What’s Good… in Your Hood is a new section where we post about events that people may enjoy attending if they live in or near the same area as you.

If you’re in Philly or will be in the Philadelphia Area on March 15th 2009, here’s an event you might want to check out!

Radio One/Philadelphia urban WPHI (100.3 the Beat) and urban AC WRNB will bring back the second annual Music and Entertainment Conference to the Marriott in downtown Philadelphia.

In addition to music workshops focused on hip-hop and R&B-related issues, this year’s event will feature “Black Hollywood” with panelists Jamie Foxx and actress Wendy Raquel Robinson, a “Fashion Workshop” with “America’s Next Top Model” winner Eva Marcille and “Project Runway” contestant Mycheal Knight and the “So You Think Can Dance” workshop hosted by noted choreographer Fatima Robinson.

The hip-hop workshop will include panelists Common, D-Nice and Ron Browz, and representing R&B will be Brandy, Monica, Avant, Jazmine Sullivan and Keri Hilson. Also featured will be a “Listen and Critique” session that will include producers and songwriters such as Raphael Saadiq, Michael Bivens, Kevin Liles, Ray J., Ricky Bell and Ronnie DeVoe to offer constructive criticism.

Tickets for this event will be on sale starting tomorrow, January 31st at Ticketmaster Online and all Ticketmaster retail locations. Check this link if you want more info: EVENT INFO.

It’s going to be a lot of celebrities that I like in the house… I might have to check it out myself, depending on the prices of those tickets. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Celebrity stylist Eugene Smith has worked with actresses such as Beyonce and Zoe Saldana.

One of the things Eugene says is the reason why our hair breaks is because of chemical processing like relaxers that are done incorrectly. He says “Relaxers and hair color should be handled by professionals only,” and that hair breakage occurs because of over-processing and overlapping the relaxing, as well as not neutralizing properly.

I definitely agree with that, because when I was younger and used to have relaxers done at home, my hair was breaking a whole lot and there was a time when my hair was so damaged it was hard to even style it into a ponytail! My hair became so damaged and thin around the edges, I didn’t know what to do. I would agree that you should be careful whenever using chemical treatments and to always get a professional who knows what they are doing to handle it. Also, not getting my hair chemically processed as often has also helped a lot with my growth!

Another tip Eugene gave was using protein treatments to prevent hair breakage, but only once a month, because they can also make your hair weaker if used to much. I needed to hear this because sometimes when I use protein treatments too much I do see a lot of shedding.

The article also lists several products that are good for keeping the hair healthy. Here are some of the ones I’ve used and really like:

1. ApHOGEE Protein Treatment ($20.99, sallybeauty.com) – This treatment helps stop hair breakage. In the article, Eugene says “Perfect for relaxed hair, this unique treatment is formulated with magnesium and modified proteins which fuse into the hair with the application of heat. The result is stronger hair strands and breakage is drastically reduced.”

2. Another one I like is Doo Gro Stimulating Growth Oil ($5.99, walgreens.com). Not only does it have natural oils that help soothe an itchy scalp, it also smells pretty good too.

3. I’ve also used the Pantene Pro-V Relaxed & Natural Hair Care Line, ($6.02, amazon.com and also at your local Wal-mart or beauty supply store.) I’ve used the strengthening conditioner and have noticed it leaves my hair softer.

Check out the entire article on Essence.com and look out for the part 2 that they mentioned would be coming in the future. Here’s to healthy, beautiful hair!

Human Nature

Written and Submitted by Braelynn J

Welling up inside, soon to erupt like a volcano
Lost in a rainstorm of tears
A tornado of emotions
Black clouds of grief
Galaxies of unspoken words
All of this in a bowl as big as the universe, swirling until the sun collapses
Self esteem crushed beyond the root of the Earth
Gravity pulls down every amount of hope possible
A constant waterfall of despair
What can I do?
What must I do?
I must overcome the fears
Deal with the stress and learn from the hard times
Gradually get back to normal life
Most importantly don’t forget the joy I once found in life

If you wrote a poem or short story that you would like to share email us at contribute@youngblackstarz.org.

Ok, so first off… HOW MUCH DID YOU ALL ENJOY THE INAUGURATION YESTERDAY?! Wowow. It was just amazinggg. I loved it… This was the first inauguration I’ve ever watched, so I didn’t know how long it’ll be and when everything would take place… but I kept my eyes glued to the television just taking in every moment! I jokingly told my sister that I would tell my kids that I was there… because nothing could tell me that I wasn’t… Lol… when they told everyone to stand, I stood. When it came time to pray, I bowed my head… and most of all when everyone got excited, so did I. I jumped around and screamed so much that I eventually ended up with a major headache and feeling dizzy. Lol — but it’s alright, because I enjoyed myself!

… So what were our new first daughters doing while their parents were out making rounds at all their Inaugural Balls? HAVING THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES!!!

The girls had a slumber party with some of their closes friends! They started the night off watching two new Disney movies, “Bolt,” and “High School Musical 3,” in the theater, … after the movies the girls went on a historic scavenger hunt around their new home guessing the answers to trivia questions about the White House. When the girls got down to the final question and opened up the final door, they were in for a huge surprise when they found their favorite boy band “The Jonas Brothers” behind the door!!! How fun does that sound?! I’m sure that they had a BLAST!

The Inaugural Balls looked like such fun too, I enjoyed the performances. Everything was just beautiful! It felt so good to witness such a historic event, and to know that I’ll be able to say “I helped make that happen” years from now when my grandchildren are reading about it in their history books!!!

YBS would like to share in celebration the historical event that has taken place on this day, January 20, 2009! Together with the United States, we welcome Barack Obama and the First Family into the White House as our new President Barack Obama takes on a very important role in our nation. We hope that you all have had the opportunity of watching the inauguration today on television. You can check out footage of Obama’s speech below.

Yay for the Obama’s and a new beginning for our nation!!!