NUBIAN KNIGHTS NETWORK: Tuesday, December 22, 2009

QUOTATIONS OF "BLACK"

"Whenever I use BLACK it relates to some history of Africans in that particular place. It’s the idea of the color BLACK as a metaphor, or as a representation of African-Americans. It’s the notion of BLACK- BLACKNESS - and all its other meanings in relation to the history of race..."

- Fred Wilson

"Most of my fortitude to continue doing the work comes from the moral outrage I feel about the injustices that Black people endure disproportionately daily."

- N. Abdul-Wakil

"In the end, what matters is not skin shade but pan-African consciousness. Loving your complexion, your nose, lips, hair length and texture, no matter what the politics or trends decide, and simply be. That's the problem with us (African folks). We're still learning how to love ourselves. So used to glorifying others and putting others first..."

- Dredlocks Tree

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Spirit of Black Men (SBM) 2010
12-Month Wall Calendar
My Black Male Calendar Collection (80+)

Chris! Mr. June Pin-up Model For SMB 2010

Aiiight Y'all, The latest calendar in my Black male calendar collection that I just got is Spirit of Black Men (SBM) 2010. SBM is published every year by a Black owned company called Shades of Color.

This is their About Us mission statement:

Shades of Color is a Black Owned business dedicated to bringing you the highest quality African American products available. The company was started in 1995 as a means of filling the void that existed within the calendar business. Our mission is to bring positive images of African Americans to homes and offices everywhere.

So, with this purchase it pretty much completes my collection of 2010 Black male calendars. Unless some other Black male calendar(s) pops up unexpectedly, I don't expect to get any more calendars until the 2011 Black male calendars start rolling out next August of 2010.

Coincidentally, the later part of the summer each year is when the calendar publishing industry begins shipping the succeeding year's new calenders.

For y'all following my calendar blog entries, I previously reviewed and showed pics to the Ebony Soul 2010 18-month calendar and the City Gym Boys 2010 16-month calendar which are some of the highest quality Black male calendars out there (as a total package). These calendars are published every year (Ebony Soul every year and a half because they do 18-month calendars). On average I would place SBM in third place behind the two aforementioned calendars, but standings can fluctuate from year to between them except Ebony Soul which remains exceptionally in 1st place in my opinion every time they launch their product.

My purchases usually average about these 3 calendars per year but can be much more as there are always independent calendar publishers who pop up out of no where with a nice calendar product. Because SBM can be inconsistent from year to year I don't always get it. But this year's calendar is stronger than average. Davide is the photographer who draws the assignment almost every year to photograph these bruthaz. Some years he doesn't do it.

So, SBM 2010 is a standard 12-month calendar. The page preceding January 2010 has the standard mini September, October, November and December 2009 that a lot of calendars "cheat" on. (See picture below.). I say "cheat" because some calendars like Ebony Soul give you September, October, November and December as 4 separate wall hanging pages which I LOVE, and shows a dedication to the customer and it separates oneself from the typical calendar pack.

Mini September, October, November and December 2009 "Cheat"
On One Page As Opposed To Each Month Having It's Own
Wall Page Hanging (It's Typical On Most Calendars Though);
Pictured Again Is The Model Chris

Below I took some pics of my favorite sexy brutha models to show y'all. Click the pics to enlarge them...

Dimitrius, Mr. January 2010

Derek, Mr. February 2010

Marshall, Mr. April 2010-
Definitely My Favorite Brutha In The Entire Calendar.
I LOVE The Way Those LIPS Of His Are Pursed.
What A Beautiful Brutha.

André, Mr. July 2010

Terrance, Mr. August 2010
-
Great Picture!
Davide (The Photographer)
Has a Too Familiar Pattern Of Having His Models
"Crouching" Over Too Much.
It Works For This Model Though.

AND LASTLY...

Omatayo, Mr. November 2010
-
Hmmmm... He Definitly Gives Marshall (Mr. April)
A Run For The Money.
Definitely A Cutie And Has A Really Nice Name, Too.

So, overall I really like this year's Spirit of Black Calendar. I give this year's calendar 4 stars out of 5. Excellent!

PLEASE SUPPORT BLACK BUSINESSES! I had a Black owned business called Sister's Uptown Bookstore & Culture Center in Harlem, NYC (1942 Amsterdam Avenue, on the corner of 156th Street & Amsterdam; "C" train to 155th Street or #1 train to 157th Street; either train is a short 2 block walk) order the calendar for me. I think they still have a few in stock. You can call (212) 862-3680 and ask for either sistah Tracy or sistah Janifer and reference my name (ROD) and ask for the calendar. It retails for $14.95.

If you can't get to the bookstore or don't live in NYC then you can order it from another Black owned on-line business called CushCity.com (direct link to calendar web page) - I have ordered from them over the years and they are a reputable and reliable online Internet resource. So you can shop Black with confidence from them.

Shades of Color, the Black owned calendar publisher I mentioned before , (direct link to web page) has it as well.

Amazon.com's merchants also have it.

Happy eye candy!!