Last night’s episode of ABC’s Black-ish gave “mainstream” America a peak into a rarely seen or discussed conversation that takes place in Black households: The Name Game. Depending on how many generations are involved in this process, it can be simple or result in the expectant mother receiving a storm of phone calls and messages with… “Alisha! I KNOW you and Kevin ain’t gonna name that baby KEVILISHA!” But they will. Because it’s “cute.” Because Kevilisha was made out of love between Alisha and … Read More »
Dear Daughter: “Black is Beautiful” Doesn’t Mean Everyone Else is Ugly.
This weekend, for my twentieth reunion from Spelman, I got a super-cute t-shirt from Procter and Gamble's My Black is Beautiful campaign in my swag bag. From the moment my twelve year-old saw the t-shirt she was in love with it. It is a simple black tee with white writing..."My Black is Beautiful." Simple and harmless enough, right? No. On the Monday after the reunion, my daughter asked me to wear the shirt to school. I threw a tantrum. It is mine. I hadn't even worn it yet. It still … Read More »
Why I take my daughters to my Spelman reunions.
Today is commencement day at Spelman College. For this carefully selected group of young women from across the globe, it marks the beginning of their lives as alumnae. Today they will leave these gates and go out into the world and represent Spelman as mothers, wives, attorneys, doctors, nurses, scientists, entrepreneurs, educators and change agents. The love they have for Dear Spelman is in its infancy and they will only come to love her more as their experiences in the world help them to … Read More »
Talk Time: The Tubman Twenty Makes My Daughter Nervous
Last week was a lot, okay? It was a...lot. In case you missed it....sit down...Prince died. But something else historical happened on last Thursday morning. I woke up and heard the Good Morning America folks talking about Harriet Tubman being on the new twenty dollar bill in 2020. Wait a minute...whuh? I walked around that morning in a state of disbelief a little bit...a happy disbelief...but disbelief. Before I started working for the day, I wanted to blog on my thoughts about it and … Read More »
