family is from) in the 1800’s and the holiday began to commemorate 200+ Union soldiers that died due to the result of poor conditions at the Confederate Prison Camps in Charleston during the Civil War. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture posted a great photo on Instagram of a group of African-American soldiers from the war to educate readers on the origin of Memorial Day. NMAAHC stated in their caption:
“Today is the day that our nation takes pause to celebrate the service and sacrifice of our military heroes that gave their lives to secure our freedoms. The earliest commemoration of what would later become Memorial Day, was organized in a former Confederate Prison Camp in Charleston, S.C. on May 1, 1865. The celebration was established by over 1,000 newly freed African Americans, in addition to U.S. Colored Troops regiments and a small group of white Charlestonians. This group came together to honor the 257 Union soldiers that died as a result of the poor conditions of the Confederate Prison Camp during the war. They removed the soldiers from a mass grave that the Confederates made and created proper burial grounds for Union soldiers. Together they sang hymns, set flowers, and gave readings in honor of the soldiers’ sacrifice. #MemorialDay #MilitaryAppreciationMonth #APeoplesJourney #ANationsStory”
Author Sewell Chan also wrote a great piece for the New York Times titled The Unofficial History of Memorial Day. In the article, Chan gets more in depth about the holiday. A great article to check out when you get a free moment from stuffing your face with cheeseburgers. Salute to all of the soldiers who lost their lives fighting to keep us free so that we can all have the opportunity to celebrate these holidays in peace! -xoxo #BrooklynGirlCode <3
This is a demo store for testing purposes — no orders shall be fulfilled. Dismiss
