Part of my hybrid upbringing was learning the “Black National Anthem”. As a child, I hated this separatist idea – that there were two Americas – that I was being indoctrinated with, but I dutifully learned the first stanza of the song as required and could sing it on demand. The anthem is a song […]
I wonder if the world knows what a debt it owes to African Americans. Every modern liberation movement has been based on the tactics employed by those in endeavor for Civil Rights in America. And while MLK’s non-violent methods were borrowed from Ghandi, we did what we always do when we get a hold of […]
I woke up with this burden for Lauryn Hill this morning. There are many reasons we need Lauryn Hill, the most pressing of which is because people are still surprised when I open my mouth and speak both eloquently and intelligently. How can I blame them when the pervasive images of Black womanhood are Nicki […]
“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. – Malachi 3:8 You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” – 2 […]
Dear Broken Heart, How is it you are still beating? I marvel at your strength. To endure such a blow and to choose to carry on…My; that that is a testament to your tenacity indeed. I suppose you’ve been here before though. You’ve had a lifetime of being ‘swerved’ and have come back from it. […]
Note: For the benefit of full disclosure, I think I should tell the reader than I am a Black female posing this question. I don’t want anyone who stumbles upon this piece to think that it’s some form of White Supremacist propaganda. Now that we’ve got that out of the way… As you dear MOM […]
I feel like I’ve discussed this before, but here goes again… Fresh off the heels of my conversation with Wiyaala I contacted my BFFFL, Nana Darkoa, who is as all who are even vaguely acquainted with her the consummate feminist. I gave her the highlights of our first conversation since the audio had failed and […]
I just got one of those calls that set my britches on fire. You know the ones that have you seeing red and looking at your own partner/spouse with a side eye, daring him or her to “try that mess if they want to”? Yeah. That call. I have a brilliant acquaintance who has a […]
When I was an elementary school student at Soul Clinic International School, a stout, fair-skinned woman was ushered into my sixth grade classroom and introduced. Her name was Madame Naomisi. “This is your new French teacher,” the Headmistress told us. She then went on to explain some things about how we were all required to […]
Say what you want to about Nigerians, but I don’t know of another group of people – as a collective -more driven towards success in our corner of the continent. And they love to flaunt it. They are ostentatious, extravagant creatures, and couldn’t care less how you feel about their unabashed display of their vibrant […]
“Ghana was ‘green’ long before there was a Green Movement.” That’s one of the expressions my Green friends and I have often smugly repeated to one another. Our pride is in a Ghana that just 30 years ago was so verdant and eco-responsible, it put Norway, Denmark and all those other northern European countries who […]
Question: Would you buy a can of Pepsi from someone who looked like this? Really think about it, so we can talk about it. It’s no secret that I am an unabashed fan of Lupita Nyong’o. She literally burst from obscurity to superstardom overnight. I’m sure she is absolutely brilliant in 12 Years a Slave, […]
I feel strange writing this piece today. It’s been four days since Komla Dumor’s passing, and in this Western society in which I’m firmly planted, I’m supposed to be over the shock by now. But I’m not. When someone of importance dies, we talk about it for a few days (or in some cases a […]
I certainly didn’t want this to be the news to pull me out of my writing funk. I was in the grocery store an hour ago, thinking privately about how there hasn’t been a single event lately to motivate me to write. Nothing has quite called for my indignation. I spent the better part of […]
So this is it, huh, MOM Squad? We’re three days in to 2014. Three whole days already! I’ve been giving a lot of thought about what I want my first words on the blog to be in the New Year, and the only thing that has been consistent on my heart and mind since the […]
I was there you know…when the tweet was first sent on December 20th. I saw the RT from @Reads4Pleasure’s time line: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” Ah. Who was this fool who had said something so insensitive, classist and subversively racist? I clicked on her profile. She only […]
You know how it is when you’re on social media: People post and re-post memes and quotes meant to exemplify insightful profundity in 140 characters or less and the masses nod, “like” it, and carry on chewing cud, just as we’d been doing x number of hours before we logged on that morning. But sometimes […]
*Disclaimer: I don’t how much of this is me or the meningitis talking (I contracted meningitis last week, hence the long silence. FYI.), but I have some things to say about White Christmas that need saying! You see, Twitterverse? What did I tell you? No sooner had I gotten off the plane then there was […]
I was supposed to go to Morning Star School, but I didn’t get gain admittance. I can’t remember if the fees were too high or I bombed the entrance exam or if they just didn’t have room for one more student… I just remember the sense of relief I had when we walked away from […]
Like a bedraggled feral feline presenting a mangled carcass to a would-be master, Twitter will sometimes drops thing on my timeline and looks at me expectedly after I’ve perused its contents. This week, the little blue bird brought me this: *Vulgarity alert for all my religious readers!* [youtube=http://youtu.be/E0CazRHB0so] Now that you’ve been “offended” (or not) […]
I don’t own any “church clothes”. This point will become relevant shortly. It’s been two years since I attended church regularly, which is almost a sin because my husband is a deacon. My work schedule (which I confess I chose) had me in-store during the hours of service. I changed my schedule a little over […]