Daily Archives: July 5, 2020

SISTER Wives star Meri Brown continued to shade her husband, Kody, amid their suspected split following years of marital issues.

Meri, 49, has been fueling split rumors by posting without her wedding ring and by seemingly shading her husband of 30 years.

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On Tuesday, Meri posted on her Instagram Story: To make a difference in someones life, you do not have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful or perfect.

You just have to CARE.

Earlier this week, Meri posted another cryptic quote that read:"I am here. I have the courage to believe that matters.

"I have the strength to make a difference... to be different. Even with an empty hand, I have the means to give. I am free to become... to fail... to learn. I have the advantage of hope. I have the opportunity to be love... to be loved.

"I have the wisdom to know it is all a gift... all. When I make my decision on how I am going to live this day, and it is a decision, I joyfully, responsibly, gratefully, face the world and say, 'I am here.

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Meris weight loss and makeover with a new hair style has also added to the split speculation.

Asourcepreviously told The Sun: To take a wedding ring off is big in polygamy. Its Meris way of saying, 'Im done.

The insider added of how her new look is a hint shes planning to leave polygamy: Her weight loss and hair cut is a good sign! Thats, Okay time for me!

Having her own life, doing fun things, finding friends is the best thing she can be doing for herself. Shes finding herself, what she wants and believes. I hope Meri wakes up and ditches this insanity.

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Kody, 51, and Meris marriage has been on the rocks in recent years, as the two have shown less affection towards each other on the TLC series.

In 2014, Kody divorced her to marry fourth and "favorite" wife Robyn, 41, which Meri cried over on the most recent season.

She was involved in a catfish scandal and fell in love with another man, who ended up being a woman.

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During a therapy session on the recent Sister Wives episode, the couple addressed just how bad their relationship was.

Meriadmitted theirmarriage has been pretty rocky for a while."

As for Kody, he admitted that he "regretted" their union.

Kody explained on an episode: I feel like I was deceived into a relationship that was very different than what I expected.

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"Meri and I had a fast courtship with a lot of expectations and a lot of not communicating.

Meri added: The relationship he and I had, its dead, its gone, its over.

Kody is also married to Janelle, 50, and Christine, 48.

See original here:

Sister Wives Meri Brown shades husband Kody again by posting you just have to care after suspected split - The Sun

Oumou Sangar is fearless. At 52, the Malian artist has confronted kings and defied her countrys restrictive standards for women. Born in Bamako, Malis capital, shes the voice of Africa, one of the continents most venerated international stars. Her songs, which tackle polygamy and child marriage while celebrating female empowerment, were radical in the Eighties and remain so now. This Grammy-winning artist is also a powerful business leader, with dealings in the hotel industry and her own car company. For her, though, music will always come first.

I fear that my faltering French and poor phone signal might irk her, but she turns out to be unfailingly patient, even with a three-month-old baby (her granddaughter, who was born in New York) stealing her attention. Sangar and members of her family have been stuck there since lockdown measures were enforced, and she is understandably keen to get home. Yet there have been wonderful moments she enjoys cooking for the children, and listening to them play. It has been a pleasure to reconnect with this family cocoon, she says, as the baby gurgles away on her lap (see, shes introducing herself to you). Its been a decade since Ive had such a break. I think this pandemic has enabled us to bring people closer, to put solidarity back at the core of society and think more collectively.

Sangars voice has earnt her the title of Songbird of Wassoulou, after the historical region where some of Malis most important musical traditions were born. She found herself in demand when she began singing with her mother at traditional weddings and baptisms, aged five. After her debut album, 1989s Moussolou (women) was released, she signed to a record label, World Circuit, and achieved national recognition, aged 21. Melding traditional Wassoulou instruments the kamal ngoni harp, the djembe drum, the karinyan metal scraper, the calabash (percussion) with funk guitar, strings, and electronic elements, she successfully honours her heritage while sounding entirely modern.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

Her new album, Acoustic, offers beautiful, stripped-down versions of the songs that appeared on her 2017 album, Mogoya (roughly translating to people today). Its as intricate an album as you could hope for; without the synths introduced by French production team ALBERT (Vincent Taurelle, Ludovic Bruni and Vincent Taeger), you realise how Sangar succeeds in celebrating tradition while embracing the modern. On dynamic opener Kamelemba, she warns against womanisers over the sharp pluck and twang of the kamele ngoni. Yere Faga, a song about suicide, takes on a more serious tone in comparison to the original and ludicrously danceable version, which featured the late Nigerian drumming legend Tony Allen.

Sangar found that the mood of the songs, and her own interpretation of them, changed dramatically by recording them in live conditions no amplification, and no headphones. We were between ourselves like a family, in our own bubble playing in front of a small audience, she says, explaining how the unplugged versions allowed more space for her voice, and for each musician. It brought something very intimate, spontaneous and natural it was all about letting go. Its raw!

Sangar performs with her band at La Cigalle, Paris, in 2018(Rex)

Sangar is still a vocal anti-polygamy campaigner, and famously once performed one of her songs about the issue in front of Mswati III, the king of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and his then-16 wives. She laughs at the memory, although she is stern when she speaks of the men themselves. Each year they [Mswati and his late father] would take a new wife, so for me this was really the right occasion to speak out about it. In 2002, Mswati III caused uproar and condemnation from Amnesty International when Zena Mahlangu, a then-18-year-old high school girl, was forced to become another of his wives. It is the worst thing you can do to a woman treat her like an object or an animal, instead of a human being, Sangar says. If the woman consents, she clarifies, she has no issue, but if the woman doesnt want to be treated this way, it isnt normal.

She feels fortunate that people have always paid attention to what she has to say its a huge privilege. Even at the beginning of her career, when she sang on the streets of Bamako about her mothers hard life, she recalls moving her audience to tears. It reflects their own living conditions, and they identify with my stories, she says. Sangar was just two years old when her father abandoned her mother, Aminata Diakit, for a second wife and emigrated to the Cte dIvoire. It was Diakit pregnant and already trying to raise Sangar and her siblings who taught Sangar how to sing, and from whom she inherited her resilient spirit. Her song, Minata Waraba (Aminata the Lioness), pays tribute to her mothers courage. My mother always gives me advice when I write my songs, she says.

Through her campaigning for womens rights, Sangar realised how music can influence change. Proudly, she lists some of the titles recognising her international work in politics and social issues: FAO Goodwill Ambassador, Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France and most importantly, Malian people are still supporting me and listening to my music. She counts Bob Marley and Mama Africa herself, Miriam Makeba, among her early influences; artists who inspired her with their outspokenness and their triumph through struggle. As [Makeba] also used the Bambara language, I understood her struggle from a young age, she says. Another brave woman who continuously fought to change an unjust world.

If its emotional, people understand it, and if its rhythmic and makes you dance, people understand that too (Benoit Peverelli)

Anyone who has witnessed Sangars performances, for which she dresses in flowing, traditional robes and towering high heels, will know what a charismatic and majestic presence she is. Her voice has a transcendent quality, capable of conveying a depth of emotion a soulfulness that moves the spirit. To her, singing in those supple belts and calls comes as naturally as breathing, and its why her music connects with so many people around the world. When someone sees you play, they dont need to speak your language to understand what youre trying to say, she says. If its emotional, people understand it, and if its rhythmic and makes you dance, people understand that too. Thats the beauty of music. I sense shes keen to return to her family so I wrap things up, apologising profusely for my nervous French. Bravo, she insists, laughing away my insecurity with her warm, rich voice. Bravo.

Acoustic is out now via N Frmat

See more here:

Oumou Sangar: People dont need to speak your language to understand what youre trying to say - The Independent

In spring, they say, a young mans fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

Summer, however, is another story, especially for a kid growing up in the 60s. Especially around the Fourth of July.

Because at that time the efforts of me and my juvenile cohorts were directed towards the acquisition and detonation of firecrackers (what used to be labeled Class C fireworks) when we could get them, or crummy dime-store novelties when we couldnt.

Now Class C fireworks like polygamy, a Republican-controlled legislature and (until recently) recreational marijuana have always been illegal in Illinois. Enterprising downstate 10-year-olds like myself had to make do with the sad trinity of S fireworks novelties smoke bombs, sparklers and that most disappointing of all novelties, snakes.

That is, unless you had a connection. My connection was the uncle of a couple of my friends, who saw nothing wrong with supplying his younger kin with the occasional packet of Black Cats and bottle rockets on the down low.

Flashlight firecrackers like Black Cats, Thunder Bombs and Lady Fingers packs came anywhere from several hundred to 16 to a pack, all linked in two rows by a common fuse. Our black market connection limited us to maybe a couple 16-packs at a time, which we judiciously spent like misers in a recession.

Early on we learned how to unthread the main fuse, freeing up the individual firecrackers for solitary use. Care had to be taken lest you pull a fuse from an individual firecracker. Once removed, they were hard to put back in, and even when you could, half the time they still wouldnt work.

Even then, a small percentage of the firecrackers might not work. Youd take a firecracker, maybe stick it in a newly assembled plastic airplane model, or shove it an ant nest or prepare to throw it behind your little brother, light it and nothing happens. A dud.

This is a problem for your typical 10-year-old. Should he pick it up and chance it going off in his hand? That would be bad, because Mom would find out. But then again, you cant just leave it lying there. Because, for Gods sake, you dont want to waste it.

The remedy: step on it. And then pick it up.

Igniting duds presented another challenge. Sometimes they had a very short piece of fuse left, so short that it would probably go off before you could throw it, and then youre stuck with Mom again.

Sometimes you could expose a more fuse by pulling it out a little, but in all likelihood that still wouldnt work, and then youd be left with a fuseless, twice-stepped-on dud.

Sometimes the duds had no fuses left. You could maybe use a piece of the leftover main fuse if you hadnt already lit it and thrown it at your buddy. But even if you saved a piece, it was always too flimsy to shove back in.

Quite a quandary. The solution, of course, was taping it to another firecracker and attempting to set it off that way. Either that, or dousing with gasoline or lighter fluid which were apparently pretty easy for children to acquire back then and then lighting it.

Or you could take the gutless approach: break the dud in half and turn it into a flare.

The biggest challenge actually turned out to be the ignition source. Disposable lighters didnt exist back then, nor did long barbecue-style lighters. And getting caught with the old mans Ronson was probably an imprisonable offense.

No, we were stuck with paper matches, which could burn your fingers just as easy as sparking fuse. They were easy enough to get your hands on back then, when there was a law in America requiring adults to smoke.

Still, if you ever ran out of matches before you ran out of firecrackers, you were in big trouble.

Listening to the continuous detonation of quartersticks (or are those gunshots?) around Joliet this time of year always brings back fond memories, though I havent set off fireworks on my own now for many years.

Mostly because the noise terrifies the dog.

Plus, what would I do if one turned out to be a dud?

Bill Wimbiscus is a former editor and reporter at The Herald-News.

Read more:

Explosives training was de rigueur for children in the '60s - The Herald-News

SISTER Wives' Meri Brown has the "opportunity to be loved" after her alleged "split" from her husband of 30 years, Kody Brown.

The mother of one has been giving hints about her potential break-up from Kody and this is just the latest.

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Meri, 49, took to Instagram to post a cryptic message on her Stories which could hint at her and Kody being done for good.

In black letters, she posted a quote by Jodi Hills: "I am here. I have the courage to believe that matters.

"I have the strength to make a difference ... to be different. Even with an empty hand, I have the means to give.

"I am free to become ... to fail ... to learn. I have the advantage of hope. I have the opportunity to be love ... to be loved.

"I have the wisdom to know it is all a gift ... all.

"When I make my decision on how I am going to live this day, and it is a decision, I joyfully, responsibly, gratefully, face the world and say, 'I am here.'"

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Meri has been on a road to feeling better about herself following her possible split from Kody.

Most recently, she dazzled her fans by showing off her weight loss while promoting her clothing brand.

Followers complimentedKodys first wife after months of working out.

One follower wrote: Meri You just look like you are living your best life.

'Happy, radiant and glowing. Whatever you are doing keep doing you!

'BTW this dress looks amazing on you.

Another said: You look breathtaking!

A third fan wrote: Good on you Meri, looking so pretty and most of all happy!!!!

A fourth said: Absolutely beautiful Meri! You are glowing!

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Meri has been showing off her weight loss andmakeover in recent weeks, as she cut her hair and has been wearing more makeup.

The transformation comes after fans suspected she has left her husband and sister wivesJanelle, 50,Christine, 48, andRobyn, 41.

Meri, who shares one daughter with Kody, sparked split rumors byposting a photo without her wedding ringand sharing cryptic quotes.

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Asourcepreviously told The Sun: To take a wedding ring off is big in polygamy. Its Meris way of saying, 'Im done.

The insider added of how her new look is a hint shes planning to leave polygamy: Her weight loss and hair cut is a good sign! Thats, Okay time for me!

Having her own life, doing fun things, finding friends is the best thing she can be doing for herself. Shes finding herself, what she wants and believes. I hope Meri wakes up and ditches this insanity."

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Kody, 51, and Meris marriage has been on the rocks for years, as she has contemplated several time leaving the family on the TLC series.

In 2014, Kody divorced her to marry fourth and "favorite" wife, Robyn, which Meri cried over on the most recent season.

To add to the stress, Meri was involved in a catfish scandal and fell in love with another man, who ended up being a woman.

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On the most recentSister Wivesseason,Meriadmitted theirmarriage has been pretty rocky for a while."

Kody added that he "regretted" their union.

Most recently, the twoignored theirmilestone 30th wedding anniversary in April.

Continue reading here:

Sister Wives star Meri Brown says she has the opportunity to be loved after split from husband Kody - The Sun

A New York "throuple" have been blessed with their second baby in just three months.

The new dad of two babies, 33-year-old fuel truck driver Billy Perez is partnered up with two baby mamas, Michelle Verges, 27, and Jessica Colon, 32.

The group from Rochester in New York have been happily living together for the past six years.

But mum Michelle says their lives include tiffs over bills and household chores and people shouldn't "automatically assume every day is a sex party".

The new babies born into the throuple will have three siblings from their parents' previous relationships, according to the New York Post.

Mum Michelle, who gave birth to her baby Billy Joe in November, said her and Jessica had aimed to fall pregnant at the same time and co-ordinate a twins-like scenario.

"In an ideal world we would have fell pregnant at the same time; then the babies would be kind of like twins," she said.

Michelle, Billy and Jessica.

Jessica, Billy and Michelle have welcome two new babies in three months.

"But they still look alike and they'll be in the same year at school."

Michelle said the pair also made all their prenatal care appointments together - despite it drawing some attention in their obstetricians office.

"We went to all our appointments together, even though (Jessica) was a little bit behind my pregnancy," said Michelle.

"We want the kids to know that they're all of ours.

"They will call both of us Mum and Billy is obviously their father."

Jessica gave birth to her baby Reina on January 28, three months after Michelle.

While Michelle works as a machine operator, Jessica works for the US Postal Service.

Michelle is quick to point out being in a throuple still comes with the same grinding day to day monotony of every long term relationship.

"People automatically assume every day is a sex party," she said. "We bought a house together (and) we are just like any other couple."

Michelle, Billy and Jessica.

"We argue about bills and household chores."

Michelle said they've never argued over getting married - because polygamy is illegal in the United States.

"It's illegal for us to get married, but we would if we could!"

Michelle said she started her relationship with Billy and Jessica as friends and said she wasn't looking to join a throuple. She added she now loves it.

She warned it wasn't an arrangement for the weak hearted.

"You have to drop some of your morals by allowing another person in."

But she said Billy is a "funny, smart man" with a "good head on his shoulders".

"You have to be a king to take on two women and five kids!"

Originally published as 'Throuple' have two babies in months

Link:

Throuple have two babies in months | Chronicle - Chronicle

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Hows an NBA players career defined?

Most think its measured by statistics, championships won, or perhaps community involvement. All three are your typical generalized predictors of player worth both during and after a career.

In my interview with Lance Allred, his monumental impact was something altogether different. Now a 39-year-old motivational speaker, Allred graced his presence in The Association for just a flash of time. However, this is just the beginning of his transcendent story.

Lance Allred talks to student-athletes from various schools at Pittston Area about perseverance, accountability, and integrity. 10/18/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader

Legally-deaf from birth with 75-80 percent hearing loss due to Rh disease, Lance was raised within a Mormon Polygamist Cult in rural Montana. No sign language. No cochlear implants. No road to follow.

Allred used lip-reading, toneless speech, and writing as his means of communication in a world where they meant very little. Breaking free from polygamy at 13, it didnt take Lance long to discover his true calling.

Basketball.

Growing from 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-4 as an eighth-grader, Allred discovered that hoops was his safe haven. Now feeling accepted on a team, Lance stated, I get to belong to a tribe again.

In 2000, living just five blocks away from campus and joining a top-five program, Mr. Allred accepted a scholarship to the University of Utah. Playing the center position, Lance now stood 6-foot-11. At first, late head coach Rick Majerus loved Allreds utter passion and remarkable work ethic. During Lances sophomore season, he saw a proverbial switch flip in regards to Coach Majeruss psyche. After Majerus was informed that his mother was diagnosed with cancer, his change in demeanor became evident. As a result of continued verbal abuse from his coach, one in which he was ripped to pieces in front of the entire team, Allreds time in Salt Lake City ended.

Allred told me that Majerus called him out on the baseline of Saint Marys College on January 6, 2002, in front of teammates and coaches saying, Lance, youre the worst of all. You use hearing as an excuse to weasel yourself through life, and youre a disgrace to cripples. And if I was in a wheelchair and saw you play basketball, Id shoot myself.

Shortly thereafter, Lance transferred to Weber State in Ogden, UT, just 40 miles up the road.

Image courtesy of Future of Personal Health

He finished his collegiate career in Ogden, spanning from 2003-05. In his senior season (2005) with the Weber State Wildcats, averaging 17.7 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, Mr. Allred helped lift his squad to the Big Sky Tournament championship game.

Lance started his professional career (2005-16) playing overseas. Three years later, he finally got his big break.

Two ten-day contracts in, Lance signed a deal to finish 2008 with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The short stint made up the entirety of Allreds NBA career. Three games played. Three total points. Thats it? Yes. Lance was devastated, but he certainly wasnt ashamed. As the first legally-deaf player in history to make an NBA roster, those three points resonated loudly.

(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

Due to nervousness, his first point came off the window from the charity stripe. You read that right. A banked-in free throw. It was awkward, but it was a point nonetheless. Minutes later in the same game against the Detroit Pistons, Lance used the glass once again to smooch-in a two-point field goal.

When I asked Allred what his favorite moment was from his brief stay in the league, he didnt say anything about those two made baskets, nothing about playing with LeBron James and gave no mention of his basketball journey.

He simply told me, My opportunity to visit a deaf school in Cleveland, and give back to those kids through my own experience, letting them know that they can reach their dreams.

Okay. I do have more from Lance regarding his thoughts about LBJ among other things, but Ill save that for next week.

Lance Allreds NBA career wasnt defined by any of your typical generalizations. Instead, the atypical can now be heard. Grasping the fabric of human kindness, self-worth, and choice as a motivational speaker, Allred continues to forge a path written with integrity.

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The Lance Allred Story - Part 1: Breaking the legally-deaf barrier in the NBA - NGSC Sports LLC

When Nexflix announced a series adaptation of Lola Shoneyins award winning novel, The Secret Lives of Baba Segis Wives, it didnt take long for twitter fans to chime in with casting suggestions best suited to portray some of their favorite characters from the book. It has been 10 years since the U.S. debut of Shoneyins humorous and eye opening novel about a polygamous family in Nigeria. The novel isnt new to adaptations; since its release it has enjoyed a life as a one woman show, a stage play, a BBC Radio play and a graphic novel.

Its a wonderful feeling, that the book is still resonating and still finding new audiences. Shoneyin tells Observer. Its like having a prized piece of play dough and every time somebody takes it from you, they mould it into a masterpiece.

SEE ALSO:Ottessa Moshfegh Doesnt Want to Write Moral Stories

Shoneyins writing history dates back to an early childhood as a voracious reader, representing her school at poetry competitions. Defying her fathers preference that she study medicine or law, Shoneyin would eventually settle on a degree in English literature at Ogun State University in Nigeria. It was important for me to do something that I enjoy because I knew that I had that high capacity to become bored quite quickly and quite easily. she says.

In her last year at university, she fell hard for poetry and got hooked on a diet of African American feminist writings from names like Ntozake Shange, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison. I felt quite safe within poetry because I didnt need to say too much and I could just say enough. It was a way of throwing parables into the world.

Shoneyin eventually published three collections of poetry, but her first two novels failed to secure a publisher. These days when you hear these horror stories of publishers saying we already have a black author, and basically saying it like they have made their black quota.that stuff really happened to me. I was really in the middle of that kind of talk and feeling very powerless.

Living in England at the time, simultaneously raising four children, studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, working as a teacher and frustrated, Shoneyin decided to take a final stab at getting published. It was at this moment she remembered a story told to her when she was 14 by her older brothers girlfriend, a medical student. The story was about a spare parts dealer who drove into the hospital with his graduate wife informing the doctor that his wifes womb was ruined. That story would form the basis of this novel exploring polygamy, impotence, envy, and sexual assault that stayed percolating in her mind for a number of years.

After eventually making a casual call to her agent about the story, eighteen months later, The Secret Lives of Baba Segis Wives was born. Shoneyin was in no doubt that her debut would be successful, regardless of her early dark experiences with publishing.

I knew it would resonate with just about anybody. Some of the themes that I explore in the novel are universal themes. Everybody feels jealousy and insecurity.

She didnt want a book that was so literary and inaccessible to regular readers. I wanted it to be, as one of my agents described, the commercial end of literary fiction. That accessibility was important to me.It is that accessibility, wit and agency that has made the novel endearing to its readers worldwide and garnered a huge following.

The Netflix adaptation is spearheaded by Nigerian television and film producer Mo Abudu who optioned the rights in 2017. I have met very few people in my life who have the level of foresight that she has just as a human being, Shoneyin says of Abudu. She is ambitious, and I wanted her to succeed.

Shoneyin believes this adaptation to be a win for African storytelling as African literature gets to be reintroduced to a new generation through film and the economic value is not lost on her. We are going to have a crop of screenwriters who can see the value in adapting our stories for the screen. Thats just another means for a writer to make money and there is a lot of value to that, she says.

It has been impossible to ignore the publishing industrys moment of reckoning with systemic racism amidst the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. Shoneyin is hopeful that part of the change will include a burst of creative energy, ushering in a new vanguard of Black storytellers. The world is in an interesting place right now, where people want to hear Black voices and Black voices are not about to be silenced by anybody, she says.

As for the long awaited second novel, she neither feels paralysed nor pressured by the success of her debut but rather continues to indulge her restlessness in her current role as festival organiser for Lagos annual Ak Arts and Book Festival. I love promoting other writers, especially giving them a global and continent wide space with the Ak festival and Kaduna books and arts festival. The truth is that Baba Segi seems to be the gift that just keeps giving.

Read more from the original source:

10 Years After Her Hit Novel Debuted, Lola Shoneyin Knows the Netflix Series Will Resonate - Observer