I’ve prepared myself all week long. It’s the night before …..I’m nervous and so tired but I must study my documents, make test questions and gather some questions when the time comes to represent myself.
I made sure I was fly! My nature hair was on point! I chose a dark blue classy dress and paired it with black flat pointy shoes. Pearls in the ear and around my neck for decor. As I walked out the door I grabbed my black leather padfolio and kissed my mother for good luck! Read more
Hey you! I applaud you for understanding that your strength doesn’t come from always turning the other cheek, caring for everyone but yourself( you stay in the spa), not letting your mental state get to cluttered you keep a date with your therapist, and when you need something you have no problem using your network of people you built up along the way! Read more
I hear them laughing and talking down the hall. My heart is beating faster and faster by the minute as I take every step. Where can I go?-I don’t want them to see me. I want to be far away from them? My feet take me into the restroom. I sit in the stall. I twirl my hair in the mirror to pass the time but I stayed put until I heard their voices pass by me. I tip toe to peek around the corner to make sure it’s clear. Yes-their gone! I can breath now. I walk out the restroom with my body being clam and my mind clear but my eyes are fixed to the ground. Scared if I look up I might see them. I can’t take anther day hearing them say it!
Surprisingly I made it all day and didn’t run into them! Beep Beep..that was the bell for the last period. I walked quickly to my locker, got all my things and rushed to the bus. I wanted to be among the first to get on. As I made my way up the steps there they were. My eyes meet theirs and the leader of the pack yelled ” SMOKEY”. I rolled my eyes, put my head down and found a seat at the front of the bus.
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I didn’t like my dark skin for a long time. To be honest I still have my moments but I’m asking God everyday to help me with that. Read more
As long as you are dependent on other people solely for your jobs, your house, the cleaning of your streets, the education of your children, the image you see on the television, or the image of God in your Church, you can cut it any way you want to, you are a slave
– John Henrik Clarke
So for some time now I have been making my own household products. Why you ask? Well I got tired of giving P&G all my money!! Almost every month my sister and I would spend nearing a 100.00 dollars just on cleaning products for the house- this included things that made our apartment smell scrumptious also. Annually we were spending 1, 200 dollars- My oh my!! P&G was continually getting money while our funds were depleting -ugh!!. Read more
Webster’s Dictionary describes a” Mammy” as:
(formerly in the southern US) A black nursemaid or nanny in charge of white children.
Up until it was time for me to meet them worries consumed my head- Do they know that I’m Black? Will they like me? Will the child take to me ? How will each of their families like me? When that time arrived, I was nervous pulling into their complex. All of the houses were so beautiful. It reminded me of the movie Pleasantville. Each row of houses were lined up so perfectly, the lawns were freshly mowed, the sprinklers were on a set timer , the architecture of each house was aesthetically pleasing and the kids of the neighborhood were running about laughing with not a care in the world. I sent a text to inform them I had arrived. I took a deep breath, said a prayer and walked up to the door. Read more
I recently understood the power that lies within negotiation.It’s a tool, you must always keep in your toolbox when stepping into an agreement with someone. Today I will be discussing the agreement I made with my former employer.
The Contract
After I was hired, the next step was the orientation. We all know what orientations are so I’m not going to go into much detail about that. During my time there, I was presented with a contract for this entry level position. Yes you read it right-ENTRY LEVEL!!! Nevertheless we went through it together, and at the end, she asked if I had any questions? I said No and then signed on the dotted line(big big mistake)!! Looking back now, I would of done so many things differently!! Like: Read more
From January 2012 to May 2016 I lived in public housing. While in college my rent was FREE because my main job was being a full-time student. I quit my job in 2011 to purse school full-time. I know crazy right! Summers were the only time I worked. I knew there was no way I could handle working full-time as well as going to school full-time. Education was more of a priority – I had no children or a husband to take care of so I believed it was the right time and thing to do. By making this huge sacrifice, I made the deans list 3 times and finished with all A’s my last semester of undergrad. I was super proud of myself and I had more confidence in myself than ever before.College really showed me who I was and what I was capable of. I was blessed to be able to flip the way public housing is traditionally used in America. Although I was grateful for this opportunity, public housing not only made a way for me to be college educated, I also got educated about the system. Read more
I was recently challenged with this question -What does success look like to you? I tired to muster up my thoughts real quick, but I couldn’t. This question plagued me for some days after. I thought back to what success looked like to me at different times in my life to see if that could help me answer the question. During high school success looked like me getting married and having children one day. Since I was little, I always wanted to be a wife a mom and that’s it. In college, success looked like graduating from college, finding a career job that I love and that made a lot of money. Life has always been a struggle since I could remember. Receiving my degree was my ticket out of the struggle-so I thought. Now that I’ve graduated college and been out for almost three years success looks like…… Read more
I’ve not always been so fond of our First Lady Michelle Obama, but recently I have. While in the library one day I was searching for a book and came across ” A Salute to Michelle Obama”. When I got home the first thing I did was sit down and thumb through it. In it she wrote a piece entitled ” Be Fearless” and I was captivated by the very first sentence. It read:
I learned a long time ago that when you’ve had some success, it’s not enough to just sit back and enjoy it. You’ve got to reach back and pull someone else up too.
Amen to that! It has been something I’ve always done but haven’t experienced as of yet. What I’ve seen and experienced is that when a sista makes it, quite a few have no desire to look back and help her fellow sista out. Below is my story and I hope you enjoy the read!
My Story
I was applying for this job and I knew someone who recently got hired at the same organization. I was reluctant to reach out at first. Read more
Black. Woman. Educated. Now What? 