Demystifying the Dark vs. Light Skin Culture Many black media outlets and blogospheres are talking about the upcoming documentary directed by Bill Duke titled, Dark Girls. For those of you who are unaware of the “dark skin vs. light skin” stigma within and outside of Black Americas, I will try, to the best of my ability, to edify those who are unaware. I’ve also included a short clip of Dark Girls on this piece. I caution you that this clip... Read more

“I am Pagan, and I’m Proud.  I am Pagan, gonna shout it loud.  I am Pagan, want the world to know……. that I follow the Goddess cause she rocks my soul!” – Spiral Rhythm What is in a debate?  Is the purpose of a debate more about varying opinions or perspectives that don’t always have a right or wrong?  Often I find it important to acknowledge that a version of right is subjective and can often vary from the universal... Read more

The Cloak in Which We Call Skin April 20th of this year, I took my children, along with my nephews, to see an art exhibit called, “Reframing of Haiti” at Brown University in Rhode Island. There was an exhibit of Haitian flag tapestry art with numerous beautiful and intricate details with beads displaying many Vodou deities (Lwa) and ceremony. One flag showed many “fair-skinned” people in ceremony. I told my children of the history of the revolutionary war in Haiti... Read more

For those who do not know, I work in an extremely impoverished area and have for over 13 years.  I roll into the parts of the city that people don’t usually drive to visit on vacation or choose to live in.  This is where I have dedicated a lot of time, efforts and love to those who are the most needing of that type of support. Today, on an average Monday morning,  I drove into work and decided to stop... Read more

First I want to start with saying that I am grateful and I am lucky.  I have had the pleasure of integrating into a beautiful community of various types of Pagans and have never felt as if who I was wasn’t good enough.  I know that others have had to deal with feeling singled out in the crowd of Pagans because they were other than white but I haven’t.  I have been lucky. I think part of that is living... Read more

A Black Pagan: Minority within the Minorities This piece is based from my perception and experiences. It is not a representation of “all black folks.” Although, I am sure that there will be individual black minorities within the minorities who can relate to my sentiments. For black Pagans/Wiccans/African-Traditionalists, Atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, and Humanists (to name a few), being anything but Christian can be “challenging” if not, “threatening,” to the sociological and psychological foundation of what individual blacks in America and/or... Read more

It was a random email and sometimes I don’t get a chance to read through all the emails I get to give them the attention they deserve.  This day I was and I am glad I did.  It was calling for community support for a community project called the Lynch Quilt Projects.  The title intrigued me enough to look further and go to the website. I went to the website of Lashawnda Crow Storm and saw some images that took... Read more

A Mother’s Cry for Her Son’s Reproductive Rights “Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!”  -Lydia M. Child, Philothea: A Romance, 1836 My son and nephews mean the world to me; like many other mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and matriarchs of the household. I have so much aspiration for them and their children that, from time to time, the thoughts of their worlds of tomorrow catch my breath, heart, and spirit. Although my nephews did... Read more

On the way home I got some frantic calls from my husband, wondering where I was and if I were safe.  I was crusing in my car on the freeway and not conscious of the panic that my husband might have been experiencing.  When we got on the phone, he told me that there was another shooting, on the same street as the school I work at. In one week we have had two people shot and a 33 year... Read more

In Search of the Black Goddesses “I am the things that are, that will be, and that have been. No one has ever laid open garment by which I am concealed. The fruit which I brought forth was the sun.” – Inscription written on the Temple of Neith From time to time, my mood shifts from great and joyous to sorrow, combined into one. Sorrow for my Nubian sisters who view life as a continuous struggle: both within and without;... Read more