Atlanta Culinary Charities Presents the 9th Annual Family Food Fest: A Father’s Day Celebration TODAY…

Hello World,

If you’re looking for something to do today with the fathers in your family, by all means check out the 9th Annual Family Food Fest: A Father’s Day Celebration TODAY at the Georgia Freight Depot from 3-6pm!

Family Food Fest Atlanta is a multicultural Father’s Day charity fundraiser and food-tasting celebration through which fathers and men who impact their families and community are celebrated. The 501.c3 nonprofit Atlanta Culinary Charities, whose mission is to work with boys and girls in after-school programs and on weekends, produces this event each year on Father’s Day. This event brings families together in a fun and energetic atmosphere. Many chefs, cooks, caterers, restaurants, and everyday dads and men display their culinary skills and talents.  Female chefs are on hand as well.

During this event, you will sample various foods throughout the day, including special vegan/vegetarian dishes! The Family Food Fest Atlanta festival is for everyone and is open to the entire family. The idea of this family-oriented event is to enjoy some excellent cuisine from well-known chefs, cooks, caterers, and restaurants. With an “all-you-can-eat” admission price you will be able to taste delicious appetizers, entrees, desserts, and beverages. Also, activities will be available throughout the day including live entertainment, kids zone (face painting, balloon art, caricatures, cotton candy), chef demonstrations, silent auction, health zone (screenings, literature, giveaways), and much more.

With 2023 being the the 50th anniversary of the birth of Hip Hop, I love that Chubb Rock is a guest host! I loved dancing to his music when I was in high school! If you’re unfamiliar with him, please see this bio:

Chubb Rock (Richard Simpson) is a legendary Brooklyn, New York-based hip-hop artist/radio host who released several successful Hip-Hop albums in the early 1990s. Chubb first appeared nationally with his 1988 self-titled debut “Chubb Rock.” He moved to Atlanta and had a radio show before leaving the station to start his current radio programs called “The Chubb Rock Show with SiMan Baby” and “Diggin’ In Tha Crates.”

Additionally, my friend Kiplyn Primus will be there! Kiplyn Primus hosts “The Local Take With Kiplyn Primus,” heard Saturday mornings at 7 am on Jazz WCLK 91.9. She also works with businesses and organizations interested in paid underwriting schedules on Atlanta’s Jazz Public Radio Station. Kiplyn is a graduate of Howard University and Clark Atlanta University and has a long career in public and commercial media. She is a veteran facilitator for StoryCorps’ Atlanta studio.

For tickets, click HERE!

Montell Jordan Officiates, Tasha Cobbs Leonard Sings at the Wedding of Slutty Vegan’s Pinky Cole & Big Dave’s Derrick Hayes…

Wedding Dress Giveaway...

Hello World,

As a pastor’s daughter, I’ve been to many, many weddings over the years, and I still cannot get enough of them.  One of the most inspirational moments in life is when two people commit their lives to one another. No one can ever predict what will happen during the journey of life, but it’s comforting to know that whatever happens, there is someone by your side to help you live through all of your best and worst and everything-in-between moments…

I was especially encouraged by what my sorority sister and fellow Jamerican Slutty Vegan founder Pinky Cole told PEOPLE magazine about her wedding. She married the father of her children Big Dave’s Cheesesteaks CEO Derrick Hayes over the weekend here in Atlanta!

“It’s a fairytale, a Cinderella wedding,” Cole tells PEOPLE exclusively. “Just the other day, my mother saw me in my dress for the first time, and I never thought I would see myself in a wedding dress. It’s a dream come true because I’m doing something that no one in my family has ever done. To be the first to have a wedding is a big deal. I’m breaking generational patterns and creating a new one.”

To read the rest of the article and see photographs from the wedding, click HERE.

As you can see above and on PEOPLE magazine’s website, Montell Jordan, an R&B legend turned  Victory World Church minister, was the officiant.  Actually, Montell and his wife Kristin are pre-marital and marriage counselors. As a surprise,  Montell performed “This Is How We Do It.” Additionally, gospel star Tasha Cobbs Leonard sang a beautiful rendition of country music star’s  Shania Twain’s hit “Still the One” as Pinky walked down the aisle.

 

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A post shared by Pinky Cole (@pinkycole)


 

My favorite moment was when her mother and godmother added some Caribbean spice to the wedding with a freestyle performance. For whatever reason, I’m unable to share all of the videos, so you have to go to Pinky’s IG page to see all of the fab videos!!!

 

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Pinky Cole (@pinkycole) • Instagram photos and videos

AND if you’re in need of a BRAND NEW WEDDING DRESS, Pinky Cole is GIVING AWAY ONE…See below…

I pray that God blesses their union…

Any thoughts?

Join ‘New York Times’ Bestselling Author of ‘Why Fathers Cry At Night’ Kwame Alexander In Conversation With Victoria Christopher Murray TONIGHT at Inman Park Church – NEW BOOK ALERT

Hello World,

Just in time for Father’s Day, New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander has penned a new memoir Why Fathers Cry At Night: A Memoir in Love Poems, Recipes, Letters, and Remembrances. Below is a description of the book and information about Kwame Alexander.

This powerful memoir from a #1 New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Medalist features poetry, letters, recipes, and other personal artifacts that provide an intimate look into his life and the loved ones he shares it with.

In an intimate and non-traditional (or “new-fashioned”) memoir, Kwame Alexander shares snapshots of a man learning how to love. He takes us through stories of his parents: from being awkward newlyweds in the sticky Chicago summer of 1967, to the sometimes-confusing ways they showed their love to each other, and for him. He explores his own relationships—his difficulties as a newly wedded, 22-year-old father, and the precariousness of his early marriage working in a jazz club with his second wife. Alexander attempts to deal with the unravelling of his marriage and the grief of his mother’s recent passing while sharing the solace he found in learning how to perfect her famous fried chicken dish. With an open heart, Alexander weaves together memories of his past to try and understand his greatest love: his daughters.

Full of heartfelt reminisces, family recipes, love poems, and personal letters, Why Fathers Cry at Night inspires bravery and vulnerability in every reader who has experienced the reckless passion, heartbreak, failure, and joy that define the whirlwind woes and wonders of love.

Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, and #1 New York Times Bestselling author of 38 books, including THE DOOR OF NO RETURN, LIGHT FOR THE WORLD TO SEE: A THOUSAND WORDS ON RACE AND HOPE, AN AMERICAN STORY, BECOMING MUHAMMAD ALI, co-authored with James Patterson, REBOUND, which was shortlisted for prestigious UK Carnegie Medal, The Caldecott Medal and Newbery Honor-winning picture book, THE UNDEFEATED, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, and his NEWBERY medal-winning middle grade novel, THE CROSSOVER. A regular contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, and the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award. In 2018, he founded the publishing imprint, Versify, and opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic in Ghana, as a part of LEAP for Ghana, an international literacy program he co-founded. He is the writer and executive producer of The Crossover TV series on Disney Plus. You can listen to his new podcast, Why Fathers Cry, and find him online at KwameAlexander.com.

If the book description piques your interest and you live in the metro Atlanta area, you can meet him along with fellow New York Times bestselling author Victoria Christopher Murray, who is an author of more than 30 novels, including Stand Your Ground,Library Journal Best Book of the Year and NAACP Image Award Winner. Her novel, The Personal Librarian, which she cowrote with Marie Benedict was a Good Morning America Book Club pick. See the flyer above!

Any thoughts?