Confessions of a Single Parent (Actress)

T here is a wonderful celebration and acknowledgment occurring after the recent comments made by Tracee Ellis Ross (actor, producer, entrepreneur). I would like to share the quote: “The childless women have been mothering the world and elevating culture as aunties, godmothers, teachers…you do not need to push out a baby to help push humanity forward.” ---Tracee Ellis Ross There is a problem with this idea despite its intention to be uplifting and empowering. It assumes that ALL women regardless of hue are celebrated or even acknowledged for pushing out a baby. And that is not simply true. I remember no one ever asking me about settling down or having a family. I do remember my first year of teaching when a student said that she could not believe I had no children and what was I waiting for, I was 22. But mostly, Black women walk through life and the world assumes they are single. And the connection between marriage and children mainly came from the church but since I only went on Sunda...

There was another set of shootings near a school and where students were present. The growing gun violence in Philadelphia and across America has reached the level of an epidemic. From mass shootings to shooting into crowds of people or simply being gunned down, THIS is everyone’s new reality. When interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer, a parent admitted that they believed the shootings were only happening to bad people until their loved one was shot. Advocates across the city are holding vigils, speaking to the community, and trying to work with city officials for a solution. These strategies are employed across other American cities. Increasing policing is another favorite. But unfortunately for Pennsylvanians this will never be enough because our state has a gun problem. We are the gun hub of the northeast corridor. Not New York, us. I remember attending a press conference in 2018 and another in 2020 when two different state reps provided data to prove the point and yet here we a...

Recognize what you can control and RELEASE what you cannot...  Let me just say that,  when folks ask me,  "How are things?" Or "How have things been going?" I often respond with a smile and a nod assuring them that everything is okay. We all do that. Especially women. But the truth is many of us are not okay. Many of us are simply tired, exhausted, depressed, and feeling as if our spiritual energy is simply depleted. We can point to many external things, such as, and not limited to, systemic racism, stupidity, toxic environmental health, poor access to mental health resources, the news, the lack of will of politicians, the economy, the job market (for artists and others), anti-history and anti-trans bills, or all the above including things not even listed here. OR, simply living in the midst of everything can wear a spirit and body down.  So what to do? In order for us to thrive and not simply survive, we must find what matters most to us as individuals. We must rem...

Dear 2021, Thank you for being OVER!  Thank you for starting out with the power of me providing a space for other artists to shine their light! A community filled with beautiful Blackness - Thank you Gumbo Lab.  Thank you for showing me after the reading of Black Bitch Cape, what an amazing show it will be in 2022.  BUT... You also have been filled with people showing their true selves over and over. You gave us all some hope and then slapped us with new variants - Delta and Omicron. States passing bills literally stopping people from having actual conversations about race, sex, gender justice, and everything in between. Masks and vaccinations were politicized. Schools were unsafe. Reproductive rights were rolled back to the stone age. And the sheer exhaustion and hilarity of the fuckery continue. So here are some lessons for 2022.  Lesson One: Wear a mask. Period.  Lesson Two: Get vaccinated and boosted. Lesson Three: Before you gather with new people or with f...

 Dear College Professors (Full-time and Adjuncts), After year one of a global pandemic that is proving that we still have a way to go as we enter year two of COVID-19, there are some valuable lessons that all educators in higher education should take with them. Some of these lessons should have been learned before you entered the field, but I find that challenging times push many of us to either change for the better or stick to oppressive practices.  Lesson One: Developing a relationship with each of your students does not weaken you. It does not make you less than. It does not make you less brilliant. It makes you human, which allows you to see the humanity in your students and peers.  Lesson Two: People have lost loved ones, friends, and family. And are still losing people. Students have lost loved ones to COVID and to gun violence. Just because they are perceived to be adults, does not make the stress of all of it any less potent. This means a rigid syllabus just make...

" It is not really a “Negro revolution” that is upsetting the country. What is upsetting the country is  a sense of its own identity. If, for example, one managed to change the curriculum in all the  schools so that Negroes learned more about themselves and their real contributions to this  culture, you would be liberating not only Negroes, you’d be liberating white people who know  nothing about their own history."   James Baldwin, A Talk to Teachers     This passage reminds me how the school curriculum has never been meant to liberate or encourage questions. It has always been intended to encourage the norms and structures of society, which means that half-truths and conjecture are often written in textbooks, and repeated in lesson plans. Just recently, a teacher at Lincoln High School in Philadelphia gave his students an assignment asking them to pretend that they were slaves, write a letter to the slavemaster asking for their family to not be ...

In February of 2020, I was excited and ready to play Audrey 2 in Little Shop of Horrors at Meadowbrook Theatre. Another bucket list role, but in the background COVID-19 is overseas and cases are slowly entering the US. I hear it but I am not taking it seriously, because no one is. Plus, I am headed to New Orleans the first weekend of March despite the email letting us know that cancellations are being allowed due to COVID-19. Off to the airport I go. I make sure to call my daughter who is headed home for spring break and advise her to clean out her fridge, wash clothes and linen, and make sure that her room is clean. But let me tell you, when I got to the airport it was empty, and it was the International terminal, which is usually full. Hmmm... I return from Bourbon Street and I am filled with shrimp and grits and wonderful ideas and connections for my job as a diversity consultant. March 9th. I head to an audition. I watched two dancers literally get asked to leave because they were ...