Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: Shakira

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip

Shakira

In my own personal big gay church, there is a wing devoted to those belonging to The Rhythm Nation. These women got us to think, encouraged us to love and respect ourselves, made us feel sexy as hell and... most importantly, got us to dance! One such diva brought a sense of abandon, unlike any other. No on celebrates quite as intensely as...

Shakira!

Three from the hip... and those hips do not lie! This goddess has body parts which move in ways they were never designed to.

Is there anyone as fierce as this self-proclaimed she-wolf?

After building momentum in South America, this Columbian fireball burst on the scene in the US calling all the boys to the yard.

Yes, she's sexual... but she's also incredibly smart. 

With her and in her work, she brings a sense of cultural appreciation; she knows where she comes from and will take any opportunity to share and educate. She has no desire to be anyone else, for she knows who she is and where she came from. 

She also has a strong sense of purpose and duty. It wasn't enough simply to become an international singing sensation - she's also intent to make the world a better place. 

Her songs speak of unity. Of belonging. And call us all to think of ourselves as one world working together so we all may live lives of quality and beauty.

And she doesn't merely talk the talk... she walks it. 

At the age of 18, she founded The Pies Descalzos Foundation, an organization working to make sure everyone has access to an education. For she recognized early on the power that knowledge possesses and wanted everyone to be granted the opportunity it harness it, not only for personal fulfillment, development, and gain - but also in order to create a better planet. 

And this diva has strived to be so much more... in her life she has experienced the joys of great love, the challenges of motherhood, and the sobering reality of heartbreak.  

Through it all, she has remained true to herself, her family, and her mission in life. 

The gospel according to her?

Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from her lips.

The topic? The Power Of Education

I started the Pies Descalzos foundation in Colombia when I was 18, and since then I have been very involved in the crusade for education.”

“There is no other investment that has the kind of social multiplier effect that early education has. It is an incredible thing to nurture and watch grow and spread.”

“We know that many boys and girls leave school because of poverty, because they have to work. However, there are an important number of children who abandon their studies because of the abuses they’re subject to by teachers and their own parents.”

“I thank God that I’m a product of my parents, that they infected me with their intelligence and energy for life, with their thirst for knowledge and their love. I’m grateful that I know where I come from.”

“My dad is a writer, and to see him always in front of a typewriter gave me the inspiration to write. He was my idol, my hero. I wanted to be just like him.”

“I love reading about history. Sometimes, I feel I was born in the wrong era. There was more creativity in the air when people were still discovering new worlds.”

Our leaders are lacking love, and love is lacking leaders.”

I believe that every single one of us, celebrity or not, has a responsibility to get involved in trying to make a difference in the world. Our generation faces many challenges, some of which were passed on to us by the past generations, but it's up to us to find solutions today so that we don't keep passing our problems on.

“We have to promote human solidarity, avoid indifference, and play a part with society in the solution of the problem of violence...”

Hips Don't Lie - Shakira feat. Wyclef Jean

Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) - Shakira 

feat. Freshlyground

TQQG - Karol G. / Shakira

And one last parting shot...

I'm a multi-faceted woman and person, like all women are - there's no black and white. We have shades of grey in the middle. And even many more colours that other people don't see!

My brain, I believe, is the most beautiful part of my body.

I do take advantage of, you know, feeling sensual and feeling sexy. And I think that is tremendously empowering and is not diminishing in any way. I feel that any woman who is in control, who is in touch with her femininity and sensuality, is a woman that is empowered.

“I always believed that women have rights and that there are some women that are intelligent enough to claim those rights. There are some others that are stupid enough not to.”

In this life, to earn your place you have to fight for it.