Nikki-Michelle's Spot

I keep seeing that meme "I wish Black lives mattered to black people" being shared. It disgusts me in so many ways. A friend, whom I think highly of, shared it this morning (screenshots posted below). He's a police officer. He's black. It saddened me to see it coming from him. But it proves something that I've long thought to be true. Black police officers view us the same way as their white peers. This friend proceeded to tell me how another of his black friends had moved to an all-white neighborhood. He said his friends' children love it because they can play without being bothered by other kids. Another thing he said was that he has to look both ways before he leaves his home and that it had nothing to do with crossing the street.
I was pretty disgusted. It made it seem as if moving to an all-white neighborhood made it all better, as if ‘all white’ is the standard...as if 87%of white people aren't killed by other white people. As if white males aren&…

#LoveYourself

by Krisha DeShawn

In a world filled with unrealistic beauty standards, I think it's hard for some women not to fall into the trap. They nip and tuck at themselves. Inflating, deflating, and chipping away parts of their original selves to fit the beauty standards of society. Creating the outer shell they feel is worthy of praise from others. Our children and even some adults look up to celebrities and reality TV stars as role models. Not because of what they may have accomplished, but because of how they look and act. I've come across Instagram accounts of young women dedicated to being their best version of someone else. That's INSANE!!! We were all created to stand out. Not to be carbon copies of each other. Tall, small, fluffy, skinny, dark, light, kinky or straight. You should be comfortable being you. If there is something about you that you would like to change, do it. Just do it for YOU! Don't do it because you've have fallen into the "I wan…

How can such a beautiful human being leave so soon?

by Tirtsah Yisrael

It was a normal Thursday morning for me. I had been up meditating and watering my garden outside. I returned my cousin’s call after seeing a few missed calls from her. We were on the phone for a good while talking about the latest gossip from my hometown and sharing our men problems of the week so far. I remember cracking a Prince joke saying, “You haven't lived until a man 'attempts' to serenade you with a Prince song.” She and I laughed because we're two of the biggest Prince fans for Millennials.

I remember her randomly saying, “What the f*** Prince died?!” I immediately dropped everything that I was doing and asked her to repeat what she’d said to make sure I had heard correctly. Seeing the TMZ headline saying Prince was dead at age 57, floored me. I was devastated and VERY skeptical because hey, It's TMZ. They lie their asses off! By now, I'm livid because the last I checked, he was ill …

Err'body needs editing!

by Giana Monroe*

As someone who likes to read, I find it disheartening when I go through a book, and it’s chock full of errors. I feel the need to take a red pen like I’m a teacher and correct those mistakes. Whether the errors are typographical, grammatical, or any of the other types of errors that can occur in writing, they can be a major distraction to even the best story, and can completely destroy the flow. Which is why, in my opinion, good editing is key.


Now, I realize many non-traditional authors can’t afford to pay for a professional editor, however, I think if an author is going to succeed, I mean REALLY succeed in this industry, proper editing gives one a leg up. That said, even if a professional editor is not in a person’s budget, I say find at least three people who can OBJECTIVELY edit your work. What that means is don’t ask your good friend who likes to read your books simply because you wrote them no matter how bad the writing is. And don’t…

Ignorance is bliss or is it?

by Chanda M. Carte

Ignorance is an ugly disease.  It drains your essence. It robs you of your potential to be great. It has the ability to wipe out entire generations. Ignorance is cold and calculated. Are you a victim?  There is a cure, but you must actively seek that cure. The life giving fountain of knowledge can snatch you back from the brink of destruction and extermination. 
Thomas Gray, an 18th century poet, coined the phrase "ignorance is bliss". Is it?  Is not knowing better than facing the realities of living? Some might say yes, that ignorance allows one to live a carefree life without the burden of worry; without the pressure of analytical thought and contemplation. Let's be honest, ignorance abounds in today's society. The 21st century has proven that seeking wisdom, enlightenment, education, answers, solutions, and understanding are not high on the list of priorities.  There is a "herd" mentality and it has the mass…

Amazon Killed the Traditional Book Sellers

by Shantel Bynum

Just like video killed the radio star, indie publishing is killing the traditional book publishers and the quality works of fiction that they offer. Don’t get me wrong, I could create a long list of indie authors who could definitely write with the best of them, but they are being crowded out by garbage and the men and women who write garbage.
I remember thinking indie authors were the best thing ever back in 2010 when I discovered E- readers and PDF sites that sold books for a fraction of the price of those you could find in the bookstores. There were hundreds of new stories dropping weekly and best of all, the number of African American authors doubled. I was in bibliophile heaven. 
Now, six years later, I drudge through the bull that Amazon has to offer and shake my head while thinking, how many “I’m in love with a thug” books do we need? 
Why does every urban fiction have a “light skinned, greened eye, bad bitch from the h…