My best friend Lauren texted me at 12:23 pm on April 21st. I thought that was odd, it was in the middle of the work day. I was in the middle of a hectic afternoon myself, and hadn’t been paying attention to social media for much of the morning. “OMG, please tell me it’s not…
RIP
Remembering the Charleston Victims. How We All Can Help
Last week, a coward and a terrorist committed a vicious, pre-meditated hate crime against an innocent group of people as they gathered to worship. He sat with them for an hour while they prayed and admitted that they did their best to make him feel welcome, and still he had enough hate in his heart…
Thoughts On Baltimore–The Most Insightful Things I’ve Read So Far
It’s hard to write light when your heart is heavy. And right now, my thoughts are wrapped up in darkness, in distress and in stomach churning worry for America – particularly the city of Baltimore. It’s yet another name to add to a list that’s too long, another city in turmoil, another case of police…
RIP, Titi Branch. Please Pray For the Miss Jessie’s Family
The news started trickling through via social media yesterday and I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to believe it. Then people started tweeting me and DMing me and sending me private messages. I read the posts on Facebook, via NV Magazine, via Lipstick Alley, via the now-private video by filmmaker Andre Robert Lee simply titled…
RIP Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian Renaissance Man.
The world lost Geoffrey Holder at the beginning of this week. The great man was 84 years old. It’s been fascinating seeing the various ways that the media has covered his passing. CNN described him as “famed dancer, 7-Up pitchman.” Deadline said “RIP Un-Cola Man, Bountiful Artist.” The New York Times recognized him as a…
How To Live A Life More Like Nelson Mandela’s
On December 5, 2013, the world lost Nelson Mandela. At age 95, he had lived an incredibly full life and news of his ailing dominated headlines this year, so hearing that Mandela had passed made me feel a strange mixture of sadness and acceptance. As Bishop Desmond Tutu expressed, “we are relieved that his…
Thinking About Trayvon. Where Do We Go From Here?
There are some days where what I do feels incredibly difficult (even though what I do is actually incredibly easy). What I do is write about beautiful things; I share information about things that inspire and uplift and make you want to shop and try things on and enjoy all the pleasurable, happiness-enhancing things in…