Hope, Rage & Breath: Time To Trouble The Water
Read more...“It is the Zimmerman mindset that must be found guilty—far more than the man himself. It is a mindset that views black men and boys as nothing but a threat, good for nothing, up to no good no matter who they are or what they are doing. It is the Zimmerman mindset that has birthed a penal system unprecedented in world history, and relegated millions to a permanent undercaste. Trayvon, you will not be forgotten.
Being An Awkward Hot Grrrl: A Day in the Life
Did you watch Ava Duvernay’s Venus Vs. last night on ESPN? I was most blown away by Venus’s confidence. 23 years old, 6’1″ and those white and green beads and those long, gangly legs. When she said, “I’m tall, I’m Black and everything is different about me and those are the facts,” I knew EXACTLY where she was coming from and EXACTLY where she was heading. She was on the precipice of not giving a Read more...
Lies & Highs:When Someone Tries To Defame You
Blogging While Brown is more than an organization for Black bloggers. It’s a verb. A community formed by and within community. It’s an experience. Last weekend that experience came to NYC in the form of the 6th annual Blogging While Brown Conference. I had the privilege and pleasure of speaking at the Business of Blogging portion of the conference last Friday not knowing, by that very same afternoon, I would not only have to Read more...
Ain’t I A Woman? Badu, Serena & Hair Touching
Saturday before last, I crossed the Brooklyn Bridge anticipating what I’d hoped would be an interstellar crossing into the future of ancient Black galaxies on the wings of Ms. Erykah Badu. What I love about Erykah is that I never know where or how far homegrrrl is going to transport me, but I know that she gets off beaming her peoples up.
After a rollercoaster ride of a morning and afternoon where a Black girl Read more...
Friends & Work: Competition & Handlin it!
For the past few weeks I’ve been working on a project for a finance company and as such, (besides neglecting my blog) I’ve been getting reacquainted with the corporate world and the benefits, restrictions and protocol of the 9 – 5 7 business-casual life. For the first three days on the gig no one spoke to me. The VP of HR walked me in, made sure I got an ID, showed me to my desk Read more...
My Connection to “Olympus Has Fallen”
I just saw the trailer for Olympus Has Fallen and see that it opened strong this, its opening weekend, coming in #2 at the box office making over $30 million. Is it just me or has there been a surge in the number of movies being made about the White House coming under attack since President Barack Obama has taken office? The new G.I. Joe movie revolves around the West Wing possibly being blown to Read more...
Ready To Die?
“My shit is deep, deeper than my grave G;
I’m ready to die and nobody can save me.” -The Notorious B.I.G.
I think my dad had been in and out of the hospital and rehabilitation center for maybe eight or nine months when he gave me the letter. He would improve and then he would have a setback, which would usually place him on a vent machine cutting off his ability to speak. It was Read more...
Black Girls Deserve So Much More
“I speak here as a woman of Color who is not bent upon destruction, but upon survival. No woman is responsible for altering the psyche of her oppressor, even when that psyche is embodied in another woman.” –Audre Lorde
“The way I feel about life? It’s a struggle. You have to stop getting mad and get smart.” – Mamie Lee Melton Nichols
Sunday night as the Oscar’s came to a close someone at The Onion Read more...
Is Your Half-Time Show As Good As Beyonce’s?
On Sunday I was transfixed like pretty much everyone else on the planet by Beyoncé’s half-time show. I was already amped because my team had run a clinic on the 49ers in the first half and was screwing up spreads across the land. Now I was ready for King Bey to rock that mutha.
Hot off the heels of a lip synch controversy so huge it damn near made Milli Vanilli’s debacle seem like a Read more...
Making Peace with Mamacita & Welcoming 2013!
2012 stunned me at times into bouts of tears and into moments of silence. 2012 also amazed, leaving me overjoyed and lightheaded from breathless laughter. This was a year of losing and gaining: friends, gigs, lovers, Spirit, ego, confidence, fear and fortitude. At my lowest I found strength and resilience. They were actually waiting for me. The more I peeled back the doubts and let go of the “Why Me’s,” the more I loved even Read more...