(Re-Blogged) History Lesson on a man who mailed himself to freedom

Courtesy of one of my frequently visited sites jackandjillpolitics.com is this vital bit of information in honor of Black History month. Enjoy this interesting information on Mr. Henry "Box" Brown.

Henry “Box” Brown (1815-1879?) was a 19th century Virginia slave who escaped to freedom by arranging to have himself mailed to Philadelphia abolitionists in a wooden crate. For a short time he became a noted abolitionist speaker and later a showman, but later lost the support of the abolitionist community, notably Frederick Douglass, who wished Brown had kept quiet about his escape so that more slaves could have escaped using similar means.. Read More.

A half interesting night of Music: 2011 Grammy's

article by:stacia_doss.
The 53rd annual Grammy awards aired Sunday night with an exciting intro that quickly dwindled down as the show went on.


(Above) Best New Artist winner, Esperanza Spalding
Photo: Courtesy of abc.com (Jae C. Hong/AP Photo)

From a variety of genres, Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, and Florence (from Florence and the machine) set the stage with a tribute to the "Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin.

Notable performances early on in the show included artists Rihanna, Eminem, and Dr. Dre as well as a solo Katy Perry performance, a notable performance that featured B.o.B., Bruno Mars, and Janelle Monae, and an interesting performance between Cee-lo Green and Gwyneth Paltrow.

To the surprise of many, Justin Beiber did not win Best New Artist. Instead, an underrated and not as well-known artist, Esperanza Spalding, took the Grammy for the year. (Find out more about the multi-instrumentalist here.)

After those key events, the award show became a little less interesting to many viewers.

Check here for the complete list of Sunday night's winners and performers.

My favorite moments from historic Superbowl 45

written by:stacia_doss.
Sunday night the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers to become Superbowl Forty-five champions. I was pleased..but so many other things were interesting, aside from the actual game. Christina Aguilera is all the buzz because she forgot the words to the "National Anthem." I guess she hoped that if she substituted a few words, no one would notice? Nah, we did.

Halftime was arguably the best in years..probably since the whole Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson incident in 2004. Glee! afterwards was amazing! I'm a fan..and catching the Superbowl audience was great. FOX actually made a fan out of one of my good friends!

But what really got us all were the commercials!! The ratings actually were at a record high for the game Sunday night, so a ton of people watched these. Here are a few of my favorites from last night. (Warning: The second one's pretty gross.)

(Re-Posted) First day of February: Passing the Baton

I'm passing this story on for a little history lesson.

Enjoy.

"So, let’s begin with our beginning in this country – the Transatlantic Slave Trade.


Over the course of more than three and a half centuries, the forcible transportation in bondage of at least twelve million men, women, and children from their African homelands to the Americas changed forever the face and character of the modern world. The slave trade was brutal and horrific, and the enslavement of Africans was cruel, exploitative, and dehumanizing. Together, they represent one of the longest and most sustained assaults on the very life, integrity, and dignity of human beings in history..." (read more.)

(This is re-blogged, courtesy of Jack and Jill Politics.)

A storm of the century

A large portion of the US expects one of its biggest snow storms of the century this week. Freezing rain began Monday morning in St.Louis, accumulating about 2 inches of ice from sleet through Tuesday afternoon.

The city and surrounding areas are expecting only four to five inches of snow through to Wednesday, but dropping temperatures will leave a crippling sheet of ice under the snow.

Predictions for the amount of snow vary, but I'm not sure what to expect. No snow yet. Here's a photo of the sleet covering this back road. It continues to fall. (Read more.)