Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!!! Today is a special day. I love my Mom. I love the relationship that we have. She is my best friend. She can make me laugh even when I'd rather not. She always seems to know when I need a hug or a kind word. Even when she is pressuring me about having kids, I still love her. Today, I celebrate her. I celebrate the woman she is and the woman she's raised. My Mom did not have an easy life. But, she sacrificed it all for my brother and I. She worked two jobs throughout my entire high school and college years. She made sure we had everything. She was and still is one of my favorite people. She believes in me when I find it hard to believe in myself. I love that woman more than life. I am so blessed that God chose her for me. 

There aren't really enough words to fully explain how much I love my Mom. She is one of my favorite people and best friends. She hates to take pics, which is why I had to search forever for these. She is the silliest, most honest woman I know. I told her today that she was my gift. She loves me unconditionally and that is a gift in itself. I really hope the mothers in the world have a great day today. You are truly appreciated. Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mardi Gras!!

It's Fat Tuesday here in New Orleans and that means happy Mardi Gras!!! It is cold, windy and wet here. It is on record to be the coldest MG ever. For that reason alone, I am home where its warm. No parades for me today :( I'm a little sad about it. But, I went to parades all weekend and last night. So, I've celebrated the Mardi Gras season. I just wanted to spread a little Mardi Gras spirit with you guys. My 5 month old niece Sydnei is spending the day with me and we are having our own celebration inside. Happy Mardi Gras, people!!!

Get Into It: Happy Kwanzaa!

Today marks the beginning of Kwanzaa. I used to celebrate this African American holiday with my Godparents as a kid. I loved how different and unique this celebration was. It was a whole new world to me. My Godfather was deeply involved in everything surrounding Kwanzaa. I hadn't even thought about the holiday for years until recently. Kwanzaa is a week long celebration which honors the universal heritage and culture of African Americans. It's a week long celebration that was started to give Black people an alternative to the existing holiday and a way to celebrate our history.

There are seven day of the Kwanzaa celebration. They are celebrated by a unique principle each day. They are:
° Umoja (Unity) - To strive for & to maintain unity in the family, community, national and race.
° Kujichagulia (Self Determination) - To refine ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves, to stand up.
° Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility) - To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems and to solve them together.
° Ujamaa (Cooperative economics) - To build and maintain our own businesses and to profit from them together.
° Nia (Purpose) - To make our collective vocation the building and developing our our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
° Kuumba (Creativity) - To do always as much as we can, in the water can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
° Imani (Faith) - To believe with all our heart in all of our people an the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

Another Kwanzaa tradition is the kinara which holds seven candles, usually 3 green, 3 red, 1st black. A candle is lit every day to symbolize each principle. Kente cloth is also a notable Kwanzaa celebration? The gifts that are given are usually handmade. That makes them more meaningful to me. Many Kwanzaa celebration include live music with lots of drumming, the African Pledge being read, and a karamu which is a feast. The official greeting of Kwanzaa is "Habari Gani?" this is Swahili for "What's The News?"

I love everything that Kwanzaa stands for. I love anything that uplifts my people. In a world that tends to not treat African Americans in the best way. Kwanzaa does that for me. I believe that it should be celebrated along with Christmas or alone. It's a great gift to give to the younger generation. Whether you know a lot about the holiday or not, it's worth you looking into. So, go ahead and get into it. Celebrate our heritage!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! I love my Mommie. She is and has always been my biggest supporter. She is the person who taught me so much. She was always there with a hug, a kiss, a kind word whenever I needed them or not. She has always been my protector, my friend, my sounding board. I celebrate her every day, not just today. I love that we are friends now. My teenage years were tough on both of us. But, we made it through. There is no one else in the world who knows the girl I was and the woman whom I've become so completely. She is my Mother and i am so proud to have her in my life.

I was also blessed with a bunch of Aunts, two Grandmothers and a StepMom as well. There was no lack of female influences in my life growing up. These women all played a great part in my journey to womanhood. I am grateful for all of them. They are the women who have made me laugh, cry, smile, joke, think, explore and grow. I salute and celebrate them today as well. There are not enough words in the dictionary to fully express how much I love my Mommie. I will spend the rest of my life attempting to tell her. Happy Mother's Day to all the Mommies out there!



"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life." - Abraham Lincoln



"A mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled." - Emily Dickinson



“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." - Rajneesh