BLACK PEOPLE, PLEASE, READ & HEED.  
 The sad thing about this article is that the essence of it is true. The truth hurts. I just hope this sets more Black people in motion towards making real progress.. Chris Rock, a Black comedian, even joked that Blacks don’t read.Help prove them wrong! Read and pass on.Please Note:For those of you who heard it, this is the article Dee Lee was reading this morning on a New York radio station. For those of you who didn’t hear it, this is very deep.

This is a heavy piece and a Caucasian wrote it.Dee Lee, CFPHarvard Financial EducatorsDee Lee

THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES

We can continue to reap profits from the Blacks without the effort of physical slavery. Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED, and SELFISHNESS.Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said, ‘The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book.’ We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes &Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that prov ide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along), but few read consistently, if at all..GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%).Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it..  Being primarily a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing.They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business. Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU, And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives them ‘Status’ or that they have achieved their Dream.They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities.With the help of BET, and the rest of their black media that often broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even jeered them, saying he doesn’t want their money, and look at how the fools spend more with him than ever before!). They’ll continue to show off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits from our businesses that we market to them.SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, Dubois said that there was an innate division in their culture. A ‘Talented Tenth’ he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are segments of their culture that has achieved some ‘form’ of success.However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn’t read that the ‘Talented Tenth’ was then responsible to aid The Non-Talented Ninety Percent in achieving a better life.. Instead, that segment has created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we have.. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of their goal Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community.They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels, and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best speakers, not to the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness? They steadfastly refuse to see that Together Each Achieves More (TEAM)..They do not understand that they are no better than each other because of what they own, as a matter of fact, most of those Buppies are but one or two pay checks away from poverty. All of which is under the control of our pens in our offices and our rooms.Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to read, continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are ‘helping’ their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other than hold lavish conventions in our hotels. By the way, don’t worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, ‘THEY DON’T READ!!!!(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on! After Reading)

Imagine, if you will, two children, a boy and a girl coming home from school to a mother awaiting them with a snack before doing homework.  My brother and I would play outside until it was dinner time and the climax of the day was our father coming home.  The big mystery would be what kind of day he had. We always greeted him at the door…Why? because our mother said that’s what we were supposed to do…be present when our father came home.  He’d greet me with “Hello, My Princess,” while picking my brother up at the door.  This ritual was always the same and unchanged and it was always tough to judge whether my father’s day was good or bad.  I grew up in the days when children were seen and very seldom heard, so the personal business of how my father’s day went was reserved for my mother after my brother and I finished dinner.  We were never allowed to linger around and you better not even THINK about eavesdropping!!  When you care about people, you wanna know emotionally how they are “doing”! And here it was revealed.  Besides the 3 jobs my father worked week after week, he played trumpet professionally.  My father is a Jazz Musician.  Whether my father was tired or not, he’d practice and listen to his music after dinner.  If he didn’t practice, he felt great guilt!  A good day at his main job meant a couple of things…1) He’d practice for 2-3 hours and we’d be able to play with our toys. 2) The music he’d play would be happy and upbeat and we’d probably get a glimpse of our mother’s dance moves. 3) My father would have a bright affect and would be smiling and we’d collectively know he was happy!!  But if it was a bad day….he’d still practice, but the tunes were more solemn and depressed and he’d whip out his reel to reel tapes and the music would be kinda depressing.  But this was jazz.  This was jazz in it’s rawest form.  Jazz is the expression of emotion and my father used it as his outlet for his long hard days from working on the railroad!!  This was my first experience with interpreting emotion and whether he was happy, excited , disappointed, angry, or sad we collectively knew that him above anyone else, just how he was feeling….and most certainly how his day was.

     “When they study our civilization two thousand years from now,” said writer and essayist Gerald Early…”there will only be three things that Americans will be known for: the Constitution, baseball and jazz music.  They’re the three most beautiful things Americans have ever created.”  But unlike the Constitution and baseball, Traditional Jazz music is in great danger of dying out! An artform, in which was developed in the turn of the century and provided a message of hope and transcendence, of affirmation in the face of adversity, and perseverance in the eyes of OUR people. Jazz music, in itself, is at great risk of being just that, a part of history….And no longer heard by the generations that lie ahead!

     Jazz - “Our Art” as the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis calls it - “is the only artform created by Americans, an enduring and indelible expression of our genius and promise, and a painless way of understanding ourselves.” As Duke Ellington put it, “Jazz is a good barometer of freedom…in its beginnings, the United States of America spawned certain ideals of freedom and independence through which, eventually, jazz was evolved, and the music is so free that many people say it is the only unhampered, unhindered expression of complete freedom yet produced in this country!”

     Jazz - a combination of ragtime, Blues and the sacred music of the Baptist churches and of military marches, had a significant place in OUR history!  This particular genre of music didn’t have a single creator because it began as a gumbo of all the previously mentioned.  However, it was seasoned by many hands including one Jelly Roll Morton, who was one of the first to play jazz, become the first composer, theorist and master the art form.  He was also the first to write it down, and by doing so , among the first to help spread New Orleans music across the country.  Everywhere Jelly Roll Morton went, New Orleans music went!  But the person who became the most important person in American Music was Louis Armstrong! Louis Armstrong is to American Music, what “Einstein is to physics, Freud is to phychiatry, and the Wright Brothers are to travel.” Jazz music was significant to our history because during the times when children were still separated by the color of their skin, hatred still ran rampid amongst human beings, and discrimination was still alive, a whole new artform was developed by the emotions of a people!  As survivors and people of resilience often do, we find an acceptable way to ” make it do what it do, Baby!”  We take the heat, dust our shoulders off, and keep it moving.  At this particular time, Jazz was formed and not only was it accepted by natives of New Orleans, states across our nation, but also made it’s way around the world!!  This is certainly something that should not only take ownership during Black History Month, but should also be celebrated by US with pride 365 days of the year!! Of Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis said it best stating, “Louis Armstrong’s overwhelming message is one of love.  When you hear his music, it’s of joy…He was just not going to be defeated by the forces of life.  And these forces visit all of us.”  Wynton Marsalis said, “My great-grandmother used to say, ‘Life has a board for every behind’ and it’s a board just fit to yours, so maybe your board is not going to work on someone else’s behind.  And when it’s your turn…that paddle is going to be put on your booty and it’s going to hurt as bad as it can hurt.  And Louis Armstrong is there to tell you after you get that paddling, “It’s all right, son.”

     Whether you can express your emotions on the trumpet as my father does every evening or play a tune on your way home from a long day at work, remember and take great pride that our people have and continue to make sensational contributions to this country.  That our struggles from the past have been created into artforms for ALL people to nurture and love.  This is certainly for ME, for YOU, and YES for ALL OUR CHILDREN to pass to THEIR CHILDREN and to THEIR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN.  Expose your children to our History; American History.

For more information, you can also follow the work of the Tri-State Jazz Society of PA, NJ, DE and/or any Jazz Society in your area.

Blackparentmovement.com…celebrating Black History 365 days of the year!

Seems like it is. I’ll continue this shortly, but feel free to comment…

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I’m concerned…

I’m confused…

I’m thinking Black History Month may be on it’s way to becoming irrelvelant. Am I wrong? Does anyone even care (yeah, yall know a quick history lesson is only a few paragraphs away) anymore? I certainly hope so.

I know the month is only half over, but I’ve not seen alot of invites to local events and festivities. Are we waiting on the NAACP Image Awards…geesh!! I’m not seeing the kids being asked to do Black History Month based projects. I’m not seeing alot of TV network promotion at all. I’m watching the 2010 NBA All-Star game as we speak…and w/ all of it’s Black Star Power, there’s NO sign on Black History Month.

The obvious irony is we NOW have a Black President. PLEASE dont fool yourselves into thinking “we’ve made it” (whatever that means). No further comment at this time…

It ls February, right? I’m concerned…

(Ok, here’s comes the history). Contrary to much popular belief, Black History Month was not solely placed in the month of February because it’s the shortest month on the calendar. In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson founded “Negro History Week”. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass. There’s alot of question around when it actually became Black History Month…some say in the 1960’s, but definitely by 1976.

Shouldnt we have a parade or something? Hmmm…

Below is a list of some of the milestones and events related to Black people that happened in the month of February:

Yall hype yet?

I’m open to suggestions on how to make people (ALL PEOPLE) give a damn about Black History Month again. A celebrity endoresement would help, but athletes/actors/entertainers dont put themselves out there much anymore. Black folk LOVE parties…and the Super Bowl as well as the NBA All-Star Game are in February. Might be an opporunity.

I really just dont know. Im stumped, and once again, concerned…

**THINKING…**

Here’s the answer: Each one, reach one. Yes, cliche, but if we take our time and use our platforms to make Black History Month a BIG DEAL in our own local communities, the momentum and interest will return. At church. At your child’s athletic program. At school. At…wherever you think you may have some ounce of influnece. We all have a voice…USE IT!!

Let’s make it important again.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! To the New Orleans Saints………….

Oh what a very exciting week to be in New Orleans!!!  With The Saints winning the Superbowl yesterday and Fat Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras) coming next week, February 16, 2010….You better believe it when they say and/or you hear “OH When The Saints Come Marchin In!!!!!” 

      Louisiana!!! The state that experienced a Category 5 Hurricane, Hurricane Katrina, in which was 1 of 5 of the deadliest in US history!!  The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans, which flooded as the levee system catastrophically failed in many cases hours after the storm had moved inland.  Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded and the floodwaters lingered for weeks.  At least 1,836 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods making it the deadliest US hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane.  So, happily excited and delighted could probably NOT EVEN describe the feelings and Joy going on in New Orleans right now!!! As people continue to try to rebuild their lives in New Orleans, it’s funny how tragedy occurs and music, sports, and hell….even an election can bring people together to show God is Good ALWAYS and Hope is ALWAYS PRESENT and ALIVE.  (Yup! that’s how significant I feel like the Saints winning the Superbowl is!!)

     There are alot of people who don’t know the traditions of Mardi Gras, the importance of New Orleans, Creole, and of course most importantly JAZZ!….and how it’s significant in Our History….Black History. 

     Mardi Gras is more than naked women receiving beads and drunken men falling down on Bourbon Street.  Mardi Gras is also known as Fat Tuesday, which will be celebrated this year on Tuesday, February 16, 2010. Although it started as a European tradition, it was made more popular within our History in the 1940’s when Louis Armstrong was named the Zulu King of the parades of Mardi Gras.  Fat Tuesday is the last day for Catholics to indulge (or overindulge)  before Ash Wednesday.  Ash Wednesday begins the sober weeks of fasting that come with Lent.  Whether we believe in the traditions of Mardi Gras or not, thanks to this tradition, it was one of the ways Jazz became more popular worldwide.  And Jazz is something we ALL should feel very proud to call our own, for JAZZ is Very Black and Very American!  In the coming weeks, we’ll tell ya just how important but for now we’ll sing a tune and give a shout out to the New Orleans Saints by saying a big ole happy CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

We are trav’ling in the footsteps

Of those who’ve gone before,

And we’ll all be reunited,

On a new and sunlit shore,

Oh, when the saints go marching in

Oh, when the saints go marching in

Lord, how I want to be in that number

When the saints go marching in

And when the sun refuse to shine

And when the sun refuse to shine

Lord, how I want to be in that number

When the sun refuse to shine

And when the moon turns red with blood

And when the moon turns red with blood

Lord, how I want to be in that number

When the moon turns red with blood

Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call

Oh, when the trumpet sounds its call

Lord, how I want to be in that number

When the trumpet sounds its call

Some say this world of trouble,

Is the only one we need,

But I’m waiting for that morning,

When the new world is revealed.

Oh When the new world is revealed

Oh When the new world is revealed

Lord, how I want to be in that number

When the new world is revealed

Oh, when the saints go marching in

Oh, when the saints go marching in

Lord, how I want to be in that number

When the saints go marching in

Exclusively for Blackparentmovement.com - Uplifting Our History ALL Year Round

 Soo…..we’re coming to the end of the first month of the New Year and all of you who made New Years resolutions, did you give it your all?  A fighting chance?  Your best efforts?  Or…did you do what everyone else does statistically and sort of just let it all fall to the wayside?  It’s true that most New Years resolutions we make are those things that we really should be working hard at all year round.  The following are some fitness tips for healthier living because frankly, we aren’t getting any younger and it really isn’t that difficult to Fit in Fitness….

Are you looking to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, elevated cholesterol, colon and breast cancers while preventing weight gain and falls?  Exercise is the key!! The US Department of Health and Human Service quidelines allow for flexibility of time and type.  Talk with your healthcare provider before starting to exercise, and remember that some activity is better than nothing.  The HHS quidelines summarized below are not as onerous as you might think:

Children and Adolescents - One hour or more of moderate or vigorous aerobic activity a day, including very intense physical activity at least three days a week.  Moderate intensity aerobic activities include hiking, skateboarding, bicycle riding and brisk walking.  Vigorous aerobic activities include jumping rope, running and sports such as soccer, basketball and/or field hockey.  This age group should incorporate muscle-strengthing activites, such as rope climping, sit-ups, as well as bone-strengthening activities, such as running and skipping three times a week.

Adults - Adults gain major health benefits from two and one half hours a week of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity, or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity.  Brisk walking, water aerobics, salsa/line dancing and gardening are examples of moderate intensity aerobic activities.  Vigorous intensity aerobic activities include running, swimming laps, and jumping rope. Aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes.  Muscle strengthening activities, such as weight training, sit-ups and carrying heavy loads should be incorporated two days a week.

Older Adults - If a chronic condition precludes following the adult guidelines, seniors should be as physically active as possible.  If they are at risk of falling, they should incorporate exercises that maintain or improve balance.

Women during pregnancy - Healthy women should get at least two and one half hours of moderate intensity aerobic activity a week during pregnancy and after delivery, preferably spread through the week.  Pregnant women who are highly active can continue to be so during pregnancy and after delivery, provided they remain healthy and discuss with their health care provider how and when activity should be adjusted.

Adults With Disabilities - Those who are able should get at least two and one half hours of moderate aerobic activity a week or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week.  They should incorporate muscle-strengthening activities involving all major muscle groups two or more days a week.  When not able to meet these guidelines, they should engage in regular physical activity according to their abilities.

So, rather than focus on New Years resolutions at this point, how about just focusing on YOU.  YOU are the most important aspect of what is going on in YOUR LIFE… PERIOD.  Rather than Happy New Year…..How about we celebrate a NEW YOU?…A HAPPY NEW YOU!!!! STARTING……NOW!!!!!

  “I have often regretted my speech, never my silence.”

                                                 Xenocrates (396-314 BC)

The Truth About Domestic Violence

A Short Story

“No Woman, No Cry…” by Bob Marley is playing in the apartment above the girls.  They listen often to the goings on of their new neighbor settled just above them.  Who wouldn’t?  The girls moved from the suburbs to a small apartment in University City and the first exciting thing that happened was that their neighbor was a “flygirl” who had it going on!!  The 40 something year old had everything going for her…or it seemed.  She always had her gear and hair tight.  She was pretty and big boned, but walked as if on a catwalk when she walked down the street in her dress suits and stilettos!! The roomates would practice just below and imitate this woman who was 20 years their senior!  “One of these days,” they giggled, “we’ll practice with heels!!!”  This woman was fascinating to the young girls as they aspired to be as strong and sassy as her!!  They were no good when the woman actually spoke to them and they found out she was a lawyer, she was Haitian, and she was pregnant!!!  One of the girls, although born American, was Haitian!!  Comepletely drawn to her and the similarities, cause they too wanted to have careers and have families one day, AND of course…BE FLY!!!!

     Her husband, although seen very infrequently, was fine as hell and the girls always had a smile, a “Hello” and “Hey” for him.  At times the girls would hush each other or turn the radio or television down to hear the raucous just above them.  The sounds from above were more interesting and “TV can’t get that good,” they thought.  They never knew love could be THAT good!! Even at 20 something, they were too young to know lovemaking like that!!  As they listened, they giggled, but kept it their secret, cause frankly, listening to other people make love is kinda weird.

     When they were wildly and crazily making love, you’d hear their little poodle run back and forth like an earthquake was coming! “Poor puppy,” they thought, “he doesn’t know what in the hell is going on,” they laughed.  They thought it was pretty exciting to live in the city, live on the campus of an Ivy League and have such a role model living just above them.  They felt closer to the woman with each passing week and although she didn’t speak everytime…they took what they could from every encounter! It was all very exciting until…

     Wife:   “…Where the FVCK have YOU been all night?”  I’ve been calling you all night!!!  I even called your mother’s house and you weren’t there!!”

     Husband:   “Don’t worry about where the FVCK I’ve been B!tch….You’re not my fvckin mom and I was where I was at, God Damn….Mind your fvckin business!!”

     The girls gasp!!!  “Is he talking to our QUEEN like that?”  As they awaken and meet each other in the hallway of their tiny two bedroom apartment.  “He can’t do that!!!”  They thought.

     Husband:   “B!tch…back the fvck up and get the fvck outta my face!”  (cell phone rings)

     Wife:   “Who is that??”

     She reaches for the phone.  The girls hear a struggle and then things start getting knocked around.  The puppy tries to get involved and gets kicked by the man who doesn’t seem very “fine” anymore!!  They hear the puppy in one area of the apartment and then heard him land across the room with a thump and yelp.  The puppy is crying.  It’s wounded.  The couple cannot hear the yelping cause they are too busy fighting.

     One of the girls jump up, “I’m calling the cops!!”  The other roomate says no.  “It’s better that we mind our business.”

     “To hell with that.  Somebody is going to get hurt!!”  says the first girl.  “We can’t let them fight like that.”

     “They are grown!” says the roommate.  “Mind your bizzness, ya ‘ear!  It’s nobody’s bizzness but theirs…Besides they’ll know we called and we’ll look pretty damn stupid if she gets mad that we called,” she whispered to her roomate.

     Wife:   Get off my neck!!! I can’t breath… Get off of me. I can’t breath!

     Husband:   Shut the fvck up, B!tch!  I HATE you!! Just die!!

     The girls hear the woman hit the floor.  They hear her coughing.  She’s not okay.  They hear her trying to calm down to catch her breath….And then they hear the door to the bedroom slam!

BANG!!!!

They hear the apartment door slam!

BANG!!!

They hear the clumping of the footsteps of the husband who doesn’t seem so “fine” anymore.

They hear another slam.

BANG!!!!

That was the front door and then another

BANG!!!

His car door!!

     WOW!…He’s just going to leave her like that?  I thought he loved her?  For a moment everything is silent, except from where the roomates sit terrified but continue to listen just below.  They hear the puppy panting and wailing.   The puppy is hurt.  Tears well up in their eyes.  “Call the cops now?”  The one roommate says to the other.

     As they scurry around their apartment to find the phone, they hear something quite terrifying and nothing they’ve ever heard before.  Their QUEEN is crying!!!  It’s more of a wounded sound.  A howl.  The woman from the second floor is wounded but the cry sounds more like her heart is wounded more than her body!!  And what about the baby??  “This is terrible!”  they say to each other.

     The three women laid in their separate zones but had different versions of the events of the night going through their heads repeatedly.  Hours went by and they all were awaken by the front door of the house open and shut.  “He’s back!”  They all thought.

     “He’s going to get it now,” the two girls thought.

     Husband:   “Baby, I’m sorry I lost my temper.”

     Wife:   “That’s okay.”

“That’s it!!??  After all he has put us through?” said the one roommate.

“I guess that’s it!” says the other.  As they hear them make love like nothing ever happened.

(Big Sigh)….”I guess so….”

Stay home and/or SERVE today!!

It still amazes me that SO many United States companies still DO NOT respect and recognize Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day as a National Holiday, and give their employees PAID TIME OFF…or organize an internal Service Day…or do SOMETHING other than treat this Monday, like any other Monday.

Just wrong. Shameful, actually…

Only 28% of companies gave their employees off today…and this is down from the ALL-TIME PEAK (sigh) of a whopping 33% in 2007. “Our competitors, vendors, and clients are open, so we have to remain open as well.” is CRAP!!

If you have ever been denied BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS, or represent a group that has, stay home (if at all possible…we know people have bills) and/or SERVE. This includes:

• Blacks
• Jews
• Women
• Gays
• Hispanics/Latinos
• Chinese
• Cubans
• Kenyans
• and the list goes on and on and on and on and…

So, basically, unless youre a white male, you should be thanking people like MLK, GHANDI, MANDELA and paying it forward. In our current state of oblivion and self-induced denial, we dont feel (or choose to ignore) the penetrating effects of overt racism and arrested development…but our grandparents did. Our kinfolk did. Our tribesmen did. Our forefathers did. The millions before us that bled and died so that YOU can sit in front of your flat screen and watch HGTV all day!!

Enjoy…

 Soooo…The fitness center was mighty crowded today!!!! First Monday back after New Years and it seems that most of the nation has put Fitness as one of the TOP priorities for their New Years resolutions!  Over the Christmas Holiday, we retrieved some information from our peeps to take a poll as far as what were the most popular resolutions and some of them were very insightful while others chose to reply with, “actually, New Years resolutions are usually things we need to be doing throughout the year, regardless of whether it’s New Years or not”….The #1 resolution chosen by BPM was:

#1  Fit in Fitness

Our community, more than others,  are at higher risk for heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, elevated cholesterol, and colon and breast cancers.  We have become more familiar with what causes some of these risk factors like diet, environmental, genetics, and lack of exercise.  As we become older, taking care of our bodies becomes more important because dog gone it…YES WE CAN and YES WE WILL do ALL the things we set our minds to do!!!  And as we know (and what we’ll later discuss) is that some activity is better than none.  Research has shown that for Adults, exercising at least three times a week decreases your risk for the previously mentioned diagnoses.

Other resolutions BPM members chose were:

#2   Get Out Of Debt

#3   Quit Smoking

#4   Lose Weight/Eat better

#5   Spend More Time With Family

#6   Enjoy Life More

#7   Quit Drinking

#8   Learn Something New

#9   Help Others

#10 Get Organized 

So there you have it. BlackParentMovement’s Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions!!  If yours didn’t make the list…what is it?  We’ll check in soon to see who stayed on course.  Good Luck to those who are trying to make lifestyle changes.  And for all who support BPM all year round…May You Have a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!!!