It’s tiresome enough that I often feel like I carry the culture on my back when it comes to information. I often feel responsible for informing Black people of what is expected of us, how we’re perceived, and what knowledge we need to know about ourselves, our history, and what’s happening to folks that look like us across the globe! Of course I’m not going to reach everyone, but if I can reach one person, I’ll feel somewhat accomplished. Continue reading “In the company of others”
A while ago there was a Twitter hashtag named #BlackWomenAtWork. The hashtag discussed all the racist and biased comments that Black women receive from their White counterparts. I participated in the hashtag, but to be honest, I hadn’t quite experienced a lot of what was discussed. I came from a corporate environment where Black women ran the office alongside a few White women. Black women were definitely the majority. Continue reading “Black women at work”
Victory Lap
When I heard Nipsey was murdered I was sitting in the living room at my friend’s house. I immediately felt the anxiety building inside of me, and great sadness. In all honesty the first person I thought about was Lauren London, and then his children. I got online to look for credible sites to verify that this tragedy was indeed true. Like many people I didn’t understand it, because everyone seemingly loved Nipsey. I loved Nipsey! Continue reading “Long Live Nip”
THE DIVIDE:
If you don’t pay attention to public policy, politics, and our ever changing culture, you could find yourself in a world of confusion. Most importantly, you have to know where you stand. There has always been conflict in the Black community because there has always been different types of Black people: The Black people that are simply trying to make it, and the Black people that think they are better than other Black people because their speech, hair, job/career, education, and dwelling spaces are different.
2018 has been a year of loss, endings, and feelings of perplexity. You know that feeling when you are in a state of the unknown? When you know everything is changing around you but you don’t know what the end result will be and if you’ll mentally and emotionally survive… That was how I felt. I had to remind myself that the Universe is always working in my favor regardless if I can see or feel what’s happening. Having a friend die unexpectedly helped put some things in perspective for me. Death has a funny way of making you reevaluate your feelings, life, and your relationships. Continue reading “Thank U, Next: End of year reflection”
If you haven’t heard the female rap group duo City Girls remake of Salt and Pepper’s hit I’ll take your man,” you may want to check it out. It’s been played all over the radio and in night clubs. The City Girls album is full of raunchy lyrics following in the footsteps of other female rappers with Miami slang. Recently The group has been under a lot of scrutiny due to group member JT being locked up for previous charges of fraud, but the worst critiques have been based on group member Yung Miami’s speech (Yet y’all calling people that commit fraud to get y’all Christmas gifts). Miami first shocked the world when she asked if people wanted to get “flewed out” instead of flown out. There were so many comments and retweets making fun of the new rapper, she made a rebuttal. This week she’s being criticized for mispronouncing a city’s name in Michigan.
People have been verbally attacking Miami. Calling her dumb an idiot and everything in between. You don’t have to agree with the rappers lyrics, like their speech or like their truths. But what everyone should be doing is respecting the fact that they come from streets of Miami and are actively trying to improve their quality of life. What really bothers me the most is that I personally don’t believe they would receive such backlash if they weren’t Black women. Continue reading “I’ll take yo MAN!”
All little Black girls know the importance of getting their hair done. It has to be styled ever so correctly, or they run the risk of being teased in school and online. Other parents will say things like “Her Mother should be ashamed of herself for not doing her hair!” What is considered doing a little girls hair? Kids will call them ugly, nappy head, etc. Most people find that braids, ponytails (with straightened hair), or in a wrap. Just think about the comments made about Blue Ivy’s hair. This pressure of what your hair has to look like increases tremendously as an adult with different trends and styles being deemed appropriate. It’s constant hair buying, weaving, pulling, braiding, dying, perming, pressing, washing, blow drying, sewing and REPEAT! Continue reading “All little Black girls know the importance of getting their hair done..”
I like to think of the glass as half full rather than half empty. Of course there are days when my negative thoughts are stronger than my positive ones, but I remind myself that being positive brings more positivity to me. Being positive isn’t as easy as the memes on Instagram display. You actually have to work towards being positive. Continue reading “A Golden State of Mind”
Anxiety disorder is the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting about 40 million adults per year. It’s not unusual for people who have anxiety to also suffer from depression, and vice versa. The most common form of depression is Major Depressive Disorder- which affects roughly around 16.1 million adults.
Some of us suffer from both anxiety and depression when major life altering events occur, such as losing your job, death, a break up, and even your family expanding. If you have never experienced either one, consider yourself lucky, but when you receive that call from a friend or family member please keep these things in mind to be considerate: Continue reading “Things you shouldn’t say to someone suffering from anxiety and depression!”
I want to be perfect!
There seems to be an infatuation with being perfect. We want to post the perfect selfie. We want to record a video where we look perfect. We want our work and/or creative projects to be perfect. We want to give a perfect response or reply within conversation. Continue reading “I want to be perfect!”
