Black people have long respected the sacred spaces of beauty salons and barber shops as locations of empowerment and freedom. We don’t go just to get our hair “did”; we go to get our life right and to testify when it, like our hair, is perfectly laid. We trust our beautician to talk us offContinue reading “My Secret Reason for Avoiding Beauty Salons”
Tag Archives: awkwardness
How to Be a Great Social Non-Drinker
The first (and last) time I went out for drinks with co-workers was a disaster. I have been a teetotaler most of my life. Social environments intimidated me somewhat, but I felt honored that they had invited me out to shoot the breeze and toss back a few. My co-worker Kim gallantly offered to buyContinue reading “How to Be a Great Social Non-Drinker”
Tales from the B-side of a Skinny Twerker
At age 14, I loved dirty dancing. We called it booty shaking back then. But I weighed less than 100 lbs and not much was shaking on me but bones. I would watch my summer camp friends dance while, in the corner, I twitched in a pattern that imitated rhythm to stay unnoticed. The girlsContinue reading “Tales from the B-side of a Skinny Twerker”
Good Morning, I Can’t Stand You!
There comes a time when your principles run smack into your actions and you realize the awful truth about yourself: you’re more two-faced than Harvey Dent. I have long prided myself for being a transparent human being in my interpersonal relations. That is, not pretending to be best buds with someone and then bad-mouthing themContinue reading “Good Morning, I Can’t Stand You!”
Chicks Stay Tripping (Or, Why I Need Him)
I am a clumsy and accident-prone chick. Ordained before time immemorial. What toddler you know breaks her leg learning how to walk? My mother photographed me, knock-kneed, standing next to an ottoman with a purple cast binding my leg. I am reminded of this when I wonder why I walk into walls. It only gotContinue reading “Chicks Stay Tripping (Or, Why I Need Him)”
dara t. mathis 