This ‘holiday’ we call Valentines day, isn’t much different from those other days we celebrate in Western Culture, a corporate scheme to make some extra money. Something that we celebrate mindlessly, unaware of the meaning behind the day or it’s significance in our lives. How is St. Valentine relevant to me? He’s not, but each […]
Being Black and maintaining professionalism in Western society has always been a sort of catch-22. It’s generally understood that as a Black person achieving a professional look is the equivalent adopting as many white looking characteristics as possible. For Black women this means sacrificing the unique beauty of our naturally kinky textured hair to straightening. […]
In relation to yesterday’s topic, protecting our stories and our lives from white-washing and being written out of history, I want to introduce, Black jazz singer, Esther Jones. If you know of Betty Boop and never heard of Esther Jones, than know that her story is a classic example of how Blacks are written out […]
The Importance of asking “Who’s the director?” This is a always question I ask before consuming any media, especially films or television shows related to Black History. When Hidden Figures was released this past Christmas, the answer to this question is the reason why I have yet to view the film. It’s the reason why […]
The following poem was written as a part of my mentoring position in Pongo Poetry Project’s King County Juvenile Detention Center. Each week in preparation for working with students in juvenile detention, mentors write a poem inspired by a specific theme. The week of January 17th we wrote along the theme of Civil Disobedience, I […]
Now that Obama is officially our former president, his presidency is officially apart of Black history and at this end of the first week of February I want to take a moment to reflect. During the near end of his presidency I wrote a letter addressing the way he’s served the Black community by progressing […]
Black hair is big business, Madam C.J. Walker’s realization of this to cater to the black communities’ hair care needs made her America’s first female self-made millionaire. Walker is one of my favorite entrepreneurs because she specialized in the field of Black hair care. During the time that she was growing her business, Walker saw […]
Yesterday Travyon Martin would have turned 22 years old. Not a year goes past that I don’t reflect on his death. Today is my birthday and I am now the same age Martin would’ve been, turning 22 years old. I remember when I was the same age as Martin after he was murdered, during the […]
Doing what’s right isn’t always defined by societal standards, especially not for Blacks in America. Societal standards, since our forced arrival on this stolen land, has always been that our existence is wrong. We’ve been climbing the ladder of humanity in different ways throughout American history. First battling to prove that ur existence is not […]
2017 Black History Month Series Day 3 The significance of the media is not only important for the benefit of spreading public opinion and keeping ‘alternative facts’ in check, but it is also valuable because it provides people with a source of representation. People should be able to find themselves in the media/entertainment that they’re consuming. […]