My recent guest post on PHDinParenting, as part of the Carnival of Toddlers, about empowering our children. “Anyone can lead,” even our toddlers. Click through to read the full article! Toddlers are fascinating human beings for a variety of reasons, not least because so much of the ways in which they orient and construct their toddler world has everything to do with the ways in which we, the adults in their lives give them space to do so. For example a toddler who is given freedom to express herself and creative space to self-regulate is generally-speaking a happy child. I…. [ Read More ]

Hi Friends: So, in between mothering with a small “m” and Mothering with a big “M” I’ve been blowing up twitter–mostly in my mind of course, but I’ve been blowing it up nonetheless.   Oh, and I’ve been writing some articles at a online parenting magazine about imperfect parenting. Not sure if I’m *allowed* to provide any linkage, from my blog to their site, but if you hit me up on Twitter, we can do it all nice and legal’ish that way. Cool. Oh, and I’m collecting a paycheck from writing–did you catch that backflip? Let me do it again…. [ Read More ]

From where I sit the term Media Circus seems to have lost “meaning” and “significance” in 2011. Back in the day, a “Media Circus” used to describe a frenzied journalistic approach to the media coverage of what was typically considered “A Big Event.” News agencies would dispatch reporters from far and wide to cover a significant “breaking” news item. It was described as a “circus” for it’s over the top appeal and for the sheer numbers of individuals and news outlets covering it. In more recent times, some of us might recall the televised OJ Simpson Escalade Escape circus, which…. [ Read More ]

Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, 2011 was a particularly awesome Mother’s Day to remember. Why? Because it was the first Mother’s Day in 6 years that I actually felt like I earned the title of Mother; and it was the first time in 6 years that I actually felt like I deserved the title of “Mother.” [My daughers are 6 and 3 years old]. Oh, and Oprah returned a tweet of mine. But more on that later. Up until this particular Mother’s Day, I mostly felt like I was going through the motions of Motherhood. You know, mentally checking off…. [ Read More ]

Tyler Perry’s films don’t bother me much. And I don’t take it personally when he brings to the big screen larger than life caricatures of what he [and others] perceive to be the ‘essence’ of black American folks and black American culture. I’m not bothered by the fact that what he may or may not do in terms of character development is “representative” or not, because I personally have never had a Madea in my home, nor have I ever come across a Madea in all the years that I’ve been on the planet. I don’t have physically larger than…. [ Read More ]

Today at 12:35 EST @dreamhampton313 posted the tweet: “Meditating on the difference between cultural criticism and artist. Considering abandoning the first.” dream hampton is none other than Hip Hop’s well-respected chronicler of Urban Life, among other things. She was  a dear friend of the late Christopher Wallace [AKA Biggie Smalls] and she knew and grew up with many of Hip Hop’s original MCs.  She is also the silent co-author of Jay-Z’s, autobiography,  Decoded. dream’s tweet struck a chord with me because as one who endeavours to eek out precious time to occasionally write about cultural “truth,” I often find myself…. [ Read More ]

Is it just me or is anyone else tired of celebrities who seduce us into buying their schlock and then THEY give it to charity? On February 24, 2011, I came across a headline on my Twitter timeline which read: “Why are black pop stars performing at the behest of dictators?” Written by Lori Adelman, the story came courtesy of The Griot an African American online journal. I immediately clicked on the link and was surprised to find that not only had Mariah Carey, Beyonce, and Usher performed for Libyan dictator Mouammar Qaddafi, but they accepted a $1 Million paycheck…. [ Read More ]

When I read the “exclusive” interview by Danielle Belton of The Loop 21/The Black Snob fame about the “anonymous” woman—now known as Yesha Callahan AKA “Fly Black Chick” and outed friend of the author—who had shamed Craigslist Congressman Chris Lee into resigning, I immediately thought it sounded inauthentic. As it turns out, Ms Belton and Ms Callahan are good friends which in the end may have proven disastrous for Ms Callahan since it was Ms Belton who bragged on her blog, “I scored an interview with the woman who Rep. Chris Lee [R-NY] was sending shirtless pictures to.” In order…. [ Read More ]

Hi Peeps: So a few days ago I had a terrific conversation with the editor/publisher of Sway Magazine in which I pitched a few stories towards a 4 part series Mommy Blog [I had sent him my Motherhood Regret Narrative post earlier and that sparked a serious of great conversations]. I was completely excited because the editor was totally complimentary and enthusiastic about my writing. Of course, as any writer can attest, it is nerve-racking publishing any piece of writing because one never knows how it will be received. For example, I’ve been told on numerous occasions that my blog…. [ Read More ]