MadnessLeVar Burton is my Reading Rainbae, and yesterday he said my name during his live Twitter reading session! LeVar Burton needs no introduction, but in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past 40 years, here’s a quick introduction. The acclaimed actor, producer, author, literary advocate and cultural icon has been an influential […]
The South African SeriesClub Quarantine is the brainchild of DJ D-Nice on Instagram Live on weekends, usually at 11PM EST, or whenever he feels like spinning. Before they cut it down to make room for a bank, I used to live in a cavernous house shielded by a massive white wall and a towering neem tree in LaBone; […]
MadnessHi. Hey. Happy New Year and so forth. I really wish that I could’ve titled this piece something a little more genteel to suit you all’s fragile sensibilities, but that’s the plain truth: My 40s are kicking the crap outta me. I actually began writing a similar piece about this time last year, but I […]
MusingsToday is the 23rd of November, 2019, and officially marks the tenth year since the creation of MOM. …I know, right? How many cell phones have you powered through in that amount of time. I almost didn’t acknowledge this milestone, but my BFFFL – Nana Darkoa – is a firm believer in celebrating benchmark moments. […]
MusingsIn 2009 I contracted as a recruiter in a boutique organization that sourced and screened resumes for Ma & Pop shops to Fortune 500 companies. It was a maddening, hectic time fraught with office politics, instability and hostility as a natural byproduct; but more than that, working in such an erratic environment offered my opportunities […]
MotherhoodAt 8:15 every morning I take a water aerobics class because Big Girls need fitness too. And because while my breasts are cumbersome, vexing impediments to my speed while on land, they make excellent built-in flotation devices. Buoyant things, those GGs. So anyway, it’s me and the oumas in the pool every morning. At first […]
MusingsAbout a week ago, Netflix suggested a title that had my interest piqued upon visual contact. That title was ‘Dolemite Is My Name’. A little background might be helpful in understanding my excitement. The first time I heard the word Dolemite was in the early 90s when Snoop Dogg rapped it in the verse: Fallin’ […]
MarriageTwenty-four years ago, a friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful brown baby girl; a brown baby with cheeks not dissimilar in appearance to sweet cinnamon rolls and a pair of eyes that shone like polished pearls. I first met this summer child – Londyn* – when she was six. I had no children […]
GH2013Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM) is an acclaimed actor, comedian and talk show host. Last week he invited me to appear on his long-running TV program, the KSM Show. You’ll be proud to know that I kept my cool and resisted the urge to gush for a full six minutes into our conversation prior to taping. Though […]
GH2013Me: Hey, y’all! I’ll be going to the North this month! I’ll be taking a bus and I… Person A: Wouldn’t you rather fly there instead? Me: Of course I would. Person: A.1: So you are going alone? Aren’t you afraid? Me: Well…Of course I am. I’m terrified. Person A.2 & beyond: Hmmm. Let’s pray […]
Marriage“Should I have sex with my husband when I’m fasting?” The question was delivered to me earnestly, without forewarning or a natural segue. At a recent book reading, I mentioned to the room that my husband is a pastor (which is passive and has different connotations than the title Pastor’s Wife) and I woman with […]
GH2013I don’t think this year of return thing is good at all. It seems like more focus is being put on the Ghanaians come from abroad, and we who are here are being left out. Like that guy – the (Steve) Harvey guy came here and went to the dungeons and was so upset. Me, I can tell you I’ve been to Cape Coast (Castle), Elmina…when I enter those dungeons I don’t feel anything.
The South African SeriesRemember I told you all a few months ago that months ago that the family was moving into a century-old Dutch style home? And how excited I was because I know that the original builders never could’ve imagined in 100 years that my big, Black arse would be living in the lodgings so comfortably with […]
MusingsNiggerati: A blending of the words ‘nigger’ and ‘literati’, coined by unrivaled African American novelist, anthropologist and filmmaker, Zora Neale Hurston. Last week I received an email inviting me to participate in a literary initiative targeting young readers on the African continent. The person who referred me is a woman I’ve yet to meet, but […]
MotherhoodBesides, a boyfriend isn’t what she’s really after. What she wants is social acceptance and external validation…which is normal for a person her age. On some level, we all crave this.
The South African Series“As whites, we don’t teach our children about apartheid. For us, it’s not important. But the Blacks…they make sure to talk to their children about apartheid. All the time. It’s the complete opposite.” I had the opportunity to make a new acquaintance in George on Friday night. As I’ve explained on numerous occasions, the demographic […]
Let me tell you about how I got scammed at an Ohio based Marriott hotel/restaurant. Have you ever been scammed by someone in the food or service industry? If so, you can identify with that snowed under feeling you experience when you realize what/how/WTH happened. It’s painful. That’s the most adequate way for me to […]
MusingsMOOOOOOMMMMM SQUAAAAAD!!! I’m mad excited. Can you tell? Some of you guys know that I am the co-founder cum co-creator of a li’l blog that could called Adventures From the Bedrooms of African Women. This year marks our 10th anniversary of bringing the world a peek into the lives of women of African descent on […]
Do you suffer from Diastasis Recti? Has childbirth left your belly looking like it got a 50% score on the attempt? Do you have so much muffin top that people mistake you for a walking Pillsbury ad? No? Then you can skip this post. The rest of you, follow me to Bellefit.com! I’m 9 years […]
“Destroy a man’s soul and they will destroy each other.” – Judge Perry, Bolden It is unlikely that you will hear much fanfare or discussion around the newly released Bolden, a biopic that centers on the life of once-famed cornet player Buddy Bolden. Once dubbed King Bolden, the man credited with inventing jazz died in […]
Have you ever woken up with a start, heart pounding and mind struggling to catch up with your thoughts at dawn? Of course you have. There’s no way you’ve made it into adulthood without experiencing a similar episode. What was it that jolted you from your sleep? A mountain of bills looming on the horizon? […]