The Honeybee's Lifestyle

Tag: Empowerment

  • Real G’s Move In Silence

    Hello Honeybees,

    Ok, so I am not a Lil Wayne fan but I do love the line… “Real G’s move in silence like the G in lasagna.” I admit that I didn’t know about the whole lasagna reference until my 18 yo son hipped me to it.  One day I was sharing what I thought was some motherly advice that went something like this:

    Me: “Real G’s move in silence”

    Him: “like the g in lasagna”

    Me: Looking at him like he cursed.

    Him: “What, that’s the rest of that line from a Lil Wayne song”

    Me: Lil Wayne? You have got to be kidding me

    Him: Nope, it’s in a Lil Wayne song

    Me: heads to Google

    Also me: people really had a debate about the “G” in lasagna being silent and if the “G” stood for gansta.

    Anyway, here is MY point and his I think, EVERYONE doesn’t need to know your every move. Keep some things to yourself. After you have made your move that’s when you let the world know so that we can all celebrate with you. For me when I’m making a Real G move the fewer people that know about it the better. I don’t need any negative energy around me. I will share it with the people that I trust and that I know are in my corner. Positive vibes ONLY!

    I know that social media makes it really easy to overshare, says the lady with a blog, however I share the parts of my life that I choose to share at the time that I want to share.  It’s not that I’m trying to hide anything but somethings are better left unsaid until they can speak for themselves.

                                                                   Tommy Hilfiger Shirt: TJMaxx, Shoes:Marshalls, Coach Purse:Gift, Skirt:Gift

    Believe me The Honeybee is planning, strategizing and executing and when the time is right I will share my moves with the world. But until then just know that this G is moving………in silence.

    Beewisdom-When you build in silence, they don’t know what to attack- Livelifehappy.com

    Photos:Kim@KPFusion

     

  • The Strong One

    I originally posted this in February. Today it is more relevant than ever. If you need help you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).  If you don’t want to talk you can text CONNECT to 741741

    Hello Honeybees,

    There is always someone in every friendship who is the one that everyone goes to for advice. The one that always seems to have it together. The one that is always happy. The one that always has a word of encouragement when you are feeling down.

    The STRONG one.

     

    We all know that person.

    You might be that person

    There is nothing wrong with being that person

    Where would we be without that person?

    But I ask the question………. Where does this person go for encouragement? Who do they turn to when they are down? Who helps to lift their spirits?

    Here’s a transparent moment.. at the beginning of November 2017, I had a week where I was just not myself. It was hard for me to find anything to smile about and mean it. I smiled but it was not genuine. I was feeling very overwhelmed by life. I didn’t reach out to anyone to talk about it. I felt like I had to deal with it on my own. I didn’t feel like anyone wanted to listen and I also felt a little guilty about feeling the way that I was feeling. My life is truly blessed & I am grateful for it. There are people praying for this kind of life. It’s not lavish by any means but I know that it could be a whole lot worse. I gave myself a week to get it together and if I was still feeling the same way I was going to reach out to someone. We must recognize when we need help and not be afraid to ask for it. By the end of the week I was feeling like my old self. The pity party was over.

    I’m sharing this because NO ONE around me knew what I was going through.  No one knew how I was feeling. We never know what people are going through. We never know what burdens they carry. We sometimes forget that even the strong need help.

    Dress: INC- Sugarplum Consignment, Shoes:Impo-TJMaxx

    I encourage you to reach out to your friends and check on them, especially the strong ones. They might not open up on the first call or text but for them to know that someone is thinking about them and that someone cares can be the lift that they need.

    Beewisdom- Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love- Brené Brown

     

     

     

  • Equity Summit Takeaways

    Hello Honeybees,

    This is the final installment of my Chicago series. I hope you enjoyed taking this journey with me here and here.

    I was in Chicago to attend the Policy Link Equity Summit 2018. Please pay them a visit to get the full understanding of the work that Policy Link does. It was an experience that I will not soon forget.
    As you can tell by the title the Equity Summit was a conference that addressed ways to create policies to make our communities safe and balanced for ALL, this equality goes beyond just black & white. Although that is a great starting point for my Memphis community. This is about Equity for all. It was about making policy to make change in our world. Here are a few takeaways.

    Takeaway One- Art Driving Activism:The Young Artist Movement in Chicago     #OurFuture

    The theme for the day was #TrustYouth   During our mobile tour we spent time on the North side of Chicago at the Free Street Theater learning how the young people of Chicago use art as part of their activism. They call it Social Justice Theater. These young people are not afraid to speak up & speak out. They give me hope for our future. We then moved to the South side of Chicago. I had a chance to meet Ayesha Jaco (Lupe Fiasco’s sister). She taught us a few dance steps..FAME style to the music of Curtis Mayfield. If you don’t know the legacy of Curtis Mayfield let me know so we can talk about it.  We also talked about “tone”. We listened to the Michael Jackson version of Billie Jean followed by The Civil Wars version. Same lyrics but delivered in different ways changes the whole tone of the song. My takeaway from this exercise was how you say something matters just as much as what you say. A great reminder especially when you are having a difficult conversation especially around diversity & equality.  Thank you to our amazing tour guide Donnie Nicole Smith, the Executive Director of Donda’s House (named after Kanye West mother).

    Takeaway Two- “Policy comes before power”  #OurPower

    The plenary sessions were the best. The passion and fire for creating policies that focus on equity was very powerful. A few phrases that stood out to me were “Pissed with purpose” and “Radical hope, radical imagination”. Edna Chavez spoke about the March For Our Lives Movement from the young Latina perspective. When I tell you that this young lady was impressive, believe me she was. It was great to hear Linda Sarsour co-chair of the 2017 Women’s Movement, share her thoughts and perspectives. Charlene Carruthers of BYP100 dropped this gem on us….”People like mutuality as long as they can stay on top”…..read that again and share it with a friend.

    Takeaway Three- Still Fighting: Overcoming Structural Racism and Political Opposition in the South  #OurNation

    This was my second favorite session. Living in a very red state as a person of color or just a person who is in anyway “different” has its challenges. This session shined the light on some things that sent me to Google. Yes, I will find a book to dig deeper but in that moment I needed some clarification. Did you know that 38% of the electoral college votes are in the South? As stated in the session “In order for our nation to move forward the South has to move first”. The two terms that sent me to Google were, the Black Belt, this has nothing to do with karate and Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy. The Southern Strategy is in full effect in 2018. I’m currently listening to the podcast Slow Burn: A Podcast About Watergate. Unfortunately we are definitely repeating history with #45.

    Takeaway Four- A Momentum Shift

    About 10 years ago I went through the New Memphis Institute Fellows program. That year long program forever changed my life. It was the catalyst for me wanting to work in nonprofit. The Equity Summit is the catalyst for me to continue moving forward more energized than ever before. It opened my mind to new ways to create effective change.

    Thank you to Momentum Nonprofit Partners for coordinating the Memphis delegation. I am forever grateful.

     

    Beewisdom-“Freedom is people realizing they are their own leader.” —Diane Nash, Coordinator of the Freedom Riders