Dear Readers, it brings us great pleasure to share with you our 2016 Year End Review issue, featuring Deja & Taja Riley, Award-Winning Dancers, Choreographers, Creative Directors inspirational quotes.
Destiny. We are all instituted with purpose. But much like anything else, even our purpose, requires nurturing, guidance, fathering. Every man is father intended. Every woman, chosen to mother, and while not all humanity is crowned with children, each has a duty to contribute in some way or another. Per Gods word, humanities first command from the beginning remains unchanged; be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth with “sons and daughters” and govern. Creating a family is a blessing. Co-creating a life is a miracle in and of itself, yet today there exist a dark cast hovering, over the beauty and power of becoming what God called man and woman to be, which is one, creating more, in their likeness. Life gets tricky, because we are conditioned by culture and tradition which forbids fornication and denounces unplanned pregnancies. Thus, there is a sense of shame that surrounds pregnancy and child bearing out of wedlock. While in a perfect world, no one would fornicate or wind up pregnant by mistake, we also know that the world can be no more perfect than you or me. I guess so many are caught up on saving themselves, that they forget, that the only way to save yourself, at the point of child bearing, is to cover, nurture and provide for the life you’ve created, rather corporately or alone. The gift of life is so valuable and precious before God that it would be foolish to gamble with responsibility. If God warns us not to harm the birds of the air, what more might he expect when it comes to his children.
Children need their mothers and fathers emotionally, spiritually and physically. This is order. Not everyone understands the impact or the cost of abandonment and neglect because they are blinded by what raising a child might cost them. However, rather in this lifetime or after, there is a consequence that comes with forsaken children. Sadly, 72% of African-American youth are being raised in single family households (News One, 2012). These numbers are heart wrenching. It certainly rings true for me because I too was raised in a single parent home, as the middle of three children. As a black male being raised without a father figure, I am deemed, a statistic. Fortunately for me and for my son, I was raised by a strong woman. Without the help of my father, my mother shouldered the responsibilities to raise us in a healthy and balanced environment. My mother was proud, hardworking and did not believe in seeking government hand-outs. I witnessed my mother struggle as she worked two jobs, instilled values in us and raised us to be societal contributors as opposed to takers and dodgers.
Honestly, I never missed my dad, nor was I bitter or angry toward him. I was taught right from wrong and I understood “the importance of family values.” I guess my mother loved and nurtured us so thoroughly, that there was no room for emptiness or longing. When you accept your call of duty and you truly love your children, it makes a difference. During my high school years, I met a young lady that I was “shot out” over. I mean she was eye candy and she had a thing for me. I was about eighteen years old when she told me, I was going to be a father. Shocked, shook and scared, I went home and told my mother and like the God-fearing woman she is, she looked at me and said, you will be fine and I will support you through it. My son was born June 14, 1985. I was nineteen at the time. It felt like just yesterday, I had a high school crush and in the blink of an eye, I was the father of a beautiful baby boy. When I held him, my entire perspective shifted from me, to him. Life became more about his needs than my own and ultimately my needs were more than met. He was my legacy, my miracle, my blessing. Everything I would do for him would only bless me and bring me closer to my purpose. Anything contrary to that would only take me further and further away from my destiny. It was crystal clear that this baby was a gift from God and my gratitude would be illustrated through raising him up, rather with or without his mother. She and I both knew and understood the treasure we co-created and beheld. We understood “The Importance of Family Values.” Click Here to view issue.
Did you know that Dance Mogul Magazine is the first, and only African American Dance Magazine owned, and operated by Father & Son in the world. As we prepare each issue of Dance Mogul Magazine, our team is unified in the intent upon which we were founded—and grounded—by Publisher Basil Harris and his son, co-founder, Anthony Harris. The primary goal with the presentation of each issue is not monetary, but determination with excellence to point our readers to the place of power within them that they may have overlooked or perhaps never knew. Through our pages, as we share the stories of others, our greatest desire is to empower and inspire our readers to discover their purpose and reach their fullest potential through serving others with their gift; and in return have the success in life they desire.
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Regards,
Basil Harris
CEO/Founder
Dance Mogul Magazine