See the video below that our (very near) future First Lady put out about the National Day of Service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday January 19th!

Click HERE to find out more and to find an event to volunteer at in your area, or organize one yourself. There’s also a YouTube Contest that you can enter; the winner will receive a personal phone call from First Lady, Michelle Obama! To enter, you just have to record a short video about what you plan to do on National Day of Service, to serve your community. Find out more about that HERE.

I think it’s great to have a day like this, and even sweeter to have it on the same day that we celebrate the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I believe in giving back and helping others and I also agree that the only way that we can really renew America is if we work to do it together.

I’m very excited to have Barack Obama as the President of the United States in less than one week! I hope he does great things for this Country.

“Feed the Dream; Starve the Nightmare”
- Unknown

I love this quote because it puts things in perspective. When you have a vision, there is one of two things you can do: succumb to your fears or take proactive steps to realize your vision. A lot of times, we either feed or starve both which gets us nowhere, but when we are able to truly commit ourselves to being proactive in achieving our goals and blocking out any negativity and overcoming obstacles, we are capable of being successful realizing our dreams.

Submitted by Mari Levros

Have a favorite quote or a story that can motivate others? Send it to us at: contribute@youngblackstarz.org

As Good as New

Written and Submitted by Mari Levros

Lynn rocked back and forth until she was able to hoist herself up. She used the rail to balance as she gave the room a once over. More determined than the last time, she scanned the room again.

Grunting her frustrations, Lynn threw herself back on the mattress pad, only to lift herself up using the other rail. Hoping to find what she was looking for, she screamed at the top of her lungs, thinking: Lyssa is gone.

Wallowing in her own misery, Lynn sat down and cried, hugging herself, knowing that Lyssa should have been in her arms. Unable to hold it in any longer, she screamed… hysterically.

Lynda walked in Lynn’s bedroom and was greeted by her tear stained cheeks. Lynda rushed over lifting her daughter onto her hip. Attempting to access the situation, Lynda routinely checked to see if her diapers were full, if she was hungry, if she was sick, etcetera, but nothing seemed to be the matter.

Giving up, Lynda carried Lynn to the laundry room. As she loaded and unloaded, Lynn watched intently as Lynda placed the garments into the washer. When the tedious task was completed, Lynn paid close attention to the basket that Lynda was carrying and noticed something familiar: it was Lyssa.

Lynn squealed with excitement, stretching out her arms, reaching far as she could for her beloved bear.

“So that’s what the fuss was about,” Lynda concluded, removing the bear from the bundle. “Here you are,” she handed Lyssa to Lynn. “As good as new.”

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

It appears that a lot of you have not noticed that when we make new posts in the webzine section of our site, they automatically show up in the boxes on our home page! If we make a new post under any category in “Life & Wellness” it will show up in that box, so keep checking each box for new posts! Our posts do not go on the home page as we’d like to keep that exclusively for the starz news, but just because we do not post any news on the starz does not mean we are not updating at all!

We will try to keep you informed on new posts we’ve made for the week and any new features we’ve added to our webzine here in this “What’s New” category so keep checking back! When we have new contests and other great things coming up they will also be posted here so be on the lookout!

THIS WEEK:

Thanks to the members who submitted things for our “Let’s Motivate”, “Creative Expressions” and “Take a Bite” sections, and also everyone who took time out to read and comment on our articles! We appreciate your contributions… hopefully more of you will get involved eventually! :)

So far this week, we have new posts under the follow categories…

• Life & Wellness > Education
• Life & Wellness > Live to Give
• Life & Wellness > Let’s Motivate!
• Leisure Activities > Creative Expressions
• Leisure Activities > Take a Bite!

More to come VERY soon!!!

Here’s a fun treat that everyone enjoys, and you don’t have to use a stove to make it. Ice Cream! Yeah, it’s Wintertime, but that don’t mean you can’t enjoy a bowl of ice cream does it? Here’s a fun and easy recipe that I found online on how to make your own ice cream in about 5 minutes or so. We made this together once in my Science class; all the students thought it would taste funny, but it was actually pretty good! How about taking a shot at making your own?

Here’s What You’ll Need

* 1 tablespoon of sugar
* 1/2 cup milk or half & half
* 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
* 6 tablespoons of rock salt
* 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
* 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
* and of course… Ice cubes

What You Do

1. Fill the large bag half full with ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the smaller bag and seal it.
3. Place the smaller bag inside the large bag and seal it again, carefully.
4. While the smaller bag is still insider the larger back, shake until the mixture is ice cream. It should take about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully.
6. Enjoy your homemade ice cream!

That was easy! Let us know what you think and how yours turned out. You can always experiment with your own flavors too, but be careful and make sure you add the right amounts. You wouldn’t want your chocolate ice cream being TOO chocolaty, would you? *SMILE*

Thanks to kaboose.com