A little “sun” on your Sunday. <3.

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1. Black Soap is the holy grail for black skin. It cures dark spots and gives black skin a natural glow.  Go unprocessed if possible.   

2. Water is Your Friend. Drink it morning, noon, and night!

3. Working out is like studying: You may pass without it, but you probably won’t ace

Try “Tiffany Rothe Workouts” on Youtube. She’s a beautiful black woman dedicated to fitness.

4. Embrace adversity, for this is often an opportunity to deepen faith in yourself

5. Every smiling face is not a friend, and every sister ain’t a sister

6. Never apologize or feel the need to dumb down your greatness

7. Put downs, or any emphasis of error, whether direct or covert, just means you are standing too tall for someone’s self esteem. This behavior is toxic, deal with it as you please, but do not forget. 

8. To avoid envy, work hard to become the person you’d be envious of
9. Money is not anything more than what you make it

10. Modesty is a pillar of greatness 

11. Know that your physical beauty, while remarkable, only the scratches the surface of your allure as a black woman. 

12. Read. Read. Read. Reading enables individuals to stand in the past and present simultaneously. Don’t cheat yourself out of a full life experience. Reading is the gateway to mental elevation. 

Ida B. Wells’ Southern Horrors, Gertrude Dorsey Brown’s “Measure for Measure” and “Scrambled Eggs,” Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Octavia Butler’s Kindred, and The Autobiography of Assata Shakur are a just few must reads for black women (post on this
in progress :-)).

13. Anticipate white evil and refuse to let white hate ruin your beauty 

14. Beware of those who bring up past grievances, often it is them that needs you to be who you once were

15. Those who pretend to know it all, often know the least

16. If done right, education reveals how much you don’t know, not how much you do.

17. View melanin as a redeeming not damning quality

18. Render white acceptance or opinion into cultural oblivion.

19. Seek a black significant other or spouse— someone whose blackness not only runs through their veins, but oozes out of pores

20. Understand that weaves, false eyelashes, and makeup does not enhance your beauty, it veils your perfection as an African Queen. 

21. If you find your self verbally or physically assaulted by white women and women of your collective, treat as a compliment and testament to your greatness. Be patient with your sisters though, and aid them in seeing the beauty in themselves. We are all queens.  

22. Make a vow to challenge yourself to be a little blacker every day. Whether its skipping out on Starbucks and choosing at black establishment, or dumping your Dominican stylists and choosing a sista’—make a vow to elevate your commitment to the collective. The ancestors will thank you.

23. Believe in yourself. When you are low look to the ancestors and anecdotes from our past to show you that not only can you make it, but you will!

24. Deep condition.  Treat your hair like the crown it is! I like Coconut Water Deep Penetrating Treatment and Algae Renewal treatment by Camille Rose Naturals! Solicit black made products for your black mane.

25. Never give up on your own people. This is not to say that you will not be disappointed or even crossed by your own—it just means that you should be bigger than any smallness thrown your way.

26. Live your life at your own pace. You are one of kind. Comparing yourself to others only distracts from the magic that is you.

27. Regard every public representation of black womanhood, whether in politics or prime-time television with a grain of salt.

Media does not exist to entertain but to enslave the black mind.

28. Call/Visit your grandparents, and family elders.   Your connections to your elders is essential to a collective understanding of the world before your arrival. Gift them small tokens of appreciation, like take them a snack, take the out to eat, revel in their beauty etc 

29. If you possess an attribute of conventionality, look past it.

Whether it’s long hair, lighter skin, a slender frame, money, an education—find beauty in what the western world would finds “ugly” or “bad” instead.

30. Know your worth: The biggest mistake black women make is to value themselves far lower than they’re actually worth. You’re worth the sun, moon,  a

nd the sky–anything less is an insult. 

31. Acknowledge a collective identity to truly acquire esteem. Our history did not begin with slavery, knowing this fact and the countless others that line the rich history of Africans is the closest to freedom we can hope to come as the abducted children of the globe’s richest continent.

32. If anyone says that Native Americas “had it worse than blacks” redirect their attention to your last name and the fact that you’re speaking English. Our struggle as black people is real, and no one has the right to demean our ancestors. As queens, we must mind our thrones. 

33. Never be scared to stand alone. To be conscious is to bear a lonely existence. Just know you’re never alone–the ancestors are with you always!

34. End every day by asking yourself: “What have I done for my people today?”

We must live through purpose in order to advance and achieve cultural nationalism. Whether you tutor, garden, volunteer at the library, or perform any other kind of civic duty, we all have something to offer. Don’t rob your community of your greatness, and most importantly, don’t rob yourself of culminating the full extent of your excellence.

Black Power ❤