Imagine, envision, a housing development built in the 1970s, nestled in between four streets. The housing developments are mostly, particularly, full of Black folks. Black folk who traveled to the Midwest from states such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas. My family, the Sims, we came up from cities in Arkansas…

Tina Turner. We turned to her for soul, for song, for blues singing, for bringing it every single time. A thought. A lyric. A line. Dancing electric on stage. Dancing, turning another page, another chapter, in her amazing life. Life was Tina. Alive was Tina. …

This year, the cultural phenomenon called hip-hop turns fifty years old. A year older than I am, it was once called a fad. People were saying hip-hop was not going to last. Elders were thinking it was something temporary we young Black and brown people were creating in the ghetto…

Black women are amazing. Are amazing even when hate hounds them in Twitter posts, on Facebook comments hoping to steal their joy. Black women are constantly viewed through the tightest lenses, through the far- reaching clutches of white supremacy. The world, the media has a tendency to try and deflate the power of her. Black women are super jump shooters, are relentless rebounders who will remain victorious long after the scathing remarks, the vilification of their character.

I first have to acknowledge the love, the powerful, unconditional love my mother as well as my two sisters provided me with, raised me with, instilled in me growing up on the west side of Rockford, Illinois. Undoubtedly, this was my first experience, understanding of the power, the beauty, the…

I don’t need Your watered down King; the Dr. King you make simple, the King you only mention with subtleties as if he was meek, minor, minute. Of a champion’s truth, Dr. King is more than worthy. Call him a lion. His accomplishments should roar loudly in history books, on…

Greasy, used, with consumed baked goods. Baked goods. I ate good. Good I ate for the sake of nutrition, sustenance, protein, power, energy I need to proceed. Indeed. At a speed kind of fast I pass other consumers to get to a fresh bag for more food. And a thought…

My mother’s greens are soulful songs, sonnets, a promise to future generations who need nutrition, nurturing, listening, empowerment. My mother’s greens have raised generations; have impacted lonely lives who did not have food or love to go home to. My mother’s greens are a guitar strum, a sad man’s hum, African drums thumping, pumping, pulsating…

If everyone has a gun then does that mean everyone will die? Does that mean everyone will develop hate, an attitude, discontent about all of their, our neighbors? If everyone has a gun then that means we all are living in fear, we don’t trust one another, we do not…