AFRICA FASHION

Fashion has been with man as long as man can remember...it is an identity, culture, a way of life. Everywhere you look you will see fashion, in the way we wear our hair, the way we build our homes, in our looks, even to the way we cook our meals and eat those meals. Fashion is every thing, it defines who we are , from generation to generation.

Fashion a way of Life and African Fashion, a glamour to associate with. Beautiful, elagant, nourishing, refreshing, soulfull, warm, intricate yet balanced just like its people.
Have you ever wonder, where this idea of fashion came from? If is as old as man then Fashion is man just like language food culture etc.Who was the first designer? Who was the first model to show case the first designed clothes? Fashion in my own option is a necessity just like the air we breathe or the food we eat or the need to sleep.

African Fashion has evolved and still evolving just like its people. A Fashion with a statement, with purpose and reason. From the ancient Egypt to ancient South africa, all the way to Senegal and Mali, one thing hold so sure, hat African Fashion is so diverse and unique and it will take another life time to exhaust its diversity and unquieness.

So the world had better watch out because Africa and African Fashion is here to stay...it is the next big thing.
THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT anymore for this great GIANT to surprise the world with it richness.

Maybe there is a lesson here to be learnt, never ever, look down or underestimate nobody. There is an old adage that says, "Be careful of how you treat people as you climb up the laddar because you may need them on your way down", well, something like that, i think.

Anyways, i'm so glad to be part of this wonderful continent and most importantly, part of the era when the whole world looks to Africa for inspiration.

Be Real, Be True
Gentlehawk
Always with you

HAPPY 2012

Hey guys,

It is a New Year, a New Reason to live that dream, a new reason to be the best we can be, a new dawn and a new beginning.

But wait a moment, is it me or it is that the 2011 was one fast year...pregnant and giving birth to so many events, some wonderful but the most parts, catastrophic events, but fast nevertheless.

I am so sure alot of us looked forward to 2012 with a New Zeal, New Desire, New Anticipation.

However, for Nigerians that zeal was damped by their president's new year announcement - the removal of fuel subsidy without even consulting the people who made him the president in the first place.

Going on few days strike that was resultless, if there is any word like that, and returning to business as usual. Typical of Nigerians

The country is at a point of meltdown so alot of people say but the truth of the matter is that, what is keep that country from rising as a shinning star that it is, is exactly what is holding that country together and from not crashing or falling apart.
So hopefully, keeping our fingers crossed and looking above to the only one who interfers in the affairs of men, i can't wait how things turn out this beautiful year of 2012.

So my lovely darlings, kisses blown to y'all.
Wishing a fruitful and daring 2012.

Remember, do it your way and Live it right and True.

Your Gal....Gentlehawk!!!

LIFE!!!

Got this new job and as terrific as i think it is, it still has it's challenges. Kinda like life, no matter what or how life looks or be, it is not the way we think it is or see it. it is much more, no matter how sweet or how sour it is, life is alot more than that. we just need to experience it to know exactly what we are getting into.
Infact i had the opportunity to see first hand that people could look tough and aloaf but they are not all that. Some people call it "Perception". And so is Life.
Sometimes life could be an illusion but be careful, not to be thrown off the board.
How prepared are you is as important as the location of where you want to be.
This new work place is like being another planet on ET. Their look at life and people around them is so queer that some times i want to scream and pull out my hair and shout "I want to go home, back to the real world which is Earth" and at the same time i feel complied to teach them the beauty they are missing, which is, each other. We are here now, this very moment....simply enjoy and live the moment. As the saying goes, we are here today: who is sure about tomorrow.
To just simply enjoy the moment and see beyond the now.
Despite feeling scared of what is ahead of me, i am determined to live this life(WORK LIFE)differently from the rest. Above all be true to what i believe and be the best, the very best i can.
with Hope, my in heart i really pray i succeed

Wish me Luck!!!;)

Peace y'all
Be true and Real

LOVELY MONTH OF LOVE

What goes around they say comes around....true as it may seem, i still believe that there are some exceptions. Taking for example my case, and i know same hold for a few other people, the month of February is a month i so dread because we all know it a month of Love. People look forward to the month so intensive that alot of companies make the most sale during this love month. Anyway, i dread this month not because of what is means but basically i'm running low on the people to share it with. The matter of fact is that people, and i mean families, friends and colleagues don't want to share it with me 'cause they feel i'm using them as an excuse not to have a relationship. So they figure out if they don't spend Val's day with me anymore, i will get serious and find myself a good relationship. But they are most wrong on this one.

For the pass six to seven years, it's either i take mum/dad out on val or one of them brothers/cousins whose girlfriend ain't in town. But this February has been amazing. Fun packed with great people with exhilarating events...i can barely hold my breathe. Yes indeed, February is the month of love and what better way of spending it than to spend it with someone who means everything to you. This February i don't think i want to forget in a hurry. i'm going to savor every moment of it. The Love, Kiss, Passion, Sexuality...of every moment.
This February, i got my grove back, my sex appeal and inner beauty and it is all thanks to you, my Love.

I'm keeping it real and true for you, now and always.
So what goes around comes around

THE NEW LOOK OF THE AFRICAN WOMAN

As we start this new year, i would like to look at things that are not making headlines as they should. I wish to take your focus away from disasters or awful events that seem to have come to stay. And have a look a things that happen everyday but have been sidelined because of these so called tragedies. Things likes, a beautiful smile on a child's lip, the sunset silhouetted by the building or a glimpse behind a naked tree, the wet kiss from that cute kitten or puppy, the first deal you made today, the undying love of a mother or father, those first glimpse of your baby's milk teeth and the list is endless.

Whichever way you look at it, it is important not to lose sight of those little things that makes you smile because they do matter in the long run too. You might say "What does this have to do with the title?".

Well, i was reading an article the other day on Africa and its people; and it simply occurred to me that a lot of things have certainly changed in that continent(not that there aren't any changes in other continents). It's just that African has been relegated and bastardized negatively that even Africans can't see their achievements regardless of what's going on.

So since i am an African...and a woman, I've decided to start this from that angle...which gave birth to the title of this blog "THE NEW LOOK OF THE AFRICAN WOMAN". So, if you want to know more about the African women, enjoy and if you are, an African woman, read this and understand the reasons why you should CELEBRATE "YOU". Because it is all about you.

I remember, my mother and aunts telling me stories of their young days. I've read stories telling of how women were treated back in the days. The biography of great women. The "Seen and Not Heard" policy. The background treatment of women. The "Taboo" of the birth of a baby girl. The rights of women been walked on.That having a baby girl is just a waste. It goes as far as the girl child been disowned or better still killed.

But these controversies only challenged the African woman to be free of this degrading norms and to make something meaningful out of their lives.

They gradually started to give meaning to their lives - venturing into the world that had alienated them for many, many years. The African woman is taking charge of her life and destiny.

They are opening their space and letting the world see that without them, the world won't be an interesting and great place to live. The new look of the African woman is strong, beautiful, confident and passionate. They are the real deal, they've been keep in the background for too...way too long.

The African Woman have come of age...but the truth of the matter is that, is the world ready for these wonderful and glorious women. Women who are willing to fight and take what is rightfully theirs. Women who believe in people and what they stand for. Women who aren't ready to back out of a challenge as long as it is fair. Women who are not afraid of who and what they are. They are fierce and they are ready .....ready to take the world on because they are real and true.
Ready for the world and ready for you.

So, get your socks on.
Ur Gal,
Gentlehawk

A POEM FOR ALL MY FRIENDS

They say a friend in need is a friend indeed...however, great friends are hard to find and if you are lucky enough to have them, i mean good friends, i advice you keep and cherish them.

Friends are unique people, who, despite aren't related to you by blood, many a times stick closer than a brother. Friends have helped me in my journey of life...i have been lucky to have some friends for a reason, some for a season and the best part, some for a lifetime.

So, i dedicate this to all my real and true friends - those who came for a reason, those that were for a season and those who will remain quietly for a life-time. This poem is for you. I love you and thank you so much for the opportunity to be part of your lives.


Dearest friend,
This is not a letter to be let
But one to be read
By your cute sparkling eyes
Into your tender little heart
This is to tell you how much
The things,are need to be said
but I have kept so long
truly, you are a friend
That I need indeed
A friend who is there
When you need him(her) near
You came to my life,
Quietly, like the little dove
and touched my heart
with your amazing love
you gave me encouraging words
When I needed them, so much
You give your strong and supporting hands
To help me stand out
but above all,You made me see
The most important thing of all
that you are a true friend,
and that it's meant to be and it's for real.

True n Real,
Gentlehawk

IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME

2010 is a year many would not forget in a hurry. A year with so many events, calamities, success stories and many more. So as such i think 2010 won't be easily forgotten by a lot of people whatever their story.

For me, it is been a year of mixed giving, mixed blessings. 2010 have taught me to see things and people differently and clearly. Beneath all those make-up, clothes and what-have-you, we only let people see what we want them to see...or is it what they want to see. Few weeks before the end of the year 2010, i learnt the most important and intriguing thing about life. Do people really knew who we are? Do our friends, colleagues, families know who we really are? They assume they know you but do they really? Please don't get it twisted, i simply wrote this 'cause i want people to understand that, what i have gone through or still going through, won't define me....no matter what.

So here, i am, asking or better still, telling you, IF YOU REALLY KNEW ME...

If you really knew me, you would know that i am not the happy face you see. That behind this smiling face is a frighten, lost girl who wants nothing more but to be free to live. If you knew me, you would know that i am who i am for a reason. That i don't...can't trust anyone, not that i don't want to,but because those who are suppose to be the foundation of my trust are the ones who betray my trust.

If you really knew me, you would know that i would rather be hurt than to hurt anyone. If you really knew me, you would know that i can be successful but i would rather not because the fear of doing it alone. If you really knew me , you will know that i grew up on my own and i had to fight for everything.

If you really knew me, you would know that i want to be free, to be me.....but the question is "who am i really". If you knew me, you would know that i have taken care of me since the day i can remember. And i will give everything i own to have someone take care of me for a change.
If you knew me, you would know that the only thing i want is to live a normal life, no drama.
If you really knew me, you would know that when i love i really love....and i love really hard even if it kills me; that's because i believe in love, i believe in you, i believe in me and i believe in us.

If you really knew me you would know that i'm happy and won't change a thing about my life....it'z been crazy but boy, i love it. And i'm blessed to have lived it and by the way, still living it....lol

So, you see, 2011 will be the year that you will definitely know me....and not what you think of me or what you think of what you know of me. Therefore, embrace yourself for a real and true revelation of who am i, want to be and going be.

Love, Peace and Be true
Gentlehawk