A few weeks back, I re-read Toni Morrison’s bone-chilling first novel, The Bluest Eye, and it got me to thinking about fear. The main character is a little Black girl named Pecola, who has been told and shown repeatedly throughout her life that she is ugly and worthless–so much so that she
We all know that hindsight is 20/20. Knowing what we know now, many of us would go back in time and do things differently if we could, or at the least attempt to prepare our former selves for what’s coming. It’s significantly easier to make better choices when we know
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” It’s a popular scripture to quote, but do we really “know” that God is working everything together for our good? It’s one of those Christian truths that
Last week, I celebrated Yasmin Eleby, the 40-year-old woman and folk shero who married herself, thereby breaking the idol of marriage (or, a wedding, more specifically) and freeing herself to focus on achieving and attaining other things (possibly even legal marriage, one day!). Though marriage and a wedding have not
On January 3, in an elaborate ceremony at the Houston Museum of African American Culture, Yasmin Eleby married herself on her 40th birthday. In a stunning purple and teal gown with a tiara atop her head and a bouquet of white roses, Eleby was walked down the aisle by her
In my first post of 2015, I’m happy to say there’s some light at the end of this spiritual crisis I’ve been writing about. Coming up on a year of this roadblock in my faith I’ve been stagnating at, I’m finally feeling like God is making some headway with me.
My second most retweeted tweet of 2014 (or ever) declared 2014 to be a “complete trash year”: Clearly, no one will miss 2014. Complete trash year. — #ShutItDown (@BrookeObie) December 24, 2014 At least about 300 others feel the same; To say it’s been a trying year would be
On December 21, the Winter Solstice begins in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s the official start of winter, the shortest day and the longest night of the year. The sun will set at 4:32 p.m., giving us 14.75 hours of night. This is a good thing. The Winter Solstice has spiritual significance
As I mentioned last week, I’m currently in spiritual crisis. (No, it didn’t fade as the week passed, unfortunately.) I’d love for it to be over, but in order to solve a crisis, one must first understand what the crisis exactly is. Dictionary.com defines a crisis as, “A dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person’s life;” “A condition of instability or danger”; and
I’m having — I’ve been having– what I’ll call a bit of a spiritual crisis in the past few months. In my search for answers, I’ve sought the counsel of various spiritual advisers. My latest mentor in the faith, was, well, less than holy in his intentions towards me; my pastor before him