1 1/2 year Anniversary = A Beautiful Struggle

Today we embark upon our 1 1/2 year Ndoa anniversary! To celebrate, we are checking out Nneka, an innovative and brilliant Nigerian performer 2nite! Here's a mix of her music done by J.Period featuring Talib Kweli, Jay Electronica and more! Enjoy!

http://www.jperiod.com/nneka/



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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!

In Honor of our Indigenous Ancestors....Giving Thanks Fast

Here is how we will spend our day....a day we look at critically....
What are you celebrating? Give Thanks Everyday.

WE give thanks that the creator has allowed us to build together......PAMOJA





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Happily Ever After....A Positive Image of the Black Family Structure

Here's a glimpse of the documentary, coming to Atlanta, Free Screening on 11/19 !!!!

For More Info: http://blackandmarriedwithkids.fanbridge.com/tourdates/details.php?id=4718


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Couple's Inspiration

Are you in a relationship where your partner inspires you to be great? To be grand? To be better? What a blessing!

Or are you waiting on something good to happen? Are you waiting for them to make that move? Are you waiting for them to inspire you to be great? How motivating are you to your significant other?

Any relationship filled with reoccurring issues of anger/resentment, blame and guilt is STANDING STILL. In order to move forward sometimes YOU have to lead and sometimes YOU have to be willing to follow. Follow & Lead each other to greatness. If a relationship is lackadaisical, and stagnant someone has to make the move to be an example of productive relationship building. As a couple YOU CAN move mountains together, create, grow, produce, build, and reform IF both of you want to. If you are currently co-existing in a lack luster couple hood and YOU know it, the time is now to be pro-active in transitioning into a functioning positive partnership. Your community, family, and society at large deserve to have their members impact the world positively.

It can be hard when we don't feel equipped with the tools to be better or aren't aware of how much improvement can actually happen. Let's engage in positive connections with other pro-community/family entities & organizations that are supportive of your relationship's success. Seek guidance from couples who have withstood the test of time and endured the brilliant highs and inevitable lows that is a RELATIONSHIP. Search for help from relevant couple/family therapist and counselors. Go back and look at your family history. Your ancestry will teach you a lot about your recent past/present/future. There is so much wisdom to be found in the ancient teachings of your ancestors. If you know you need help then do something about it! Therapy can help assess and deal with the family dysfunction that many of us are unknowingly perpetuating and bringing into our relationships.

You can have a successful relationship. You don't have to do everything the way your parents did. Things don't have to be the way the media or your friends or the people at work tell you it is or should be. You can create the life you want. Relationships are not what you see on TV.

The two of you are present and are currently making history. It's your time.


Be a mountain or lean on one. ~Somali Proverb

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Even when apart......Tuesday's Tune

Your partner need not be physically with you at all times. Make your time TOGETHER matter. Even when apart you can go insane off of the memory of a time you had with each other.

Some of us may know this tune from a more recent rendition. Either way..It's addictive and it speaks volumes....Go ahead and take a toke....

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Tuesday's Tune: HAPPY EARTHDAY Mr. PAMOJA!!!!

We have had great moments together and celebrate life even more extraordinarily today. Music always helps us express our celebrations and represents what people are thinking and evolving into at the time.

This right here is a staple in the Pamoja household. We were blessed to see the Foreign Exchange perform live in 2008. One of the best to do it live ever! Today we remember that moment and reminisce with "Sweeter Than You", Mrs. P's dedication to Mr. P today on the anniversary of his birth and always!!!

If you have not discovered this, then let us introduce you....THIS IS MUSIC YA'LL!!


We also remember Aaliyah today on the 8th anniversary of her transition. She is loved by so many and we are thankful for her blessings. She did the most awesome rendition of the Isley Brother's classic.. "At your best you are love, You're a positive motivating force within my life!!!!" This is so POWERFUL....GIVE Thanx
This one is for MR. P again...


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Back Down Memory Lane

Mrs. P just bumped into a momentous blast from our past! Our Ndoa (wedding) website! This is what we used to keep our family and friends up to date on our upcoming nuptials. Since we were engaged for over a year and most of our family lived in other parts of the U.S. (and world) this website proved effective. Originally we created it in 2007 and it still brings back heartfelt memories. It has always been important to us to capture life's celebratory moments. Take the trip back down memory lane. Let us never forget to treasure the little and grand happenings that we experience.

Check our Ndoa wedsite here:
http://tiny.cc/pamojas


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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!

Tuesday's Tune: Come Closer and Stay a While

Support the good people and beneficial energy in our lives. Let the people know that you are with them, that you believe in them and that life is beneficial because of them. Love is all around. Create the love you deserve.
The Pamojas are inspired by Love thriving and fresh...

Come Close - Common


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Happy Earthday Marcus Mosiah Gravey!

Born August 17th, 1887 in St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica, Brother Marcus has been an inspiration to so many of us who work for and believe in justice and freedom. Today we give the Honorable One an extra shout-out and will continue to live to make our ancestors proud, while seeking their guidance and blessings. Mrs. P even named her 1st car, which is now 14 years young, "Garvey" several years ago, because it has guided her through her stuggles and has never given up! May the Spirit of Marcus Garvey Live On! Ashe..





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One Year Later.....08-08-08 to 08-08-09......

Today we embark on a milestone of great joy and appreciation. Last year on a beautiful Friday we along with beloved family and community exchanged and shared our journey with the world. We are blessed to be joined once again tonight with the community for The Pamojas 1st anniversary Ndoa Dinner Celebration. We remember our 1st dance Ndoa song on this day. I know you, I live you. Shouts to Chaka Khan and for bestowing us with her gift of song and for continually be a vessel of The Creator.

We are grateful for the lessons and experiences we are constantly being blessed with. We know you, We LIVE YOU. LOVE WILL FOREVER REIGN IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF THE PEOPLE. LIVE IT,BELIEVE, INTEND IT, BE IT.


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Tuesday's Tune----"Leading Humanity Towards ILLUMINATION"

Here is an interview with Dr. Linda James Myers. We recently attended an event where she spoke on Divine Love Relationships. How awesome it was to hear one of our beloved scholars and elders communicate and illustrate how valuable our LOVE as a people is. She gifted us her book entitled, Our Health Matters. We purchased her book Understanding an Afrocentric World View: Introduction to an Optimal Psychology. Mr. P was especially happy to link and chat with a fellow scholar of African Studies. We are blessed to have been in attendance in the sharing of this knowledge which is so pertinent to our survival as a people. To hear her speak on issues we unite on was exhilirating!
Please Watch and Forward on.
(4 days til our 1-yr anniversary!)




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All WE REALLY NEED IS LOVE.......Tuesday's Tune

INSPIRED BY MR. P. WHO WOKE UP THIS MORNING PLAYING THIS. NUFF SAID.


Get By - Talib Kweli

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Pamoja Recipe: Mr. P's Secret Dessert Salad

Dessert+Salad?
You've read correctly. Mr. P makes the better salads in this household. The secret always is, what will the ingredients be this time? We are vegetarian/vegan family & yesterday we were blessed with a fruity salad that would leave anyone with the biggest sweet-tooth saying no to junkfood "sweets". Mrs. P was impressed on how the combination of these fruits & veggies really rocked the tastebuds. No dessert required.

Thinly sliced Red Delicious Apples & Bananas

Fresh Romaine Lettuce

Fresh Spinach

Whole Walnuts

Cherry Tomatoes

Use simple/healthy fruit inspired salad dressings of your choice such as Rasberry Viniagrette, or spray Braggs Amino

(Stay tuned to the Pamoja Kitchen for more tasty delectable delights!)


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Tuesday's Tune: In Honor of Love and the Ancestors....

Can it be she stayed away too long...... Yeah, and now we have a new ancestor added to the list of those we will never forget. Micheal Jackson rocks forever. We love you, brotha!!! (Mrs. P is still hoping you can come to her 30th birthday party, MJ!! :)




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Locked up in Love

Well almost......
So Mrs. P has finally made it home! Last night to be exact =) Mr. P picks her up from the airport and we both head to a birthday party for 3 great friends whose birthdays fall on three days in a row! The 11th, 12th, and 13th, Whew! So we go have a blast, celebrate, and are happy to see and fellowship with everyone. Then of course it's time to go home. It's about 2:30 am, we are both beat from our eventful day of reuniting/celebrating! Good food and drink! Yes!

Soooooooo, who comes to give us an early morning rude awakening???? Who else but the police aka the pigs! (Yeah, that's what they are affectionately called by many.) Mr. P was the driver and he gets pulled over and asked to do a sobriety test. Mrs. P is calm on the outside but on the inside, boiling mad, nervous and shocked at Mr. P's own calmness. We did nothing wrong but we were on the other side of town, with unfamiliar surroundings and were searching for home with our GPS system. Needless to say, Mr. P passed the sobriety test and Mrs. P drove us home!!!! The coppers ended up chatting with us for about 20 minutes before dismissing us, though. They discussed our education, our cultural backgrounds, marital status and even gave us directions on how to get home. Can't say that we've fallen in love with the police department, but we were pleasantly surprised by their professionalism and even their show of human-ness. That was some real Bonnie and Clyde type stuff, though. At first, they asked Mr. P to step out but told Mrs. P to stay in while the two officers asked us the same questions separately, (to see if our stories matched up, of course). At that point we felt like suspects, until we were told we weren't in any "trouble" and were later spoken to in a surprisingly casual manner. What a welcome home for Mrs. P, lol. Party then police?? Whew! We made it through together, though :)

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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!

Tuesday's Tune @ 11 months and counting........

Tomorrow, July 8. 2009 will be our 11 month anniversary of legal couplehood! Yeah that's what we call it :)

Marriage has had a bad rap here in the United States with the divorce rate being quite high, and many folks are demoralized or discouraged about even the idea of it. It used to make Mrs. P sick to the stomach (Well not really) thinking of giving up her life as she knows it and creates it, to be MARRIED. It is a difficult concept for many of us because we live in an anti-relationship society. We are pushed to eat whatever, f*ck whomever, party and care about ourselves only or at least mostly. Now sex, partying, and eating are all good, but what are our intentions while doing these actions? Are we living a life that is beneficial to the world and ourselves? How many times do we as a society turn on MTV, BET, CNN, or whatever channel and feel like being in a harmonious relationship full of ups/downs, compromise, joy and hard work???? Probably never. Therefore we know that we must create that reality for ourselves. The fact of the matter is WE NEED EACH OTHER. Simply put, we humans are designed to be together.

On that note we will celebrate our 11-mo Ndoa anniversary even though we are apart, in different parts of the country. It has been difficult these past couple of weeks, but it has been making us stronger as a couple and as people. We will do our couple's affirmations as we now call them. We will say what we intend to do to progress and continue to build our lives together. (all over the phone :) Looking forward to our 1 year celebration coming up in August!

Here's a joint that folks including us are just in love with....very simple and to the point, YOU DA BEST!!!!


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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!

Tuesday's Away/TogetherTune

Ok, so it's been exactly 2 weeks since we've seen each other. It's been a little difficult for us both. Mrs. P is dealing with 2 ill family members on her own in Brooklyn right now. Mr. P is working diligently on his doctoral dissertation. It doesn't help that Mrs. P is constantly being told while in NY, "where is your husband?", "why did you leave him?" "you left your husband @ home?" It can be a little mentally draining when others attempt to share their thoughts on what they think YOUR couplehood should be. We are learning everyday to accept our relationship for what is and what it is becoming. We take a lot of pride in how we do things. We have fond memories of the past and the very recent past, while looking forward to the future. We also recognize how important it is to have our own sense of individuality. We are constantly changing and it's pretty damn exciting!!!! Never a dull or dry moment, folks! Missing each other and our isms and schisms is just the icing on our cake.

We are looking forward to our upcoming 1 year Ndoa (wedding) anniversary and celebration, too! Too bad Mrs. P will be in NY for our monthly anniversary date nite, this upcoming July 8th. We will celebrate some way and some how across the miles :)

Check this Sista out chanelling one of Mrs. P's favorite songs of all time. Anita really knows how to sing what we're feeling...
Been So Long, Been Missing You, Baby......


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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!

Tuesday's Tune: Nothing Compares....

So right now we are both travelling solo. Yes, this is great for the relationship, but it is definitely a bummer. We both had school and family reunions to attend. Mr. P is working hard on his dissertation and the Mrs. is organizing her family and professional/artistic life while she is away. We are currently using our web cams. (thankful for those) and now finally we are considering SKYPE, where have we been? lol Well............we have been together for the last 4 years and never been apart longer than a week.
We are adjusting to the upcoming 3-week separation and reflecting on all that is awesome about one another and our union. Remembering those eventful rough patches that we have already endured and reminiscing on the blissfulness that we have been blessed to experience together. Nothing can compare to a healthy, ever-evolving, unpredictably fun, spiritual connection. Nothing Compares To You.

Nothing Compares To You - Prince


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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!

Tuesday's Tune in Dedication

As many of us know, the death penalty is still alive and occuring in the United States. As humans, as people of color, as citizens and as a couple we stand in solidarity against the death penalty and for LIFE. Yes, LIFE is a HUMAN RIGHT. As we posted a couple weeks ago, we recently rallied with thousands around the world against the death sentence of Troy Davis in the state of Georgia.

Visit http://www.iamtroy.com/ today and take two minutes to sign the petition to save an innocent man from death row. Please spread the word and keep it going!

Check out The Welfare Poets doing a spoken word piece at the rally for death row prisoner Troy Davis in New York, May 19. 2009. We dedicate this to all of the people who have had the freedoms many of us take for granted, taken away from them.





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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!

This Tuesday's Tune in Reflection

Yesterday, Monday, August 8th, The Pamojas celebrated 10 months of legal matrimony!!! We thought back to when we were dating, years ago and how much a phone call meant from each other. We are reminded of the Corrine Bailey-Rae song, "Call Me When You Get This" which we had mixed on our Wedding/Ndoa CD months ago. This songstress recently lost her husband/significant other to a possible drug overdose. We take this lesson from her tragedy. Now is the best time to recognize and hold tight to those who are near or far, but dear to us. Enjoy your family and those who treat you like family.

We are reminded to cherish those moments, you know when we are on the phone, reading the paper or a magazine in the same room, eating a great freshly-prepared vegan dinner, or just lying in the stillness. These moments are so simple but should never be taken for granted.

Check the video of Corrine's beautiful mid tempo track (with the words, so sing along:)


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Peace+Love+Music from the Pamojas!