Tribute to My Sisters
Silence, my mind searches for silence…
a struggle to push thoughts out of mind
A fight to find serenity in nature …
Mind ruffles with the surge of birds,
flapping their wings as they take to flight
b Condoms
When the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in the United States in the late 1970’s, it was categorized as a Homosexual disease, carried and transmitted by White Men. Nearly forty decades later, African American men and women between the ages of 18-25 have now become the face of the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control, HIV/AIDS has now become a common killer (second to heart disease and cancer) among African American women. Half of all new reported cases are reported by African American women who contracted the disease through heterosexual sex or through sharing needles during intravenous drug use. Women are twice as likely to contract the disease and if the current trajectory continues, there will be more women living with HIV/AIDS than men, which poses a significant world health risk due to the fact that the disease can be transmitted to infants during pregnancy, delivery and nursing.
Why Black Women Don’t Breastfeed
Today I was hit with a startling reality. Most of the friends I grew up with are now well into motherhood and beginning on their third or fourth child. I am not only amazed by how time has passed, I am amazed by the fact that these women have sacrificed so much to become a mother such as their pre-pregnancy bodies. But then I realized that although motherhood is the ultimate sacrifice, it is not a curse or something to be fearful of. Pregnancy has been proven to produce hormones that can enhance feminine curves, clear acne, and improve metabolism.
Dear (Insert Your Deity Here):
Dear God,
On this Wednesday I come to you in a state of disarray. I come to you humbly, anxiously and damn near confused. (I hope the word damn doesn’t cause you to stop listening as most theologians teach). I am confused because I am a young, single, Black, worried woman…a Human woman living amongst other Humans who may or may not answer to a higher being and live their lives accordingly.
The Moon and Menstrual Cycles
Learning to understand myself physically and spiritually, I was intrigued by the connection between my body (the female body) and the moon. I never really considered how the moon affected my emotions before, let alone my body. I understood my cycle as a cleansing period but because of the harmony and flow, this is also a time for introspection and re-evaluation.
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