Why Words Matter More Than We Think Some people know how to speak in a way that leaves others feeling respected, even when the answer is no. That skill is not about being slick, fake, or overly polished. It is about understanding that words can protect both the relationship and the boundary at the same
Knowing What to Say: The Quiet Power of Emotional Intelligence Read More »
When a Season Starts Feeling Like an Identity There are seasons in life that become so important to us that we slowly begin to confuse the season with who we are. A marriage can become more than a relationship and start feeling like the whole definition of a life. Motherhood can become so consuming that
You Were Never Meant to Live Forever in One Chapter Read More »
The Chains Changed Their Sound The chains do not always clank anymore, and that may be one of the hardest lessons to recognize in modern America. Sometimes control arrives dressed in contracts, endorsements, public relations, sponsorship agreements, and carefully managed careers. A successful Black athlete can earn more money than generations before him ever imagined,
The Chains Do Not Always Clank: Power, Protest, and the Price of Standing Alone Read More »
The Distance Between Us Life has a way of carrying people we love in different directions, sometimes before we are ready for the separation. Family members move away, friends begin new chapters, and people who once lived around the corner can suddenly be hundreds or thousands of miles from us. As I have grown older,
When Love Travels Across the Distance Read More »
Before Sarah Neely’s Story Can Be Told Before I tell you what happened to Sarah Neely, a Black woman caught inside a system that claimed to recognize her freedom, I need to give you some historical context. That context is crucial because her story makes little sense unless we first understand how the law worked
When the Law Became the Lie: Before I Tell You What Happened to Sarah Neely Read More »
Why Dopamine Matters When I think about motivation, concentration, pleasure, and the drive to get something done, dopamine is part of the picture. Dopamine is an important chemical messenger used throughout the brain and body. In the brain, it plays major roles in movement, learning, attention, motivation, and reinforcement. It also helps the brain respond
The Feeling of Being Stuck Sometimes I know something in my life needs to change, yet I keep ending up in the same emotional place. I understand the problem well enough to talk about it. I recognize the anxiety, fear, anger, or behavior that keeps getting in my way. I may even promise myself that
When I Feel Stuck: Using the Chakra System to Understand What May Need My Attention Read More »
The Body Responds to What We Live Through I have learned that an experience can end while some part of its effect stays with me. The mind may understand that the danger has passed, but the body does not always settle down that quickly. Long periods of stress can leave me tense, tired, irritable, distracted,
Learning to Feel Safe Again: When the Body Learns It Does Not Have to Stay on Guard Read More »
A Summons She Did Not Expect In 1939, Jane Matilda Bolin was a 31-year-old Black attorney building her career in New York City. One day, Mayor Fiorello La Guardia summoned her to meet him at the New York World’s Fair. She reportedly had no idea why the mayor wanted to see her. Bolin was concerned
Judge Jane Bolin: The Black Woman Who Took Her Seat When America Said She Did Not Belong Read More »
A Morning That Should Have Been Ordinary There is something especially disturbing about a serious confrontation beginning over something as ordinary as breakfast. According to the account surrounding an incident at a Tim Hortons in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a 75-year-old woman identified as Anita Grayson entered the restaurant after having a problem with a drive-through