i am

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harlem, usa
same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Serena Williams Captures Year-End Championship Trophy at the WTA Finals

serena williams defeated world #3 simona halep of romania 6-3, 6-0 on sunday to win the wta finals in singapore, japan. williams finished the year as the world's top-ranked woman, claimed the title for the fifth time and became the first player since monica seles in 1992 to emerge victorious three consecutive years at the year-end championships.

the 18-time grand slam winner sought revenge after being dominated 6-2, 6-0 by halep four days earlier. because of the unique format, halep, in her semi-final match with ana ivanovic of serbia, could have eliminated williams from advancing if she lost in straight sets. but the confident 22 year-old decided to give it her best effort, regardless of the dynamics involved.

williams said after the win, "i had to play more serena-style tennis, and just do what i do best: enforce myself. that's what i was trying to do." halep said, "i gave everything today, and, you know, that was my level today. wasn't my best day, but i'm still happy and i'm still enjoying this moment because it's a good moment for me."

the 33 year-old american was forced to withdraw from the china open earlier this month due to a left knee injury: leaving her on painkillers. williams said, "i didn't expect this. i just started training because i had such a knee in beijing so i wasn't even sure if i would play here. and now i've won the billie jean king trophy again so for me it's just really amazing, i'm so excited." 

during the ceremony, williams proudly lifted the trophy, received a winner's check for $2,047,000 and was given a specially cultivated orchid. she finished 2014 with a 52-8 record and seven tournament victories, including an historic win at the u.s. open - tying chris evert and martina navratilova with 18 major singles titles. king, evert and navratilova were all on hand to watch the match.

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