April 1st was the official marketing launch for The Pop-Up Care Shop. If you didn’t know, I am officially a co-founder of a non-profit organization called The Pop-Up Care Shop. We’ve existed as a charity since 2016 but made it official in 2023. After not having a shop since 2019 due to the pandemic we are gearing up for our first shop at Covenant House New York. When we set up shop, we create a boutique of donated clothes, shoes, accessories, and toiletries and allow the clients to shop until they drop, at no cost to them. We fundraise throughout the year and are always looking for volunteers. Visit thepopupcareshop.org to learn more.
Not going to lie, the first week of April was hella stressful for me. I had a really rough work week and my health was impacted. My blood pressure skyrocketed and I realized my lifestyle is not healthy. I am going to find all the ways in which I am cognizant not to get stressed at work because my health being compromised is not worth it. I started this year saying my health is my priority and I mean that. On another note, during the most stressful day of this particular week, I talked to my Career Coach who helped me put into perspective my options and really think about what support in this moment could look like for me.
At the end of my hell week was a light at the end of the tunnel, which was Chanel’s birthday dinner. Chanel is a new friend of mine that I met while doing community service. She was celebrating her 30th birthday hosted by her hubby and you can tell just by the vibes she cultivated at her dinner and the people she invited that she is an amazing human being. I also enjoyed seeing our friends that we share mutually. Overall, after a long week, being surrounded by community was just what I needed.
I joined an Emerging Leaders board for JASA a few months ago and attended a board meeting cocktail reception where I got to meet my other fellow emerging leaders board members. Initially I was nervous as I didn’t know what to expect but those nerves subsided immediately after meeting the group because they were all really cool. JASA is an organization that means a lot to me because it provides housing and food to senior citizens in New York. I am overjoyed to drive impact over the next two years through this board and can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together.
I attended the T. Howard Foundation dinner for work which is an amazing dinner celebrating the scholars coming out of the T.Howard program and internships and the amazing media organizations that support them. T. Howard Foundation is a mission-driven organization dedicated to increasing diversity in the media industry. It was awesome to catch up with my colleagues as well.
My grandmother stayed with me for a week to help me with Ginger since I had some late nights at work. It’s always such a treat when Ma stays with me for a few days, we go grocery shopping, we cook, we laugh and watch game shows. On this occasion, I took out some of my cook books and we looked through them to see if there were any interesting recipes that we could try. We found a bacon, tomato, and green beans recipe from the Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking cook book. We also made lasagna and scallop potatoes. It was so good and I didn’t want Ma to leave but she said she would come back soon.
by Pam Grier. I absolutely love her and I know she has a powerful life story.
is the best book I have ever read. After 27-years of life and reading, I finally have a favorite book. I’ve been searching for it all my life and finally, it’s here! The book follows the lives of Ifemelu and Obinzie, two lovers who first meet in a secondary school in Lagos, Nigeria. The couple eventually separates. Ifemelu moves to America to go to school, while Obinze moves to London in search of work. They are smart, charismatic, and hopeful in Nigeria, but their new lives as immigrants in these sensationalized countries prove to be hard.
Funny. Relatable. So Issa. This book is a series of essays that navigate Issa’s upbringing in California. Daughter of a Senegalese father and American mother, Issa tells stories of her summer adventures in Senegal, her first relationships and the days of AOL AIM, where she (we) chatted with friends before Iphones and Group text messages were even a thought. Honest, comedic, and so darn good, Issa tackles race, the early beginnings of Awkward Black Girl, and what it really means to be “different” as a black woman. One of my favorites by far.
I read this book during a very vulnerable time in my life. It was the perfect pick. I do a full review of this book 
Hmmm. Good book, but not great. I like the concept of the book, especially for what saying yes did for Shonda. Basically, what she’s trying to get across is that we have to say yes to living. Say yes to opportunities. At times she came off a little bit haughty and other times pretty humble. I will be the first to say I am proud of Shonda Rhimes and all that she’s accomplished. I loved learning about her journey and listening to her words of encouragement. I guess I was looking forward to a book about Shonda’s trajectory, how she got to where she was, and not how she overcame her insecurities and social anxieties once success came. It just seemed like more of a second book, as opposed to her first. Nevertheless, one of the most poignant moments in the book for me was that in the midst of saying Yes to everything, she said No to marriage; an engagement proposed by her then-boyfriend. Ultimately, Shonda said yes to herself, her children, and her own happiness not the happiness defined by society.
This book is better via Audio than reading…just saying! Oprah has the perfect audiobook voice. This book navigates a series of things that Oprah knows for sure. It takes you on a journey through her life including epic recaps of birthdays and first jobs, relationships and career ups and downs. What I loved about this book was Oprah’s ability to be transparent about her mistakes and triumphs. If you’re not already in love with Oprah, this book will make you fall hard.
Required Reading in present times, also keep a highlighter handy. I wanted to write a full review of this book, and I still might. Coates explores race in America in an explicit way so his son, whom this book was written for, is not disillusioned by his place and position in this world as a black boy-soon-to-be-man. Ta-Nehisi explores “the dream” and the different connotations it takes on for someone who is white vs. someone who is black. He navigates gentrification, and the freedom whites have to walk through our streets without fear, while we constantly live in fear for our lives. He talks about black bodies and how devalued they are in America. Most importantly, he addresses violence at the hands of police, as he consoles a friend’s mother who has lost her son at the hands of a senseless police officer. He didn’t deserve to die but he did. And so, with so much more to say but at the risk of giving too much away, I would recommend this book to any and everyone.
Rich Dad Poor Dad was a good book. It taught me that you should never judge a book by its cover as the first couple of pages unveils who Robert’s rich dad was and who his poor dad was and it’s definitely not who you would have expected. Money consciousness and financial awareness are very important if you want to secure your financial future. I learned many important lessons. One of them being that you must pay yourself first. Bills will always be there, but if you don’t pay yourself out of your own paycheck, you’ll be in a cycle that benefits your bill collectors but does not benefit you. I also learned the importance of entrepreneurship, owning something. Being the boss, not working for one all your life. Finally, I learned how dangerous complacency is. I was moved by this book, and would like to read more books about financial awareness in the future.
I expected a bit more from this book than I received. After all, it was one of Oprah’s favorites. What separates this novel from others of its kind is that the author Colson Whitehead, actually makes the Underground Railroad, a railroad. Another unique characteristic of this book is that the main character is a black woman named Cora. This book tackles mental health, the horrors of slavery, the medical experiments performed on blacks both dead and alive, and the hopelessness of many blacks whenever they thought the system was on their side (and it wasn’t). I was empowered by the main character Cora but slightly disappointed in the ending.
One of the most transformative books for my mind. I read You Can and You Will, while I was interviewing for a new job. When you’re in such a vulnerable position, you immediately want to be hard on your self. You want to tell yourself, you will never make it and that you will mess up during the interview. You say a bunch of things to yourself so you won’t be disappointed when the rejection email comes through. However, Joel wouldn’t allow me to do that. This book encouraged me. It helped me to realize that I have to think positive and change my outlook on life. Good things will happen to me. In fact, he encourages you to say that every morning “Today something great will happen to me” and it’s that type of upbeat positivity that has changed my life. I don’t have to be miserable like everyone else. I don’t have to think negatively. I want amazing things to happen in my life and because I believe it will…it will. I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of this book. It will change you for the better.
Destiny by T.D Jakes was good but not earth-shattering great. I think listening to his sermons every Sunday was more transformative for my 2016. One thing this book made me realize is how your ego could get in the way of destiny. When we’ve been hurt by someone, we can’t forgive them because our ego won’t allow it, but we have to. I was also amazed when a powerhouse like Corretta Scott King revealed that her destiny was being the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It made me realize that sometimes our destines have nothing to do with us, but how we can impact and help others. I really enjoyed the stories in this book and the different way it made me look at destiny. Not all of us will be huge superstars and that’s ok. Getting to your destiny is a process but we have to remain faithful through it.
Colliding with Destiny dissects the bible story of Ruth, which some believe is about love, but Sarah Jakes characterizes it as a story about destiny and Purpose. She takes the book of Ruth and intertwines it with her own personal stories. It was important for me to read this book because I am constantly on the search for purpose and what this book showed me was that having integrity, humbling your self in rough times, keeping faith, and always looking to God will eventually allow God to do a work in you, leading you to his plan for your life. In Ruth’s case it was her Boaz, a man that was equally upright and equally yoked with Ruth. At the heart of the story is a beautiful love that was ignited as a result of loss and pain, but God abundantly restored everything that the devil tried to take from Ruth.
Eh! It wasn’t the best memoir I read this year, but it served its purpose in teaching me about the life of elite blacks or as they refer to themselves the third race. Margot Jefferson has been raised privileged all her life during the 1950s but learns that money and class do not erase your blackness in the eyes of whites during the civil rights era. She takes us on a journey through her childhood, sharing experiences about her awkward but funny habits and we follow her into adulthood as she becomes more conscious of race and advocates against the injustices of her people. I learned a little more about the origins of Jack and Jill and organizations like it so the upper-class blacks could network with one another. I still wasn’t moved by it. Maybe it was a bit pretentious for me. Maybe it was because I couldn’t relate.
LifestyleByKy 