Serena May Have Lost, But She’s Not Defeated!
There is something about this image that had me staring at it all day yesterday and this morning too. This is Serena Williams after her blow-up, not meltdown, with umpire Carlos Ramos who accused her of cheating during yesterday’s match at the 2018 US Open final. This is Serena Williams, 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, sitting in the wake of sexism and racism’s microaggressive fuckery. This image is heartbreaking. It’s sobering. It’s a reflection. Read more...
You Never Know! (It’s not always #BlackGirlJoy)
After a mountaintop experience with Carrie Mae Weems and my college bestie Kim last weekend in DC, I returned to NYC on Monday. That same night I had an awesome time at a cocktail mixer. I engaged with literary agents, editors and other writers and was feeling uber inspired as a creative and as a Black woman. Then I decided to take the bus back uptown to Harlem after the Writers & Wine event and Read more...
Bahamadia, Hip Hop & Me
Next Wednesday, May 2nd, I have the honor of moderating “Nice With Hers”— a conversation (plus fab intro by ebony.com’s Jamilah Lemieux) with Karen Good, Kierna Mayo, and dream hampton — some of the fearless female journalists who wrote the narrative of how the world came to know hip hop, culture, fashion, and itself at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, USA. I’m thrilled, nervous and totally consumed with what Read more...
Kiss My Placenta!
Erykah Badu had to break bad when her fans voiced their disapproval over her reproductive life: “HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THE QUEENDOM… AND MY CHILDREN AND MY INTELLIGENCE.” It seems that folk are not pleased that the singer, songwriter, producer, actress and doula has had three children with three different men, so they went straight to her fansite to voice their discontent. Up in arms and all up in her womb, fans feel Ms. Badu Read more...
5 Things We Can Learn From Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo– survivor, lover, revolutionary. When broken she reinvented herself. Her body was her canvas that became a site of empowerment for all women. Born Magdalena Carmen Frieda Kahlo y Calderón, Frida was a bonafide Cancer who loved to love and be loved. Tomorrow will mark the 57th anniversary of Frida Kahlo’s death. The defiantly beautiful Mexicana who created some 200 paintings and drawings during her lifetime would’ve turned 104 last Wednesday– her birthday and Read more...
Thanks to Daddy, I’m Every Woman!
This Father’s Day was my fourth without my dad and to use Oprah’s phrase– What I know for sure— is that Daddy’s Girls never get over the loss of our fathers. I am always so full on Father’s Day. Not sad like that first Father’s Day when I decided to buy flowers to place on my dad’s gravesite. The woman behind the counter was busy helping one woman with her arrangement. She looked up Read more...
What is theHotness?
It never fails. I give someone my business card and I get an, “Ooohh, what’s theHotness” and, usually if it’s a dude, a raised eyebrow and a wink will accompany this sentence. Um no. Sorry, wrong kind of hotness, sir. I’m not running a Heidi Fleiss den of sex and scandal. “It’s a dotcom… we celebrate the brains, backbone and beauty of brown girls,” I respond. I hate to do it, but I always Read more...
Best of 2010 & 2011 on theHotness Tip
18 days into the new year and it’s already been a doozy. The first week I had to travel to South Carolina to attend the funeral of my ever charming, charismatic, and ambitious cousin, Michael. That same week another cousin suffered a mild stroke at the meager age of 42. On top of worry, grief, regret and frustration, I’ve been dealing with an awful case of writer’s block. I’ve been consumed with thoughts about the Read more...
3 Life Lessons from Dancing With The Stars
After Tuesday night’s shocking results on “Dancing With The Stars” where top-scoring Brandy and her partner Maks got the boot, folks all across America have been going berserk. One man in Wisconsin even shot his television and pointed the gun at his wife in a state of rage. Personally, I was over DWTS years ago when Mel B. lost. Homegirl was doing splits, executed the fox trot like a pro and twirled around like she Read more...
Being Fierce vs. Being a Beeyotch
When did women start feeling like they had to be a mean girl or a bitch in order to get respect, in order to feel fierce? No doubt I’ve worked with and have encountered many successful beeyotches in my time, but the overwhelming majority of fierce sisters I know are generous, relatable, secure, approachable, and genuinely nice. Yeah, these women have their doubts, but they choose to dip their spirit in a pool of confidence. Read more...