Quarantine Day 64: Most of the states in the country have opened back up, some more slowly than others. Every day there are more news reports about protests and people defying orders to stay closed or practice social distancing. Here in New York City, there have been several reports of the NYPD harassing people… Continue reading Coronavirus Diaries: The Six Degrees of Separation
Quarantine Day 57: It's hard to believe that I have been sheltering in place for almost two months. It’s started to feel normal in a sense; it’s crazy to me how the body and mind can begin to adapt to changes in our environments even when it’s uncomfortable. Here in NYC, our… Continue reading Coronavirus Diaries: Are We the Virus?
Quarantine Day 50: What happened to April? It felt like March lasted for 3 months, but we blinked and April is gone. As we move into warmer weather, it is becoming harder to stay inside. I feel the collective energy around me as everyone is eager to be free and enjoy the warm weather… Continue reading Coronavirus Diaries: From Isolation to Solitude
Quarantine Day 43. Every day in Quarantine is different. Some days I wake up, and I want to conquer the world. Other days I want to stay in bed all day and hide away from everything that’s happening. When the first guidelines were laid out, and we realized that we would be in the house… Continue reading Coronavirus Diaries: Productivity VS. Unproductivity
Quarantine Day 38: I have been working from home, pretty much sequestered for almost a month and a half. Even as an introvert, I’m beginning to feel a little crazy, but I’m fine. We’re fine. We will get through this. As cases are continuing to rise and fall depending on where… Continue reading Coronavirus Diaries: The Great Equalizer for Whom?
Happy Easter Monday everyone! For those of us who celebrate Easter, Passover, or Ramadan this is a special time for us. A time filled with family meals and celebrations. But this year our celebrations are different. As the world is grappling with the effects from COVID-19, many of us have had to celebrate these holidays… Continue reading Coronavirus Diaries: Don’t Put God in a Box
For the next week weeks, I will be doing a series entitled Coronavirus Diaries. I will be sharing thoughts and news related to COVID19. This week’s post is dedicated to loss from the virus. It feels like everything stopped suddenly. Here in NYC, in the span of a week I was told to work… Continue reading Coronavirus Diaries: Dealing with Loss
As I am writing this, today marks the 12thday that I have been practicing social distancing. I’ve only left my apartment to go grocery shopping and to go downstairs to the lobby of my apartment building. As an introvert, staying inside away from people is something I do quite regularly, but now that it’s become… Continue reading Six Ways to Survive Social Distancing
I’ve mentioned on several occasions that I have a full-time job and a part-time job. Working both has been tiring and exhausting and I have been praying on a solution. Well at the end of last month, I got a solution just not maybe the one I was hoping for. I was fired from my… Continue reading Losing Your Job; Finding Yourself
Since I’ve been home practicing social distancing, I have been binge-watching a show on Hulu called Atlantis. It’s about a young man, who goes looking for his father who got lost in a submarine and is sucked into another realm. The realm is the mythical, lost city of Atlantis. It’s a BBC show and while… Continue reading Our Modern Day Pandora’s Box
A couple of weeks ago, the founder of the Wing Audrey Gelman wrote a feature for Fast Company where she addressed some of the issues that her company was having. If you don’t know The Wing is an all-women co-working space that’s experienced tremendous growth in the past few years. There are a few locations… Continue reading Safe Spaces for Women; Just Not Women of Color
Last month, to celebrate Black History Month Target released a short video highlighting the founder behind the brand The Honey pot. The Honey pot sells natural feminine products and the founder; Beatrice Nixon is a black woman. In the video, she noted how partnering with Target has helped her company, the support that they provided,… Continue reading Your Bitterness Won’t Ruin My Honey Pot
Happy Women’s History Month! As we celebrate the accomplishments that women have made and those we have yet to fulfill, I wanted to highlight some news that came out last week. The 54th Super bowl was last month and for the halftime show, Shakira & J.Lo performed; both are artists of Spanish descent. They used their… Continue reading Halftime Show Complaints Highlight Double-Standard for Women of Color
About a month ago, I saw a post on Instagram from @the.holistic.psychologist about digging deeper into the patterns of our intimate partner relationships. I took a screenshot and one day finally sat down to answer the questions. One of the questions asked were you doing the choosing or were you trying to be chosen? And… Continue reading To Choose or Be Chosen
Happy President’s Day!! I hope those of you who are off, you’re enjoying your day and for those of you who have to work (I know that feeling) I hope you’re getting paid extra for the holiday. I wanted to highlight a couple of documentaries that have inspired me that are currently on… Continue reading Add These to Your Netflix List
First of all, I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the families of the tragic helicopter crash that took the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and 7 other people. The suddenness of his death and the way in which he died has really weighed on me this past couple of weeks. I… Continue reading I Want to Remember Kobe Differently
I've always been a moderate football fan. I used to watch it with my family, but ever since Kap got booted out of the league I have been boycotting in solidarity of his treatment SuperBowl 52: I’m Just Here for the Dip. As the Superbowl is this weekend I wanted to highlight an odd NFL… Continue reading The Rooney Rule: The NFL’s Failed Attempt at Diversity
I wanted to give a quick update to a post that I wrote last year about Florida’s Amendment 4, you can read the post here,Florida’s Amendment 4 and Jim-Crow Tactics. In the 2018 midterm elections, Florida voters, voted overwhelmingly to restore the voting rights of over a million formerly incarcerated felons. Ever since that historic… Continue reading Florida’s Supreme Court Strikes Down Amendment 4
Last month, I caught a cold and had to work from home for a couple of days. A cold I knew was coming. Everyone in my office had been sick over the past few weeks and it recently hit me that I am suffering from Burnout. Very few things bring me joy anymore, and I… Continue reading Burnout in 2019; Intentional in 2020
Happy Kwanzaa! I hope you are having an enjoyable holiday season. Today is the first day of Kwanzaa, and I have to admit that I'm not completely familiar with the holiday. In honor of this celebration, I wanted to give us a deeper insight into what Kwanzaa is all about. Kwanzaa is a week long… Continue reading Happy Kwanzaa!
It’s officially Christmas season! I love the Holidays and actually love Christmas shopping. I just really love shopping, so any excuse to do it makes me happy. As many of us are in full shopping mode, I wanted to give you some great gift ideas for those on your list! A Weighted Blanket: This… Continue reading Six Gifts for Those You Love
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! I hope you’re all enjoying time with family and friends, good food, and lots of love. This post is over a month in the making. Last month, I had the pleasure of seeing an advanced screening of the highly anticipated film Queen & Slim. I went in with no expectations other than… Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving! Now Go See Queen & Slim
This week is Thanksgiving and as many of us are preparing to either host dinner or attend dinner, we will head to our local supermarket. I know for me this means either a run to Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods both of which are in close proximity to my home and work. Both of these… Continue reading Do You Live in a Food Desert?
This past Sunday, I was able to attend the Glamour Women of the Year Summit. My boss was one of the speakers and got all the millennial women in the office comp tickets. I was excited to go, and was pleasantly surprised at my experience. The day consisted of a light breakfast and lunch with… Continue reading Glamour’s Women of the Year Summit
Earlier this month, I finished a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle. It took me a few weeks to complete because I would only do it for about an hour a week until I got closer to the end. I had been wanting to do a jigsaw puzzle for a while, but just hadn’t found one that inspired… Continue reading Don’t Stop Playing
For those who don't know, in Hip-Hop culture there is a term of endearment known as the “ride or die”. The ride or die chick as it is commonly referred to is the type of woman who will stay with you no matter the cost. This type of woman is glorified. Rappers say they want… Continue reading Ride or Die? How about Walk and Live?
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending CultureCon. CultureCon is a conference for Black creatives bringing together celebrities and leaders in the arts for panels and discussions. It’s organized by The Creative Collective which is a creative agency based in NYC that works to create spaces for creatives of color. I had been… Continue reading CultureCon 2019
I remember the first time I ever went to Forever21. I was about 12/13 and went to the mall to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Upon entering the store, I felt like I just entered a teenage Disney World. There were trendy clothes that I could afford, shirts with cute slogans, and all the costume jewelry… Continue reading Another One Bites the Dust
Maybe about two months ago at work a client called and I connected them with our intake specialist to have an initial conversation. About 10 minutes later, our intake specialist came to me and said the client wanted to talk to me. I was surprised because I have nothing to do with the intake process… Continue reading Stop Shrinking
Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Purposefull Day Retreat with Full Collective. Full Collective is a community that helps to enrich the lives of women by equipping and encouraging them through workshops, retreats, bible studies, etc. They offered their last day retreat for 2019 and through an IG ad they found me,… Continue reading My Experience at the PurposeFull Retreat
Earlier this year, a story broke about a college admissions scandal where wealthy parents were accused of bribery to get their children into schools. I never really understood the outrage about the bribery because the wealthy have been bribing schools for years to get their kids in. Donations and endowments are just a fancy word… Continue reading Our Education System isn’t the Only Thing That’s Separate and Not Equal
Last weekend, a video went viral of an employee from a wedding venue in Booneville, Mississippi denying an interracial couple the opportunity to get married at the Boone’s Camp Event Hall. The couple was denied based on the “Christian Faith” of the owner of the event hall. After severe backlash, the owner has issued an… Continue reading Faith is Not an Excuse to Discriminate
I highlighted my 30th birthday last month, but today I wanted to highlight something different that I did to celebrate: I had my first Reiki Session. Reiki is a form of alternative medicine that seeks to bring physical and mental healing through the movement of energy. A couple of my coworkers had done a session… Continue reading Reiki: Yay or Nah?
Sugar. Diet Soda. Fast Food. Sitting all day. These are just a few of the items that have been studied and determined to be public health risks. But New York City’s Health Department has identified a new threat: our criminal justice system. After studying the data available to them, the researchers determined that even minor… Continue reading The Latest Public Health Risk: Our Criminal Justice System
I can’t believe that we are already in August! This year has flown by! As the Summer begins to draw to a close, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite black owned businesses here in NYC in honor of black business month. All of these establishments, I have been to personally so I can… Continue reading August is Black Business Month
I wouldn’t say that I’m the most athletic person there is, but growing up there was one activity during P.E. that I loved: Dodgeball. For anyone who doesn’t know Dodgeball is a game where you divide up into two teams one on each side of the court. Soft balls are placed in the middle of… Continue reading Kids Will Be Kids Doesn’t Apply to Everyone
Over the weekend, temperatures here in New York City reached over 100 degrees with the heat index. I had just come back from Florida and it was hotter here in Brooklyn than it was in Miami. Less than a week ago, there was a blackout in Manhattan and city residents were beginning to worry that… Continue reading Thousands Lose Power in City Sanctioned Blackout
I officially turn 30 on Friday! I can’t believe that my 20s are coming to an end. It has been a difficult, challenging, decade filled with a lot of growth. Now that I am about to start a new decade in my life I would like to share some of the wisdom that I’ve gathered… Continue reading Twenty Life Lessons to Celebrate my 30th Birthday!
AfroMusic Festival is a music festival based in Detroit and as the name suggests it is geared towards African-Americans. Tickets cost $10 and non-POC tickets cost $20. What’s the difference? Well a non-POC is exactly what it sounds like, a non-person of color. Why would a festival charge people who are not of color twice… Continue reading AfroMusic Festival Tries to Create Equity amid Backlash
In 2016, the Treasury Department asked the public to vote on the redesign of new currency. The $5, $10, and $20-dollar bills were getting facelifts in order to combat counterfeit money. The public voted that Harriet Tubman would be the person to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20-dollar bill. This is an amazing honor and… Continue reading I Might Spend Less Cash if I Saw Harriet’s Face Looking Back at Me
This weekend while grocery shopping, I picked up a bag of shrimp to cook for my dinner this coming weekend. I turned the bag over a couple times to find out where the shrimp was from and discovered much to my dismay that the shrimp was from Thailand. Last week, I had the pleasure of… Continue reading Ghost Fleet Sheds a Light on Human Trafficking
I knew the story of the Central Park 5; how 5 young minority boys were coerced into admitting to a crime they didn’t commit. A story that highlights how our justice system was not built for black and brown people. A story about how the justice system protects the wealthy and turns their back on… Continue reading When They See Us Brings the Central Park 5 to a New Generation
I recently watched the documentary “Dark Girls”. The film highlights the struggle of being a dark-skinned women in the African-American community and also within the world. As a dark-skinned African American woman, I was intrigued by the topic and interested in hearing stories from other women regarding their experiences. I can remember the first time… Continue reading The Darker the Berry….
For Black History Month, I highlighted Florida’s Amendment 4. Amendment 4 was a historical moment in November’s mid-term elections that granted over a million formerly incarcerated felons the right to vote. Even in a predominately Republican state 64% of Florida voters, myself included, voted to give felons back their right to vote. While the amendment was… Continue reading Florida’s Amendment 4 and Jim-Crow Tactics
Last week, a writer living in DC posted a photo of a transit worker eating on the Metro. Food and drinks are not allowed on the DC Metro, which is how they are able to keep the system cleaner than other major cities (NYC, I’m looking at you). She sent a quick tweet with a… Continue reading Cancel Culture and the Modern-Day Colosseum
A couple weeks ago, an interview surfaced about about dog walking on the campus of Howard University. Like most major cities, D.C is undergoing gentrification in many neighborhoods which brings with it differing opinions and conflicts. The new neighbors around Howard University have started walking their dogs on the campus specifically the yard. On campuses… Continue reading No, We Will Not Move for Your Dogs.
Last week, Queen Bey blessed us with a whole documentary and album drop from her historical Coachella performance. I had a very long weekend, and week so far which means that I have yet to watch the film but have heard wonderful things about it. I wouldn’t say that I’m a part of the BeyHive,… Continue reading Thanks, B.
In 2014 prompted by the ending of a dating situation and a relaxer that burnt my scalp so badly, I decided to go natural. This means that I stopped relaxing my hair to make it straight and would now be wearing my hair’s natural texture. The first few months weren’t so hard because the two… Continue reading What Defines You?
Happy April! It’s finally Spring and here in New York, we’re in that in between season where it’s not quite Spring, not quite winter but everyone has Cabin Fever! April is also Financial Literacy Month and I wanted to address a trend that I’ve been noticing a lot more frequently: cashless stores. The first time… Continue reading Is Cash No Longer King?
