Survivor's Guilt?? IN THIS ECONOMY???
I had to take a week off because you know...the world. But I'm back AND I HAVE GOODIES!
Ok ok ok. So. First and foremost, I GOT A WHOLE WRITING JOB! That’s not to say that I wasn’t working before but I was only on a project-to-project basis. Now I have work that actually makes me happy and it’s totally focused around my writing! I can’t share too much about it right now but know that this job (and the fact that it is fully remote and the freest of freelancing) is a piece of a much bigger thing I’ll talk about later. I know. The suspense. But I will say that it’s weird to (finally) be doing objectively well as the USA is continuously falling into disarray.
I don’t want to take too much time to talk about my thoughts on the Chauvin verdict (SURPRISE he murdered the person we all watched him murder) or all the murders that happened during the time of the trial (like Ma’hkia Bryant). It was all over the news and social media for the past week so if you don’t know about these events at this point then you probably are actively avoiding this information. I will say that I feel an astonishing amount of tiredness around these events. The verdict around George Floyd’s murderer was not justice; it was accountability, at best. It is technically progress but it’s such a small step forward that I worry the hype is getting people distracted from the work that still needs to be done. Ma’hkia, a 16 year old Black girl in foster care who was being bullied by adults, was unnecessarily murdered by police the day the Chauvin verdict was released. Police have deescalation training; at most, she should have been tased for holding a knife, not shot. Several people have reached out to me in an attempt to justify her murder (full disclaimer: none of them were white). To say it’s been an emotional exhausting week (or weeks? Idk what “time” is anymore) would be an understatement.
That being said, I got to do a lot of really cool projects recently and I want to share them with you!
This is a project that my best friend and I are embarking on called Pretty Bad Advice. Imagine Key and Peele, but hotter. Or imagine @hashtagbooked but with longer sketches. Either way, we’re ignorant, we’re funny and we are creating spaces for Black women to just be dumb (with a hint of social awareness). You can also follow us on YouTube if you hate IG as much as I do. Here’s out most recent video:
Next, I’ve been on two podcasts recently!! OWOWWW! The first was equal parts serious and silly. It was for a podcast called Introverted Intuition, a podcast that promotes Black mental health awareness. They found out about my crazy “I survived a Russian kidnapping” story and asked me to come in and talk more about it so I did! And, honestly, I can say that I made some great new friends during this recording, too! For those who have already listened, yes, the three of us are currently planning bonding time! Also, I’m including a trigger warning for assault, racial violence, kidnapping and suicide. I’m in episode 165 titled CHAOS MONSTER (available on all podcasting platforms).
The second podcast I was on is called Your Messy Friend, hosted by Kayleigh Schuler. You are going to want to remember this name. The LOOONGEST story short is that Kayleigh casted me as the lead in her upcoming series called Overactive in 2020. Basically, Overactive is the story of a Black woman in a mental health crisis who is trying to find her footing after her father’s death. We are not in the throws of getting ready to film the short film version of the pilot this summer (EEEE!) and we wanted to talk about Overactive and build some hype (and talk about what being a messy friend means to us). My episode is lucky number 7 (available on all podcasting platforms). Also, if you are able to donate to the short film fund, you would make me the happiest little chocolate nugget <3 but I also understand that times are hard so, if you can’t then don’t hurt yourself!
Two more things that directly relate to the newsletter!
Delmeshia, the owner of Tafari Wraps, will be on the newsletter in a few weeks so be on the look out for that! She is currently in between offering a giveaway or a discount so, if you all have a preference LET ME KNOW ASAP!
Because my life has gotten so crazy and the USA has not stopped being the USA (aka all that police brutality and gun violence), I finally feel comfortable in telling all of you that I moving moves…to moving out of this country.
So if you want to stay up to date as I navigate travel visas, picking a country, picking a city, learning about that “digital nomad” life, traveling and working with international travel agencies, figuring out how to move with a WHOLE autoimmune disease, can I even move with all this student loan debt?! (you know, the fun stuff) then join the paid subscription group (it’s only $5 per month). I will continue to do the Black business interviews when I can but my constant state of fear is telling me that relocating is a little higher on my priority list.
Updates to come! Be as well as you can and as safe as you can and let’s work for a better tomorrow for as long as we can!