Black Tennis Pros

This beautiful and very spirited award, "The Emblem of the Helping Hand," was created and bestowed upon me by SjP Of Sojourner's Place. Thank you SjP! In creating the award SjP says:

"I wanted to do something special to say Much Obliged and to celebrate reaching this personal milestone. Because I have committed my life to "leaving the pile higher than I found it," I wanted to "pay that help and support forward" to those new to the blogsphere. As such, I have created this "emblem of the Helping Hand" as a token of my appreciation for my blog mentors and a source of encouragement for those who are up and coming."

Much to my surprise, this is my second awarding of the Arte y Pico Award. This honor comes from Ada at Scramories. Thank you Ada! She had this to say about the award:

"In keeping with the spirit of Arte y Pico, there are more than 5 blogs that I find inspiring, creative and contribute positively to the blogsphere, and would like to share this award with these inspiring blogs."

The rules for the "Emblem Of The Helping Hand Award" are as follows:

1. Select 10 bloggers: 5 you consider your blogging Helping Hand then "Pay It Forward" by extending your "Helping Hand" to 5 additional bloggers in support and encouragement for their efforts.
2. In passing on the Emblem, each recipient must provide the name of blog or blog author with a link for others to visit.
3. Each recipient must show the Emblem and put the name and link to the blog that has given it to her or him.
4. Link the Emblem to this post: Helping Hand: Much Obliged and Paying It Forward so that others will know it origin and impetus.
5. If you have not already done so, show your recipients some love by adding them to your blog roll, Technorati Favorite list, or in any other way to further let them know that their blog voice is important to you and being heard.
6. Add your name to The Helping Hand meme at my new blog entitled The Emblem of the Helping Hand and don't forget to leave a comment as a permanent record of all Helping Hand recipients.
7. Display the rules.

Deemed "blogging mentors, " by SjP, I received this award along with the following sites:

African American Opinion
Black Perspective.net
Electronic Village
Francis I. Holland Blog
Mrs. Grapevine
New Black Woman
Regina's Family Seasons
The Black Factor
The Marvalus View
Vanessa: Unplugged and On The Black Hand Side

SjP then "payed this award forward" to the following sites:

Hagar's Daughter
Coffee Stained News
Black Women Blow The Trumpet
Black On Campus
From My Brown Eyed View
Notes Of This Native Son
Underground Railroad Tribal Alliance

Congratulations to each of them!

Of great mentorship to me and serving as a blog "helping hand," I'd like to acknowledge the following sites:

Black In Business
Colored Girls Who Have Considered...
Electronic Village
Chessnoid
Cook. Eat. Drink. Blog. (Cooking With Corey)

In paying it forward, I'd like to acknowledge the following sites:

Shae-Shae's Blog
Bittersweet Collide, Alexis Meets Aidan
Between The Waking and The Dream - Photography by Jon Miller Whitney
People You Need To Know
The Sports Diva Magazine


At Scramories, I received the Arte y Pico Award along with these fine sites:

Gourmeted.com
Pixel Shoppe
Live Passionately
Sweet Resistance