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Primary Food is the nourishment we get outside of our plates. It’s the “food” that really feeds your soul. It’s having a self-care routine, having a fulfilling career, having nutritious relationships. It’s how we feed our mind, body, soul. Our lifestyle is our primary food and actual meals are our secondary food. The more primary food we receive the less we depend on secondary foods to fulfill our needs. And vice versa, the more we depend on secondary food the less we receive primary food.
Cartagena, Colombia was truly magical. This was my first time ever traveling with a group of friends (I’m always traveling solo) and I couldn’t have asked for better company. It was 5 of us: Mell, Kim, Manda, Cymone and myself. I highly suggest traveling with a group of solid, reliable, genuine friends. They made the trip and my birthday was divine and special and til this day I’m so grateful to have meaningful friends. Being surrounded by love and light was all I could ask for bringing in my new year.
Last Saturday, Afropunk has Brooklyn on tilt. As always it was unapologetically Black and unapologetically lit and I wish I could relive the moment all over again. There was so much to see, so much to do, so much to eat. Every year I look forward to it because I know I’m going to be around power, around love, around soul. There is so much diversity in Black people and the magic was magic everywhere. Black girl magic, black boy magic, non-binary, queer magic, all types of beautiful infectious energy going around.
Beyoncé has once again left me in awe. We all know the September VOGUE issue is the most important issue so her landing the cover was major in itself. In this September's VOGUE issue Beyoncé gave us the tea, the milk and the honey. She opens us about her pregnancy, her trials, her tribulations, her growing pains, her growing beauty all through the act of self-love, patience, and gratitude. I am such a huge stan for her and after reading the article I felt a lot more closer to her. She inspired me to be more patient with myself, more forgiving and most importantly… more loving.
Greeting gods,
Seldom do I find Halloween costumes with Black people as the models on the cover. As a Black woman, it’s really hard to find our favorite costumes and when we do we have to modify it to be Black. One year I was Jessica Rabbit but I had to be the ‘Black’ Jessica Rabbit. Very, very whack. White is not the standard so I’ve decided to come up with a list of 100+ Halloween costume ideas for Black women. Ranging from cartoon characters to old R&B groups to Queens, every Black woman (whether your hair is natural, relaxed, in box braids, or in bantu knots) will be able to find a costume that resonates with them from this list.
April 23rd, 2017 marked the one year anniversary of Lemonade. I attended a phenomenal art exhibition in honor of Beyoncé, The Beyoncé Giselle Exhibit. But it was much more than an exhibit. It was truly an experience. Just imagine going to a Beyoncé concert, with a ton of beautiful artwork - very Bey-Lemonade inspired, Popeyes chicken (now we know that’s Bey’s favoriteeee), a photobooth, Beyoncé inspired clothing from Brooklyn's very own, KITE NYC.
In celebration of Women's History Month I've decided to come up with a series of Inspiring Women doing their damn thing. This week's Womencouragement is all about Holistic Health. My Top 20 list is a list of holistic influencers that I personally follow that inspire me every single time I get on Instagram. Instagram has the tendency to infiltrate our minds with fantasies and dream lives having us feel a little insecure about our very own lives. These Instagram accounts do quite the opposite for me. They motivate me to be great, to be challenged, to love myself.. and my life. They encourage me to just be kind to myself and my journey. They get me excited for my own personal goals toward holistic health coaching, nutrition, exercising, traveling and just outright being holistically amazing...
LIT Bklyn Candles are 100% Natural Soy Wax and scented with the finest fragrance oils. It is a Brooklyn-based Candle Company. A friend of mine, Denequa, is the founder of LIT Bklyn. I must say that I am just so proud of this woman. From the very first day that I met her in an Africana Studies class at the University at Albany she has been an incredible person to know. Her energy alone will have you feeling UNstoppable. She is inspiring, motivating, uplifting, and hilarious! Denequa is extremely beautiful on the inside AND out and it's so amazing to witness her creating her own business and motivating others all in the process. Denequa launched LIT Bklyn Candles December 2015 and it's been lit ever since.
Supporting in Black Owned Businesses is essential for Black communities. This allows our communities to be more economically efficient. We need our youth to grow up seeing more Black Owned Businesses thrive in their very own communities to show that this is ALL very POSSIBLE. We need to introduce entrepreneurship in our Black communities and what it means to create wealth, power, and knowledge within ourselves and also our communities, our neighborhoods, our schools, our libraries, our communities centers, our parks, etc. This is great people doing great things.
Supporting Black Owned Businesses is essential for Black communities. Being economically conscious with your money to support Black Owned Businesses helps to create more businesses that then helps to create more jobs that then helps to builds these communities. This allows us to be more economically efficient. We need our youth to grow up seeing Black Owned Businesses thrive in their communities to know that this is all very possible. We need to introduce entrepreneurship in our Black communities and what it means to create wealth, power, and knowledge within our communities. This is great people doing great things.
Support Black Businesses! It is critical. They are here to help Black communities throughout New York City. Today I got the pleasure to visit Mikey Likes It Ice Cream Shop. It is a Black Owned Ice Cream Shop in the Lower East Side. This shop has offered a variety of flavors that I have never seen before. This is great people doing great things.
Social media anxiety is real. It has this interesting way of making us feel like we need to strive for perfection. Things will trend, things will fall off, then something else will trend, and something else will fall off. It’s a vicious cycle. And this cycles affects me because I tend to get discouraged when it comes to posting for this very reason. Talk about applying pressure. Solution: Focusing on my purpose and how I can actually help people inspires me to stay motivated to post.