Black Mommy Activist, PhD🎙
@kayewhitehead
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Dir @KarsonInstitute /Radio Host: Today With Dr. Kaye, @WEAA/College Prof/Vernon Jarrett Medal/Author/Reg Murrow Winner/retweets are not always an endorsement
Joined July 2011
Full Professor: here is a lil of my story: I am the 4th BW to become a Full professor in my university’s 170 year history! All 4 of us work here now; none over 55. 13 yrs ago, I started as the first Black person in my dept. 13 yrs later, I am the only Black person in my dept 1/5
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My dads friend died 2.5 weeks ago. I begged him not to go to the funeral. (underlining conditions). I even told my mom to hide his keys. I was so frantic about it that he didn’t go.-50 people attended .-27 have tested COVID positive .-6 are in the hospital.-4 have died.I. Cannot.
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One of the best decisions that I made when my sons went to a college was that I got a family LYFT acc’t. I told them that it’s for them: when in doubt, use it. just get home safe. I’ll pay it w/ no q’s asked. Last night at 3a, my son sent a text thanking me Agin for the service❣️.
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If we were old enough to pick cotton.And they were old enough to attend Klan rallies.Then everybody is old enough to learn all about both of these American histories .#AmericanHistory
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You don’t know what fear is until you give your Black son the keys to his first car and he says —tell me again what to do when the cops stop me so that they don’t shoot me.
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My dad is a fighter.A Vietnam War-era vet.A CRM activist.A Bishop.A Pastor.He is not afraid of Covid BUT.He has diabetes, high blood pressure, is a prostate cancer survivor, and had quad bypass heart surgery.I told him Beating Covid is Not about being brave it’s about being smart.
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Sending out thoughts and prayers to the family and daughter of my Soror #RobinSimpson of Houston. She was stabbed over 100 times by her husband, who cut the heart out of her chest and the brain out of her skull in front of her 8-year old daughter while the police were standing
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If you really believe Black and Brown Lives Matter then:.1. Make WDC a state.2. Make Puerto Rico a state.Pass it on.
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Yesterday we attended the funeral for one of my husbands former students & today we’re at the wedding of one of his former students…he was asked to speak at the funeral AND he is officiating the wedding. To say that he has had an impact on the lives of these young people is an
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I just read that ending a sentence with an “Ellipsis” is a total GenX thing because we are used to just trailing off because no one is listening and I just….
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I will add that the hardest part was the Not asking questions part, which means that when the @lyft driver calls me at 3a, I gotta reroute the call to my son and then step out of the way. Or when I see the receipt that shows a 5:17a ride, I gotta just close my eyes and pay it 😂.
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From 02-06, I taught 6th-8th grades at one of the most persistently dangerous mid schools in Baltimore. Every day I said “Good morning geniuses” My principal said they weren’t geniuses. I said they would be when I finished teaching them. Yesterday one of them tracked my down 🥹
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My son has a friend who told him that he was bullied at school last year .He loves virtual school.He is talking in class.He feels seen by the teacher.He FEELS safe .Parents this is probably a good time to check on your child. Virtual school for some is leveling the field.
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Y’all Im not a hero.I don’t have foresight.I have no suggestions on how we can get our parents to listen .My father heard me BUT he made the decision.- I am just a scared daughter and mother and wife who is running around, like you, trying to do what I can to keep my family safe.
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First time I’ve been in a place in a long time where I’m the ONLY one in a mask and let me just add that quite a few people stared at me so long that I felt uncomfortable . So if you’re still masking up with me: Send me some love.
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My gift to you on this fine Saturday morning 😂😂
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I think all parents can understand why I’m up crying right now .After 14 years of school.Countless hours of practice .Nights spent praying for him .And yesterday my baby boy got into his 1st Choice AND will be a D1 Foil Fencer in college!!! .#TeamAmir .Check out his #BlackBoyJoy
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Saying her name as my heart breaks for her family: Anndel Taylor, 22, passed away in her car after being trapped by Buffalo blizzard while driving home from work. She was a student nurse. She was finally found after 18 hours. 1/2
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The most disrespected person in America, is the black woman. The most un-protected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America, is the black woman. Malcolm X, 22 May 1962, LA, Cali, USA.
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The face you make when you walking thru the Valley of the Shadow of Death and you fear no evil
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Today I was doing a 7-mile run over on 33rd street and I came upon a man on a bike seeming to harass a fellow jogger. She was running and he was riding along beside him. I heard her say (loudly) “I’m running here. I don’t want it talk.” But he wouldn’t stop. Now I don’t run
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This weekend, I realized that I am truly #MyMothersTomorrow. In 1962, when my mom was 16, she worked as the Nanny for University of South Carolina Pres Tom Jones. She had to change in the Slave Quarters (she cldnt wear her “street” clothes in the house) And she cld only enter
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I tell my youngest to pick me up at 12:30: he arrives by 12p w/ my medicine ball tea, a heated car, and time to spare . I tell my oldest 12:30: he arrives sometime after 1p w/ stories of alien abductions, blizzards, polar bears & unicorns doing everything they can to stop him
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This reality makes me pray and cry; practice social distancing and breathe deeply.It simply makes me stop .And then I slowly get back up and try hard to throw my back to the wind and begin my day again.
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As of this morning, I know 20 people who have Covid19 and are really suffering: all triple vaxxed and over 40 (two are over 75). My mask is firmly back and in place because I have gotten way too comfortable
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At this point I am not ready to take off my mask anytime soon - why do I feel like I’m the only one? If you’re with me - send me some love cuz we are a dwindling group.
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I wrote & posted this on 3.22.20.Someone I Love Will Get Coronavirus-. Everyday I wake up .I sit quietly on the side of my bed .Take a few long deep breaths.I listen my body . I work to still the rising tide of anxiety.And I remind myself that I am still here.1/4.
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Meanwhile in New Zealand’s Parliament - here is what it looks like to push back and stand tall and I am here for ALL of it. New Zealand’s parliament was briefly suspended on Thursday after Te Pati Maori MPs staged a haka (a traditional Maori dance made famous by New
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Every👏🏿 Single 👏🏿 Woman 👏🏿 who has ever been mansplained .manterrupted .manbothered .manirritated .manannoyed. felt that "thank you for describing the legal process" deep down in the center of her soul. #VPDebate2024.
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Y’all my boy is done: I started this journey as the #BlackMommyActivist 22 years ago on the day this baby was born. Since then Ive prayed, cajoled, pulled, dragged, cheered, & cried to get us here and Here We Are. My brilliant sonshine in whom I am well pleased. @RhodesCollege
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I’m starting to get quite a few emails from white women who married Black men who now have biracial middle school children who are experiencing racism and they don’t know what to do since they taught their biracial children to be colorblind - seriously girl What?.
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Meanwhile here in #Baltimore .-a little brilliance in motion w/ a special shout out to the baby Ernest Dickerson going hard with the camera!.(H/T Annette Snyder)
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someone that I loved; .someone that I went to school w/; .someone in my sorority;.someone from my church;.someone that I once dated; .someone I work with;.someone who goes to school w/ my sons;.someone my husband knows or went to school with or once dated;.someone in my family 3/.
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This is the type of pure joy that I aspire to have one day. I remember when Sister Tracy Chapman walked away from the spotlight (the foolishness, the BS, the evilness) back in 2009. I remember that I was upset because I wanted her to tour. I wanted her to be out there. I
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I walk slowly through the house.Checking on my loved ones.I sit in the living room on the couch.I slowly begin to go through my DMs and TL.I have resigned myself to the fact.That the next person I read who has coronavirus will be someone that I know; .2/4.
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So in honor of my mom I spoke Out Loud in a place where she was silenced. I took up space in a place where she was made to feel small AND then we walked those grounds And I listened as she talked thru and exorcised those racial demon bastard memories. 3/3.(To preorder: my.
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#ElijahMcClain’s last words .He was 23 years old.Walking home .Stopped by cops.He was crying & begging for his life .He told them he was sorry.The cops held him down while paramedics injected him w/ ketamine.They have all been indicted but it is not enough. It just not enough
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My Nana once told me that when you turn the corner toward middle age, you need to stand in front of the mirror, naked, and tell your body thank you for carrying you, for keeping you, for keeping up with you. She said go ahead and give thanks for the stretch marks, the wrinkles,
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The Door of No Return.Goree Island, Dakar Senegal .I was in my early 20s when I visited trying to understand my life .The tide was low so I stepped out on the sand & rocks. I touched the edges of the water & cldnt move.I thought about being chained; forced to walk on a plank out
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198 years after Thomas Jefferson (enslaver, rapist, sadist, white supremacist, and the first person who probably yelled “All Lives Matter”) died, His sixth great grandson (a descendant of Sally Hemings, a child who was raped and owned by Jefferson and who was the half-sister to
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#SayHerName.Today #SandraBland should have been celebrating her birthday. Her dreams mattered. She was an activist, a sister, a daughter, and a friend. She was at the beginning of a new adventure. Her life mattered. Her voice mattered. #SayHerName
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4/99: 1st date: nervous,excited,happy .Bro grabbed my hand & asked, w/ a smile: Do you want to grow old with me?.My heart skipped a beat. I stopped breathing for a moment. Then I exhaled & said, Bet, let’s do it 😂.6 mths later, we did .And y’all we still outchere doing it &
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Ya’ll At my sons fencing match: I spoke to one of his white teammates who looked me dead in the face & ignored me.My son fenced him next, absolutely destroyed him & then quietly said: “In my world, you come for Black women, you come for me”.The Only other black kid walked over:
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When she left the job, at the age of 20, she left thru the back door AND never returned UNTIL this weekend when her daughter, who studies race & racism and speaks truth to white assumed power, was the Keynote at the 50th anniversary of the WGST studies dept. 2/3
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Roughly 840,000 full time professors in this county .Only 33% of the Associate Professors are Black women.ONLY 3% of the Full Professors are Black women. —And now me .Another moment that I wish my Nana was alive to dance with me
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For this of you who arrogantly say “We are not our ancestors” as you are “marching” while sipping a chai latte - I just checked your TimeLine, you’re right, you’re not. Our ancestors #1: Gloria Richardson Dandridge: OG freedom warrior. 7/21/63 21 walking from a mtg when her
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I can’t be the only Black momma who wanted to move her sons out of this country just to keep them safe….
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I opened the envelope & cried: this is the ONLY pic of me & mom when I was a baby. She’s kept it for me all these years, said when it’s time she’d send it. Im now an #EmptyNester & she said it’s time becuz I need the reminder that we raise our kids to send them out to the world
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Happy Mother’s Day: my gift to myself .Y’all some people will never understand what it takes to raise our sons and bring them on through, time and time again. To God be the glory, great things He has done. *This is my favorite pic of the day
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Every year for the past 24 years my Mom gets on the phone with me and helps me to make the Mac&Cheese.I start calling her when I’m in the grocery store.I call her when I start boiling the Mac.I call her when I start adding the cheese.I call her when I put it in the oven & when I
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Reminder: the FIRST person to die for America's Freedom was a BLACK MAN (there is so much irony in this truth). He was a middle-aged sailor and rope-maker: his father was enslaved and his mother was a member of Wampanoag tribe. At the age of 27, he freed himself. In a newspaper
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Everytime I see a pic of Prince Harry being all happy and normal and his big bro and SIL looking all weathered and bitter all I can think is that Megan Markle is the real queen in this story and long may she live.
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So this week, an older white woman who we know tangentially walked up to my youngest, grabbed his hair & shared how she didn’t like his Locks and babeee it was like Sojourner Truth was elbowing me in one rib and Ida B Wells was elbowing me in other cuz I just…
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There is no caption.There are no words.I get that it’s chocolate but this is indicative of a deep rooted sickness .I am so nauseated right now
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I only bring them out once a year, always on the same day. You can’t touch this kind of pain every day. ******.We Were Not Supposed to Survive. Back in the day, I used to work for Camille Cosby’s company and when she closed her DC office, I was allowed to pick a few things
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I taught her Social Studies from 6th-8th grade and it brings me so much joy (and humbles me) to know that 20 years later - she remembers me and all those years ago, she heard me when I told them that they were geniuses and that they are the ones we have been waiting for .2/2
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Perimenopause: . I just feel tired and sad and bloated and useless like all the time AND I was always a happy person 🤦🏾♀️.I asked my Mom why didn’t she tell me and she said women don’t talk about these things. Y’all we do and we are because NO More Secrets about Our Bodies!.
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GenX still the best generation ever . Dr. Dre is 56 .Mary J. Blige: 51 . Snoop: 50 .Eminem: 49 . 50 Cent: 46 .They rapped, they crip walked, they danced; the blackness, the West Coast vibe, 50 in the ceiling, Mary on the floor, they didnt get paid, and the white guy took a knee.
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Folks I have deleted the tweet about 15-year-old Aiyanna Robinson. She Has Been FOUND!! Sending a note of thanks to our beautiful supportive village for amplifying the tweet and praying for this family. She is.Home!!.#Baltimore.#DMV #HelpUsFindUs
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This post is only for people who have struggled with their weight. On Saturday I took a big step and donated 1/2 of my Size 16/18 clothes and I went shopping to buy one pair of pants. I grabbed a size 14: too big and then a 12, 10, 8 and finally a 6. I bought a size six and
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OR now that I have been corrected:.1. Make WDC a state .2. Liberate Puerto Rico, give them reparations, and let them decide .Also we gotta talk about granting self determination to everyone: Guam, the US Virgin Islands, the Navajo Nation.Let’s just do it all now.
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Once again for the people in the white section: Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic movement of civil-rights scholars & activists who critically examine the law as it intersects with issues of race & challenges mainstream liberal approaches to racial justice.
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If shea butter, washing your hands, drinking your water, Black not cracking, and minding your business was a whole person . Tracy Chapman is just pure genius, talent, and brilliance .Clip credit: @Becauseofthem
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Love going off topic for this - it took forever but my son finally fenced another D1 Black foil fencer
@kayewhitehead Completely off topic, I love that your son fences! My nephew fences and I rarely see us at matches. Back on topic, 🤬.
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Sunday night, somebody I love took his own life, leaving behind a spouse and children. Yall this is tearful reminder that we need to check on the people that we love. We need to talk to them. We need to listen to what they say And what they mean. We need to keep our eyes open to
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Other than me, is anyone else going to continue to wear a mask in crowded places and stores for just another minute or so?. (If not pls tell me why).
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A gazillion years ago, when the boys were little, I told them that one day, when we could, we go abroad and see the world. We would have adventures, expand our world view, eat good food, and experience another culture. I held that dream in my heart, through our ups and downs and
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Unc looking like he drives a pick up, is an school Que dawg, keeps a pocketful of change, can see straight through you, and today he ain’t playing with nobody’s kids
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My son: Who would you be if you weren’t my Mom?.Me: Rich, skinny, and living in Paris.
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#911 20 yrs ago, my hubs & I woke up late, arguing about whose day it was to stay home to meet our Nanny. It took so long & got so heated that when he left, he yelled out that he was too late for his 8a breakfast meeting. Y’all we lived in NY.His missed mtg was at the North Tower.
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Y’all!!!!!! They just gave out the medals and I won my age group!!!!!!. That sound you just heard is me screaming from joy down at the Baltimore Harbor!!!!!!! Can’t nobody tell me nothing right now
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Do you know what today is? It’s our Anniversary .So here’s our 24-year abbreviated love story .1. 26 years ago an actor met a film director in NY & he thought she was a little crazy .2. 24 years ago, the actor fell in love with the director even tho she thought he was a little
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I remember getting chicken pox as a child (4 kids & we all got it) - I had chickenpox in my ears and in the back of my throat - the Doc said it was because I would scratch and suck my thumb. I Was Miserable. Now there’s a vaccine for it -but I remember. Anybody else had the pox?.
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Perimenopause 2:.In my office I have a fan on my face & heater on my feet.I don’t eat but I’m gaining weight.I’m happy then crying then angry.I lather in lotion but my skin itches.I’m indecisive .MY HUBS DOESNT GET IT.I’m telling my sons, they need to know too #NoMoSecrets.
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One lives in GA.The other just got back from seeing the world.One is working on his MBA.The other is studying for the LSAT.I miss the babies they used to be.I am excited about the men they are becoming.Every day I look at a pic of them as a reminder of why I fight so hard .and
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Y’all I MADE the Front Cover of @baltimoresun above the fold!!!! These are the days when I wish my Nana was here so that I could share this with her. #KarsonInstitute #RaceWorkMatters
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She sent her family this final video from inside the car.They are now reporting that it was due to carbon monoxide poisoning. She kept the car running to stay warm And the snow eventually covered the exhaust pipe!
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I spent 10 days in Europe with my family .No insomnia.No stress .No worry.No sadness.No anxiety .No tears .No second guessing myself . I need to seriously evaluate my life choices as I am losing years off of my life with the constant hustle and bustle
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Here is a quick thread of why a remake of #TheBodyguard will NOT work:. 1. Whitney Houston . That’s it. That’s the entire thread.
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Update (because folks wanted to know how I responded): I did everything but throw hands. My son is a grown young man but don’t touch my sons and esp Don’t TOUCH our hair. We are not specimens. We are free and thus we are Our ancestors wildest dreams and we are Your ancestors
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Today hubs and I are going to the funeral of one of his childhood friends: 59 years old with 2 amazing sons; 1 beautiful granddaughter; still had his mother, brother, and family members. ***He shot himself in the head*** .It is going to be a heavy day .Yall we gotta check on
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I want us to stop for a moment and recognize that our nurses in the midst of a pandemic are protesting for Personal Protective Equipment .Not a raise.Not more Vaca time.Not fewer hours.BUT PPEs —-this is disgusting and right now #ThisIsAmerica.
Nurses outside the Kaiser Oakland hospital are singing “we need PPE [personal protective equipment]” right now in protest of shortages and rules limiting protective masks they can wear. #coronavirus #COVID19
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It took months of work .They had to buy new phones & figure them out .And then they had to be in the mood to be “seen”.But finally - after 5 months, I saw my parents on FaceTime .I cried because They are still here .They are still happy.And TODAY they celebrate 52 Yrs of marriage
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My oldest son: Mom I’m staying in Memphis this summer just so that I can work and take classes. Also, and this is totally unrelated, M— and I are dating and she really wants to meet you because she is a Big Fan of your work. Me:
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50+ years later: today with tears in my eyes, my mom and I recreated our 1st pic. It was outside of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Lexington, SC. My mother’s arms are the one place that I call home. I feel safe, protected, loved. She is my North Star & whenever I get lost, I
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P3 I'm just gonna keep tagging everybody/place who can help support and amplify some #BlackBoyJoy! We need MORE videos where our children are celebrating their successes! .#CollegeBound #D1FoilFencer .@VanJones68 @CNN @MLBBOrioles.
I think all parents can understand why I’m up crying right now .After 14 years of school.Countless hours of practice .Nights spent praying for him .And yesterday my baby boy got into his 1st Choice AND will be a D1 Foil Fencer in college!!! .#TeamAmir .Check out his #BlackBoyJoy
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Hey Black folk: .Happy Juneteenth Nat’l Independence Day.Happy Jubilee Day.Happy Emancipation Day.Happy Freedom Day.Happy Black Texas Independence Day.Happy shop from Black Stores & watch Black movies Day.Happy grease your scalp & lay in the sun day .Happy drink your water & mind.
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Research shows that Black students who are exposed to Black teachers by third grade are 13% more likely to enroll in college. It’s called the role-model effect. ****.Y’all this is my husband .The principal.Hanging out with his students at their Jr/Sr Banquet. All but one of them
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My student sent a text apologizing for not uploading their paper. I called, turns out their dad has been furloughed and they didnt know how to get free internet. My heart was so moved as I tried to listen and help without weeping. Y’all Our students areNot ok. We areNot ok.
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Is there a line in the sand? .Florida: Ajike Owens’ kids were playing in a field near an apt complex when a white woman yelled racial slurs at them & said get off her land. They left their iPad and when they came back to get it, she threw it at them and hit one of the kids.
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