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Tammi Terrell’s Story Reminds Us That Survival Is More Than Staying Alive
When people speak about Tammi Terrell, they often begin with how young she was when she died.
Twenty-four.
They talk about the brain tumor. The interrupted career. The songs she never got to record. The future that was cut sho [...]

7 Reasons Survivors May Want to Read Taraji P. Henson’s Around the Way Girl
Sometimes the books that stay with Survivors aren't the ones written specifically about surviving.
Sometimes they are simply somebody telling the truth about her life.
Taraji P. Henson's memoir, Around the Way Girl, was pu [...]

Angie Stone, Roberta Flack & Gwen McCrae: The Power of Their Musical Legacy
Angie Stone’s Music Pulled Us Through—And Now, She’s Gone.
Angie Stone has passed, and somehow, it still doesn’t feel real.
During one of my lowest valleys, her music became my guide, my comfort, my reassurance that I [...]

The Wishing Tree With Alfre Woodard: A Beautiful Movie About Finding Your Way Home + Full Movie
Sometimes you want a movie that doesn't demand everything from you.
Something you can put on while folding clothes, answering emails, working on a project, cooking dinner, or finally dealing with that pile of papers that has [...]

How Singing is Surprisingly Good for Your Health
There's a vocal teacher on Youtube that I love, and I wanted to share her with you. Kristel Cherelle's approach reminds me of our choir teachers back in school who had faith in our ability to sing if only we understood technique [...]

10 Lessons Women Can Take From Star Jones, Al Reynolds, and Everybody Who Had Something to Say
There was a time when Star Jones and Al Reynolds seemed to be everywhere.
The proposal came at the 2004 NBA All-Star Game. Then came the enormous wedding, the vendors, the publicity, the photographs, the commentary and eventu [...]

7 Survival Lessons From Eve: Your Life Is Allowed to Have More Than One Act
Some chapters prove you can survive. Others remind you that survival was never supposed to be the whole story.
I love Eve's music.
Let me get that out of the way because, obviously. Tambourine. Love Is Blind. Let Me Blow Y [...]

Vanessa Williams Refused to Become the Worst Thing People Said About Her
Deal with yourself as a individual, worthy of respect, and make everyone else deal with you the same way. -Nikki Giovanni
It was 1984, and Vanessa Williams was surrounded.
Only months earlier, she had made history as the f [...]

Some People Don’t Wait for Affirmation. They Give It to Themselves.
They did not wait for the world to settle the question of their worth. They kept something sacred for themselves: the authority to know who they were.
There is an old story about Diana Ross. "Call her Miss Ross."
[...]

There Are No Children Here: When Survival Makes a Child Grow Up Too Soon
In 1993, Oprah Winfrey starred in a television movie called There Are No Children Here. She played LaJoe Rivers, a Black mother raising her children in Chicago’s Henry Horner Homes, a public housing development where violence, p [...]

Survivor Affirmations: You Are Not Too Late for Your Own Life
Maybe the life you imagined for yourself was supposed to happen by now.
That is the part we don't always say out loud.
You thought you would have written the book by now. Started the business. Finished school. Traveled. Ma [...]
Steve Harvey Survived the Closed Door Because It Wasn’t His Only Door
There is something Steve Harvey has been saying lately that I think is worth hearing beyond the celebrity story.
Harvey has spoken about conflict he experienced with a powerful television executive and what he believes ha [...]

You Remember the Beat. But Do You Remember What Chubb Rock Was Saying?
I have been thinking about Chubb Rock’s “Treat ’Em Right”.
Maybe it is because I keep hearing people talk about hip-hop as though an entire generation of Black music can be summarized by the worst words anybody ever said on a [...]

Bob Mackie Set Beauty Free: Remembering a Designer Who Knew How to……
Before Bob Mackie dressed Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Cher, Dolly Parton and some of the most famous women in entertainment, Black women were already d-r-e-s-s-e-d.
Look at photographs of Black Americans from the 1920s, ’30s and [...]

Why Does He Get Angry When You’re Happy? When Your Joy Becomes a Problem in a Controlling Relationship
Inspired by.......
Why women’s laughter has long been treated as a threat | Psyche Ideas
Posted by Amy Diehl, Ph.D on X.com
There is a scene television loves to give us before a man becomes violent with a [...]

Florida A&M Marching 100: They Gave Dolly Parton Her Flowers Like Black HBCU Bands Do
A great Black marching band performance is not casual praise. It is labor as praise.
Somebody had to arrange “9 to 5” for that instrumentation. Musicians had to learn their individual parts. Sections had to rehearse until they [...]

Dance is a Weapon, a Womb, and a Journey Back to Ourselves
They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds. And we dance where they tried to end us.”
Across time and across oceans, African peoples have danced through grief, joy, resistance, and survival. For us, dance has n [...]

Your Usefulness is Something You Give. Your Worth is Something YOU Have.
Sometimes people, even high-profile people push their fans and admirers away because THEY realize that they were performing and trying to earn love. They realize that the person that others loved wasn't the "real" them.
No, [...]
Survivor Affirmations: Solidarity is Reciprocal
Where did people get this bizarre idea that solidarity doesn't require respect and reciprocity...at a minimum?
If you are able, you definitely want to avoid allowing people to recruit you for battles and wars AND TH [...]

Sugar Ray Leonard Knew How to Fight. That Did Not Mean He Held the Power
Sugar Ray Leonard knew how to fight. By his early twenties, the quiet kid from Palmer Park, Maryland, had become an Olympic gold medalist, and professional boxing would make his hands famous around the world. He would defeat men [...]
AFFIRMATIONS AND SELF LOVE
🌺 Frida Kahlo: She Lived in a Body That Hurt—and Still Created Beauty
For a long time I celebrated Frida's art and had no idea she lived in pain. I was truly spellbound by the art. As a young person, [...]
HEALING JOURNEY
Oh, We Been the Fire
Look at us.
Not surviving — shining.
That kind of laughter that breaks every chain still trying to hold on.
That joy they said was too loud f [...]
Affirming Television Moments: When the Women Tore Down the Wall
First, giving gratitude to Oprah because this type of programming was very uncommon back in 1989. When you wanted to see television films like this, y [...]
🌬️ Anxiety Doesn’t Always Shout: Affirmations for the Survivor Who’s Carrying It Quietly
A gentle reminder that your body’s signals matter—even when the world ignores them.
Some people think anxiety looks like panic.Tears. Hypervent [...]
When You’re Trained to Consume a Culture but Not Understand It (Amplifying Affirmations for Black Creators)
It isn't that people think that Black art should never be critiqued, but there is undeniable and die-hard racism within the critiques. Further, when m [...]
An Affirmation for Choosing Active Goodness
Today, I look for quiet, healthy ways to do good.
because my presence in the world carries weight.
I understand that goodness does not requir [...]
12 Free eBooks to Support Your Somatic Healing Journey
Dear Survivor,
They are playing in your face by making you explain. And explain. And explain. Forget them.
All these folks running around protecti [...]
CONFIDENCE/POWER/RESILIENCE
Playing by Heart: Alberta Hunter and the Power of Soul Wisdom
Alberta Hunter’s life was a testament to the power of the "unpolished" authentic soul. She was a woman who conquered the world's stages, walked away t [...]

The Story of Kemba Smith Pradia
May we continue to be reminded and never forget that women in prison (most of whom have survived painful abuse and violence) are indeed human beings.& [...]

12 Free Books to Support Your Trauma Healing Journey
Whether you’re healing from personal trauma, systemic injustice, or generational pain, you deserve tools and support that honor the fullness of your s [...]
HEALTHING JOURNEY
✨ You Do Not Exist to Be the Bridge That Others Walk On. ✨
You are not required to shrink your truth just because it makes other people uncomfortable.
You are not here to rescue those who ignored your drownin [...]
The Empty Nest is a Healing Space
The empty nest is not the end of motherhood.
It may be the beginning of a woman’s re-encounter with herself.
Not just a quiet house.
Not just “the [...]
🌤️ Clarity After Chaos, Grief, and Rain
There comes a moment — after the thunder, after the tears — when the air feels different.
It’s quieter.
Cleaner.
You can finally see what was [...]
She Is AMAZING
PBS Newshour: A Brief But Spectacular take on appreciating what we have
“Joy multiplies when I choose to love.” 💫
“I find joy not just in myself, but in celebrating others.”
“Love is the soil—joy is the [...]
🌤️ Clarity After Chaos, Grief, and Rain
There comes a moment — after the thunder, after the tears — when the air feels different.
It’s quieter.
Cleaner.
You can finally see what was [...]
Denise Oliver-Velez: May the Ancestors Welcome a Warrior Home
She was connection. Connection to history. Connection to power. Connection to love. Connection to belonging. Connection to power.
Some lives become [...]
Helen Baylor’s Testimony| I Had a Praying Grandmother
Helen Baylor’s gospel classic “A Praying Grandmother” is more than a personal testimony—it’s a spiritual archive for many Black families. It speaks to [...]
Mama I Love You: Women Are Amazing, Unique, and Special!
Tyron Woodley’s mother congratulates Kamaru Usman at UFC 235
"It's all good, baby. It's all good. It's your turn. It [...]
Playing by Heart: Alberta Hunter and the Power of Soul Wisdom
Alberta Hunter’s life was a testament to the power of the "unpolished" authentic soul. She was a woman who conquered the world's stages, walked away t [...]
ART HEALS
Tammi Terrell’s Story Reminds Us That Survival Is More Than Staying Alive
When people speak about Tammi Terrell, they often begin with how young she was when she died.
Twenty-four.
They talk about the brain tumor. The inte [...]
19 James Baldwin Truths and Affirmations That Still Strengthen the Human Spirit
Few voices have spoken to the human condition with the clarity, courage, and compassion of James Baldwin. He did not write to decorate reality. He wro [...]
Steve Harvey Survived the Closed Door Because It Wasn’t His Only Door
There is something Steve Harvey has been saying lately that I think is worth hearing beyond the celebrity story.
Harvey has spoken about confli [...]
When Being Yourself Is Labeled “Political”: Why some people are punished simply for showing up
Nat King Cole really was attacked on stage during a concert in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1956.
While performing at the Municipal Auditorium in Birmingh [...]
JOURNALING/WRITING IN A HEALTHIER WORLD
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