Back in 2006 when I started Afrobella, the natural hair scene was just beginning to form. There was no social media yet, there were a few bloggers and a lot of online forums and Fotki posts (seriously, before Instagram and Tumblr, there was Fotki). There were a few natural hair brands that had big buzz…
Pop Culture
In Case You Need a New Copy of I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings…
There’s a reason why Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the #1 best seller in American poetry on Amazon. This book has made an impact on so many. Since its release in 1970, it has changed lives, saved lives, inspired new writers to pick up a pen or a computer keyboard to…
Forget the Grammys! Here’s 10 Songs You Slept On in 2014
Am I the only one who no longer really cares about the Grammy Awards? I remember as a kid staying up late to watch every year, and feeling tremendous excitement if my favorite singers won. Nowadays it feels like an extended eye roll. On SNL recently, the Grammy nominees were likened to “a Spotify playlist…
In Case You Missed It – D’Angelo SLAYED SNL
2014 proved to be a banner year for concerts for me. Within the past few years, I’ve seen SO much good music. For 2015, I honestly don’t have a long list of many artists that I’m still dying to see for the first time ever. In fact, the artist at the very top of my…
Ava DuVernay at the Golden Globes – Get The Hair and Makeup Breakdown!
What a week to be director extraordinare Ava DuVernay! Last Sunday, she attended the Golden Globes looking resplendent in a navy Zac Posen dress. This week wooshed by with a blur of interviews and thinkpieces in the wake of the awards announcements. Ava was nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes. She was denied…
5 Fabulous Ways Solange Reinvented Traditional Wedding Rules
There was a wedding in my family this summer, and one of the things that I had forgotten about weddings and being a bride was the number of RULES. My husband and I tied the knot twelve years ago and we were babes in the woods when we did it. The rules that we broke…
RIP Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian Renaissance Man.
The world lost Geoffrey Holder at the beginning of this week. The great man was 84 years old. It’s been fascinating seeing the various ways that the media has covered his passing. CNN described him as “famed dancer, 7-Up pitchman.” Deadline said “RIP Un-Cola Man, Bountiful Artist.” The New York Times recognized him as a…
For Janay Rice And So Many Women Just Like Her
Like everyone else, I watched the Ray and Janay Rice story unfold with no small measure of horror. The video in the elevator that went viral made me feel sick. The video where he spits and hits the woman who would go on to be his wife, where he knocks her unconscious and drags her…
3 Michael Jackson Songs That Mean More Than Ever Before
If he were still with us, today Michael Jackson would be 56. He’s still so loved and so deeply missed, and still so ubiquitous in pop culture. This summer, Love Never Felt So Good was part of the barbecue playlist and in regular rotation in TV commercials. MJ is still with us. Another way he’s…
Team Taylor Townsend! Reasons To Love This New Tennis Superstar
When I was a teenager, I was sent to tennis lessons. I spent weekend mornings running around and picking up tennis balls, all under the tutelage of an elderly gentleman named Mr. Valentine. Mr. Valentine was a very forthright gentleman and after some time had passed, my parents asked him for his opinion on…