NUBIAN KNIGHTS NETWORK: Nile Ruff at the Kennedy Center (with your help) - VOTE NOW!!! Voting Ends MIDNIGHT On February 14th, 2010

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

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Nile Ruff at the Kennedy Center
(with your help) - VOTE NOW!!!
Voting Ends MIDNIGHT On February 14th, 2010

Hello friends -

Our daughter, Nile Ruff, is a semi-finalist for a District of Columbia College Access Program Performing Arts scholarship of $10,000. You can play an important role in her achieving finalist status by viewing her audition video and voting on it.

Your vote (plus the judges' ranking) will determine 10 finalists who will compete for the top $10,000 prize at the Kennedy CenterGala on March 8th.

PLEASE VOTE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and send this message to as many friends, family members and perfect strangers as you can! You may access the website and vote for Nile anytime between now and February 14th before midnight by visiting HERE.

To ensure one vote per email address, a brief registration process is required to vote (click "Register Here!" at the top right corner of the page). Then please scroll through the contestant photos to find Nile Ruff and click on hers (if you are not already on her page), view the video and click on the number of stars you'd like to give her -- we suggest 5! Of course, if you have more than one email address, you can register and vote using each one. ;-)

Nile says in her essay, What Dance Means to My Life -- "Dance is more than a physical thing; it can also be quite spiritual. The wind I dance around, the ground I dance on, and the sounds that compose my beat make me feel like I’m surrounded by whoever created me."

You can read her entire essay on her page on the site. We're so happy to support our daughter as she pursues her dream.

Thank you so much for your help! We'll let you know the results.

- Patricia Elam and Coles Ruff