Hair Inspiration: Reniece

Renice's hair is ALLLLL OF IT! Its healthy, full of body, LONG and beautiful! most importantly, ITS RELAXER FREE!!

Tuesday Tunes..

DFG Music

Dear lovers of music...

check out DFG Music Group. They offer a variety of sounds and artists. My bestfriend Charisse is part owner/founder of this music group. Along side Meech Gold and Kelly Mac, DFG promotes positivity through music while attempting to set the bar of today's music HIGHER.

The website was relaunched today and in celebration of my friend's accomplishment, I ask you all to go be blessed by some GOOD MUSIC!!!! I suggest Ryan Notes (who can be found on itunes)

Foodie Review: Smith Commons

On Sunday, I had brunch with a girlfriend at a spot I've never been to, Smith Commons. This dapper bistro in the middle of the newly booming H St corridor was quite a pleasant surprise. There was a small wait, but the host was very accommodating. I arrived before Ashley and was unable to sit but when she arrived we didn't have to wait the 30-45 minutes for our table. Right away, our server offered us the $15 bottomless mimosa. What's brunch with girlfriends without Mimosas? They were very tasty... had a kinda peachy taste. Ashley frequently dines there and was familiar with the menu. She ordered the Shrimp and Grits, I played it safe and ordered Waffles, home fries and bacon.

When my waffles arrived, I enjoyed the basic, yet warming presentation. Fresh fruit and powdered sugar atop the 4 cut pieces of waffles. It was very tasty. The homefries had tons of flavor. The bacon... a little too crispy for my liking. We ended up sitting for 2 hours enjoying mimosas and conversation. In the background, they played a variety of different music genres... we noticed the 90s jams (lol)

Smith Commons offers an assorted, yet approachable menu. They even offer "bar food" for the less adventurous. If you love beer, you would definitely want to stop in. They have a extensive list of beers, some from breweries in the area. According to their website they have CommonMondays, which is their version of Happy Hour. The H st corridor is becoming an happening place and this is definitely one spot to check out. Check out Smith Commons.. you'll probably catch me there a few more times!

Raising a black man...

A month after the murder of Trayvon Martin, I found myself close to tears. I've paid close attention to every detail surrounding this case. This is one of those stories that make me realize how society effects my personal life. Two years ago, I would have paid attention to the news, I would have probably shared my opinions and not much more after that. I wouldn't have done more because I didn't believe things effected ME. I was aware of the world and how people thought, especially about racial issues, but they were "outta sight, outta mind" for me. When I found out I was carrying a BLACK MAN in my womb, I begun to view society in a different light.

As I sit on my couch, watching CNN or the evening news, I find myself sick to my stomach. A month after this senseless, racially motivated murder.. George Zimmerman is still in "hiding" and now the authorities are beginning to seek justification into this hate-filled crime. The Stanford police have stated Trayvon was accused of having marijuana residue in his bookbag, that he has been suspended from school a few times and even looked at his twitter feed. The authorities have also stated that Trayvon "attacked" Zimmerman. If Trayvon did punch Zimmerman, when is it okay for a stranger to stalk you and for your to protect yourself and get SHOT for defending yourself? I look down at my son and begin to realize that HE might be "mistaken" for a "hoodlum", a "criminal", a "delinquent" just because of his brown skin. How do I protect him? Oh, I am to teach him how to "act" and "conduct" himself in the presence of white folk? Am I to teach him to move slow? To keep his hands out of his pockets and in view at all times? Am I to teach him to keep his voice low? To never look in the eye of a white man? To forbid him of wearing certain clothes? Am I to teach him to be SCARED of authority?

I'm afraid I could NEVER do these things. I've already decided to teach him right from wrong. Isn't that enough?

My whole life I've seen all the black men in my life be treated unfairly. My boyfriend has a 1999 Ford Crown Victoria. I've witnessed with my own eyes the police sit at a stop light, make an illegal u-turn to purposely get behind him to pull him over. I've watched the police pull him over and search his car while sarcastically "hoping" to find drugs or a gun. Tyree is college educated, he was raised in a christian household and is free of criminal record. Yet, he's been targeted for profiling because he "fits the description". Fits the description of who? A 20-something black guy?

Trayvon Martin or James Byrd, the black Texas man who was maliciously dragged behind a pick up truck in 1998. Lets not forget Anthony Hill who was shot in the head then dragged behind a truck in South Carolina in 2010 or James Anderson, the Mississippian who was killed the night some kids wanted to "fuck with some niggers" just last summer. These black men are prime examples of the how some Americans still view black men. Black life is less valuable than any other life. As I begin to examine the crimes against the species I love the most, I begin to reflect on all of the black men that I know who have been killed by OTHER black men. Our society has hated black men so much since my ancestors crossed the Atlantic that they hate themselves. Niggas killing niggas is the outcome of society placing such little value on black men.

How do we stop black men from, first, hating each other? How do we get black men to stand together to end injustice against their own species? How do we as a group begin to change the 400 year old stigma of our black men? How do I keep my son out of a body bag and out of jail? I believe Black men have to educate the generations that come up behind them. If a man teaches a young black boy the importance of family, he won't walk out on the family that will one day be his. If a man teaches a young black boy that other black men are his brothers NOT his enemy, he won't think another boy's life is less than his. If a man teaches a young black boy that the acquisition of knowledge, be it a trade or degree- is POWER, not drugs or violence, that boy will excel at his academics.

Black men, I pray that we ALL grow tired of this injustice. I pray that we ALL try to turn to tables. Lets do it for Trayvon, and if not for him, do it for yourself. Let America know you're TIRED of society thinking you are heartless and criminal.

Tyson

Here's Tyson... affectionately known to me as Tinky or Bean. He's literally the best baby I've ever met, and I don't just say that because I'm his mother. He's such an easy going little guy. He loves blowing razzberries and playing with anyone he meets. He's a little social butterfly. He brings so much joy to my life. Learning how to be a mom to this little guy has been such a blessing. He's makes me want to try to be BETTER in the physical, mental and spiritual. On certain days, when its the two of us, he's my best friend. He listens attentively and I always feel like he's telling me "its okay mommy". He makes me laugh. He has taught me that love is unconditional.

VIDEO: Week two with brazilian wavy 20'

I loveeeeeee this weave.