Having said that, if you’re looking for reputable organizations to donate money, clothing, etc. to the Haitian Earthquake Relief, then this information is for you:

• Yele Haiti is sponsored by prominent Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean. You can donate through its website or via text message.  Wyclef is urging all of his followers on Twitter to text “Yele” to the number 501501. If you send the text, the organization will receive $5. The amount will be added to your next cell phone bill. Consider retweeting Wyclef’s updates and get some of your Twitter followers to donate, too.

• American Red Cross is also using texts to raise donations.  You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti.

• The American Jewish World Service has set up the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund to respond to the crisis by supporting a network of organizations it works with.

• AmeriCares has pledged $5 million to Haitian quake relief, and is soliciting donations to a general emergency disaster relief fund to help it accomplish that.

• CARE is sending relief workers into the city of Port-au-Prince and needs funds to support its efforts. Suggested donations range from $50 to $1,000, but you can name your own amount if you prefer.

• Catholic Relief Services has an office in Haiti, and luckily it’s still standing even though one of its neighbors collapsed. The organization is accepting donations of any amount.

• Direct Relief International has committed up to $1 million in aid through two on-the-ground partners, and is sending containers of medical material aid.

• Oxfam has 200 people on the ground to deal with the crisis, and began its efforts by trying to get clean water to victims of the quake. One of its staffers recorded a podcast describing the situation. You can donate on the American or UK site, depending on where you’re located.

• Google Support Disaster Relief is a website Google has updated to respond to the crisis. Google has promised $1 million in support, but the site is also an easy place to donate money to either UNICEF or CARE. It also provides hospital addresses and links to sources for news on the situation.

Mark your calendars ladies and gents, and prepare for the return of Sade!

Click on the Episodes link at the top of the homepage for past episodes of the Soulrific Podcast Show.  And if you’re looking for a new mix, head on over to download Episode 54!

Unsung is a 4-part docu-series narrated by Al B. Sure.  I liken it to somewhat of a Behind The Music of African American singers and musicians.  The sneak peak premiered the story of the DeBarge family, showing their rise to fame amidst their struggles with drug addiction and various forms of abuse.

And on last night, the Phyllis Hyman story was revealed on UnSung.  There are least 2 more stories scheduled to air: The Clark Sisters and Donny Hathaway.  The Clark Sisters story airs tonight at 9pm CT/10pm ET, and the Donny Hathaway story will air on Tuesday night, 9pm CT/10pm ET.

Check your local listings for dates of re-airings.

Can you feel it?  We are on the cusp of electing the first Black President.  Tears literally came to my eyes as I was casting my vote this morning.  Don’t delay, get to the polls and vote today!

Why, you may ask?  Because it is against the law and it is considered campaigning, which is only supposed to be done within 100 feet of the polling facilities.  You will be promptly turned away and all the Repubs need is for you to not vote because you wore your Obama t-shirt, hats and/or pins to the polls.

And if you still want to be hard headed and wear your shirt on election day, put another shirt over that shirt while you’re in the parcking lot before you walk into the polling facility.  We need your votes to count.  Don’t get turned away over some foolishness.

That’s my PSA for the day, so let’s Rock the Vote in November!

The podcast started off as a hobby and somehow took flight, yearning to break free. Never fear, you can still check out the show every week as usual, but in a new setting.

Since I’ve already thrown my hat into the podcasting ring, I decided to join the Cupid’s Hunt project. What is Cupid’s Hunt you might ask? Well, it’s a collaboration project of music podcasters and music fans in celebration of Valentine’s Day.

Everyone who’s participating will have a mix for download on Valentine’s Day. Some of the participants include TGrundy, EJ Flavors, Anewlis, Fave & Eve, DJ Diva, Fresh, as well as myself and many others. So pump up the volume on those speakers this Thursday!

My mother and aunts were in my kitchen cooking a New Year’s Day dinner, and I started thinking about the tradition of cooking these dishes for New Years and what it stood for.

So I did a little research and found out that the tradition started with the Civil War, when Northern soldiers stole the food supplies of many Southern homes one New Year’s Eve and left the families with only black-eyed peas and salt pork to survive on, which left the Southern soldiers with nothing but the peas and pork for dinner the next day.

Black-eyed peas swell when cooked, so it was viewed was a sign of prosperity to the Southerners. Many years later, collard greens were added to meals because they were green and folded like money, so that stood for wealth. Also added later was cornbread, because of it’s golden color, symbolized gold for the new year.

So there you have it, the meaning behind the tradition of collard greens, salt pork, black-eyed peas and cornbread for New Years.