Confessions of a Single Parent (Actress)

The Oscars are coming up and there are many contenders for every category. But there is only one film that actually has all of the components of a great film. One that will not be forgotten and actually shines a bright light on the real America, the one that is not always kind to all of her citizens. And that film is Get Out. It is a social psycho thriller which places race dead center. It features an actual modern day slave auction and the use of contemporary slave catchers. The family loves Obama and the black workers have been with their family for years. But it also shows us the sunken place where many Black folks exist as they try to survive the systemic and homegrown racism that is deep in the DNA of America. And we are currently living in a country where paper towels are thrown at hurricane victims and football players are told to stay in their place, and Black and Brown immigrants live in abject fear. The sunken place does exist. The film even includes humor. The best frien...

Each year I reflect on the year. I take stock of the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I move through my emotions and discover the new path granted to me each and every year. A path that is not promised and should never be taken for granted. This year, 2017 ended and I sat unable to write anything about it. I spoke with some friends and mostly prayed and meditated about the great things already coming up, and took notice of my fear about the unknown.  But no words... 2018 brings my daughter closer to high school graduation and all of the expectations and stress that comes with that. I have been feeling a bit out of sync and not very organized or helpful when it comes to test prep, scholarships, or college selection. Maya has been definitely bringing me ideas and we have had conversation,  but I still feel out of sync and at moments immobilized. Then I remember, I am not alone. And I call my mom, who has already developed a plan to take Maya to see schools in the Midwest that ...

I was watching This Is Us and one of the characters who is in jail said, “I didn’t have any choices.” This stark line served to put the other character in check but it also reminded me that many of us have been only surviving and not living, which means we have been reacting and not choosing. For Black and Brown people this is a reality that is supported by racism and the inherent systems birthed from it. Now some may read this and point to all of the exceptions to the rule, and I call bullshit on you. How can you live when you are only taught to react? How can you thrive and love when you only see pain and ugliness? Where is beauty when you are often told that you are the opposite of beautiful? I say this: when the world is filled with chaos and ugly and hurt, you must look within and you must seek the joy that is often hidden. Because you deserve it and we deserve to share it with each other. In history, we often read of the importance of healing within the act of liberation. One...

So now we have no SRC. No more state control. This is a major win for Philadelphia. But now it’s time for another leg of this journey. Who and what will decide what the new governing model should look like? City Council? The mayor? The community? Educators and Families? The answer should be all the above. There was a recent interview featuring Bill Green and Donna Cooper. One represents the SRC and the other is the Excutive Director of PCCY. Neither represent the organizations that fought to make the SRC no longer be a reality and that is very telling. The one parent who was an active voice from Parents United had a sound byte. If there are going to be interviews or conversations about what should happen next, it should include the actual stakeholders. We discovered in this interview that the city charter includes term limits for mayor, so unlike Chicago, the same person will not be in charge of the school district forever. So that’s good. I guess. Second, the push for mayoral cont...

On Thursday, November 16th, the School Reform Commission voted to dissolve. And it was met with screams and tears of joy. For 16 years, Philadelphia public schools have been under state control. During that time the quality and breadth of education has continued to go downhill and the number of school closings continues to increase. Not to mention the financial starvation of public schools. Now we have an opportunity. Our City Our Schools campaign started over a year ago along with many other grassroots organizations to get the SRC eradicated. Now Mayor Kenney has been quoted lauding the benefits of mayoral control. There is a proposal on the table for a People’s School Board, one that will be a voice of the community, put an end to back room deals, and fight for equitable funding. The question is will this be a fully elected process like the more than 400 other districts in PA. Will this be a popularity contest? Will we finally have representatives that truly have the best interests...

#blackgirlmagic is a social media sensation. The problem is I am not a girl and have not been for awhile. I want my daughter and her friends to be #blackgirlmagic. I want them to embody the beauty, passion and possibility that comes with the power of a hashtag. But I want my fellow women to embrace #blackwomanmagic or even better #blackphenomenalwoman. You know why? Because many of us have fought and bled our way to our own individual and collective womanhood. We have experienced childhood and puberty and now we are here. We have arrived. And we are more than just a hashtag, we are a goddamn reckoning. I do not want to be a girl because that means that I can still be silenced, ignored and even worse rendered invisible. Black women have fit into those boxes for far too long. We are also not the ones to carry the burdens of our people. The S on our chest is out to lunch and we are reclaiming what is ours. Our time, our bodies, our love, and our righteous minds. #blackphenomenalwoman We...

Today, I was awakened with a memory about two places that could have either pushed me to where I am now, or they could have pushed me on an entirely different trajectory. This memory reminded me that words have power and that teachers and/professors can use their power for good or for harm. This is for anyone who was told they were not good enough and for those who were relegated to the sidelines or even worse rendered silent. The first place that taught me this lesson was my high school, Mother McAuley. First, let me say that the opportunities and programs available at this school were amazing. But there was also a door, an invisible one that allowed some to participate and some to be left out. When it came to students of color there were hardly any. In fact there were only three of us in the honors program. The first thing I did was audition for the school musical. Now I was told, "You are probably not going to get cast because they never cast Black students." Well no mat...