Rumble in the Jungle

When Muhammad Ali was scheduled to fight George Foreman in October of 1974, the fight was coined the Rumble in the Jungle because it took place in Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of Congo). 

Sidebar: this fight was almost 50 years ago. I remember my Dad watching this fight; he was a huge Ali fan.

Ali was the underdog as he was recovering from a series of legal challenges and was not allowed to box simply because of his anti-war stance (BTW, Ali was right, the government was wrong). Muhammad Ali was also a Black man trying to make his way in this world, and boxing was his means of doing so.

Black Is Love

This is not my typical post, but since I've been Black all my life, I want to share my thoughts and reflections around Black History Month, which intersects with Valentine's Day; hence Black is Love.

I became aware of Black History Month through going to school in America. Without knowing America's history, I didn't understand the need for a month dedicated to Black History. Once it became clear, I never quibbled about it but have had mixed feelings about how this month is used in corporations, organizations, and the media.

Most times, the broader culture seems to celebrate this month, reluctantly forgetting that Black History is American History. 

Corporations try to tie it to diversity initiatives, but it falls flat because it is often lip service. The media tends to highlight important facts and figures around Black history, and so it is often at

New Seasons

When seasons change on the calendar, the days before and after can look the same. Only as you continue moving, do you see markers that indicate you're in a different season. When we go from winter to spring, the days become longer, the weather becomes warmer, the air becomes more fragrant.

When seasons change, it's like taking a road trip, leaving one state and going to another. When the sign says "Welcome to NY," initially everything looks the same. The road doesn't change; it's still

Am I Too Old?

Have you ever played Bananagrams? It's a fun word game of chance where the object is to be the first to use all your letters. There are 144 letters on tiles (similar to Scrabble tiles). 

Each person draws twenty-one tiles from the BUNCH. To start the game, someone yells SPLIT.

Then each person individually turns over their tiles and forms words. They can be vertical and horizontal (again, similar to Scrabble).  You may rearrange your grid at any time and as often as you like. Once a player has used all of their tiles to form words she yells PEEL and grabs another tile from the BUNCH. She uses this tile to create another word to add to their existing words.