“There is more than one kind of freedom. ‘Freedom to’ and ‘freedom from’.” — Aunt Lydia, The handmaid’s tale

“How does she do that?” I wondered. “Who gave her permission to play like this? To jump from image to image. To lie and then quickly admit that she was lying. How does she know how to be herself? Who taught her how to be free?”

I read Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s tale last weekend and as I read it I couldn’t stop thinking about the level of freedom with which she writes.

I can’t explain it. She’s that good. She’s so…

Our Questions. Her Answers

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” It’s a widely shared proverb of questionable origins (though most attribute it to the continent of Africa), but for author, entrepreneur and podcast host Elayne Fluker, it’s a way of life.

In her debut book, Get Over “I Got It,” Fluker encourages “unapologetically ambitious women” to embrace support in every facet of life. To help women combat “I Got It” Syndrome, which she defines as a way of proving we can do it all by ourselves, Fluker has developed the following acronym H.E.L.P.:

H…

We all know about the myth of the super-powered Black superwoman. It’s been ingrained in our consciousness for generations. But is it healthy? Inger Burnett-Zeigler, a clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, says the strong Black woman mask we wear is an illusion that prevents us from being “our authentic and abundant selves.”

Burnett-Zeigler’s new book, Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen: The Emotional Lives of Black Women, takes a hard look at the mask and how to identify it and offers suggestions on why and how to take it off. …

5 o’clock Somewhere…

It’s summertime, and we’ve just been through a whole pandemic (that isn’t over yet). We’re collectively coming out of a year that will be forever remembered in history books, one where so many of us were denied the joy, pleasure, leisure, and companionship we need and deserve. A year has passed. Now I’m fully vaccinated and ready to set down this heavy bag of emotions. I’m ready to have the best summer ever, on my own terms, with new boundaries for self-care and self-protection fully in place. I’m ready to celebrate and be creative and get back to all those…

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month

First and foremost, Naomi Osaka is an amazing athlete. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion. However, as a Haitian-Japanese woman, Osaka has faced tremendous pressure on and off the court. After using her platform to speak against racial injustices, the backlash came swiftly. When athletes faced harsh critiques for branching out beyond the realm of sports, Osaka stood firm in her conviction. Some of her motivation comes from activist athletes like Muhammad Ali. Last fall, at the U.S. Open Tennis Championship, Osaka wore a Black face mask with white letters reading Tamir Rice.

“Before I am an athlete, I…

I recently wrote an article asking White people to resist the urge to center everything in the world around “Whiteness.” It offended quite a few people, I got a lot of flack and in the end, my work got censored. What I realized is that many people didn’t really understand what I meant by “not centering the world around whiteness.” It’s as if they felt it was some type of hate speech or animosity against White people. The fact is, if they were Black like me, they’d fully understand why I made this ask. If they walked in my shoes…

Once upon a time I felt fine! Well put-together and living the best version of me, I was pretty fantastic! I’d heard of mental health therapy, but that was for people with big problems. Granted, there were probably a couple tiny things I could improve here and there, but nothing I needed to lay on someone’s couch for while I sobbed into tissues about my issues. Not interested! If I encountered road blocks in life I was smart enough to figure them out. I’d dodge, adjust and roll with the punches. After a persuasive self-pep talk, I’d then wait for…

RELATIONSHIPS

This guy just sent me a picture of his penis — two to be exact — and holy shit, you guys, it’s beautiful. However, as a general rule, I think all penises are ugly unless I’m in love with the man wielding said phallus. Under those circumstances, his dick might as well be made of gold and capable of granting wishes. When with the man I love, I adore his schlong, praising it, and seemingly pray at its alter when on my knees. …