The world today encompasses very real concerns of crime, health risks, natural disasters and terrorism that can disrupt the best planned vacations. Travelers need to be aware of the risks they can face when vacationing to an unfamiliar territory.
 
Whether you are a student going on spring break, a family vacationing together or are traveling strictly for business, there are some items that you should ensure are checked off of your pre-trip list before you depart for your destination.
 
Protect Your Identity
Proof of identity and citizenship are critical while traveling abroad. Your personal safety, and ability to travel, will be at risk if your passport and other identification are lost or stolen. Remember to take a photocopy of your passport and other identification with you on your travels. Keep it in a safe place, in the event something happens to the original.
 
As soon as you know you are going to travel abroad, locate your passport and make sure all of the information is correct. If you were over age 16 when your passport was issued, it is valid for 10 years. If you were age 15 or younger when your passport was issued, your passport is valid for 5 years. If you need to apply for a passport, do so at least three months in advance of your trip to avoid fees associated with expediting the process.

For most of my life, I have heard that Black women are strong.  But, rarely do we talk about what has made us so strong.  Surely the old adage:  “What won’t kill you will make you stronger” has applied to many of our lives.  Unfortunately, many of have not gotten stronger, but have been killed along the way.  While our bodies may not have been killed, our spirits, our hopes, and our dreams have been shattered by what we have experienced.   We have buried our sons and daughters to needless, thoughtless violence.    We Black women have lost husbands, friends, and lovers because of what we have experienced.  We have lost our dignity, received black eyes, experienced infidelity, been riddled with insecurity, displaced by unemployment, and devastated by discrimination.  Yes, we have been challenged in ways that have destabilized and shamed us for generations.

She was desperate to pay a handful of crucial bills, so she went online and researched digital loans.

She read about Internet payday loan companies and how they work – but she found one that seemed better than the others.

“In order to find out if I qualified I had to give them my bank account and social security number like you would for any loan,” she told The Skanner News. “There was my first stupid thing.”

This Oregon resident -- who has requested anonymity because she hasn’t yet told her family that a $400 loan turned into a $1,000 nightmare -- has helped touch off a national effort by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) to regulate the billion-dollar offshore payday lending industry.

Photo Credit: dailychamber.com

As this year’s women’s history month comes to an end, I am reminded of how proud I was to have our history acknowledged every February for Black History Month. My parents made sure I learned everything possible about our Black heritage, the struggles and obstacles we endured and the importance of African Americans on the history of our nation.

In 1987, our government decided that women also deserved to be honored in the same way. So, while February is Black History Month, March has been designated as Women’s History Month. This is a time to focus on and acknowledge the important roles that women take on in today’s world and the contributions they continue to make to history. This year, the theme of Women’s History Month is the empowerment of women through education.

With state and national Republicans emphasizing religious wedge issues, such as health coverage for contraception and separation of church and state, the media have frequently reported on the demographic most aroused by these issues - evangelical voters. But have the media accurately portrayed these evangelical Christians?
 
For many, the answer is a resounding "no."
News reports often leave the impression that all evangelical Christians are white and usually support the most conservative Republican candidates. Totally overlooked is the fact that many African-Americans, Latinos and other people of color are evangelical Christians whose views are rarely cited.
 
With its narrow coverage of this demographic, the media may have an inadvertent impact on the political process. Evangelical Christians are portrayed as the most committed religious believers in America. Does this give the perception that God backs their positions on issues including abortion and same-sex marriage? Does that give an unfair advantage to candidates aligned with issues supposedly receiving divinesupport?

Photo credit: NNPA
Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis American

In a 90 minute special “Oprah’s Next Chapter” Oprah Winfrey talked with the family of Whitney Houston. Yesterday’s special was the first time the family has publicly spoken since the passing of the music icon at the age of 48.
The interview kicked off with Bobbi Kristina talking about how her mother’s spirit has been an unyielding presence in her life since her mother passed away on Feb. 11 of this year.

“She’s always with me… I can always feel her with me,” Bobbi Kristina told Winfrey while standing in an area of her Uncle Gary and Aunt Pat’s (Whitney’s brother and sister-in-law/manager) home. “She always asked me… ‘Do you need me?’ And I caught myself one day, out of nowhere, I didn’t even know I said it, but… I said, ‘I’ll always need you’. Her spirit is strong… I feel her pass through me all the time… Lights turn on and off and I’m like, ‘Mom, what are you doing?’ I can still sit there and I can still laugh with her… I can still talk to her. I can still feel her saying ‘I got you.’”

According to the family Bobbi Kristina is residing in the place she called home with her mother, but is supervised by her aunt and uncle.

“I still have all her clothes, everything that she has ever given me.”