November 23, 2015

Best Of, Real Talk

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...

November 17, 2015

Art

Holding Hands With Carrie Mae Weems

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This past Sunday at about this exact hour, this happened at The National Museum for Women in the Arts at their #FreshTalk4Change Sunday supper:

I had the last question of the night. By now all the platters of grilled salmon were bare and everyone was munching on their dessert cookies. I had the last question of the night and I wanted to ask Carrie Mae Weems if her radicalism, her ‪#‎BlackGirlMagic‬ if you

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July 9, 2015

Lifestyle

Going On Vacay

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Taking a page from the textbooks of students and professors everywhere, theHotness is breaking for the summer. We’ll be back in September. Be fresh. Stay hot!

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March 27, 2015

Real Talk, TV/Film

“GIRLHOOD” Screening & Discussion in Harlem!

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This Saturday, March 28th, in partnership with Imagenation Cinema Foundation, theHotness.com is hosting the 7:30pm screening of the critically acclaimed film Girlhood. Please join me as I moderate a post discussion with panelists Yvette Russell (former ESSENCE Entertainment Editor & current Director of Programs for READ Alliance), Shawanna Bell (Program Coordinator at Young Life), and Genesis Mullen (Young Life member) along with girls from the Harlem chapter of Young Life for Read more...

January 17, 2014

Real Talk

The 15 Most Fascinating Hot Grrrls of 2013

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Fresh on the heels of watching Lupita Nyong’o get robbed at the Golden Globes for her star-making, provocative and mesmerizing performance in 12 Years A Slave and frankly, still salty over Kerry Washington’s Emmy loss last fall, I was reminded of theHotnessMost Fascinating List from 2010 and knew it was high-time to bring that justificative joint back. And yea, the Oscars even snubbed Oprah yesterday and left her, for a second time (first Read more...

October 4, 2013

Real Talk

Miriam Carey, Gladiators & The Mentally Ill

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Real life is stranger than fiction. Olivia Pope seems to have the answers to it all. Just when you think she is down and out she rises again to face another day without so much as a smudge on her white trench coat. But in Washington, D.C. yesterday Miriam Carey was shot several times by police and she will never see another day. Reports that she suffered from post-partum depression, which in many circles, especially Read more...

July 3, 2013

Real Talk

Being An Awkward Hot Grrrl: A Day in the Life

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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...

December 7, 2012

The Goods

#ShopSis: Emily Jayne Butters & Fragrances

For quite some time I’ve had this idea to highlight my favorite products especially the ones made by women because I really respect the risk-taking courage, smarts and stamina it takes to be an entrepreneur. I feel more and more that we as a community do not celebrate our small business entrepreneurs the way we should. With the big box business boom of Starbucks, WalMart and H&M, I’ve seen so many of my favorite small Read more...

December 5, 2012

Real Talk

The Truth About Susan Rice

If you watched Barack Obama’s first official press conference after winning his re-election bid then you saw the President go ballistic when asked about the Republican’s response to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice’s possible nomination for Secretary of State. To summarize, our Prezy said that anyone who has a problem with Ambassador Rice will have a problem with him. End scene! I feel Obama because the attack on Susan Rice is not only largely unfounded, but Read more...

November 15, 2012

Real Talk

Victoria’s Secret’s Idea of Honoring Thanksgiving

So this was Victoria’s Secret’s idea of honoring Native Americans and celebrating Thanksgiving? Last week during VS’s annual fashion show, which reportedly cost a whopping $12 million and had an American holiday theme, producers thought it would be a fantastic idea to represent Thanksgiving by adorning model Karlie Kloss in turquoise jewelry, tassels and a floor-length feather headdress.

Never mind that the outfit is hideous, the idea of having a model wear such a major Read more...