Editor's Edict~

Welcome to the first issue of the Brown Betties Gazette. If you’ve had a chance to catch “Harlem’s Night…Giving Cabaret A Story”, then you know what you’re in for with this literary slice of apple pie since the Gazette takes its name from the Cabaret’s bodacious female performers, the Brown Betties. Its content, which circles relationships like a watchful hawk, comes from the show’s generous song titles. For example, the Cabaret performance song Momma Said speaks of when I was a little girl and was told to “Always be a Lady”. Basically, that meant to keep my heart open, but keep my legs closed. Here, my mom, Vicki Rogers, comments on what her Momma Said when she was a little girl. I’m sure Momma was trying to help me avoid the painful “Non-Relationship Relationships” with Bad Boys. In this issue, Najeem tells how Bad Boys can sometimes be nice. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to turn a Bad Boy into a Lady’s Man and found that I usually wound up Unzipped and crawled into a ball clutching a glass of wine wallowing In My Solitude. Below, we get a little tease from “Cars and Stars”-- a playful tale of being unzipped in the back of a car. Twins Courtney and Leigh Hughes give us Two Sides to love. Ronnivashti Whitehead lets us know that solitude is A-Okay and I let you know why Mrs. Morenike Efuntade Evans is this month’s featured Brown Bettie. So, grab some coffee, relax and enjoy your Brown Betties Gazette.

~xo

Peppur Chambers

This Brown Bettie Brings It On!
By Peppur Chambers


Morenike Efuntade Evans
Black Pearl Filmworks
TV Producer. Indie Film Director. Writer


Up until May 2006, Morenike was known as Morenike Efuntade; that all changed when she met her current husband, Bensford Evans, while on a shoot for BETJ in Turks & Caicos.

She was producing a music special for BETJ but in the end, she found herself producing a romantic spark in Mr. Evans that lead to a surprising proposal two years after their first meeting. Since then, Mr. and Mrs. Evans have relocated to Los Angeles where Morenike continues to create stories through her production company, Black Pearl Filmworks (www.blackpearlfilmworks.com).

Over a meal of a gourmet cheeseburger and lobster ravioli accompanied by a glass of Pinot Blanc (ok, two) at Morels, a French steakhouse and bistro located in LA's The Grove, Mrs. Evans revealed some choice things about herself that solidified why she truly is a Brown Bettie.

What makes you a Lady?
My spirit, smile, sassy walk and the way my pinky goes up when I’m enjoying a glass of wine.

What, if anything, makes your husband a Bad Boy?
Bensford is secretive and full of surprises. He believes everything is always revealed; you just have to wait for it. He’s usually saying this when I’m freaking out.

Has being a Good Girl helped our hurt you?
It has hindered me as it relates to other women. I wish I’d been the bitch when they were being bad to me instead of me always taking the high road. However, it helps more than not. By being a good person, I’ve learned how to maneuver through dealing with situations. I’ve not felt like I’ve cheated myself.

When the news of Hurricane Katrina broke, Morenike found herself far from being a Good Girl and moreso the Angry Black Woman. While watching the early footage of the catastrophe before any sort of help had gotten to the survivors, she, like most, was horrified. However, her rage became directed to the journalists covering the tragedy. Every story was mired in negativity in how people were suffering because they were Black. Certainly this was evident, but Morenike felt that they were missing the real story – that these American’s were suffering because they didn’t have food or help. At 4am, she crafted a heated call-to-action that she then forwarded to every website, email and blog that she could find to blast the media for their negligence. She said that like wildfire, she received rapid responses to her letter from outlets such as AllHipHop.com and the general public asking if they could post her letter on their websites and she swears that overnight the coverage changed to a plead of “Where is the help?!” Still, Morenike was not satisfied. Living in DC at the time, she organized her own six-person march on Capitol Hill protesting the situation. Amidst honking and cheering from onlookers and passers-by, Morenike remembers screaming passionately (with her 68-year-old mother by her side) knowing that she felt good about what she was doing and soooo far from being lady-like.

Do you consider yourself a renegade?
[Yes.] My mother is on record for having started a discrimination suit in the late ‘60s against the Associated Press. The suit changed the way women were treated in newsrooms. My mother was also a close friend of Rosa Parks. I’m definitely my mother’s daughter. I’ll never sell myself out, even if it means removing my self from the situation. This can bite me in the ass sometimes, especially in work situations because I’ve learned I don’t do office politics well. I’m learning to choose my battles.

What keeps you motivated?
My vision and my passion. I created my own company, Black Pearl Filmworks, because I have so many stories to tell--I still feel like there's a void when it comes to stories from an african-american woman's perspective. Also, my dreams. I now go at them 100% because there’s always a risk of becoming complacent and tricking myself into thinking that what I’m doing is enough.

Motivating words?
Never ask yourself if you are asking for too much – You’re Not! Whether you are 22 or 45, don’t settle for anything. Finding my husband made me know it was ok for me to have the dream of the perfect person. It’s about the right timing and the right person…he’s exactly what I dreamed of. Don’t change for whatever you want because you can get it!

Contact Morenike Efuntade Evans at blackpearlfilmworks@verizon.net or at her blog http://www.blackpearlfilmworks.blogspot.com/

In My Solitude
By Ronnivashti Whitehead

In my solitude I rest on my green couch and remember what I have to be grateful for. I think about what makes me happy and who I love. I look at all the pictures displayed around my home, they remind me where I come from, all the faces - my mom, father,nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers, friends, the man I love, inspire me to be my Best Self. My community is a manifestation of my wealth. In my solitude I contemplate my three decades and marvel at the dreams of my youth now manifest. In my solitude I see a great vision for my life and I ask Spirit what I must become and what I must do to realize that vision. In my solitude I ask, "How may I serve?".

Unzipped

By Cars and Stars

After nearly an hour of resistance, begging, excuses, decency and negotiating, we pulled over to the darkest corner of the quiet tree-lined, residential street. There was a large bush that blocked the window on the passenger side. It filled the car with the smell of pine. He climbed over the front seat quickly and coaxed me into the back seat with him, seemingly lifting me above and between the driver and passenger seat headrests. “Lay back and put your leg over here”, he whispered.

In the backseat of a car, on the darkest street in one of the most upscale neighborhoods in the city is where he unzipped me.

Looking through the moon roof in the car, all I could see were the tips of trees, stars and a residual glow from the streetlight a half a block down. I didn’t feel scared, just tingly. His temperature was hot, his hands quick, his lips warm and soft. He worked himself into a frenzy, rapid and intense, heightening all the senses. I felt him smell, touch, taste, hear and see me everywhere. The driver’s side windows were steamed and I was blinded by stars and sensations and soon could not hear a thing.

When we came down from euphoria, he smiled as a Cheshire cat would. He looked at me, touched his favorite spot and slowly zipped me up. Then, almost regretfully, he said, “Let’s go.”

Signed,
Cars & Stars

Have you been Unzipped? Let us know how and where at brownbettiesgazette@yahoo.com. Be sure to use “UNZIPPED” in your subject heading!

Two Sides

by Leigh Hughes & Courtney Hughes (pic above)

There are Two Sides to every love story. What better way to find out what those two sides might be than to ask a set of twins their opinion on a few Love questions??

Leigh Hughes, a Real Estate Attorney in Harlem USA, and her sister Mrs. Courtney (Hughes) Wilhite, a Professional Healthcare Representative for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Atlanta, GA, offer their respective two cents.

1. Do you believe in Love?

L - Yes

C - YES

2. How did you learn how to love?

L - God

C - MY PARENTS and GRANDPARENTS

3. Do you love ice cream? What kind?

L - I like ice cream. vanilla

C - YES, VANILLA

4. When you have a conflict with your significant other, how does it get resolved?

L - We talk and listen to each other and pray about things.

C - LET IT GO OR TALK IT OUT

5. What is your best side? Right or Left.

L - Right

C - LEFT

6. What is your favorite love song?

L - Donny Hathaway- I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know

C - ADORE

7. What is the color of love?

L - White-- its pure

C - WHITE

8. What do you love about your significant other?

L - He loves God, has a good heart, he makes me feel smart, beautiful and sexy, he makes me laugh

C - SENSE OF HUMOR and IS VERY PROTECTIVE OF ME

9. What would your loved one say is your best quality?

L - I'm a very caring person

C - LOVING HEART AND FRIENDLY NATURE

10. What do you love about your twin?

L - EVERYTHING!!!

C - EVERYTHING

There's Nothing Wrong With a Bad Boy...

Roll with him...or away from him
By Najeem

You just have to know what you are getting yourself into: a Bad Boy is smooth, unhurried, sexy as hell and above all confident. When properly attired, a Bad Boy can stop traffic. And when properly 'unattired' a Bad Boy will have you trying to remember your name. Bad Boys have washboard abs, well-muscled legs, biceps that raise eyebrows (but don't scare you away) and of course lips designed for kisses that leave you breathless. They also have that ever-present look in their eyes: "Oh the wicked things I plan to do to you."

A Bad Boy can be a gentleman. He can provide fine dining experiences and elegant evenings on the town. He may also swoop you up and take you down to: _____________ (fill in the blank: Compton's Chicken Delight, Bankhead's Biscuit Bar, Sally's South Side Shrimp O'Rama, or Jamaican John's in Canarsie) and expect you to go with the flow because you are rolling with him now and this is how he gets down.

A Bad Boy is usually unpredictable, possibly temperamental and contrary to popular belief, does not like drama. Drama disrupts his carefully crafted program and while you would like to believe that you will be the one to settle him down (tsk, tsk) if you push it, you will be removed from the line-up. Bad Boys can settle down but that is a decision they make – forcing the issue is rarely worth it. Bad Boys appreciate freedom, spontaneity and adventure (hint: that's why you're not the only one). Until he decides its time to travel a different path, you might as well close them bridal magazines and stop babysitting your sister's kids – it ain't your call.

The type of Bad Boy you should seek is one who is honest. A surprising number of them uphold this particular commandment (and ONLY this commandment). The honest Bad Boy will let you know exactly where you stand with him. He may not tell you all his business (which, trust me, you don't want to know anyway) but he will tell you enough so that you can make a well-informed decision about your relationship with him.

Ladies please keep in mind you have choices – roll with it or roll away from it. At all times try and maintain a healthy perspective. The minute you shave your head in the name of love it is officially a wrap for you.

There are various types of Bad Boys and the one(s) that I have described may be different from the one(s) you know – whatever the case they all share one important skill: you will be screaming his name, his momma's name and your future baby's name out loud before the night is over. Enjoy!

Wondering if you’re dealing with a Bad Boy? Email us! brownbettiesgazette@yahoo.com; be sure to put BAD BOY in the subject line.

Momma Said
By Vicki Rogers (Peppur's Momma)

There were always things my Momma said that connected me to things larger than myself. They generally had some attached moral wisdom or guilt. Usually they just did not make a lot of sense to me at the time. One of those things was: "People in Hell want ice water."

In 1959, my best friend Judith and I were shopping in Weavers, the best store in Lawrence, Kansas, where I grew up. Judith picked out a pastel pink windbreaker (like what you wear jogging) and she called home and was able to put it on the family account. I was so jealous. It was so cool and pretty and new fashion. When I got
home, I asked Momma for one and she said, “People in Hell want ice water”.

I used to look in the newspaper every weekend for horses for sale. I asked Momma -- a beautiful, graceful secretary bred in Lawrence and known for her love of scotch, four daughters and Pal Mall’s -- for a Sorrell (beautiful, reddish-brown color). I even downgraded to the cheaper Pinto Colt (a baby Mustang horse with spots of brown, white and black). You can imagine what she said.

Perhaps it was just a matter of timing -- that is, either pre-payday or mild payday -- that I wanted things that were not in the budget. Of course some items may have been way over the top, (like the horse) but back then, they all seemed like reasonable requests to me!

"People in Hell want ice water"?? Why was it when I asked for something I really wanted, I was put on par with people in Hell? I could never figure out why she was talking to me about people in Hell. I was a fairly good Catholic girl. I went to confession, sometimes. I didn't know any people in Hell and if I did I probably wouldn't want to give them anything. I mean, really…this from a mother who loved me so much she would die and go to Hell for me.

I felt like we were the only people that never got what we wanted and often wondered would I, like the people who asked for “ice water”, end up in Hell or should I just not ask and be done with it -- thus improving my chances to go to Heaven instead? AND, why was it that people in Hell always wanted ice water? Why not iced tea or a slushy or a frosty mug of an ice cold beer?

I’m a mother of three who learned conditionally to not ask for much. I live in Tucson, Arizona now. It’s hot as Hell here sometimes. When I ask for ice water, I get it. When I want a cold beer, I get it. If I still wanted a Sorrell, I’d probably have it roped up in my backyard. Yes, Momma said something that was supposed to teach me I can’t always have what I want, but I’ve definitely learned to get what I need.