Black Woman... You are so gorgeous.....

With all the most disparaging things in the American media that can damage and discourage black women, I can not cease to remind all my women of color... how gorgeous you are.. how fantastic and smart you are... and full of innovation. Today, I want to highlight five of our most beautiful qualities:

1. OUR HUMOR
I have to admit.. my friends are some of the most witty and uplifting people I know. They have great spirits and a great sense of humor. I love the fact that in times of despair they are there to restore and alleviate some of life's stresses momentarily.

Some of my most fondest people: Tina,Michelle and Mom

2.OUR "KEEP-IT-TOGETHER-NESS"
No one keeps it all together like my black sisters. We manage to keep our hair together, run a household, take classes, and work a full time job. We balance church with the gym. We make meals out of scraps. We have social lives as we carefully care for our children. Other races marvel at our tenacity and ability to manage so many things at one time.. Kudos, Girl.... keep doing your thing!

Working Girl

3.OUR BOLDNESS
If one thing is for sure, we do not shy when the opportunity to represent,speak up,correct and support comes. From Rosa Parks to Michelle Obama. From Oprah to Sybrina Fulton (Treyvon Martin's Mom).From Aretha to Billie Holiday.... we consistently deliver creativity and heart.We have the ability to shed light and bring about change. We motivate others in our various circles.. and it is an aspect that we do naturally. I am proud of all me women of color that speak from the heart and strategize from their minds..

IN THIS GYM... GOING HARD #TeamSideProfile

4.OUR LOYALTY
We are loyal to the core, no matter the area of our lives. A black woman will not turn her back on her children. If she is a professional, she is full of ambition excelling to the highest of heights. For her man, she will invest and love with all her heart. No one can pull her from her faith... she will trust in God without reservation and dedicate her life. A friend will be a friend for life, even if we have a disagreement or grow apart. I love the fact that I have grown with some of my friends. It is such a blessing to be surrounded by people I know will be there for me on both sunny and rainy days. <3

Me and Morrisa... #FriendsForever

5. OUR VARIETY
I love the versatility of women of color. Some go natural.. some look like Beyonce. Some are petite and some are Amazon women, but its all beauty. It shows the handiwork of our Lord and his divine creativity. We are unmatched. Some of our best physical features are given naturally as the others clamor to augment themselves. Celebrate yourselves! Variety is the spice of life! 

My little sister Alonee and I <3

Redefine Cool: We Are The Standard Of Beauty

Timeless Beauty: Iman

I have found so many people to be so impressionable and non creative, too afraid to be who they really are which might actually be a very cool unique person. I want you to know that all of us are made different for that purpose.... and I'm not speaking to those that suffer from emotional issues.. and are running around constantly re-inventing their look because they have low self esteem. When you are naturally cool and confident, it shows and it's like a magnet. I have to encourage more of us to reinvent cool, and by that I mean be you with the kind of confidence that motivates other. Confidence is different from arrogance. Confidence is the level of comfort you have in your own skin, and I believe it is what is seriously lacking in our culture today. This is why so many people are emulating the next person.... because they can't find the worth in themselves. For black women, it is finding that level of acceptance in our bodies and hair. It is loving ourselves and not desiring to be anything else. I do realize that society is very unforgiving to women of color, and feeds into negative stereotypes, but I believe it is because we are the most beautiful of women.. and we get our beauty naturally. Gorgeous skin, teeth and shapes.. we are the envy of the other women. What God has blessed us with, other races pay big bucks for. Simultaneously, they convince us that we are less than and not the standard of beauty meanwhile all the other women are trying to emulate what we have, it doesn't make sense???? We age well, bounce back after children and remain stylish. We are strong and intelligent... we have tenacity and ambition. We push past our pain to make more of our lives. We are innovative and creative.......So in closing today..... tune out the madness, and learn to love yourself. It all starts with you. Don't be mislead.... we are the standard of beauty......

What is your fashion covering?

Be Highly Motivated

 

October

After looking at some of my old pictures on Facebook one July day. I decided to put forth some serious effort to slim back down to my college days. I have been working diligently ever since and seeing the results makes me excited, I want to share with my followers my progress. My current goal is not necessarily weight loss, but the fit of my clothes and my look in my pictures. I intend to make fitness just a regular part of my lifestyle. My current regimen has been working out at least 5 days a week, including at least 45 min of cardio ( running 15 min, and striving to complete 5 miles on the still bike) I do a small amount of abs each day and some weights too tighten up my upper body. However the most important aspect of getting your body in shape is getting your diet in order. I have been trying to limit my fast food intake... lol and pack lunch as much as possible.

September

August

 

The Burden of Leadership

This article is only for the leaders. If you are a follower you may not understand.. but for my Christian warriors out there, day by day, on the grind, fighting the forces of evil in our lives and in our world… This one is for you. Some days you may wake up feeling at odds, feeling wasted, wondering why you can’t float along in life ignorance and be unaccountable like what seems to be the “V.M (or  the vast majority as my sister and I coined it)”, wondering why God directed your path in the direction that it is, why you are surrounded by ‘unreasonable’ (which our Bible warns us that we will wrestle with) people. The whole concept is heavy and worrisome, and I’m sure every true leader reading this has had a moment when they wanted to stop the war and go along with the program just to stop the friction. I’d like to offer you some comfort from the word of God as well as a story of a Christian warrior Elijah. First, some words of encouragement :

“Do not fear them, for the LORD your God is the one fighting for you” Deut 3:22.

“Am I a God who is near, declares the Lord, and not a God far off” Jer 23:23

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place” Proverbs 15:3

“Certainly I will be with you” Exo 3:12

“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5

“And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of age” Matt 28:20

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10

Now some words of boldness:

“And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city’” (Acts 18:9-10).

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
 

The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions.Proverbs 28:1

Now I do know that it feels very lonesome when you are in a chosen position and perhaps you are afraid or contrary. You may not even be able to find solace in your friends or family. However, I want to remind you that our Lord has placed us here for purpose, and that he never gives us a task too great. Whatever he has instructed us to do, we are more than equipped to handle it. I will close with a reminder of the prophet Elijah. Elijah was a prophet that was bold enough to question the powers of the false god Baal. He also prophesied the deaths of Ahab's & Jezebels prophets. For fear of his life, he fled to a cave. God came to him and asked why he was hiding, and Elijah replied that he was the only one left. The Lord kindly reinforced in 1 Kings19:18 " Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him"

 

We are not alone in this fight... not everyone has surrendered to the modren day 'Baal', neither should you! 

Go Fight the good fight!!!