Efflorescent Memoirs

When the beat dropped, the entire crowd erupted into an uproar. I don’t know exactly what it was … maybe it was because we were in the heart of Brooklyn but even those of us who weren't natives of the “thoroughest borough" felt a sense of pride as we stood there, screaming every lyric to "My Jamaican Guy", a song her mother sings on, even though her Pentecostal father completely disassociated himself from her so that he could gain status as bishop in the church. We can definitely thank LL Cool J for his sampling of the beat. It always resurrects the spirit of a New York City summer … the good old days of 1995, when you could cop a bag of red Doritos, a quarter-water, sunflower seeds, and a pack of winter fresh all for a dollar from Papi at the corner store.
I heard someone behind me say, “She’s like sixty-something!” And I couldn’t believe it. I Googled it. Sixty-seven to be exact. Sixty-seven, rolling around the stage with her entire rump and bumps out. Excuse my vu…

We are all here for a reason on a particular path
You don't need a curriculum to know that you are part of the math Cats think I'm delirious but I'm so damn serious That's why I expose my soul to the globe, the world I'm trying to make it better  for these little boys and girls I'm not just another individual my spirit is a part of this That's why I get spiritual but I get my hymns from Him So it's not me it's He that's lyrical I'm not a miracle I'm a heaven-sent instrument My rhythmatic regimen navigates melodic notes for your soul and your mental That's why I'm instrumental Vibrations is what I'm into Yeah I need my loot by rent day But that is not what gives me the heart of Kunta Kinte I'm tryna give us free like Cinque I can't stop that's why I'm hot Determination dedication motivation I'm talking to you my many inspirations When I say  I can't let you or self down If I were of the highest cliff, on…

Harlem, the mecca, doesn’t just exist - it lives. 
I analyzed the crowd: High class. High society. A cultured Black folk. Walking canvases. Unique forms of self-expression through fashion. Uncountable shades and sizes of women with voluptuous hair and shamelessly flowing dresses filled the capacity of the gallery. Fluorescent tribal patterns, hot pink backless maxis, and floral denim body-cons. Six-inch-high heels and summer flats. Three piece suits, shinny dress shoes, and fedoras with feathers on the side were worn by the older gentlemen who stood around, laughing and making the younger women blush with their respectful compliments. I could appreciate the balance of Louis Vuitton bags, Versace frames, and staple second-hand pieces. Laughter and sophisticated conversations gave the Sol Studio on Adam Clayton Powell and 124th a classy climate with just the right amount of sex appeal on this warm, mid-August night.
A bottle of Chardonnay on ice, white popcorn in a large crystal bowl, and…

I was on St. Nick. It was a little after 4:45 and I about to walk toward the A train when two heavy set black girls stopped me, asking me to get them something to eat. 
"We don't have no money but if you don't believe us, you could just buy us something to eat." 
"Let me ask you something..." I said. "Tell me how you asking for money when you have lashes and twenty-inches down your back?" 
"We..we..we not.. we not homeless or nothing." The other girl, wearing a red mid-drift letting her potbelly hang all the way out, battled with her stutter as she talked. "We li..live in the same fo-fo-foster home. We don't do this everyday but our foster mother ain't gi..gi..giving us no money." She exhaled. 
"Obviously somebody is giving you some money if you can afford to buy tracks and get acrylic. Don't play me girls." 
"These is premium tracks..." The first girl attempted to explain the difference in hair and c…

After watching the independent movie, Dope, produced by Forest Whitaker, executive produced by Pharell, and co-executive produced by Diddy, I am left with many lingering questions. For those who haven’t seen the movie, let me give you a quick synopsis:

Dope is coming of age-themed film focused on the life of a young, Black, high school senior from “The Bottoms”, a small area in Inglewood, CA. Malcolm (played by break-out star Shameik Moore) and his two best friends, Diggy and Jib, are often bullied for being nerds who act “white” in their high school, an environment that is so violent they have metal detectors and a narcotic-detective-dog at the entrance. Diggy and his friends are constantly faced with hurtles that stereotypically hamper the lives of all youth that live in “the hood” e.g.: They have no other choice but to walk home from school through a gang of Bloods and risk getting their belongings, such as Air Jordan’s, stolen.

One day on his way home from school, Malcolm is approac…

Nothing more beautiful than a woman siting at the bus stop  Reading And lost in a world that only she can leave and return to as she pleases  Invitation only  Random rubber gloves Empty bags of chips Cigarette butts  She doesn't see any of them in her world  She can only see  What she wants to see

2:34PM

The mother told her daughter to sit down. The woman that was already sitting next to her daughter got up before I could to offer her my seat. 
"Mommy body hurt from carryin' all'at, J.J." Her entire body seemed to exhale as she slowly squatted onto the seat. She secured her big, black duffle bag in between her feet, in the way that all New Yorkers do when putting their bags down in public places.  
The next uptown train is now arriving on the Express track. (The automated message spoke through the speakers of the station.)
"I hope it's the D train." The mother said. 
"Are we on the express side?" The little chocolate girl looked up and around to see the signs. Her pronunciation was proper and clean compared to her mother's thick and gritty Harlem accent. 
"Yea but..."
"So it will be the D silly!" She playfully said to her mom as she covered her wide, bashful smile after calling her mother silly. 
"I'm jus' s…