I’m a huge advocate of supporting small businesses and sharing “love” when I find a business that I not only love but think others will enjoy also. I’m a t-shirt kinda girl and at the end of the day I’ll throw on a cute tee, some skinny jeans, a few accessories and a pair of heel s(or flats depending on where I’m going) and call it a day. I came across Dynastee Clothing Co. while searching the web for some unique fashion finds in the DC area.

According to their web site,  Dynastee Designs starting out like many small local bands do – in their parent’s basement. With only a few bottles of paint and some blank apparel just itching to become a great piece of fashion they were able to create a unique brand of clothing by utilizing their innate artistic talent, thus differentiating themselves from the multitude.

They describe their brand as “an upscale-urban fashion label that specializes in designing sophisticated, artistic clothing,  that represents the vision of our culture.”

You’ll find only tees when visiting the web site, but I assure that you won’t be bored by the unique fonts, color combos and catchy phrases. I particularly like the one that says, “ Think Ignorantly Big”.
Here’s a sneak peak at what you can find on their site:

If you like tees and want apparel that you may not see on anyone else in your area then I encourage you to check out Dynastee Clothing Co.

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to endorse this company. This is my opinion, given by my own free will.

America has often been called “land of the free”. As its citizens we are supposed to have the right to say what we want, live where we want, and worship whoever and wherever we want. Notice I said “supposed to” . Recently there has been public uproar and outrage regarding the plans to build a mosque near the location of ground zero. It comes to no surprise that many Americans are extremely angry and strongly oppose Muslims being able to worship in a mosque near ground zero the Twin Towers were destroyed by the terrorist attacks of 911.

On the surface this rationale seems fair. Some may comment:”why should terrorists be able to go anywhere near ground zero? Why should they be able to worship a God in America that Americans don’t worship? They killed innocent people, caused billions of dollars in damage to the city and sparked fear and anger in the hearts of the American public.”

I agree, terrorists should stay far away from ground zero and  America for that matter. The question is: Are all Muslims terrorists? Depending on who you ask, some might say, yes all Muslims are terrorists. Obviously, any unbiased person knows that all Muslims aren’t terrorists. Which leads me to ask a question:

Should an entire religious group be discriminated against because of the actions of a radical minority belonging to that religious group?

Think about this: (1)America’s founding religion is Christianity. America was founded on the enslavement of African-Americans. Christian White Americans killed, brutally abused, tortured and degraded African-American people and often justified this behavior by  referencing the Bible. (2) A radical, all-white, Christian-based group known as the Ku Klux Klan burned crosses in the yards of African-Americans, raped and killed African American women, tortured and murdered African American men, and bombed African American churches .That sounds like terrorism to me.

In doing so, does that make all Christians terrorists? Should all Christian be shunned and hated by the world? Should all Christians be kept from worshiping their God in the Middle East?

The point I’m trying to make is that, although there are select groups of Muslims who practice terrorism around the world, not all Muslims are terrorists. The ones who aren’t, and are legal US citizens, should be able to worship anywhere they want in America.

That being said, I don’t think that a mosque should be built near ground zero because that could potentially lead to hate crimes against Muslims. Americans may experience a flashback and relive the days where bombing religious establishments and killing the men, women and children who occupy them is socially acceptable.

In a land that prides itself in freedom of religion, among other freedoms; I think the term should be: Freedom of religion (but you have to give us something before we let you have actual freedom and even then if we don’t agree you still can’t do what you want)

The moral of the story is: Make sure you read the fine print.

Agree? Disagree? Don’t Care? Share your thoughts!

It’s safe to say that America has an obsession with appearance, trends and social acceptance. One of the first things we notice about a person is the way they look. In fact, it’s often said there’s nothing like the first impression. More often than not we are judged and judge others by their appearance first. What we often notice before anything else is a person’s hair.

What exactly is good hair?

I’m going to assume you’re familiar with the often-used term “good hair”. In African American culture good hair is synonymous with straight hair, long hair, shiny hair, wavy hair, and slightly thin hair. No one wants hair that is course, kinky, curly, coily, short or thick. Surprisingly, this is exactly the type of hair that most African Americans are born with. So, it is a coincidence that the majority of the people of this culture find it socially unacceptable and undesirable to wear their kinky tresses the way it grows out of their head, or does this stem from a deeper self-hatred?

America was founded on the backs of African Americans and for hundreds of years it was socially acceptable, and desirable, to hate all things related to blacks and to teach that hatred to all others, including blacks. As a result, I can’t help but to think that America is still in the mind-frame of despising all things that are natural to African Americans. Still in the 21st century, it’s shocking when a woman wears her hair in its natural state . She’s deemed as being radical or going against-the-grain. That  says that the normal and acceptable thing to do is change the way your hair looks so that everyone can be okay with it.

Are you Okay with it?

In Chris Rock’s film Good Hair, Rock makes several valid points. He says that the inspiration for the film came from his young daughters. Rock essentially told his young girls that he doesn’t care if they relax, weave, or go natural, just as long as they do it for themselves. He wants his girls to be okay with their hair and not to worry if anyone else is okay with it. Not just his girls, but Rock even said that he made the film because he wants Black women to feel better about their hair.

I think it’s rather sad that a man notices that African American women don’t like the way they naturally look- and it’s true! One African America female shown in the film even associated natural hair with being unprofessional and said that she wouldn’t hire a woman with natural hair because natural hair looks unkempt. Yes, you heard me right.

Extentions, Weaves, and Creamy Crack – Oh My!

Not only does this “trend” of changing your natural hair to be more socially acceptable promote self-hatred, but it also promotes financial instability of the average American. Rock points out in his documentary that women spend 20% of their income on their hair with relaxers, weave, and extensions. The hair industry is a billion dollar industry because of this, meanwhile women are damaging their credit, going without necessities, and building debt all in the name of having “good hair”. Not to mention that their real hair is being burned to the core with chemicals that if not properly formulated could burn a hole right through the scalp! Some have actually experienced this.

Now, I’m not one to judge. In fact, my motto is “to each his own”. However, I do feel socially responsible to say and do something about a problem that negatively affects African Americans and women. I agree with Chris Rock. It’s your hair, do what you will with it. Yet, before you get that monthly relaxer or freshen up those extensions, think about why you’re doing it.

Think about that damage that is being done not only to your physical body but your mind as well. Have you ever seen an eighty-year-old with 14 inch extensions or long silky freshly relaxed hair?

Are you relaxed, natural, or somewhere in between? How do feel about natural hair? What about relaxed? Share your thoughts!

The inspiration for this post came to me when I woke up in the middle of the night because of a bad dream. Not really a nightmare, this dream invoked negative feelings in my spirit and made me think to myself, “I need some advice!” Of course I couldn’t call any friends or family because it was 4a.m. and I’m sure that anyone I called at that hour would’ve remind me of the time and probably wouldn’t want to talk, but I digress.  Then I thought to myself,

“If I were my own friend what advice would I give me right now?”

Thinking about that question reminds me of times when I’d say, “I wish I could go back in time knowing then what I know now. I would do many things differently.” So this inspired to ask and answer the question, if you could give your younger self, current self and older self advice what would it be?

If this were possible, I would tell the high school-aged me to reach out to more people and make more friends, to not be afraid of the word no from my parents, and to mix school activities like student government  with sports-related activities. (such a nerd answer, right?)

I would tell the college-aged me to leave room to make grade-related mistakes later on in my college career instead of in the beginning (not that I made bad grades or anything. This is all hypothetical, of course) I would tell me to learn about sororities, community service organizations and SGA, and to see where I fit in best.  Most importantly, I would tell me to lighten up and to not be so self-conscious because we all are beautiful people.

I would tell the current me to enjoy life to its very fullest and not to take things personally.  I would tell me that love is a wonderful thing but sometimes it takes more strength to let go than to stay. More importantly, I would say that even when times get rough they do pass and that life is full of ups and downs, but the key is balance.

Lastly, I would tell my older self that you’re only as old as you feel and when you were “young” you were a BAD MAMMA JAMMA and you STILL ARE. (I know, I know! Don’t judge me)

But what I would say to me at all stages of life is I love you and God loves you and that’s all you need.

So my question to you (yes, you) reading this is: What would you tell you of the past, present,  future you?