Shanelle Gabriel live in Bermuda! (Video blog & Performance)

On October 10th, 2009, I was blessed to perform at Allied Sounds Productions' first annual "One Mic Series" in the Berkeley Auditorium on the lovely island of Bermuda! Along with me were several other talented artist friends of mine: Aja-Monet, Mayda del Valle, Jason Reynolds, Rafael Casal, and our friend & photographer, Nelson Caban. Here are parts 1 & 2 of my video blog as well as a live performance of "A Message to My Girls." Thank you, Yesha Townsend, Shondi Woods & Shayla Woods for booking me and allowing me to be a part of such a wonderful experience & concert.

As a Christian, is it wrong to quote non-Christians? (As per my discussion on Facebook)

This morning, I posted my daily quote as a status update. Today it was from Deepak Chopra:

" Religion is belief in someone else's experience. Spirituality is having your own experience."

A friend of mine responded: "Careful with Deepak. He does not accept Jesus as his personal Saviour, or acknowledge His true Divinity as the only way to salvation. Just lookin out 4 a sista. :-)"

Do not attack him...He was sincere in letting me know about Deepak's teaching and belief system since it is contradictory to Biblical Christianity. He believe that someone might read his quote and think I am endorsing his teaching and start to read his writings innocently and end up following him. To the person that wrote this to me, I am not offended. I love discussing topics and thoughts such as these, and I do get what you are saying. I just wonder why people don't check the religion of every person we quote on a regular basis. From Maya Angelou to Oprah to Dr. Phil to Ben Franklin. I just think that to look at a quote and consider it an endorsement would be quite a stretch. We quote African proverbs, Aesop's morals, and Confusian sayings...do we look at it as an affiliation with the country or religion? I just think that it's a bit much to look at one quote and tell me "Be careful because he isn't Christian."

As I stated before, we do not check the religion of all of the people who say prolific things in our history. Many preachers will present inspirational quotes in their sermons wherever they find it from. To quote Ghandi, wouldn't mean I follow him. I just think that sometimes as Christians, we can be a little too hypersensitive when it comes to things and people that don't think as we do. To say I can't quote the man, even though he said something very true just because of his religion, does exude feelings of separatism and exclusion. While I do understand where folk are coming from, do understand where I am coming from as well. Responses like this contribute to the reason it's hard to witness to others because many Christians feel like we are the only ones who can speak the truth. We may have more truth than others but if a weedhead or a prostitute says, "Religion is following someone's beliefs, Spirituality is having your own experience," I'd quote them regardless of their accepted lifestyle. It's true and it makes me question my own religion vs. My relationship.

It's one thing if someone said "True that. I wish Deepak's other teachings were as agreeable with what we believe in." That's fine. But when you warn me about his beliefs disregarding the true statement he made, it seems like I'm being told to run away from the man. John 10:16 says, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold." Jesus said that they will hear His voice and He will bring them. It is not our job to ignore them till they are brought over. A Christian writer once said, "There are many people who are one step away from being saved." Deepak Chopra may not be a Christian, but his beliefs focus on the nature of the mind, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society- all things that I embrace and study myself. I cannot negate a valid statement regardless of who said it.

While I do not embrace all of Deepak Chopra's teachings, yes, there are many people who follow RELIGION which is defined as a "system of beliefs." They follow what the rules are as outlined by a Bible or as outlined by the folk around them. They listen to the preacher or priest, don't question what is told to them, and PRACTICE religion. Religion is defined as following a pattern or behavior. It's focused on actions and deeds, kind of like the Pharisees of the Bible. Being a person connected to the Spirit, having Spirituality, means you are connected to the source. It requires a relationship, a level of personal intimacy that many people do not have. Someone wrote that Deepak was trying to diss religion on the low. If you want to take it that way, fine. But honestly, I am tired of RELIGION especially because religion can't get me into Heaven. Following patterns and rules and doctrine does not mean I have Jesus. If that was all we needed, Jesus would not have died on the cross for me. He would have just gave us advice on following rules. I am seeking a Spiritual connection with God. I hope that this quote helped someone analyze their own beliefs. That's why I posted it.

Stay Blessed

www.shanellegabriel.com

What are you doing this October [New Orleans, NYC, and Georgia]

October is here!

Time is moving quickly, and 2010 will be here before you know it. I hope you're being productive and enjoying every day you're blessed with. I sure am trying to! October is a busy month for me, much like September.

From FL to IL to VA, it's been a great few weeks. The next few are gonna be crazy. Other than the various shows coming up, I'm becoming a studio rat. New hits coming soon.

Also, October is Lupus Awareness Month and I'll be doing some fundraising for the Alliance for Lupus Research, so be on the lookout!

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New Orleans, LA- Wednesday & Thursday, Oct 7 and 8th

I have 2 shows at both campuses of Delgado Community College (West Bank & City Park Campus). Both are during the day, so feel free to plan your lunch break around it. No cost!

West Bank Campus (Building 1, Student Center)- 10/7 @ 11am: 2600 General Meyer Av, New Orleans LA
City Park Campus (Student Life Center/Dolphin Den)- 10/8 @ 1pm: 615 City Park Ave, New Orleans LA

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Bermuda, West Indies- Saturday, Oct 9th @ 7:30PM

I'm sooo loving this getaway/show! I'll be performing live at Berkeley Auditorium along with the dopest of the dope: Mayda del Valle, Jason Reynolds, Aja Monet, and Rafael Casal. $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
To get tix, call 441-532-1387 or Rock Island Coffee.

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Queens, NY- Wednesday & Friday, Oct. 14th & 30th @ 4:30PM

I'm hosting a free writing workshop on "The Art of Storytelling"  Public Library.at the Long Island City Queens. Come learn about ways to improve your writing and sharing.
Long Island City Queens Library: 37-44 21st Street, Long Island City, NY

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Coastal Georgia- Monday & Tuesday, Oct 19 and 20th

I have 2 shows at both campuses of the College of Coastal Georgia. Free!

Kingsland Campus (Auditorium)- 10/19 @ 7pm:

8001 Lakes Blvd, Kingsland, GA

Brunswick Campus (Student Activities Patio Stage)- 10/20 @ 12:15pm:

3700 Altama Av, Brunswick, GA

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The best is yet to come!
STAY BLESSED

www.shanellegabriel.com

www.twitter.com/shanelleg

"Possibilities"- Live from Binghamton, NY

Hey all!

Last Saturday, August 29th, 2009, I had the privaledge of being a part of the first ever Jrama Entertainment's Poetry Night. It featured myself, B Yung (the poet/MC who was featured on HBO's Brave New Voices as a member of the 2008 Urban Word Youth Slam Team), one of the dopest bands in Upstate, NY called BrownSkin, and several local talents. The energy in The Voodoo Lounge where the event took place was crazy! The crowd was excited for poetry and showed so much love to us artists. One other cool thing about the night is that I got to try out my Kodak Zi 6 Pocket Video Camera (for those of you that follow my blog, you may remember seeing it on my birthday wishlist. Well Best Buy had em on sale! Yes!) So here is one of my favorite poems to perform. Much love to BrownSkin for picking up the song RIGHT before I shared it. lol.

Stay Blessed

Random Funny & Interesting Videos

I was on You Tube bored, and stumbled across these at the recommendation of friends and bloggers.

Enjoy!

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This Guy has NO joints... Crazy!!!

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Yes this is based on Stereotypes, but so what?!? Their dancing was on point, and it was a cute parody.