[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="1130" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Black Girl Magic [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Black Girl Magic  /ˈblak ˈgər(-ə)l ˈma-jik/  slang. - celebrating the beauty, power and resilience of Black women. Congratulate Black women on their accomplishments. The hashtag #BlackGirlMagic is a movement that was popularized by CaShawn Thompson in 2013.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column width="1/6"][/vc_column][vc_column width="4/6"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_separator type="normal" color="#a8438f" thickness="3"][vc_empty_space height="15px"][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns="one_column" switch_to_one_column="600"][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment="middle" horizontal_alignment="center" advanced_animations="no"][vc_column_text] "You’re important in your own right. People need to value you because of who you are, because of your story. Because of your challenges. That's what makes you unique. You know? You wanna be different, you wanna be special. The fact that you’ve been able to overcome challenges - and this is what I’ve always thought - that made me smarter. That made me better because I could overcome things that a lot of people who were in the same position never had to overcome." - Michelle Obama. [/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][vc_empty_space height="15px"][vc_separator type="normal" color="#a8438f" thickness="3"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns="one_column" switch_to_one_column="600" alignment_one_column="left"][qode_elements_holder_item...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="1111" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Black Boy Joy [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Black Boy Joy  /ˈblak ˈbȯi ˈjȯi/  slang. - the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one black boy desires. The hashtag #BlackBoyJoy emerged to challenge the way we view black masculinity in society.[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column width="1/6"][/vc_column][vc_column width="4/6"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_separator type="normal" color="#0070b8" thickness="3"][vc_empty_space height="15px"][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns="one_column" switch_to_one_column="600"][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment="middle" horizontal_alignment="center" advanced_animations="no"][vc_column_text] "At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished… It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It's about what you've given back." - Denzel Washington. [/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][vc_empty_space height="15px"][vc_separator type="normal" color="#0070b8" thickness="3"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][qode_elements_holder number_of_columns="one_column" switch_to_one_column="600" alignment_one_column="left"][qode_elements_holder_item vertical_alignment="middle" horizontal_alignment="center" advanced_animations="no"][vc_column_text]Instead of highlighting the Black experience through an interview, today's Pick Progress post celebrates the many dynamic and brilliant faces that epitomize #BlackBoyJoy.[/vc_column_text][/qode_elements_holder_item][/qode_elements_holder][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][vc_column width="1/6"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][qode_advanced_image_gallery type="masonry" enable_image_shadow="no" number_of_columns="two" space_between_items="large" images="565,643,653,699,892,557,616,948,928,961,555,980,1116,1029,1007" image_size="full"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid"...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="882" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] Black is Beautiful [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Black is beautiful  /ˈblak iz ˈbyü-ti-fəl/  phrase. - Black people are beautiful.  See also.   Black people, the 1960s Black is Beautiful movement[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with Aisha [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]I was originally born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. I have two parents and I have four brothers and sisters, I am the middle child of five. And I grew up there, studied English at Rhodes college and got a bachelor’s of arts in English. And then I moved on to Indiana University in Bloomington and I got my MFA in creative writing with a focus on poetry. And from there I taught English in St. Louis, Missouri. I have a lot of family there, extended family, my mother was born and raised in St. Louis -- my father was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee...

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="yes" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="center" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_single_image image="891" img_size="full" alignment="center" qode_css_animation=""][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text] We Gonna Be Alright [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]We Gonna Be Alright  /ˈwē ˈgə-nə ˈbē ˈȯl-ˌrīt/  phrase. - a song lyric from the "Alright" by Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning artist Kendrick Lamar.The song "Alright," featured on Lamar's 2015 album "To Pimp a Butterfly" focus on hope during racial and socio-economic tension. In the summer of 2015, several youth-led protests against police brutality across the country were heard chanting the chorus to "Alright". See also. Black Lives Matter movement[/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Interview with David [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_empty_space height="30px"][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="grid" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern" z_index=""][vc_column][vc_column_text] Tell me about yourself. What’s your background? [/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height="30px"][vc_column_text]Yeah. my name is David Abdulla Muhammad. I was born in Kansas City, Missouri. I’m 35 years old. I am a child of Black flight, I like to call it. When I was in third grade, my parents saw the trends that were happening in Kansas City, Missouri, specifically with the school system...