A Feminist Manifesto

Happy New Year! I don't have anything wholesome to say about the end of last year or the beginning of this one because I decided sometime in December to not be retrospective about the year at all. So let's dive into this post.

I don't know when it happened but I recently started buying books again. I am still not buying fiction but I'm buying gradually. I bought Chimamanda Adichie's Dear Ijeawele or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. It's somewhat of an old book and I'm surprised that I'm just now reading it but better late than never. It's a short book and you can finish it in minutes. Honestly, it's more of an essay to me.  This post is not about that book per se, but more about the central idea of the book: how to be feminist or more specifically, a feminist manifesto.

Friday Reflections

1.) Merry Christmas Eve! And Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS tomorrow. 

2.) Let's do one Friday Reflections for Christmas. A special Christmas edition haha.

3.) The hidden cost of black hair.

4.)Seth and his family celebrate his newborn daughter. This is the wholesome content you didn't know you needed. 

5.) Why didn't God answer your prayer?

6.) It is time to let go of celebrity relationship goals. "Not only do Relationship Goals fetishize an image that’s curated and not real, they also glorify a type of Black love that prioritizes staying together (aka building a brand) over anything else." 

7.) TIME heroes of the year are the vaccine scientists that quite literally changed the world. You already know how I feel about one of them. Oh and another one.

8.) Life is what you make it. Make it what you enjoy. Wear/use all that "special stuff" today and feel extra special. After all, tomorrow is not guaranteed. 

9.) Anti-inflammatory foods you should consider incorporating into your diet. 

10.) "Emotions make us humans. Denying them makes us beasts" - Spirit Science YouTube Channel.  So, what exactly are emotions?

11.) I think it's completely despicable that we live in a world where people get sick and have to worry about how to pay for healthcare, despite the vast and grotesque amount of wealth in said world. America, I'm looking at you. Because of this, there are soooo many people on GoFundMe seeking financial help as they battle all kinds of diseases, worst of all cancer; so much that even the CEO of GoFundMe expressed serious concerns. Anyway, to that end, every now and then, when I come across someone fundraising on GoFundMe, I will share here on Friday Reflections and if you can donate, please please do.

Here is today's: please help Taiwo pay for chemotherapy. 

Book of the Month: People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

It's the happiesttttt time of the year! It's the most wonderful time of the year. Welcome to December, people! One thing about me, I will help you manufacture joy and cheer for the Christmas season. First, check out this playlist to help you get into the Christmas spirit. I have decided to not be retrospective at all about this year because...well, completing this sentence would be me being retrospective, no? I reserve the right to change my mind about this by the way. 

Another book of the month! Shall we just make this a book blog altogether? NO. Lol. The book of this month is lighthearted, witty, breezy, and fun. It's called "People We Meet on Vacation" and it's by Emily Henry. Most books I bring to y'all on this blog are often heavy and with depths that may even discourage you from reading sometimes (I may just be assuming this). NOT this month's book. It is especially fitting for the holidays, as you get cozy and settle into a mood that screams "ready to chill". In sum, this is basically a romcom in a book form. I struggled with how much I should say about the book because I knew nothing about it going in and I think it improved my reading experience not having a clue about the book, the characters, or even the story.  In any case, it tells the story of Poppy and Alex. 

Book of the Month: What Was She Thinking? [Notes on a Scandal] By Zoë Heller

Another book of the month, yay! Now, if you already are an ardent reader of Book of the Month on this blog you may know this, but I don’t want to assume so I will say anyway that the books of the month I feature do not necessarily have to be new or recent books. As a matter of fact, they rarely are. I can’t tell you there is a rhyme or reason with which I use to select. It could be the tiniest thing about that book that would make it book of month. As long as I read it that month and I like it, it could very well make it into book of the month. I say all that because today’s book of the month is really old.

Friday Reflections

 1.) I'm super excited to be blogging, especially about  Friday Reflections. I've been all over the place (quite literally) recently, traveling, doing a bunch of stuff etc. and wow I'm exhausted, so blogging is my reminder that I'm getting back (albeit slowly) to my equilibrium. 

2.)This gentleman quit sugar for an entire year and I already know it could never be me.

3.) Life lessons from 100-year olds. The common thread in that video is love, joy, and taking the good with the bad. Not one complain from any of them. NOT one, even after literally living for an entire century. That's a damn fine way to live.

4.) "I don't have many failures. If I'm making a cake and it fails it becomes a pudding"- Clifford Crozier, aged 101

5.) A 75-year old Harvard study (yes, the research has been conducted for over 75 years) examined a group of men over 7 decades to understand what makes a good life. Hint: it's not money or fame or power or a good education. Instead, it's relationships, social connections....more specifically, the QUALITY of these relationships is what matters.

6.)  My true feelings about this interview with the wife of the Pulse night club gunman cum mass murderer are so long and so complicated that I will just share the interview with you (and spare you my opinion) so you can form your own thoughts. But know that I have THOUGHTS. 

7.) Y'all please, that one child that harasses other kids, and throws scary tantrums and throws women on walls in the 3rd grade, let's not ignore them. GET THEM HELP because they grow up to be monsters. Selah.

8.) I didn't know Kumail Nanjiani's body was such an internet sensation.

9.) I don't know how I feel about this. I LOVE Kumail but this profile showed a lot of worrisome behavior: extreme food restriction(no carbs, can only have desserts on Fridays), working out obsessively, knowing his weight to the tenth decimal, weighing himself every single day. I'm worried that it would be normalized. And boy does he need therapy, lots of insecurity. Whew. Hollywood is something.

10.) Huma Abedin, on the moment her private life went public. I always feel so terribly for excellent women who...just married scum (that derail their life), especially in cases where they just couldn't have prevented it. Like, how was she to know that she was marrying a creepy pervert who was "perpetually horny" and derived specific pleasure from...wait for it...sexting minors. **barfs**

11.) A somewhat accurate rank of the men on Insecure. The Jered one is an absolutely false assessment. Ladies, you have every right to your preferences and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Also, Molly is so messy. WHY?

12.) Is it possible to be proud of an internet stranger cos I'm super freaking proud of this badass woman. 

Book of the Month: Paper Gods by Goldie Taylor

Finally, a book of the month! I can NOT believe the last book of the month post on this blog was in MAY. May, ya'll! First of all, let's do black church praise dance for a second. *cue shouting, screaming, and stomping the floor*. That, as you will see below, is a little aligned with the book of this month. Okay, now that we're back, I'm very excited to bring you the book of this month titled, "Paper Gods" by Goldie Taylor. I first heard of the book from Joy Behar on The View.  Actually, I just double checked and it was in fact Sunny Hostin who mentioned it as one of her summer books recommendation. 

Friday Reflections

 1.) Beloved Montreal neuroscientist, Dr. Nadia Chaudhri, has passed away after dealing with ovarian cancer. She shared her journey from when she was diagnosed last year till when she was in palliative care, in between sharing difficult aspects such as how she told her son she was dying as well as sprinkling joy and inspiration every now and then. In her final days, she continued to raise funds for under-represented students and raise awareness for ovarian cancer.  I'm absolutely devastated.

2.) One thing she inspired women to do was take charge of our health and speak up at the doctor's. Do NOT less any doctor dismiss your pain. For so long, she was being treated for a urinary tract infect and by the time the cancer was discovered, it had spread. hmmph

3.) Whew.

4.) Life is so senseless. So meaningless. Ah. 

5.) A brother’s obituary for his ‘Special Sister’ became a poignant internet phenomenon.

6.)  TFD has been trying out a four-day workweek and have been really successful. Man, I would give anything to actually have a 32-hour, 4-day workweek. It would give me so much time to rest and pursue my other passions. But then again even 40 hours is actually way more than that already sooo knowing our culture, even the 32-hour workweek would somehow spill over. 

7.) The unmaking of biblical womanhood.

8.) How to use what's in your hands.

9.) This week's New York Times' ethicist column is filled with fascinating quandaries. Like would you, after years of taking care of your ailing, abusive father, grant his request to let him access toxic web feeds that push conspiracy theories like Sandy Hook was fake, sToP tHe StEaL and other nonsense? 

10.) How to stop languishing and start finding flow.

11.) That's it folks. This week's Friday Reflections is not as cheery but I guess that's life. Have a safe, restful weekend. Try not to take things too seriously and not to take too many things to heart. Let love be your guiding force.

Love, lots and lots of love,

I