I promise you that this is my last Essence Music Festival recap for 2012. It was SUCH a big experience, I had to break it into three blog posts! Like I told you, I had Nothing But FUN! There were SO many epic moments at EMF, photographer Chuck Olu-Alabi took more than 1500 photos. I…
Issues
In Case You Missed The Stream…
On Monday morning I flew to Washington DC to appear live on Al-Jazeera English’s popular, Emmy award nominated, interactive show, The Stream. Our topic? Natural hair, declining use of relaxer, and questioning Eurocentric ideas of beauty. When I first got on set, I was super nervous! But everyone on staff at Al-Jazeera English was REALLY…
An Interview with Phylicia Rashad – On Theatre, Television and Twitter
When you hear the warm, familiar voice in your ear you can’t help but be transported. You may want to say “Mrs. Huxtable!” or even worse, “Mom!” But don’t get it twisted. The voice on the other end of the phone is Phylicia Rashad, legendary actress of stage and screen. She is not your mama…
Afrobella on The Stream
The one thing I’ve been reluctant to do thus far has been television, and as I admitted recently, I realized I’ve been getting in my own way. I will admit, there’s something about the medium of TV that intimidates me. But tomorrow, I’m facing my fears and appearing on a live, Emmy Award nominated news…
Ask Afrobella — Little Girls, Natural Hair, and Summertime Swimming!
I’m ashamed to even acknowledge the last time I wrote an Ask Afrobella, and I’ve let the questions stack up. Let me get back down to work with a fresh new post for you! When I was a little girl, I was afraid of swimming. Not many of my family members are swimmers, and after…
Today is No Shame Day
Bellas, allow me to introduce you to my friend Bassey Ikpi. She is an AMAZING woman. Super smart, super funny, brave and outspoken and fabulous and SO talented. You might remember her from Teen Summit back in the day, or Def Poetry Jam, where she set the stage ablaze with her soul stirring words. Bassey…
Afrobella in the New York Times
Well there’s a post headline I’ve been wanting to write since I started this blog! It took me like two days to fully absorb that this HAPPENED. One of those dreams you don’t think will come true…until it DOES. That’s me, in the fashion section of NYTimes.com! With a dope photo from my QVC lookbook,…
Love You Forever, Erica.
I didn’t sleep well last night. And when I woke up this morning, the first thing I did was lie in my bed and let tears just trickle out of my eyes. Yesterday I learned that Erica Kennedy is no longer with us. She was a best selling author of Bling and Feminista, inspiring and…
On Dealing With Disappointment
A friend I care about very much hit me up recently. She had been promised an amazing opportunity, the kind of thing she was aching to do to further herself personally and professionally. And then at the last minute, the opportunity fell through. “I’m trying not to cry at my desk,” she admitted. I knew…
First Time at the Dermatologist — Learning About Skin Cancer and More
When it comes to caring for the rest of my body, I’m quick to go to the doctor. In my life I’ve seen quite a few doctors and quite a few specialists, even. But when it comes to caring for my skin — the body’s largest organ, dontcha know — my ways of dealing with…