I was featured with my femme fam, brASS burlesque, in Prism Reports’ series: Sex Positivity and the Arts. Shout out to TIna Vasquez for including us in this dope series. Check out my convo with Tina and fierce af queer femme sexuality experts, Dr. Bianca Laureano and Dr. Sam Schalk!
Read MoreSpring is in full effect here in California, the sun is shining and everyone is antsy to be outside. But at least here in Los Angeles, the parks and beaches and trails are closed for good reason…cause, um, it’s a global fuckin’ pandemic and a lot of people don’t seem to grasp the concept of social distancing. Nonetheless I’m truly missing my mountain meditations, Sunday beach swims and sunsets, and hikes with homies. Nature is how I keep myself grounded, connected and calm. It’s how I reset myself at the end of a long day or long week. Now I have to find other ways to find that peace.
Read MoreExcited to share my first piece for LAist featuring Los Angeles native and local healing artist, Rocio Navarro. She guides women and nonbinary people through meditations and sound baths in water to activate various forms of healing. In this story, I share her story about learning to use water as a modality and learned the myriads way she’s worked with individuals and families to help improve womb health or shift ancestral patterns.. I also share my water healing experience with her in the Los Angeles Forest. Check out the full story here!
Read MoreHappy to share two new stories I wrote about Los Angeles, the city where I lay my head and go to the beach most often. My latest article for KCET (PBS SoCal) focuses on Jazmin Urrea, one of 15 local artists featured in the Current: LA arts triennial. She created an epic structure using Flamin’ Hot Cheetos as a commentary on the ubiquity of unhealthy, chemically laden food in communities of color. It’s on display until November 3!
For The Daily Beast, I put my cannabis connoisseur cap on and covered the country’s first cannabis cafe, Lowell Farms. The food was delicious, the vibes were chill and the herb was fantastic. If you want to visit, check the article for important pro tips!
Read MoreI’m really excited for my first piece in Teen Vogue to feature the critical and beautiful reproductive justice work happening in Tulsa. Young people who are expecting or parenting are able to get support in school to help them be better parents and better students. The programs there acknowledge youth as sexual beings offering factual information that they often don’t get in schools or friends or the internet. Below is an excerpt, click through to read the full piece!
Read MoreInside the halls of Tulsa’s Nathan Hale High School, pregnant and expectant youth gathered with a counselor to learn safe sleeping tips for their babies on the way. They’d already had in-depth and vulnerable conversations about what to expect during labor and delivery, how to deal with incessant crying, and at what age babies could start eating solid food.
The young people were part of the city’s Strong Tomorrows initiative, which supports expectant and parenting teens through high school graduation, career and college readiness, subsequent pregnancy counseling, quality child care, and parent-engagement workshops. In Oklahoma, the state with the third highestteen-pregnancy rate in the country, advocates and educators in Tulsa have found a balance that has not only lowered teen birth rates in the county but respects young people who do get pregnant. The “purple” city in the deeply conservative “red” state of Oklahoma has managed to reduce teen pregnancy, in keeping with national trends, but it’s also empowering expectant and parenting youth.
It was a joy and pleasure to create this photo essay about burlesque for Wear Your Voice’s #BodyPositivityinColor series. Grateful to work with the incredible beauty photographer Nathalie Gordon, and to have Egypt Black Knyle, Seraphina Wilder, Loretta E. and Caramel Knowledge be a part of this project. Check out the full post here!
Burlesque is our legacy as Black and Brown folks. Its roots are in social and political commentary and it continues to be a rejection of what is considered “respectable.” Since its inception, burlesque has been about challenging the mores of the day and often the restrictions that are put on our bodies and sexual expression based on gender and race. It encourages free sexual expression and celebrates our bodies in all of their forms…not just white American “beauty” aesthetics. Women of color especially have used this art form for over a century to make political statements, challenge racial stereotypes, parody the bullshit we deal with on a daily basis, and be as sexy and glamorous as we wanna be.
Read MoreLast November I visited Tulsa, Oklahoma for the first time: the home of Black Wall Street. I didn’t know much about it except that it was a center of African-American wealth and that it was destroyed by racism. But as a part of the Breakout convening, I got to dive deep into the history and met some incredible Black artists who are reviving the legacy of Black Wall Street. My latest piece for The Root shares these stories. Excerpt below!
At the turn of the 20th century, the thriving neighborhood of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street, in Tulsa, Okla., was an epicenter of black wealth in the United States. From 1905 to 1921, it was a flourishing community filled with black families who owned businesses, homes, newspapers and churches.
It was also the site of the Black Wall Street Massacre where a white mob burned, bombed and destroyed the entire neighborhood after a white woman alleged that a black man sexually assaulted her. The murderous spree killed between 100 and 300 residents, made 8,000 homeless, and left an indelible mark on the city of Tulsa for generations.
Nearly 100 years later, as the city is reconciling its racist past through renaming and reconstruction (or perhaps gentrification), black artists are coming together to claim space, tell untold stories, and revive Tulsa’s legacy of black excellence.
(click the title for the full story!)
Read MoreNote: I wrote this post a couple of years ago after my first visit to the Integratron, a special place near Joshua Tree known for its powerful sound bowl meditations and healing. I’m planning another trip for 2019 and revisiting the magic here! It’s closed for the holidays but get on top of their calendar because the dates book up fast!
Sometimes you just need to get your chakras aligned and clear out some energy, right? Well if you’re in Southern California and can’t make it to Sedona, you can get some proper energy vortex action at the Integratron in the Yucca Valley. Visitors flock here to experience the hour long healing sound bath which the site accurately calls “kindergarten naptime for adults.”
Read MoreOh hey that’s me! Much love to Sid and the team at Voyage LA for featuring me as one of Los Angeles’s inspiring stories. It was quite fun to reflect back on the beginning of my career to see what I’ve learned and how far I’ve come. The growth and lessons are ongoing and I’m grateful to be recognized in my new home. Check out the link to learn more about my journey as a multi-hyphenate writer, dancer, publicist and boss lady!
Read MoreOne thing I enjoy about travel is random conversations with strangers on planes, in taxis or Lyft rides, or on public transit. A lot of people despise this but often I interact with folks I might never engage with and see it as a learning opportunity. It’s Trump’s America so it’s really a crapshoot these days who you will chat with and these encounters challenge my preconceived ideas about people.
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