Yasmin Shiraz

Hello everyone. Much love to Ka’Ron in Amityville!!!
You know I love the young people who read my books. So, I wanted to let you know that Ka’Ron,15, from Amityville, NY just sent me an email. Here it is:
“I’m writing you to tell you how great your book Retaliation was. That was the best bok I ever read in my life. I think you should make a movie about Retaliation. I really like your book and you’re a great author.”

So many people have suggested that Retaliation become a movie. So, I’m just gonna say, “Keep sending that up and I know it’ll happen.”

Young people keep emailing me and telling me how much you like Retaliation. You are an important part of the movement. Investors: You want to be a part of that Retaliation train, so pick up the phone!

A colleague of mine, Mwaalkebu-Ian Akil, recently shared the video below with me. It was so good that I had to share it with you. You probably have heard that Morehouse University recently implemented a new dress code that bans among other things, sagging pants. So I wanted to write this post that details the history of the sagging pants, Morehouse’s policy and hey a picture of Lil Wayne and Jay-Z.
Morehouse’s new policy details 11 expectations of students, including:

* no caps, do-rags and/or hoods in classrooms, the cafeteria, or other indoor venues

* no sun glasses worn in class or at formal programs

* no jeans at major programs, as well as no sagging pants on campus

* no clothing with derogatory or lewd messages either in words or pictures

* no wearing of clothing usually worn by women (dresses, tops, tunics, purses, pumps, etc.) on the Morehouse campus or at college-sponsored events.

And since the media has been talking about this dress code, I thought it’d be a great thing to share the history of the sagging pants. So here’s a video. The first 2 minutes the inmate explains what sagging pants indicates in prison.

My attorney, Excel Sharrieff, is a Morehouse man so I asked him about how he felt about Morehouse’s new dress code. He said:
“For a private institution such as Morehouse I think that it is extremely fair and necessary. The Morehouse tradition and mission is bigger than five students or even the current student body. Its about building certain type of leaders for tomorrow. Morehouse is about business and leadership I have no problems with anyone’s lifestyle but Morehouse is a PRIVATE institution like a private club and its members MUST abide by the rules or attend a public institution.”

What do you think about the sagging pants? Why are we still rocking them? Now when I look at Lil Wayne and Jay-z with their pants half around their knees, I don’t like it. Shouldn’t the history of the sagging pants make a difference?

A few days ago I heard about the case in Richmond, California  in which the 15 year old girl was raped and 20 or more people stood around, watched  and did absolutely nothing. I was so disgusted by the situation that I had refused to put it on my site. I mean, some stuff is just too awful. But today, my Dad mentioned the case to me and I figured I betta go ahead and say something. This is what I want to know.

The people who watched the gang rape, how could you stand around and do nothing? How could you see a teen girl be treated in such a way and not stand up for what is right? Could you not look at that girl and see your mother as a teen? Or your sister? Or your girlfriend? It sickens me to know that people exist in this world who could stand and watch that kind of crime be committed and do nothing. Mankind has fallen a few notches if you ask me. For those of you who always want to blame the victim, a girl walking outside of a homecoming dance should not be a easy target for rape. Seriously. A girl should be able to walk around her school without a bodyguard and not worry that some sexual deviant or a pack of sexual deviants is going to attack her.

Mothers if your sons were among those who watched this girl get raped, please ask them where their head is. Take away their video games, their cell phones, and their Michael Jordan sneakers until they can give you a legitimate reason as to why they stood there and did nothing. If they can’t offer you a legitimate reason, they need to see a therapist, a pastor, or somebody cause they need help! Do not kid yourself into believing that nothing is wrong with your child if they simply stood there. Rape is a crime against humanity.

I would like to send a prayer for the girl and her family. What do you think was on the minds of these people who stood around and watched this girl be gang raped?

Here’s the video:

To read the official story click here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/27/california.gang.rape.investigation/index.html

I recently came across an article on www.cnn.com that stated that there is a high rate of Latina teens contemplating suicide. Since I know my readers come from all backgrounds, I figure I’d share parts of the story. According to the CDC, 1 in 7 Latina teens consider suicide. A psychologist that was interviewed in the article stated that there is a hard relationship between Latina mother/daughters and this relationship brings a lot of the daughters to the point of suicide. Latinas that are most at risk are daughters of immigrants–girls 14 – 15 years of age. Apparently, many Latinas feel a pull between the values that their parents have and the American values that they see every day. To read the specific article, please click here:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/20/lia.latina.suicides/

Update: 10/25/2009 – 5pm – EST – Good news: The girl above has been identified.

According to People.com, there is a girl who doesn’t know who she is walking the streets of NYC. The girl was discovered in the Times Square area of NYC about two weeks ago. She’s about 5′ 6″ and doctors believe she is between 14 – 17 years of age. If she looks familiar to you, please contact the NYPD Missing Persons Squad at (212) 694-7781.

I was on the radio with Kim Iverson  two days ago and we were talking about bullying. In response to our radio show, a listener emailed this letter to Kim.

“Hello, This topic couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m going to run out and get the book [Retaliation] and video[Can She Be Saved?,] for my nieces. My 9 1/2 year old niece was getting picked on by a couple of boys in her class. It was so bad the other morning as I was getting her ready for school that she was crying and bagging me to let her stay home. I called her mom at work and told her mom make sure to contact the teacher ASAP. She did so, and not only spoke with her teacher but also the vice principal. Long story short. The boys were spoken to she was moved to another group and the vice principal and teacher both spoke with my niece and said bullying was not tolerated and she could come in to the office any time and speak with them.

There is now a very relieved little girl.”

This is what I call a success story. Kids shouldn’t have to face bullying alone. I appreciate Kim Iverson and her producer Casey for having me on the show.

Below I’ve included a video of young people who committed suicide as a result of being bullied. This is not a joke!

Super rapper Lil Wayne has pleaded guilty to attempted weapons possession charges and faces 1 year in prison. As AllHipHop.com reported yesterday, Lil Wayne is facing about a year in prison but will likely only serve 8 months. The plea stems from a 2007 incident in which police found a gun on his tour bus…

Thugs wanna be rappers and rappers wanna be thugs but really who wants to go to prison? My heart goes out to Wayne’s kids who will miss him during his lockdown. Some of you may know that I used to own Mad Rhythms, a hip hop/entertainment magazine, in the 90’s. And one of the reasons that I lost interest in the entertainment business is because I absolutely hated it when artists couldn’t respect or protect their blessings. Examples: Jay-Z stabbing Lance “Un” Rivera; TI buying guns from the feds, Cool C and Steady B robbing banks, etc. Most artists fight tooth and nail to get to be recognized and paid as an artist so why do they throw it away with dumb *ish like gun charges or being violent?

When I was in high school, I did a rap demo. I can’t remember the name of the song, but it was hot. So I have an affinity for female rappers. That love means that I hate the fact that Foxy Brown, Lil Kim, Da Brat and Remy Ma have all been to prison–with the two latter still being in there. It breaks my heart. Why work so hard to make it as a female rapper and then do something stupid [hit a nail tech with a cell phone, hit a waitress over the head with a bottle, or lie under oath] ? It doesn’t calculate.

So for my young’uns out there, I say to you: If you aspire to be an artist, protect your life and creativity by not doing dances with the criminal justice system. Prison is not a place for artists.

Below I’ve added Tie My Hands featuring Robin Thicke. Its one of my favorite Lil Wayne songs

Below I’ve added Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” video because I like that song. But even A Milli or A Billi couldn’t beat those gun charges…. Sad. Sad. Sad.

A couple of years ago,  when I was doing an empowerment program for Urban Underground in Milwaukee, www.urbanunderground.org they had pamphlets on the No Condom No Way campaign on site. This is an initiative where they are encouraging young people who are planning to be sexually active to INSIST on using condoms. This is a program that is working in Milwaukee, WI. Unknown to many, Milwaukee used to have the highest teen pregnancy rate in the US for years and years. Now with the increase in the pregnancy rates across the US, and the vigilant fight we have against HIV/AIDS in our communities, I believe this is a program worth mentioning. Please visit www.nocondomnoway.com and see if you can implement a program like this is your community. Its certainly worth investigating.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on giving out free condoms to youth who are thinking about having sex. In this program, young people 12 and up, can receive free condoms anonymously at various locations. For Free Condoms, Call 414.286.3631.  If you know of other free condom campaigns, let me know.

Below I’ve included a video on how to correctly put on a condom. This is not an explicit video, its simply, a how-to.

Hey there. I’m going on the radio at 7:30 EST with Kim Iverson to talk about girl bullying. The site to check for local listening or listening over the internet are www.yourtimewithkim.com

1 in 7 High School Girls is Pregnant at Robeson High

I first saw this story on www.SandraRose.com and I had to check it out for myself. 1 in 7 girls at Robeson High School, a public high school in Chicago are pregnant. No one is attributing the number of pregnancies to some kind of pregnancy pact or any one factor, its just a bunch of babies having babies. There are about 800 girls at the school and 115 of them are preggo! Robeson High is also a predominantly black school.

CBS 2 in Chicago www.cbs2chicago.com covered the story and posed the question: “Why Did 1 in 7 Girls Get Pregnant at Robeson High?” The principal stated that absentee fathers are a part of the problem. A couple of students said that the girls are getting pregnant because no one is talking to teens about “sex” at home and some girls are getting pregnant in the pursuit of public assistance.

Gee whiz.

Its time to have that sex/pregnancy talk with a child that you know. Its time to have condoms on the dinner table next to a pack of birth control pills. 115 girls are gonna have their lives change in a way that they cannot even imagine because of these pregnancies. Perhaps, a talk could have changed the outcome. Perhaps a condom could have changed the outcome.

We cannot remain silent about sex, pregnancy, STDs, HIV, AIDS, Herpes, etc. Whether you believe your child is sexually active or not, you must gather the courage to have the conversation.

Recommendations:

Great book on dating, relationships, sex, etc- The Blueprint for My Girls in Love by Yasmin Shiraz

www.blueprintformygirlsinlove.com

My video on how teen pregnancy can affect your life is above.

If you’re a teen mom, I’d love to hear from you about how your child has changed your life. Email me: yshiraz at yasminshiraz.net