Charnice Milton, a Washington, D.C. based journalist was fatally shot on Thursday night when the intended target of the bullet used her as a human shield, police and family members said. She was traveling home and family members said they believe she was transferring buses at the time of the shooting.

by Kristina Brooke

I was diagnosed with clinical depression at 16 years old and generalized anxiety disorder at 17. My mother did not take either diagnosis seriously. She was a registered nurse, yet she often commented that my diagnosis stemmed from wanting attention. Like many Black parents, especially those who identify as Christian, it was easier to believe that I was being dramatic rather than suffering from a mental illness.

by SaVonne Anderson

A beautiful cultural movement brewed in the wake of the world’s overwhelming ugliness. The longstanding physical and ideological concept of “blackness” transformed and shifted into a new and growing love, passion, respect, and power for being black, especially a black woman.

by Juhanna Rogers

by C. Imani Williams


Black women’s lives matter. Our lives matter, even when the violent crimes committed against us go unpunished. Violence against Black women is not new. Our plight is discussed in some circles, but often ignored in many others. This leaves women feeling unprotected and vulnerable.

by Lee-Ann Stephens

In our current education system, we often struggle with something called the belief gap, or the persistent and deep divide between what parents believe their children are capable of and what some elected leadership, through word and deed, believe the very same kids can do. I recognized the belief gap playing out in my school before I knew the formal term.

A city councilman in Edwardsville, Kansas is in hot water after reportedly calling a teenaged girl a "n*gger b*tch" on Sunday, May 3rd.

by Dalila Thomas

For too long, it seems women—especially black women—have been led to believe that living with a significant other prior to marriage is the worst thing we can do. Whether it’s because of religious beliefs, the stereotype of black men getting “too comfortable,” or the fear of starting a family out of wedlock, us cohabitating with partners before marriage is often frowned upon.

by Altheria Gaston

When I first heard about the trending story about Josh Duggar’s alleged sexual abuse, I did a quick search to find out more about the controversial situation. I immediately came across Duggar’s Facebook acknowledgement of sexual abuse using the vague label "wrongdoing":

Forbes' recently released its ranking of the 100 most powerful women in the world, a list filled with heads of state, CEOs and entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and influential entertainers all ranked by dollars, media influence, and overall impact. Eleven black women made the rank of the 2015 list. Check them all out here!

by Ashley Elizabeth

On Easter Sunday’s airing of BET’s Black Girls Rock event, the incomparable Cicely Tyson graced the stage to receive her Legend award and, with the potent combination of simplicity and wisdom that only comes from walking this earth as long as she has, she dropped this gem: "The moment anyone tries to demean or degrade you in any way, you have to know how great you are. No one is going to bother to put you down if you were not a threat to them."

by Anna Gibson

“Black parents almost universally say they talk to their kids about discrimination, and black boys are given “the talk” by the time they’re in middle school: Keep your hands out of your pockets, don’t wear a hooded sweatshirt, your curfew is 9. I don’t care what time your friends have to be home.”

As the recent article “Can Racism be Stopped in the Third Grade?” in New York Magazine quotes, racism is an all too stark reality for black parents and their children. As the widespread spats of police violence against Michael Brown and Tamir Rice would indicate, black children are more likely to be demonized in tragic instances of police violence. They are also often seen as older and more dangerous than their white counterparts. With these realities in mind, how can society address the problem? Closing our eyes to the issue would be detrimental. The Fieldston Lower School is trying to create a dialogue around race that will help children honestly affirm both their differences and similarities to each other.

by Dee Rene
Fifty-seven year old Joe Morrissey, a former Virginia Lawmaker, recently admitted to fathering the son of his 19 year old former assistant Myrna Pride. The relationship hit the fan when authorities realized he became sexually active with Myrna while she was still a minor.

by Dajae Gilliard

Yes, someone’s talking about colorism again. Why? Because it’s still an issue.

The Teeny Weeny Afro (TWA) seems to be the stepchild, twice removed, in the natural hair family. When scrolling down my Pintrest and Tumblr feeds, and reading the latest natural hair articles, I see box braids, buzzed cuts, faux locs, twists, curly afros, and others, but rarely TWAs. When they do make an appearance, they are usually with loose curls—not the 4b/4c texture I’m working with.

Last week, when I took out my faux locs and saw my awkward, 2-inch TWA, I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the sight.

It was too long to leave the house without running a comb through it, but too short to pull back in a ponytail. I knew my hair wouldn’t be long, because I was growing it out from a five-year buzzed cut—but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
Like a many naturalistas, I wanted the coveted Tracy Ellis-Ross hair, but got the Viola Davis, post-wig fro. Even in our self-loving natural hair community, not all textures and lengths receive equal praise.

I looked at my hair, which was neither long, nor loosely curled, and thought about how the Blue Ivy hair police might say I had that slave girl, chicken head, “is it a boy or a girl?” type look.

Except, no other person saying those things at the moment— just me.

Though I claim to be a black feminist culture critic and life-long naturalista who will hashtag #StayWoke until the day I die, even I have to admit I do not always love my naps.

When I wore a buzzed haircut, I would break out the clippers at the first site of a wayward curl. I liked the shaved look, not the nappy one.
It wasn’t the texture that bothered me. I loved the versatility of my hair. But it had to be manipulated and styled. I’ve worn twists, faux locs, and curly afros—but they had to be flexy-rod curly. I wasn’t okay with my not-styled, comb-and-go TWA.

So after taking down my faux locs, I immediately went wig shopping. But I think my natural hair genies were not pleased with the way I viewed my hair, so I didn’t find any wigs I liked.

I then thought about compensating to balance the awkwardness with what I deemed beautiful: I could wear makeup (even though it wasn’t a regular practice of mine), I could wear prettier clothing, I could wear my glasses that gave me a softer appearance.

Without much confidence in those ideas, I opened up my laptop and found this meme on my Facebook timeline:

That internet ignorance reminded me to cut the crap and wake up from the anti-black beauty standards I’d been trying to meet.
I responded to the post, “🚫. And still bombAF.”

I’d been natural my whole life and have been a buzzed cut diva for the last five years. I should know better than anyone that short nappy hair is beautiful.

My natural hair journey has taken me from a buzzed cut to faux locs, and now, to a TWA. And I’m learning to love it at every shape, length, and stage.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Shae Collins is a freelance writer and blogger at Awomynsworth.com, a blog that aims a black feminist lens at all things involving race, gender, and pop culture. Follow her on Twitter @awomynsworth.

by Anna Gibson


A few months after her son’s birth, Starlisha Brim was diagnosed with lupus. The mother of a three year old lives in Detroit, Michigan and studied Broadcasting at Specs Howard School of Media Arts. The 24 year old explains that before she was diagnosed with lupus, she knew something was wrong. “I was like a robot waking up without oil,” she says. “My joints would be so achy I couldn’t extend my arms.”

by Jenn M. Jackson

by Thea Monyee'

I am a mother of black daughters, mourning with mothers of black sons. Recent murders of Black people have affected my everyday interactions.

by Brittany Dawson


Y’all, I’m tired. I’m growing numb to the series of grisly comments by folks online who bark statements like, “Hey! Black people can’t write about White people. That’s racist!” Or ,“If a Black cop shot a White person, that would be racist too!” (Just to name a couple.)

Jeralean Talley celebrated her 116th birthday in her home of Inkster, Michigan on Saturday, May 23.

by Anna Gibson


A recent Buzzfeed video, “Powerful Hair Makeovers that Transforms People's Lives,” showed seven clients, from a variety of racial backgrounds, participating in a hair transformation that would dramatically change the way they looked. They all wanted the transformation for different reasons. Some felt their hair was a burden. Others wanted a change from hairstyles they’d rocked for years. All of them were dissatisfied and simply wanted something new, feeling it would boost their confidence and change the way they showed up in the world.

 by Shonette Reed


The first African-American First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama, has taken on the role of one of the top female role models of the 21st century. She is an advocate for poverty awareness, higher education and healthy living.

by Anna Gibson

After a four week trial, Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo was found not guilty for the 2012 shooting deaths of Malissa Williams, 30, and Timothy Russell, 43. Brelo is white and Williams and Russell were Black.

 by Aisha N. Davis

by Nneka M. Okona


Last week was one where I made a concerted effort to limit my social media usage. I go through these periods every now and then when consuming the never-ending amount of information becomes too much, and I need a reprieve.

by Hilary Christian


In a recent interview, singer Kelly Rowland spoke openly and honestly about the joys of motherhood and marriage. When speaking specifically about how she balances marriage and being a mother, Rowland said she prioritizes her husband over their baby since her husband was in her life first. According to Rowland, parenthood shouldn’t change who people are. She boldly stated, “My priority is my husband first. That’s how the baby got there.”

I didn’t think too much about her comments and was mostly just happy to see black love and marriage being celebrated. However not everyone was thrilled about her declaration as evidenced in the comments sections of a few sites that posted about the cover story. Some flat out disagreed with Rowland and others admonished her for seeming to not prioritize her child stating that she is “crazy” to put a man before her kids and may even be suffering from postpartum depression. The backlash seemed a bit over the top and made me wonder why exactly so many women seem to be uncomfortable with this concept.

The topic of prioritizing the husband over the children first made headlines ten years ago, when writer Ayelet Waldman wrote a New York Times essay declaring that she loved her husband more than she loved her children. Mothers around the world were shocked and Waldman even appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show to defend herself. Many could not understand how she could not prioritize her children since the general belief about motherhood is that the children always come first. One could even argue that since the parents make the choice to have children, it is their responsibility as parents to now make them a priority and raise them until adulthood.

Waldman disagreed, asserting that the relationship between a husband and wife should always be the focal point. Far too often, she believes, once children come into the picture, the marriage takes a backseat. Mothers coddle their children, putting all of their passion and attention into them, leaving nothing for their husbands to come home to at the end of the day. A recent study of more than 5000 unfaithful men found that the majority of men cheated after having children, with many pointing to the lack of attention from their wives as a reason.

Being a divorcee myself, I do not proclaim to be an expert on marriage. My marriage failed for reasons I’ll only discuss over a bottle of a glass of wine. In hindsight I acknowledge that there were times when I focused more attention on our child than on my husband. Although it was not a conscious decision, I would like to believe that had our relationship as husband and wife been stronger (and his penis hadn’t been so wayward), I wouldn’t have put my ex-husband second, and sometimes even last.

Waldman also suggested that some mothers begin to develop unhealthy emotional entanglements with their children which could be detrimental to the child’s emotional development. This occurs often between mothers and their sons, with the mothers treating their sons as they would a spouse. It is fact that children take up a great deal of time, energy, attention and love. But focusing all of your emotional passion on your children can cause you to neglect the very relationship that brought those children into existence.



The notion of a wife putting her husband first is not a new concept. Historically, the traditional role of the husband is the head of the household and provider for his family. In some cultures it is common practice for a woman to submit to her husband, placing his needs above all others, including her own. The onset of the feminist movement in the late 60’s began the shift in views about gender roles as women started to question the need to marry. While feminism has improved the trajectory of women professionally, and allowed us the right to choose what we do with our own bodies (which is still questionable), it seems to have had the opposite effect on male-female relationships and shifted the perceived role of women in marriage.

That is not to assert that feminism is to blame for the breakdown of the institution of marriage. In many ways feminism has helped to redefine traditional roles within the family with some husbands taking on more responsibilities at home. But there seems to be a warped I-can-do-bad-all-by-myself notion of independence that was born out of a misguided—albeit well intentioned—kind of feminism that perhaps did more harm than good. Yes, women are powerful, strong and just as capable as men. We can bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan and so on. Women can do it all.

But do we really want to?

Admitting that we want and desire a committed relationship does not undermine our own independence and accomplishments as women. But being able to have a loving and supportive partner to share in those successes and accomplishments is even nicer.

Juxtaposed to feminism is this so-called “bae” culture, in which men are openly unfaithful, fathering several children by different women, side chicks act like main chicks, main chicks rarely become the wife, and baby mamas are the norm. It’s no wonder the idea of prioritizing a man before your child can seem blasphemous. Many of us have no idea what a healthy marriage looks like. Hearing Kelly Rowland, a successful, independent woman herself, talk passionately about placing her husband before her baby, may make some women uncomfortable because they can’t possibly relate to having the kind of relationship that even allows for that type of love.

So, should the marriage be a priority? I would say yes and there is evidence to support this idea. Your husband isn’t just some man or the latest boo in your life. He’s your partner, and deserves as much love and attention as he can stand. This doesn’t mean that you don’t love your children, it just means you see the importance of cherishing the man who you deemed worthy of being your partner for life. Plus without him, you wouldn’t have those little rugrats in the first place.

A happy and healthy marriage sets the foundation for a happy and healthy family. When children see their parents in a loving, committed relationship they’re given a model of how marriage is supposed to be. It also helps them to be less self-centered if they can realize, at a young age that the world and their parents do not revolve around them.

As with most things in life there should be a balance. Any parent will attest that raising children is hard work and most of us can’t afford nannies and housekeepers to help with the daily tasks of managing a household. However, when the husband and wife equally share in the childrearing and household chores, it frees up more time that can be put toward the relationship, long after the kids are asleep. For instance, Waldman claims her husband cooks, cleans and cares for their children at least 50 percent of the time which probably explains why she is still married, still happy and still stands by the statements she made over a decade ago

For years Essence Magazine has featured love stories of recently engaged and married couples in an effort to celebrate black love and I am here for it. We live in a culture that doesn’t seem to value marriage anymore. But celebrating marriage is a good thing and it doesn’t make us any less the independent feminists we see ourselves as. Hell, even Beyonce shed some of her Independent Woman image after she became Mrs. Carter. Now she sings love songs about their relationship and mutual love for surfboarding, all while being a devoted mother to little Blue Ivy.

There is no denying that the bond between a mother and her child is unbreakable and parents must invest as much as they can into loving, nurturing and providing for their children. But the investment you make in your marriage can also pay dividends. When the day finally comes for your children to leave the home—which is what they are supposed to do—the last thing any couple wants is to stare into the face of their beloved spouse and wonder why in the world they married each other in the first place.

Photo: Shutterstock

Hilary Christian is a freelance writer and fundraiser from Chicago who is a regular contributor to For Harriet, and her work has also been featured in Wild Sister Magazine and Corset Magazine. Check out her blog, follow her at @HilChristian and like her Facebook.

by Quanisha Smith


During a conference I attended recently, I had an interesting interracial dialogue with a White woman. A conference participant mentioned that the presence of a White staff member during the event and more intimate group meetings bothered her and a few other people. She discussed the importance of having spaces sans White folks. While the event attendees were predominately Black, the conference was not a space dedicated solely for Black women. I shared the participant’s concern with my White colleague, to which she replied, “It sounds like insecurity to me.” My colleague is an ally and fully supports the event’s mission but in this instance her thinking showed otherwise. She unintentionally perpetuated racism, while consciously thinking she was helping to uplift Black women.

This semester, I was part of a course that focused on radical women in social movements. We studied the Black Power Movement, the Black Panther Party (BPP), and the involvement of women during this time.

by Raisa Habersham

by Altheria Gaston


The first time I heard of HIV/AIDS was in 1988 as an 8th grade student. All the 8th graders had been summoned to the auditorium for “the talk.” I remember leaving the auditorium with the impression that HIV/AIDS was a gay men’s disease. Never would I have imagined that in 25 years, Black women would lead HIV/AIDS statistics.

by Anna Gibson

I sat in my favorite downtown Atlanta eatery reading the local weekly, Creative Loafing, looking to catch up on some current events. In it was a piece written by Quiana Shields arguing that the federal minimum wage needed to be raised from $7.25 to $15.

May 19th marks what would have been the birthday of the legendary playwright Lorraine Hansberry, known best as the first black woman to have a play on Broadway. That her enduring legacy serves as continuing inspiration to those of us “young, gifted, and black” is made all the more remarkable by the fact that her life was cut tragically short due to cancer at age 34 in 1965.

by Kesiena Boom


Disney’s record on racism is less than stellar, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be improving anytime soon with the furor surrounding the company’s announcement that a new film, The Princess of North Sudan, is in development. Last Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Stephany Folsom, a well respected screenwriter would be on board to pen the movie, which also boasts Super Size Me’s Morgan Spurlock as a producer. Following the announcement, Black Twitter got its claws out to shine a light on the awfulness of the film’s premise.

by Altheria Gaston

by C. Imani Williams


Last week, WNBA stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson were married. The celebrity couple had been in the news two weeks prior when they were both arrested on assault charges following a physical altercation between the two at their Arizona home. As various professional sports associations crack down on domestic violence, it was confirmed on Friday, May 15, 2015 that both women will be suspended for record number of seven games during the upcoming WNBA season.

by Brittany Dawson

by Inda Lauryn

by Gina Torres


My journey to becoming an Unapologetic Black Girl began with my upbringing. I was born in the late 1960’s to Black parents who were grew up in the northern United States. It was towards the end of the the Civil Rights Movement. I drank in “Black Power!” and “Black is Beautiful!” with my mother’s milk; I threw up the Black Power fist before I could speak. I believed it. I believed my mother’s creamy brown skin was beautiful (it still is). I believed my own beige skin was beautiful, because I was taught shades all across the spectrum of Blackness were—and are—beautiful.

by Kadijah Ndoye​


Trigger warning: Discussions of sexual abuse and violence

It was the beginning of my freshman year of high school and I attended my first high school party. I remember being so excited on the car ride to the party and being so elated on the way back. That same night my mom had invited my half-sister to spend the night. I went home to my bed and slipped into my pajamas. My half-sister was home when I arrived and we laid in my bed as I gossiped about the cute guys I danced with at the party and tried to remember all the new songs I had heard.

Shanesha Taylor was sentenced to 18 years probation after pleading guilty to child abuse. Her story gained national attention when a passerby reported crying coming from an SUV at a Salvation Army parking lot in Scottsdale, AZ.

Notable civil rights leader Diane Nash celebrates her 77th birthday today. Here are ten things to know about her iconic legacy.

1. Diane Nash was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). 
2. Nash briefly attended Howard University and became active in the civil rights movement when she transferred to Fisk University in 1959 and experienced the Jim Crow South firsthand.
3. She was inspired by the Friendship Nine, nine Black men that were arrested in Rock Hill, SC, for sitting at a whites-only lunch counter, and became leader of sit-ins in Nashville, TN. 
4. Nash was featured in PBS’s MAKERS, a six part documentary highlighting women’s role in shaping the country in the last 150 years.
5. She was portrayed by Tessa Thompson in Ava DuVernay’s Selma. Although the film centered on Martin Luther King, Jr., “Nash was the reason he was there in the first place.”
6. Her large role in organizing the Freedom Riders played an important part in getting Martin Luther King, Jr. to Montgomery, Alabama to support the Freedom Riders movement.  
7. Nash married fellow protester James Bevel whom she met at a Nashville sit-in. They had two children, Sherri and Douglass.  
8. While protesting, Nash was arrested several times. During her first pregnancy, she was sentenced to two years and half years in prison for teaching students nonviolent strategies. 
9. She returned to her hometown of Chicago to support and lead advocacy work in education, real estate, and fair housing. Nash received an honorary degree from Fisk University in 2009. 
10. Nash refused to march at the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches earlier this year. Former president George W. Bush attended the commemorative event and Nash chose not to participate in the march.   

Happy Birthday Diane Nash!

Photo credit: WKOW
Joneka Percentie is a rising junior studying Mass Media Communications, Africana Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies at UNC Charlotte. When she’s not blogging with SPARK Movement, or tweeting @jpercentie, she enjoys singing, reading, and sleeping. Email her at joneka.percentie@forharriet.com

by Kadon Douglas

by Michelle Y. Talbert

by Kimberly Denise Williams

Hollywood’s issue with diversity is well documented—from its employment practices to the final images we see on screen. Even more, when we see black images taking center stage, they are often pre-Civil Rights Movement roles showcasing us as slaves or servants. There seems to be two strains of thought on why this is the case, and they are not mutually exclusive. For one, few people will argue against the blatant racism that existed then in comparison to the more complicated portrayals that could be included in a movie portraying the struggles Black people face today. Thus, it is easier to show racial tensions prior to the 1960s. Additionally, it is also easier for mainstream audiences to see Black people in subservient roles. This imbalance in portrayals has caused many to argue for more films focusing on contemporary representation of Black lives, and to dismiss the onslaught of movies—often greatly written, directed and acted—that focus on slaves and servants.

by Nneka M. Okona

Growing up, the world was a vast, looming place full of feelings and emotions. And there was most definitely something wrong with me, unequivocally, undoubtedly, because I felt them all—the highs, the lows, and the in-betweens—intensely. It was too much. And I must have been too much, too, since I experienced them all and no one else seemed to.

I remember identifying with these truths at a young age, maybe when I was four or five years old. Being me, as a little Black girl, meant intuitively detecting the moods of a person before they even spoke, and often taking on these feelings as my own. It meant feeling the energy of places, people, things, and being burdened with that energy if it was heavy. It meant feeling overwhelmed to an extreme degree by loud noises—yelling, sirens, car accidents, helicopters, TVs turned up too loud—and crouching whenever I encountered with these things. It meant being pummeled by the hurtful actions and behavior of others, feeling devastatingly wounded and  taking a long time to journey past those hurt feelings.

It also meant, as a little Black girl, learning very quickly that displaying too much emotion or being openly forlorn and vulnerable was frowned upon. Because if I showed any sign that I was hurt, I was indeed a weak person. And I had to be strong, at all costs.

My means of survival for most of my life meant suppressing the intensity of what I was feeling and how those emotions affected me, as I processed them and assigned meaning to them. It was easier to act stoic, cold, and unmoved—robotic even—rather than to admit at any moment, in every moment, I was chronically overwhelmed, overstimulated, and didn’t know how to function. How in any moment, in every moment, I wanted to cry because there was so much I felt and didn’t have a proper channel to release it all or a safe space to be understood.

This stifling of my emotions ultimately became destructive, of course. I channeled all I was feeling and experiencing into a profound degree of rage. A rage so icy and fierce it annihilated those who came into contact with it. I was emotionally reactive and out of control. It was almost like trying to keep a lid screwed tight on a Mason jar, but the contents kept overflowing.

I couldn’t contain myself.

But it was exhausting and embarrassing to deal with the aftermath each time. Eventually, I wanted something different. I wanted to be able to communicate my emotions and feelings in a healthy way before they spiraled out. I wanted to make sense of what I was feeling.



I began to do this through tending to my spiritual life and refining my spiritual practice. I started seeing a spiritual director in the fall of 2010. After a few visits and talks with my spiritual director, she, out of the blue, recommended a book to me. It was Elaine Aron’s book, The Highly Sensitive Person.

I devoured the first chapter while crying. Reading through the pages was like reading my life story, and I finally felt validated and sane. I was not some crazy person who was difficult to love or understand. I was not “too emotional” and “too sensitive” as I had heard from numerous people for as long as I could remember. There was a particular way I experienced the world, a way that was vastly different from how many others did. It didn’t make me abnormal, faulty, or “too much”. It just made me different: a woman who is empathic and highly sensitive.

I am an empathic and highly sensitive Black woman, and as such, there are some truths to be accepted. The mere fact of our existence, our humanity, precedes us, despite how our countenance may manifest. We are supposed to uphold our families and friends, without question. We are called upon to be a reservoir of strength for everyone we come into contact with.

This is unrealistic, limiting, and tiring.

We, as Black women, have to know it’s okay to feel, to go into the depths of our spirits and truly experience our emotions, especially for us who are empaths. We have to discard the notion that we are faulty if we cry, or if our feelings are hurt, or if we can’t keep it together. Life—and shit in general—is hard. This doesn’t make us weak. This doesn’t make us less than. It makes us human.

Knowing these things and adopting them as core beliefs while demystifying the harmful “strong Black woman” trope is pivotal during this time when we are all trying to find our place and space within the #BlackLivesMatter movement—especially for us empaths.

A radical degree of self-care is needed to cling to my self-preservation. Setting boundaries; teaching others how to treat me; taking the necessary time to myself to rejuvenate and recharge; listening and nourishing my spirit; following my bliss and meditating help to keep me centered and remain closest to my truest self.

Limiting the amount of violent and dramatic imaging I take in—whether through social media or television—is equally important. Constantly absorbing these things, as an empath, can be detrimental to my mental and emotional health.

Another key aspect of being an empath is being able to keenly identify when what I am feeling is my own feelings vs. the feelings of others I have inadvertently taken on. This takes mindfulness and meditation to better discern between the two. I also started to use shielding as a practice, per advice from my therapist who suggested doing so.

I’ve realized who I am—an empathic and highly sensitive Black woman—is beautiful simply because I’m being my authentic self. I am a gift to the world. By insisting to be who I am with no reservations I encourage others—those who are empaths and those who are not—to do the same.

It’s about me, but it’s also not about me. It’s the ripple effect of dropping that tiny pebble into a pond and watching the ripples stretch farther and farther away from me. And by doing so, hoping, trusting, inspiring, and counting on others to reach within themselves and do the same.

Photo: Shutterstock

Nneka M. Okona is a writer based in Washington, DC. Visit her blog, www.afrosypaella.com, her website, about.me/nnekaokona or follow her tweets, @NisforNneka.