art matters…thank you, bell hooks.
Every once in a while I ghost social media. It is my way of practicing a little digital minimalism (shoutout to Cal Newport). My hiatuses are cute or whatever but they don’t last long at all and every single time I do one I am reminded just how much social media, Twitter in particular, is…
Sabbatical (and no, I’m not lost I’m just taking time to do…nothing*)
If you are reading this congratulations you’ve made it to part three of my never needed permissions series *claps in a circle*. I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me, asked about my next write-up, and told me I’m hilarious because I wholeheartedly believe I can only get my…
STRANGER DANGER…BUT MAKE IT ARTSY?
It is 4:48 AM and I am on a train back from Basel headed to Zurich. Doesn’t that sound like wealth?! Yeah, well, pipe down Switzerland has left your girl for dead. I was only a couple more coffee purchases away from auditioning for Squid Game. If you’ve been keeping up with my gallivanting on…
I almost scrapped this post but Tigray wouldn’t let me…
As a disclaimer this is NOT part 3 of the “Never Needed Permission” Series. Part 3 is in the tuck because this is truly much more pressing. If you are curious as to what would make me temporarily pause on a series that essentially revitalized my love for writing on this raggedy website than please,…
I see me
If you haven’t watched Black Art: In the Absence of Light please do yourself a favor and watch today. It feels so good to see me and so many of us – enjoy.
“Aye God if you want me to be a nun…just say dat!” (2/3)
I have stopped and started this post at least 30 times over the past two…now three months. I’ve tried to come at it at different angles. I’ve talked to my friends about it. I’ve even tried to make it a generic post when in reality this is supposed to be a place where my writing…
where to start (1/3)…
Wow. I felt amazing after writing those 200+ words the other day – like really amazing. I also started to overthink about when I run for public office will they find my confessions or grammatically incorrect pieces and drag it into some sort of campaign slander. Yeah that is how I think. I go from…
never needed permission…
I never needed permission. Hell I forged the majority of my permission slips in middle school. So why now? My confidence, my self-worth, my self-esteem were built Ford tough. So what changed? What shifted? I haven’t written a post or blog entry in nearly 3+ years. My writing whether it be good, correct, concise or…
Addis Perceptions
It was a Thursday. I woke up to the sounds of neighborhood roosters (my new alarm clock), gathered my things, and proceeded to my morning stroll through our top view neighborhood to catch a ride to work. All the while, ignoring stares at my fire red rain boots and smiling to myself because I couldn’t…
Stay Down Blaze Up teams up with #AMIExperience for Conversation & Cocktails
Stay Down Blaze Up is super excited to be media sponsors for the #AMIExperience Conversation & Cocktails event to take place June 2, 2016! For more information please see below and hope to see you all there. Press Release Am I The Experience: Conversations & Cocktails Digital Storyteller Nadia Marie, Lifestyle Brand Royal Dynamite, and…
Meet Samara George
“You have to be dedicated to doing it. You can’t just do a face mask once a month and you can’t just drink two glasses of water every four days expecting results…” -S.G. According to a 2016 Beauty Industry Analysis Report, just last year the beauty industry generated 56 billion dollars in revenue. It is no…
When the Diaspora is Lit (Part 2)
“All jokes aside, to the outsider looking in the Habesha* community is huge but for the average DMV Ethiopian/Eritrean person you are only one cousin away from knowing everyone.” According to a Migration Policy Institute report on the Ethiopian Diaspora, there are about 251,000+ Ethiopians living in the United States and roughly 35,000 call the…
sdbup247.com 