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Why Therapists are the new Black and the 5 Reasons You Need One
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome guest blogger Jill Badu. You ever see someone with a visible physical ailment and they are always talking or complaining about it? And inevitably you think to yourself: ‘They should really go see someone about that’. Well as a mental health professional myself, I often think that about other people. But every now and then I turn that clinical eye inward and think to myself, ‘girl you need to go see someone, you are all messed up in the head’. At the top of this year I decided this would be a year where I work on becoming my best self. Going to therapy was…
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5 Ways Young Black Women can Empower Themselves and “Have it All”
Queen Sierra back here again with another guest feature. This time I want to empower young black women who aspire to achieve greatness in both their lives and careers by providing them with a short list of what I refer to as the ‘5 key Steps to Having it All’. Personally, I found after applying these 5 simple tips to my own day-to-day, they proved to be extremely beneficial in both the personal and professional areas of my life. I can’t promise miracles for anyone of you reading this. However, I am hopeful you will receive some benefit from my journey and self-discovery, or at the very least, this short…
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How Small Distractions can kill Your Biggest Dreams
Surprise! Surprise! It’s the return of the penmen, Mr. SoBo and Cortonio. We are back in the building. Ready, writing, and as raw as ever; and toting a few new surprises as well. But we’ll get to that later. First thing’s first. In response to the number of emails (and texts) we have received over the months from many of you that have written in wondering where we’ve been (and anyone else who has been silently curious), you can rest assured that we have not stopped blogging. Sure, things have been very quiet in our little corner of the internet but trust me, we are still very much here. Now if some of this sounds familiar, it…
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When the Fight Inside You is Bigger Than Your Fear | Poetry
You can punch me and you can kick me You can fool me and you can trick me But I still stand You can yell at me, you can curse at me You can throw all including the worst at me But I still stand You can chain me and you can whip me You can make me ‘runner-up-to-your-championship’ me But I still stand You can take away my aspirations and all my hopes You can have me feeling like I’m strung out on dope But I still stand You can take away all my jewels, my money and my cars You can leave me bruised, scratched, and full of…
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A Look at the Struggles of a Young Black Man | Poetry
Everyday I wake up and feel so stressed Because I know today is going to be another huge mess Perhaps I should end it all and put myself to rest Perhaps an overdoes of pills or maybe a bullet to the chest I pray to God everyday hoping and waiting to be blessed I used to have a nice ride but that’s been repossessed On a daily basis my hair resembles a bird’s nest I only have one pair of shoes, I must confess I have lots of bills outstanding, but no money to pay them I can’t buy jewelry or fancy cars, all I can do is say them…
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Letters to Empower Young Black men: Keep ya Heads Up
Dear young brother, How was school today? I noticed I saw you on the block about 12:30 or so. Wait a minute, doesn’t school get out at 2:00? So what are you doing out so early? Come to think of it I saw you out around the same time twice last week. You were on the corner wearing your black North face jacket, patent leather red and black (Bread 11) Jordans, and Levi’s jeans sagged a little below your waist waiting patiently for the next customer to come by and get served. What happened to you? Where is your dad? I thought you two reconciled and repaired your broken relationship. Why do…
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Natural Black Women and why We Love Them
Ahhh, I remember it like it was yesterday. I had recently turned 21 and it was time to take full advantage of my adult freedoms; and by adult freedoms I mean live it up after hours on the social scene while indulging in adult beverages (responsibly and irresponsibly) of course. It was an autumn night, a Friday to be exact, and I was heading out with a few of my college compadres to a popular nightclub venue downtown. There was electricity in the crisp night air, but that anxious feeling more likely had something to do with it being my very first time attending an actual nightclub. Until this night,…
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Want a Better Life? Follow These 10 Rules and Thank me Later
We as people experience and learn many things as we go through our childhood, enter our adolescent years, and journey into adulthood. Some things are more important than others as we take things and allow others to go in one ear and out the other. There are things that we keep with us and we use for the rest of our lives – mantras I call them. So ladies and gents, let’s chop it up as I share some of the lessons I’ve learned and would like to share. 1. BE AN OWNER, NOT A LOANER Plain and simple everyone wants to have their own and cherish what they have…
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Why You will Never see Alcohol the Same Again | Poem
‘Liquor, Lust and Love: Escapades of an Alcoholic’ I once knew a girl named Alize’… But I played her for her best friend Tanqueray Then I left them both for E&J But I wanted someone classy so I chose Chardonnay One night she told me she wanted a threesome So she invited in her friend Bacardi Rum Both of them were at my mercy, then to my delight In came Miss Limon followed by her girl Sprite I knew homeboy was going to be in for the night When I asked if this was it, she said, “No, not quite” So unbeknownst to me guess who walks on in? It…
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One Black Man’s Frustrations With American Life
Confessions of a Tired Black Soul I’m tired of taking steps forward… …and always being pushed back I’m tired of thinking there’s money but there’s always a lack I’m tired of seeing minorities falling behind in society I’m tired of seeing people get behind the wheel having no sobriety I’m tired… I’m tired of seeing memorials on streets in parts of the city I’m tired of soldiers dying with our president showing no pity I’m tired of little girls thinking their so damn grown I’m tired of people on the street with cups asking for a loan I’m tired… I’m tired of the fact that slavery really hasn’t ended I’m…