Book of the Month: The Wedding People by Alison Epsach

Hi party people (very apropos for this post), welcome to another Book of the Month! This month's book is such a delight, I'm eager to get into it directly. I went into this clueless about what the book was about and it turned into such a complex, unexpected, and beautiful story. When we meet Phoebe, she's walking into the Cornwall Inn, wearing a green dress and some fancy shoes but no luggage in sight. As she joins the line to check in, she is immediately mistaken for one of the guests at a wedding happening at the hotel. Meanwhile, she's literally the only one at the hotel (this was just coming out of the pandemic) who isn't there for the wedding. The bride thinks she's accounted for every possible mishap and disaster, except there is no planning for Phoebe, who has reached rock bottom and is at that hotel for completely different reasons from the wedding people. And yet somehow, as if always destined, the two women are exactly where they need to be and just when each needs the other. The book takes us through what happens over the course of the week in what is a funny, tender, complex, and very human story arc. 

"My Boyfriend Hates My Hair, What Should I do?": On Black Womanhood and Hair as Resistance

Y'all, we got published! 

I can't believe I am just posting about this here but life happens.  I wrote an essay for The Progressive Magazine; not surprisingly I wrote about feminism and hair, two things I love! 

I wrote about Feminism, and how important it is to remind every little girl you know that changing who she is or “making sacrifices” for a boy is not what God intended for her.

I wrote about hair. But not in the way you think. 

I had read about this little girl whose boyfriend “hates her hair.” Each time I have to type out these words, I throw up a little in my mouth. In any case, I give Kamsi an answer to the question she asked. But before that, I try to provide a bit more context for her so she sees what damage patriarchy has done. I remind her she’s fighting against not just her silly, little boyfriend, but an entire system designed to remind us Black girls that left to them, we would never be enough. So, we must NEVER leave it to them.

Here is the full essay, as published on The Progressive below:

Friday Reflections

1.) Is this the first Friday Reflections of the year? Oh jeez...I just checked and yes, it is. Well, better late than never. 

2,) Female 4-star GENERALS and ADMIRALS talk about their formidable rise in the military.

3.) The most hated person on wall street.

4.) In Good American Family, Ellen Pompeo leaves the hospital.