5
Aug
Check this out!!!
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in 21st Century Bellist, Amuse Me, Better to Give, That Girl
Dominique Dawes may forever be identified as one of the “Magnificent Seven” from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, but her impact on and off the mat extends far beyond that gold medal moment.
Dawes started in gymnastics at age six and was competing by age 10. She managed to score a place on the 1992 U.S. team bound for Barcelona, becoming the first African-American gymnast to qualify for the 
Olympics. Dawes ended up winning the bronze medal alongside her teammates. At the 1994 Nationals, she swept the board by winning the all-around title as well as securing gold medals in all four individual events. In addition to contributing to her team’s epic gold-medal victory, Dawes became the first African-American gymnast to win an individual medal at the Atlanta Games (a bronze for floor exercise). Dawes even managed to qualify for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
This three-time Olympian has kept busy since retiring from gymnastics. She’s worked as a multimedia correspondent for Yahoo! Sports during the Beijing Olympics and has covered both national as well as international gymnastics competitions for the likes of TNT, CBS Sports and Comcast Sports Net. Dawes also has made moves outside the broadcasting booth by appearing in the Broadway musical Grease as well as music videos for Prince and Missy Elliott.
Dawes is now making a name for herself as a motivational speaker. Sharing her personal and professional philosophy known as D-3 (Determination, Dedication, Desire). Dawes spreads her message of establishing self-esteem through positive body image coupled with a strong work ethic to youth and women’s groups. She also offers gymnastics clinics at facilities across the country, passing her love of the sport on to athletes of all ages. She earned her degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2002 and served as president for the Women’s Sports Foundation from 2005 to 2006. She’s even been a spokesperson for empowering crusades like the Girl Scouts of America’s Uniquely Me campaign.
With her accomplishments in the gym and her dedication to inspiring others, Dawes proves why she is affectionately known as “Awesome Dawesome.”
Like many in South Africa, Thembi Ngubane was infected with the HIV virus at a young age. She wasn’t even aware she was carrying the virus for several years. But, after she found out, an opportunity presented itself to her, and Thembi took it. Joe Richman of NPR asked Thembi to record a diary of her life with AIDS. All said and done, she had 50 hours of her life recorded – informing her father she was infected, applying for antiretroviral medication, dancing with her boyfriend at their home. Her stories were broadcast throughout the United States in 30-minute edited segments on NPR’s All Things Considered in 2006. She toured the U.S., speaking on HIV/AIDS to students as well as to members of Congress. She began telling her story at age 19; last week, at age 24, Thembi died of AIDS related illness.
We remember Thembi for her audacity in confronting the virus within her own body, thinking back to what she called her HIV Prayer: “”Hello, HIV, you trespasser, you are in my body,” she said. “You have to obey the rules. You have to respect me. And if you don’t hurt me, I won’t hurt you. You mind your business. I’ll mind mine. And I will give you a ticket when the time comes.”
Living in a country debilitated by AIDS, Thembi found it most difficult to speak up within her own nation of South Africa. According to estimated statistics from 2005, females age 25-29 have the highest rate of infection at 33.3%.* The country comes from a history of political leaders who have either chosen not to discuss HIV/AIDS or even claimed it did not exist.
In becoming an AIDS diarist, Thembi combated her own body, the ideas within her nation, and fulfilled her dream of becoming a journalist. She welcomed us into her life and her home with honesty and vulnerability. And she’s left us the image of a warrior from whom we can adopt the traits she inherently embodied.
Listen to one of Thembi’s diaries at www.npr.org
*South African National HIV Survey, 2005
photo by melikhaya mpumela
6
Jun
Lisa Ling: Telling the Truth you don’t Want to Hear
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in That Girl
Get ready to be impressed. Lisa Ling. She was one of the youngest reporters for Channel One News and by 25 already a war correspondent, highlighting violent sports around the world. She literally tracked cocaine processing labs, drank tea with the Dalai Lama and reported on serious refugee crises. 
Ling has reported on dozens of countries including some with the most dangerous, war torn climates: Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. She willingly addresses gang rape in the Congo to burning brides in India. She tells the stories we most desperately need to hear. In addition, she’s Oprah’s “go to girl” when it comes to capturing the stories everyone else wants to ignore, forget, or pretend don’t even exist.
Fearless and passionate, Lisa is willing to go against the grain often at the expense of her own safety. She willingly lends her voice to those whose voices have been stripped from them and she beautifully and articulately captures their stories and relays the message to those who can make a difference.
Lisa epitomizes what it means to chase down your dreams. Her compassion bleeds through her bravery and the combination is unparalleled journalism and compelling story-telling.
Strong women. May we love them, may we raise them, may we be them. Thank you, Lisa Ling, for being the definition of that strength.
Visit Lisa Ling’s blog at www.lisaling.com.
Promoting open discussions on sex, politics and even rock ‘n’ roll, Meghan McCain is far from your standard Republican. The 24-year-old daughter of Senator John McCain has become the emerging face of the younger sect of the party and has caused quite the commotion in the process.
Known for her strikingly liberal views when it comes to social issues (she admittedly voted for John Kerry over George W. in 2004), the young McCain garnered a lot of attention when she created her upfront blog, McCainBlogette.com, during her father’s presidential run. She has publicly referred to Obama as sexy and also confessed to being pro-gay marriage.
“I think that the party is at a place where social issues shouldn’t be the issues that define the party,” she informed Larry King. “And I have taken heat, but in fairness to me, I am a different generation than the people that are giving me heat.”
McCain has proven her intellectual capacity by earning a degree from Columbia and flexing her journalistic muscle as an intern at Newsweek (she also interned at SNL). She penned a children’s book about her dad and currently serves as a contributor for TheDailyBeast.com.
“The worst sexual double standard in politics right now is that too many subconsciously believe Republican women are void of sexual desire altogether,” McCain recently blogged on the site.
Such extreme views are usually what push the party’s conservative buttons. But they also manage to lure otherwise disenfranchised younger voters into the folds of the GOP.
“I think we’re seeing a war brewing in the Republican Party,” McCain said at the Log Cabin Republican’s national convention in Washington D.C. “But it is not between us and Democrats. It is not between us and liberals. It is between the future and the past.”
Even if you don’t agree with her politics, you have to give Meghan McCain props for speaking her mind.
Growing up in Thunder Bay, Canada, Christine had a pretty “normal” life. She came from a good family and lived in a good home. She got married in her early 20’s, had kids… pretty much on track as far as society 
was concerned. But something was missing. Living her life by the standards of what society said she was supposed to do and who she was supposed to be drove her to rebel. She veered right off her yellow brick road and onto a dark, dangerous alleyway, not knowing if she would ever find her way back.
Addiction. Violence. Manipulation. Depression. Fear.
After living this reality for three long years, Christine never thought she would see light again. Then, a police raid changed everything. As she was being handcuffed, she turned to the arresting officer and said, “Thank you for saving my life.” Jail or death was the only way she was going to get out… and she knew she wanted out.
Jail. Withdrawals. Fear. Remorse. Recovery. Perspective.
Enlightenment. Christine stands tall and proud today confidant that if she could beat her addiction… she can literally do anything. She lives in a world filled with love, peace, appreciation, inspiration, and natural highs. The most amazing thing about Christine is that she doesn’t feel like a victim to addiction, but rather she feels gifted to be able to know extreme darkness so that she can now see extreme light. She is taking her experience and using it to help others going through what she went through. She’s found her calling and when you meet her she just exudes bright energy.
We truly admire anyone that has the strength to see the positive when they can just as easily see negative. She is now working on a book to share her story and is a huge support and inspiration to everyone she meets. A girl who overcomes, is that girl; a girl who comes to the aid of others is that girl; a girl who is vulnerable enough to share her story with others is that girl. Christine is definitely that girl.
No one thought a baby born three months premature and weighing just 2lbs 15oz would go on to become the starting point guard of Farmingdale State College’s basketball team (or any other college team). And 
they definitely didn’t expect her to do it at her full-grown size: 4 feet 6 inches tall, 90 pounds.
Tiffara Steward is an inspiration in every sense. Not only has she overcome the obstacles that are inherent in her own body (which include blindness in one eye, scoliosis causing one leg to be shorter than the other, and partial deafness), she doesn’t even regard them as obstacles. They are merely facts in her life.
Fact: Some of her vertebrae never developed. Fact: She averaged 16.3 points per game last season (her junior year). Fact: She was born missing a rib. Fact: She averaged 2.5 steals per game.
Believed to be the shortest player in the country, Tiffara has a strength far beyond the size of her stature. Looking at a life marked with what others call disabilities, Tiffara sees opportunities. She has always loved basketball and excelled at it. Therefore there was no good reason not to pursue it. Perhaps a joke to the opponent each time she steps on the court, Tiffara is all business in the game. Her teammates and coach recognize her as a wonderful 3-point shooter and a stellar defensive player.
We, at iatg, love her for the passionista she is, pursuing her dream regardless of what others may think when they look at her or how she appears to fit in on the court. This gal steps through her life in power and in confidence.
9
May
Kristen Bell: Bigger than her Body, More Successful than her Star
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in That Girl
Kristen Bell is hands down, awesome! She’s the kind of girl who’s easily misjudged, placed in the wrong box, and categorized with the other Comatose Barbies of the world because she’s the classic petite, gorgeous, blond bombshell with baby blue eyes. However, assumptions and stereotypes have a way of humbling those too quick to judge and I have no doubt Kristen often offers big pieces of humble pie for those who make that mistake with her.
We all know Kristen from things like Veronica Marz, Gossip Girl, Heroes and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. But what you don’t know is this actress is the real deal, launching her professional career on Broadway (big deal). While the obvious is that she’s gorgeous, successful, rich, and famous; what’s far more compelling than what the world says is “important” about this Michigan cutie, is the girl she is inside.
Kristen Bell is smart, savvy and passionate about making a difference in this world. She recently flew to DC to rally alongside the boys who founded Invisible Children. Together they lobbied against the war in Uganda, for rebel leader (Joseph Kony) to be arrested, and for the child soldiers forced to fight against their wills to be freed.
Kristen is fighting for things bigger than herself, using her celebrity platform to change the world and providing positive female role models in the process. While we celebrate her on the big screen and applaud her on the red carpet, we must keep in mind that her waltz in the entertainment industry is but the icing on the cake of who she really is and what she really stands for. Kristen, we at i am that girl are honored to call you one of us. So keep saving the world, lady, because we will gladly follow your lead.
25
Apr
Lovetta Conto: Turning Violence into Hope and Beauty
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in That Girl
Living in a refugee camp in Ghana, Lovetta Conto struggled to get food, water and an education. She still believed, however, beauty 
could grow even in the darkest surroundings.
She may be a bit younger than our typical That Girl (at sixteen) but she is no less inspirational. Lovetta has her own line of jewelry, called Akawelle (“also known as love”), where pieces are fashioned from discarded bullets from the Liberian Civil War. “Life” is inscribed into the leaf pendant made from melting and molding the top part of the bullet. The bottom is wrapped with gold-filled wire to hang alongside the leaf. Constructed of copper and zinc, the bullets will tarnish but Lovetta feels this only enhances the splendor.
“Even something as ugly as a bullet that was fired in a war can be made beautiful if you are willing to work to change it into something else,” Lovetta explains.
Lovetta’s dedication was recognized by Cori Stern, founder of the Strongheart Fellowship. The fellowship stresses development through enterprise, encouraging participants to create projects that “combine commerce and compassion” by benefiting peers, the community and the Fellow. The proceeds from 
Conto’s jewelry line are going to help construct the Strongheart House in the now peaceful Liberia.
Like her jewelry, Lovetta also has managed to take her situation and turn it into a stunning reminder of the power of hope. She struggled to build a future for herself in the refugee camp. Education is not free in most of Africa, so Lovetta’s father worked very hard to pay for her education.
“I am finally getting the education my father dreamed of for me,” she writes. “That is why I say I am not ashamed of my past. It has made me who I am.”
photos courtesy of strongheart fellowship
10
Apr
Refinement Redefined: That Girl’s Guide to Modern Etiquette
by Lisa Kestenbaum
0 Comments | Posted by thatgirl in 21st Century Bellist, Living Life
“The world was my oyster but I used the wrong fork.” ~ Oscar Wilde
As cell phones have replaced elbows on tables, and bows and curtsies have gone with the wind, some rules of traditional etiquette seem as petty as a petticoat. While ballroom behavior and tea time topics have little 
relevance to the modern mademoiselle, showing off your manners never goes out of style. Here is a refresher course in refinement, with a little fine-tuning for the “that girl” of today.
Refinement: The Thank-You Note
Redefined: The idea of snail mail may seem as outdated as the horse and buggies that were used to deliver it, but when it comes to thank-you notes, they should be hand-written, not sent via email. Whether you are acknowledging a thoughtful gift, a friend’s support, a critical job interview, or simply saying, “Thanks for being you,” ditch the keypad and mouse for a notepad and pen.
Refinement: Long Distance Communication
Redefined: While cell phones offer the ease of communication, their abuse is the source of many hang-ups—theoretically speaking. When out and about, keep these tips in mind:
• If you’re in the company of a friend, acquaintance or family member, take the time to smile instead of dial.
• Dial in to your surroundings—if you’re in a small, enclosed, or quiet space, refrain from using your cell altogether. If you truly can’t avoid it, make sure to monitor the length, substance and volume of your conversation. Think about it: the receptionist at your dentist’s office does not need to hear about who kissed whom, or why you think a certain contestant should win the latest reality show series.
• Whether you’re dining with Wolfgang Puck or Two-Buck Chuck, your phone shouldn’t be visible or audible during a meal.
Refinement: A Formal Table Setting
Redefined: Sitting down at a table with more dinnerware than dinner guests can feel very overwhelming, and such settings are usually reserved for suit-and-tie affairs. But if you do find yourself at a formal feast, follow these pointers:
• First things first: after taking your seat, unfold your napkin and place it on your lap. If you get up during the meal, leave it on the place setting.
• If you’re not finished eating but your digits need some down time, rest your knife and fork on each side of your plate. Never place a used utensil back on the tablecloth.
• At the end of the meal, or to signal that you have finished, place your used utensils diagonally on the edge of your plate. The handles should be around 5 o’clock while the tips should hit where 10 o’clock would be.
While the etiquette of the Jane Austen era truly are antiquated, modernizing your p’s and q’s is certainly something to take pride in. Using proper etiquette will not only help you conquer your clam appetizer, but also your oyster of a world.
photo by nadine spizzirri-phillips