Former Destiny's Child member, Kelly Rowland, recently revealed her past issues with her skin color during the 2013 Essence Black Women In Hollywood luncheon. She reportedly hadn't embraced her "chocolatiness" until a heart to heart with Beyonce's mother and her own. One Detroit mom witnessed her own daughter's suffering with issues surrounding their own self-image and decided … [Read more...]
7 Keys to Success in Life and Love
So if your 2013 has been anything like mine you went into it without resolutions and simply prepared for success. 2012 was a year that for many, just needed to end. But good does come from bad. You have the opportunity to be blessed by your struggles and hardships if you allow yourself to learn from them. As the preachers say, "Turn your setbacks into setups!" The following … [Read more...]
Is Being Your Child’s Parent the Best Thing You’ve Ever Done?
Imagine that being your daddy was the best thing your father ever did. To hear that would be music to the ears of so many of our nation’s daughters. The little ones and those of us who have grown up to become women, women often still searching for whatever we feel we didn’t get from the first man we ever truly loved or placed upon a pedestal, whether or not he was actually … [Read more...]
Shouldn’t Every Little Black Girl Feel Like A Princess?
by Cedric Wells I took part in a holiday party back in December at a Family Resource Center located in the Atlanta metro area. It was an event that allowed single mothers to be in one ballroom to enjoy a well-prepared meal and fellowship; while the kids were in another room with volunteers playing, talking, and watching a movie. One of the extras is that gifts were provided … [Read more...]
Daddy Power = Girl Power
by Brenda's Child Early on, there was no doubt in my mind that I could be beautiful and girly one minute, strong and fearless the next. If She-Ra could do it, so could I. Let me refresh you about She-Ra. She was He-man's twin sister and the "Princess of Power." One moment she was gorgeous Princess Adora, but when she pulled out her sword, she became a heroine; and my … [Read more...]
Pound Cake: Black Girls Do Have Body Issues
by Brenda's Child At 34, I can still remember dieting at eleven, so I could look like Janet Jackson in her "Love Will Never Do" video. t wasn't the media alone that shaped how I should view my body. It was being told in 6th grade that my grey pants suit made me look like an elephant. It was being taunted by my uncle about not being able to beat my sister in a foot race … [Read more...]
Building Self-Esteem In Our Girls
by Carmen Jones Everyday our children are bombarded with unhealthy images of "beauty." Although some magazines are slowly diversifying, largely, the American media defines beauty as thin, blonde, and blue-eyed, a standard that young, Black girls will never be able to meet. This feeling of ostracization can lead to low self-esteem, emotional issues, and self-destructive … [Read more...]