As a caregiver, particularly to someone living with dementia, I suppress my emotions so as not to trigger inconsolable fear or sadness in my mother. See, for someone with Frontotemporal Dementia, it can be nearly impossible for them to recognize, compartmentalize, and regulate emotional responses. Learning of the death of a loved one could lead to attempts to take one's own life, but the death of a perfect stranger or familiar celebrity may have an equally significant impact.
Category: Culture
Meet the Old Me
"The changes in my appearance are not due to some personal failure... [but] are illustrative of my commitment to keeping myself and my faily safe amid a global pandemic. My fluffier waist and coiled hair are badges of honor, as I choose to honor my mother and father."
Love One Another (No Exceptions)
No one's love is a sin and no one's gender, identity, or presentation makes them a sinner.
Juneteenth, Justice, and Jheri Curls
When I was about 10, I received my first relaxer. I was thrilled. This meant that my hair would finally swing freely like that of my White classmates, my dolls, and the popular images I saw on TV. I was so excited.
America Was Never Great
"...there is nothing great about entering a stranger's home, killing the family inside the home, claiming the home as your own, kidnapping a family from another neighborhood and forcing that family to work for your company for no pay and endless abuse. For hundreds of years. And then punishing the kidnapped family once someone says they are allowed to go free by restricting where they can live, what schools they can go to, and where they can use the bathroom."