BLACK GIRL MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020

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Black Gir l M agazin e is a Lan ar e Pu blish in g Pu blicat ion !

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CONTENTS

THIS TIME IS PG. 14

1. EDITORIAL 2. POETRY IN MOTION THIS TIME IS MINE CLOSE THE DOOR LEAVE MY HAIR ALONE! BLACK HISTORY MONTH TRIBUTE WHAT ABOUT LOVE?

W HAT ABOUT LOVE? PG. 18

3. FEATURE STORY EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW : SANDRA RENEA NORTHARD PART 2

4 EXHORTATION FAMILIES MUST HEAL

S MINE

CLOSE THE DOOR PG. 16

FEATURING: Om n iu m Tor qu atos Qu as Pl aton em Pr o Aequ e

TAGLINE

LEAVE MY HAIR ALONE! PG. 22

OUR HISTORY PG. 24

TITLE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW : SANDRA RENEA NORTHARD PART 2 PAGES 26-32

Black Gir l M agazin e.

LP LANARE PUBLISHING © 2020

Bl ack Gi r l M agazi n e, Febr u ar y 2020 Vol . 3, No. 10 i s pu bl i sh ed m on t h l y, © Copyr i gh t by

Lan ar e Pu bl i sh i n g 2020. Al l r i gh t s r eser ved. You m ay n ot m odi f y, pu bl i sh , t r an sm i t , par t i ci pat e i n t h e t r an sf er or sal e of , cr eat e der i vat i ve w or k s f r om , di st r i bu t e, di spl ay, r epr odu ce or per f or m , or i n an y w ay ex pl oi t i n an y f or m at w h at soever an y of Lan ar e Pu bl i sh i n g's con t en t , i n w h ol e or i n par t w i t h ou t pr i or w r i t t en con sen t .

Black History and the Month of Love!!

February is always an exciting month, in addition to being my birthday month (shameless plug), we also celebrate very some very significant dates. Along with the obvious, and monumental celebration of Black History month, which is now being re-branded as Black History Year, we should celebrate ourselves and our achievements more than just one month out of the year. That said, it is still a glorious time to celebrate and remember those who paved the way and came before us. In addition to Black History Month, here in America, we also like to celebrate President's day, a day honoring our late leader, and last but, but certainly not least, Valentine's Day! Yes, I said Valentine's Day! A few years ago, BGM published a great piece, written by yours truly, dispelling the myths of Valentine's Day being a "Pagan" holiday and how many Christians really miss out on it's true meaning, which is ultimately a story about true love. So, before you jump on a bandwagon of what's good and not as far as your Christian walk is concerned, do some research first, because at the end of the day, we serve a God and Savior who are all about love, and if you are not showing that even in your closed-off Christian ways, than something has got to change. Finally, with so much in the news lately regarding our hair, please be sure to read our special piece, "Leave my hair alone!"...Happy Reading!!

StephanieMaxwell- Robles Publisher/Editor- in Chief Content and Creative Director

THIS TIM E IS M INE THIS TIME IS MINE NOW I'M GONNA SHINE NO MORE PLAYING GAMES CAUSE THIS LIFE IS NOT MINE I WAS GIVEN A CALL AS MANY CAN SEE I WAS GIVEN A CALL TO BE ALL I CAN BE THIS TIME IS MINE NOW I'M GONNA SHINE LIKE IT OR NOT WHAT'S YOURS IS YOURS AND WHAT'S MINE IS MINE © 2020 By S. L. Maxwell-Robles

CLOSE THE DOOR TO UNWANTED CHATTER CLOSE THE DOOR TO UNWANTED CHATTER YOU SHOULD ONLY REALLY BE TALKING ABOUT ONLY WHAT MATTERS CLOSE THE DOOR TO JUST SAYING SOMETHING JUST TO SAY SOMETHING NO MORE FRIVOLOUS WORDS OR IDLE , NERVOUS BANTER ALWAYS THINK TWICE ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ALWAYS PRAISE GOD FOR NEVER LETTING YOU GET TO FAR AWAY... © 2020 By S. L. Maxwell-Robles

WHAT ABOUT LOVE? A VALENTINE'S DAY TRIBUTE WHAT ABOUT LOVE? YOU SHOULD SHOW IT EVERYDAY WHAT ABOUT LOVE? IT WILL CHASE THE BLUES AWAY WHAT ABOUT LOVE? IT IS AMAZING WHAT IT CAN DO FOR YOU WHAT ABOUT LOVE? JESUS CHRIST SHOWED IT WHEN HE DIED FOR YOU WHAT ABOUT LOVE? IT'S THE GREATEST GIFT YOU CAN EVER GIVE

© 2020 By S. L. Maxwell-Robles

g n i m o C on !

So

LEAVE M Y HAIR ALONE! LEAVE MY HAIR ALONE OR WALK RIGHT OUT THAT DOOR TAKING ALL YOUR LIES AND DECEPTION TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL REJECTED WHO ARE YOU, ANYWAY TO QUESTION MY H A I R? WHO ARE YOU TO GO AGAINST GOD'S SWEET, AND NOT TO MENTION, ONE-OF-KIND FLAIR? BECAUSE TRULY, THAT'S WHAT IT BOILS DOWN TO, CONSIDERING WHAT YOU'VE BEEN TAKING ME THROUGH I AM "FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE" ACCORDING TO PSALMS 139:14 AND FURTHER...DON'T YOU KNOW, YOU CANNOT CHANGE WHAT GOD HAS PROCLAIMED!!!!!! © 2020 By S. L. Maxwell-Robles

BLACK HISTORY M ONTH TRIBUTE! SAID ITS BLACK HISTORY MONTH NOW WHAT YOU GONNA DO ABOUT HOW IT'S CELEBRATED FOR JUST 30 DAYS, NORMALLY WHEN YOU SPEND A LIFETIME, BEING YOU? I SAID IT'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH, AGAIN A TIME TO MAKE A REAL, LOUD CLAMOR AND CELEBRATE THE GIANTS WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE YOU PAVING THE WAY, WITH A MIGHTY SLEDGE HAMMER SAID IT'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH AND ALL I CAN SEE AND HEAR IS ABOUT YOUR GREATNESS SAID IT'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH AGAIN

AND LET US NEVER FORSAKE OR TAKE OUR LEGACY FOR GRAN SAID IT'S BLACK HISTORY MONTH AGAIN NOW LET'S GET READY FOR BLACK HISTORY YEAR'S IMPLEMENTATION! © 2020 By S. L. Maxwell-Robles

NTED

Con t in u at ion of In t er view w it h San dr a Nor t h ar d Par t 2

I don't remember him answering. I don't remember what he looked like or anything....So that's the last part of that I can recall.

I don't remember my mom, auntie, or my father coming to pick me up. I don't remember an examination, or talking to a nurse or doctor.

The next thing I [do] remember about the ordeal was that we moved back to Alabama. One day my mom was getting ready to run bath water for me, this was just after the rape occurred.

She told me to go get the Lysol. I said, "what, the stuff that the man used to rape me with?"

I saw this look on her face, and it was blank. It was no expression . Back in the days, Lysol was in brown bottle. so in my mind, I think

y asking her kinda took her back to that time when she could not find me.

So what happened after that was she put a cap full of that in my bath, water, and I took a bath. And I don't know where they get this from. I guess she was trying to clean me, I guess. I just didn't remember anything for a long time....that's all I remember about the rape at that time Hallelujah.

My mom, and my sister, and I would say that my family was no longer the same.

Q: Was it customary for you to walk to school by yourself, or had you stated that you had left out on your own accord, at that time and age?

A: No. I know that someone always walked with me. I don't remember the physical walk,

or the drive to school, I don't remember that part.

But I do know, that at that age, my parents were always involved. I remember being in a fashion show at the school.

And I had always heard that I was very sassy. I always talked to a lot of people who wound up saying that, "she has personality, she has a lot of personality". But, I don't remember ever being on my own.

I don't know how it happened, and I don't remember who initiated it.

But some how I found out that my mom's sister, and my father were having an affair, where they begin sleeping together. So I suspect, someone wasn't paying attention to me and I ultimately left.

When I indicated that

we moved back to Alabama, my mom wanted to move to get that part of her life back. I got this information from someone close to me.

She's was one of the ladies who went with my father and my mom to the police station, or the hospital the next day to pick me up.

She filled in a lot of the blanks for me. This was maybe like five years ago I talked to her. I asked, "So what ended up happening? I wonder why my mom doesn't talk to me what happened?"

She just explained to me that "Your mom was so broken up. She would cry". She said she went down to the news station with your picture, and asked them to please put your picture on the news so people could help look for you and they told her "no".

That is where my title of my first book came from

"I often wondered". She said that my mom was very upset. She said that her dad, and your dad was the one that told her that "the police officers are looking for you".

She told me that when they had found me the next morning, my face was disfigured. She said that one side of my face was so swollen, they really couldn't recognize me. They knew it was me, because of my hair.

And she said that I was beaten up really bad.

So this is what ultimately caused my father to take us back to Alabama, because it wasn't safe. It wasn't safe out there. So he took us to Alabama, and he stayed for three days. And when he drove back, my mom's sister went back in the car with him. And that's what I found out.

She said that the affair

had been going on, your dad, got back with your auntie, and they created a life together.

This went on for a little while. I don't know, there's just so many pieces to the story.

During that time that my mom stayed in Alabama, after she found out about the affair, they ended up getting a divorce.

My aunt stayed in Chicago with my dad, we stayed in Alabama. My mama worked, and my mom's mother, she helped watched us, and my dad paid child support.

I remember her getting little boxes in the mail with things for me from my dad. He was a good dad. He took care of stuff like that. He made sure that we were taken care of financially. And I certainly remember that about him.

Ultimately, my mom's sister had a little girl, so I have a sister/cousin, and I met her on Facebook. It's been about 8 years ago.

Fam i l i es...

Th is st or y r epr esen t s t h e br eakdow n of f am ily...

Som et h in g can h appen t o h in der ...

Ever yon e h as t h eir ow n exper ien ce w it h it .

Th ey su f f er in silen ce som et im es...

It m an if est s by vir t u e of beh avior ...

Th e pat h ology of t h e br oken syst em ...

How t h e w h ole f am ily is af f ect ed...

How t h e dyn am ics of f am ily ar en't w or k in g...

Issu es n ever get People st ar t t o "act ou t " , "m isbeh avin g" or addr essed... "sin n in g" ...

Th in gs get dr essed u p...

Th e Bloodlin e becom es t h e pat h ology...

We M u st Heal !

Q: Are both of your parents still living Sandra? A: My mom, she's alive. She lives in Mobile Alabama. She moved back home. She moved back out there after we moved to California. My father unfortunately passed away, I believe in 2014 in jail.

Remember the picture I sent you of the guy.

R: Yes. A: Okay, that's my father.

He passed in 2014 of cancer, and he was in jail because he took the life of his own dad and his stepmom.

"This is my Dad, I'm his daughter. He murdered two people, his father and stepmom. Yep, there was plenty of cussing going on. I'm still running for freedom." San dr a Nor t h ar d

I don't know what the fight was about. I don't how they got into it, or why my father shot them .

To be con t in u ed...

Sandra at age 5, before the kidnapping.

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