What are you listening to? I have been bumping Chole X Halle's new album, Ungodly Hour . It is giving me a morsel of peace in these crazy times. I am a little biased. I absolutely love their singing style and how their voice blends together. I love how they stay true to themselves and make music that they care about instead of catering to the masses. It is so much better when an album becomes popular organically.  Chloe and Halle have shown some maturity in this new album from the musicality, lyrics, and videos. It is nice to see their progression into womanhood. From the intro, you already know they mean business. It is simple and a little jarring because they don't sound like the little girls we were introduced to from their Youtube days, doing covers.  Ungodly Hour follows their follow up to their 2018 Kids are Alright album and it is just as enjoyable if not more. The intro on the album is almost like an introduction to the new them. They do not need to ask permission to m...

Sweet Magnolia is a new Netflix series starring JoAnna Swisher, Brooke Elliott and Heather Headley.  There is just the right amount of real-life issues set against the sunshine southern country backdrop that seems to make everything better. It focuses on three long time friends as they navigate through the good and trying aspects of life in a small town called Serenity.  Heather Headley plays Helen Decatur and I just adore her. She is the smart, lawyer friend who keeps everyone's business in check. I thought her singing voice was beautiful but I enjoy her regular voice even more. She has a drawl that just puts you at ease. The voice of reason for others even though she cannot seem to get things right for herself. Dana Sue Sullivan played by Brooke Elliot is that annoying friend that you love anyway. She has a little bit of all of us which is probably why I love-hate her.  JoAnna Swisher plays Maddie Townsend who is freshly separated and has to watch as her not yet ex-husb...

Not to brag or anything but I use my dishwasher after big events at my house. I know! It is amazing. Like what Haitian does that. There are a few of us out there who have stepped out into the unknown and ventured into the world of using the dishwasher. It is insane. Most Haitian households have a dishwasher as a decorative piece in the kitchen. In turn, most Haitian American households are the same. Until recently, I have been one of those. But NOT ANYMORE! I am breaking free, sort of. Now there are those that have completely gone rouge and use their dishwasher regularly. I mean like weekly. 🤯 I do not know what kind of breed of Haitians these people are but I want to learn from them. I have questions. What made you want to go against the cultural norm? More importantly, how does one go about this? When you have one single dirty dish do you put it in the dishwasher all by it's lonesome until there are more? How do you fight the urge to just wash it? Even still, when there are a fe...

I would like someone to start a dialog with me like this, " Wanda, I was researching the history of police brutality on black people in this country and I have a few questions." Instead, people want you to tell them about black on black crime and why don't black people care about that. Or they talk about statistics that they have gathered that are curated with the intent of pushing certain agendas. Or they ask for me to educate them on certain issues without doing one ounce of research. In this day and age, if you really want to have a constructive conversation and really want to learn, you will do your part. Not only will you do your part, but you will be open to listening instead of preparing for your rebuttal to dispute and discredit not only the information that I have presented but also my actual experiences.  I understand why some people do not want to engage in this fact-finding mission. It is tiresome. We are tired. We be tired. We stay tired. Do not come at us wi...

Miracles happen every day! The truth in that statement lies in perspective. The fact that I take a breath that fills my body with oxygen and allows me to live and move and interact with the ones that I love is a small continuous miracle. A child coming into this world is a miracle. Someone taking time to lend a helping hand without expecting anything in return is a miracle. The world coming together for one cause is a miracle.  Miracles happen every day! No matter what state you are in. No matter what problem you are facing. Your miracle could be waiting for you around the corner. Just keep breathing and hoping and moving forward and seeking out the everyday miracles around us.  Stress less tip: Do not stop believing in miracles and the power of one, the power of yourself, the power of people. 

The last few months have been tough for people around the world. So many have lost loved ones and have not been able to properly say goodbye. So many have been living in some level of fear and trying to protect themselves while battling others that could care less. Coronavirus aka COVID19 has taken a mental toll on the world.  In America, it is not only affecting millions of people but also exposing our vulnerabilities. That's what this virus does. It finds the vulnerabilities in the body but also finds vulnerable points in society. Reports have been circulating about how it has been disproportionately affecting Black people in the US. There are a whole host of reasons why this is happening. Overall, it is exposing the lack of balance in how we get treated in a place where we are still working through subtle systematic oppression in education, justice system, and the healthcare system just to name a few.  If that is not enough, let us add the recent acts of blatant prejudice a...

Lil Wayne is the same person who is slowly killing himself with drugs and alcohol.  Lil Wayne is the same person who said he did not want to have any more children with Black women because he wants his daughters to have "good hair." Lil Wayne is the same person who was baffled, befuddled and utterly at a lost for congruent, sense-making words when asked about the Black Lives Matter Movement.  Why in God's round, green earth is anyone asking his opinion about George Floyd's murder? I am utterly baffled. This man is a national artist talking about, "What am I gonna do after that?" He said, "I'll pray for you." He basically confessed that he is not interested in doing anything for anyone. Why does anyone still stan for this man? He does not care about the culture. He used us to come up and now that he is up, he is a lap dog. He is an agent of destruction in what's supposed to be his own community. If you want to know what self-hate looks like,...

Top Gun: Maverick starring Tom Cruise was supposed to be released in June 2020. With theaters being closed for a time, the release date was pushed back to December 2020. This works well for me since, I do not remember anything about the first one apart from him dancing in his white shirt. I only remember that because it is the one clip they keep playing. I will have a chance to watch the original Top Gun and remind myself what the hype was all about. I will say that the trailer is definitely intriguing. Now you already know, I always look for a little speck of me in the trailers. To my pleasant surprise, I posted Jay Ellis in the 2.2-minute trailer. Yas! Come through Lawrence (Insecure in the house). The overall cast looks pretty impressive although I didn't think Val Kilmer was still doing movies like that. I am glad to see him make it to this second installment. Check out the trailer below.

Last week Ayesha Curry posted a bikini picture of herself touting how it took a while to get back into shape after having her babies. She looked fabulous and if it were anyone else, the thirst trap bikini pictures probably would have come and gone without much chit chat. It was not anyone else though. It was Ayesha Curry who in the past has said somethings that made people give her the side-eye. It seems for certain people, they can be as real as they want, say what the want and people will give them a pass. Ayesha Curry's words have been taken out of context and twisted to be more scandalous than they should have been. When she was sharing moments of personal doubt and insecurity, particularly after having her children, she received backlash because people simply interpreted it as her wanting attention from men other than her husband. Photo by Thomas Ulrich You will never speak to anyone more than you speak to yourself in your head. Be kind to yourself. - Unknown It was m...

The internet is buzzing with breaking news of a man who was supposed to be arrested for forgery but ended up being slowly killed over the span of ten minutes or so. The police officer had his knee on the man's neck for a straight ten minutes as the pinned man complained about not being able to breathe. The officer kept his knee on the man's neck even after he became emotionless, while his partner kept the bystanders at bay. Eric Garner anybody. There were several people recording the incident and imploring for the officer to take his knee off the man's neck and at least let him breathe. Once the victim became unresponsive, they pled with the officers to check his pulse. Neither office bothered to check for a pulse. Again, the knee remained firmly planted on the neck of his unresponsive body. The officers were heard mocking the man as he died, telling the audience that this is what happens when you do drugs. It was cold and heartless. I have no words to describe how watc...