DuEwaWorld News! by DuEwa Frazier

I've been wearing my hair natural (sans a chemical straightening relaxer) since the late 90's. Relaxers were damaging to my hair at times and I often admired the versatility and beauty of natural hair. I was inspired by friends, relatives and hair models in magazines ( Essence Magazine ) to have the confidence to grow my natural hair out and experiment with various hairstyles. I have worn braids, twists, uprolls, curly-fros, and twist outs, all styles that women with natural hair experiment. Over the long run I seemed to be saving tons of money because I wasn't going to a hair salon every other week or once a month for relaxer touch ups or roller sets. But I was spending money on hair care books ( Plaited Glory , Good Hair ), hair products ( Carol's Daughter , Nature's Gate , Miss Jessie's , Aveda ) and professional trims on a regular basis. I got creative and learned how to care for my own hair and along the way I have gotten many compliments! In between wea

REPORT: A Fire in Harlem - Tribute to Sekou Sundiata at UpSouth International Book Festival by DuEwa On Friday, September 21, 2007, there was a fire in Harlem! A fire was created from the mouths, hearts, and minds of the artists who performed and read in tribute to the late, legendary poet and performer, Sekou Sundiata at the UpSouth International Book Festival at Harlem Stage at The Gatehouse. The entire festival this year was dedicated to the memory of Sekou Sundiata (1948-2007). Around 7:40pm the program began with a graceful introduction by the mistress of ceremonies, Malaika Adero, founder of the UpSouth International Book Festival. Malaika informed the audience that the evening's program featuring Sonia Sanchez , Danny Simmons and Queen Esther, was in tribute to Sekou Sundiata, who had been a longtime friend of hers. She told a funny story of how Sekou called her out of the blue one day and said, "I'm standing right here in front of your church." Malaika

Dyanne Davis is an award winning romance novelist, residing in the Chicago-area who is the author of several novels. I recently finished reading her latest book, MANY SHADES OF GRAY (Genesis Press) and was quite impressed with Dyanne's talent to weave such a tight story line around three characters: Janice Lace (Mary Jo Adams), Simon Kohl and Tommy Strong. Without saying too much about the book (because I plan to write a review), Dyanne really takes you on an emotional ride through the hearts and minds of the main characters and what it means to romantically love someone in the present, while still feeling an intense connection of both love and pain with someone else from the past. I'll be interviewing Dyanne Davis on Rhymes, Views & News tomorrow at 5pm EST if you have a chance to listen-in and check it out! For more on Dyanne Davis and her many works and awards, visit: www.dyannedavis.com and www.myspace.com/dyannedavis.com P.S. I attended last night's UpSouth Int

Do you ever find yourself in the midst of a time in your life and you're not quite sure what to call it? Maybe you're doing all the same things you've done in the past, things are going well, but you have an itch, a hunger and GREAT want & need for something a little different. Perhaps you're switching things up in your career, personal life, & in mind, body and spirit. You "sound different" they say. You "look different", you are not the same ole' predictable you. Could it be that you're in a NEW SEASON? You're transforming, dreaming, planning, creating, desiring, contemplating, reflecting (and perhaps procrastinating) right before our very eyes!!!!! Could it be you're embracing a NEW SEASON? These words may not make much sense to you , but they do for me because I just recently came off of a CrAzY whirlwind year: promoting books ( Check the Rhyme Anthology ), producing/hosting/performing in events (in NYC, Philly, B