Kingston Expressions

Day 28! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Last day of Black History Month 2017 and the last day of my official BLACK GIRL MAGIC series (cause you know I’m Black Girl Magic 365)! What a month it has been!??Today I’m honoring all the Black Women that I know are pure MAGIC! These women have been trusted with leading the next generation of Black Girls! And that is no easy feat but we were built for it! I love being a Black Woman and being part of one of the few sisterhoods where no matter how much we get knocked…we lift each other up and give each other strength! It’s your day ladies! #blackgirlmagic #blackhistory #fortheloveofblackwomen #sisterhood #blackwomenmagic ~KJM on Temptation Tuesday?

Day 27! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Next up on the BLACK GIRL MAGIC series…VIOLA oscar tony emmy DAVIS! ?? Last night, Viola went on to be the second Black Woman (after Whoopi Goldberg) to win an Oscar, Tony, and Emmy…and the FIRST BLACK WOMAN to win all 3 for acting!? Let me tell you why her win is a win for Black Girls/Women everywhere…When I was younger I got made fun of a lot for being Jamaican. I remember being in Kindergarten and kids coming up to me saying I was taking their jobs! ? From that moment in time I promised myself that I would never run away from my skin color nor my heritage! ?? My mother and my sister are light skin…and my brothers and my father are dark skin. While I noticed that I did not easily fit into either category…and there wasn’t a huge brown skin movement at the time…I chose for myself what I would be. So I identified myself as dark skinned my entire life…fully aware that it was taboo and unpopular. If I was going to be an outcast…even in the Black Community…I was going to make a statement! ?? My cousin, a stunning dark skin woman, would always tell me that I was not dark skinned and that she could not understand why I wanted to identify that way. But I still did it anyways. I stood with my dark skinned sistas and when they shined I shined. Viola’s win is just that important for little Black girls all over the world! Every day black girls have to choose whether they walk with pride or shame! Viola broke barriers as a Dark Skinned woman in institutions that were created for white people! And she did it without apologizing for her blackness nor trying to lighten herself! That in itself…wrapped with all her talent and her beauty…is not only Black Excellence but the epitome of BLACK GIRL MAGIC! ?? #thankyou #violadavis #whoopigoldberg #blackgirlmagic #blackhistorymonth #westillhavealongwaytogo #butmyGodisanawesomeGod #darkskinwomenshine #fortheloveofallblackwomen ~KJM on Charm School Monday?

Day 26! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Next up on the BLACK GIRL MAGIC series is…Ida B. wells! ?? I featured Ida on Day 6 as the Black Feminist. She’s back on my count up…because she’s just so inspirational! Generation after generation…BLACK GIRL MAGIC must take a stand on social justice issues. Even in 2017, Ida’s work and words ring true. This is Ida…from my perspective: They want me to stay silent about the atrocities around me. They want me to stay silent about truths…buried truths! They essentially want me to me to write their truth. I cannot…no I shall not..abandon my people. I shall not turn lynchings into justice. I shall condemn it. I will not turn a blind eye to Black People being killed…just for being Black. I will write about our truth. Our flesh burning under the so called Constitution as no one bats an eye. ?So I wrote and I told our stories. Not because I felt I was courageous but because someone had to…someone had to say no! No more hangings…no more killings…no more murders of Black People in the land of the so called NOW free. Someone had to document the persecutions. So I did… And that my dear…is the essence of the bold and daring journey…we now call BLACK GIRL MAGIC! #idabwells #blackgirlmagic #thankyou #blackhistorymonth ~KJM on Serenity Sunday?

Day 25! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Next up on the BLACK GIRL MAGIC series is DR MAYA ANGELOU! ?? Her words could raise the dead and give breath to the lifeless…that is the heart of who Maya is to many of us. I remember reading “The Heart Of A Woman” and thinking…Maya had times in life where she was lost too?! All I see…is STRENGTH! ?? That’s when it dawned on me…my struggles frame who I am. The MAGIC does not just consist of beautiful things…there’s darkness and pain in it too. My pain does not define me but I need not hide from it. It’s how we overcome that makes us shine. This is Maya…from my perspective: In the heart of this woman…lies doubt, love, cries, and hope. The many times I lost my way…I never once worried that I would never get back on track. I was destined to always find my way. So I wrote…first to myself and then to you. In the moments where it seemed I was losing…I was actually growing! ?? How many people can say they lost their soul and came back from it?! If you lose your way…do not fear. Think of all that can be gained in the journey! ?? The HEART OF A BLACK WOMAN is very complex. From her inception…the Black Woman will have to fight to not be discredited, fight to make her presence known, and fight to keep safe, motivated, and educated the nation she gave birth to. Many times she will be on her own…alone…picking up the pieces. But dear Sista, my message to you is…you are not alone. We are all in the struggle with you! Lift your head high and know that no one else could do what you do. No one else could take your place! And even when it seems like you are not wanted…the WORLD needs you. And dear Sista…I’m here to tell you that even when you are heartbroken, disappointed, and discriminated against….YOU WILL ALWAYS SHOW UP FOR YOUR FAMILY, YOUR COMMUNITY, AND THE WORLD! And that…my dear…is the heart of BLACK GIRL MAGIC! ?? #thankyou #mayaangelou #blackgirlmagic #blackhistory ~KJM on Serenity Saturday ?

Day 24! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Next up on the BLACK GIRL MAGIC series is…CORETTA SCOTT KING! Never was there a more breathtakingly beautiful spirit of the Civil Rights Movement than Coretta. Wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an activist herself…Coretta paid the ultimate price for justice…loss of her husband. I have said this before but it’s worth reminding you…when a man or woman stands up against the resistance…so does their family! Where injustice separates the Black family…justice rejoins them. This is Coretta…from my perspective: The resistance took my husband. Yes I cried. Yes I mourned! Yes I felt a moment of defeat. But I had not only children to raise but Martin’s legacy to continue. There were days I did not think I would have the strength to go on…but God given destiny cannot and will not rest when there is hate in the world. I could have remained paralyzed by it all. I had lost my love! But I just kept thinking…what would Martin want me to do? Hide?! Bury myself?! Run?! No…I just couldn’t! Together WE HAD A DREAM and we decided that our whole lives was dedicated to seeing THIS DREAM through! Martin gave his life for this dream and this nation! Even though it betrayed us…I will never give up on this country! There will be peace…there will be a birth of a new nation…filled with EQUALITY! It’s what Martin wanted…and I…as the keeper of his dreams…shall continue the struggle. ?? And that my dear…is the essence of BLACK GIRL MAGIC! ?? I am crying writing this for I just cannot imagine going through all she did… #thankyou #corettascottking #blackgirlmagic #blackhistorymonth ~KJM on Flashback Friday?

Day 23! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Next up on the BLACK GIRL MAGIC series: Oprah Winfrey! Ms. Winfrey “turned her wounds into wisdom” right before our eyes and took us all along with her for the ride. Growing up…my mother and Oprah were my idols. To embody beauty, wisdom, and intelligence while maintaining her inner beauty…Oprah stunned America and the world. There she was…A BLACK WOMAN…on national television…bringing in ratings like no other. Not changing herself for mainstream America but instead embracing the sounds of her Blackness. Her empire was built on her authentic truth. Like many of us…there were times she struggled with getting America to see her as she truly was…a brave woman of color! ?? Never forgetting that there is no true success without deep struggle…Oprah continued to persevere. Her ability to unapologetically be a Black Woman with not only money and power but one that was internationally making moves for the greater good of Black People was astonishing! From my perspective…this is Oprah: my story, at times, was ugly. I hurt just like everyone else. And I doubted myself. But there…within me…was this divine spirit that would fail many times and then turn those failures into triumph! It was not my intention to lead Black Women into a deeper self love (and women in general for that matter) but every time I lost myself and found myself…I shared it and together we began to heal. From the Oprah Winfrey show to Super Soul Sunday…I would use my victories to inspire Black Girl Magic in all little black girls whose life may have started off with chapters of pain…signaling to them that…this was not the end of their story. There is victory on the horizon! And that…my dear…is BLACK GIRL MAGIC! ?? #oprah #thankyou #blackgirlmagic #blackhistory ~KJM on Throwback Thursday ?

Day 21! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Today and until the very last day of Black History Month…I’m closing out with a celebration of BLACK GIRL MAGIC! I will feature a woman (from the past or present) that embodies Black Girl Magic. Why is Black Girl Magic so important? The Black Woman is underrepresented, criticized, rejected, and humiliated more than any other race of women. We are often overshadowed by our men…and while I love the Black Man…I cannot…I will not…and I shall not dim my light…MY MAGIC…for him! We, Black Women, must teach Black Girl Magic to our little girls…from birth. She can only break barriers if she’s aware of the divine spirit and strength that runs through her veins…at creation! First up in my series…MISTY COPELAND! ?? From my perspective…this is Misty: I moved to a beat of devastation and kept up with the world…shocking everyone! Surpassing my competitors! While they underestimated me…I learned to only compete with MYSELF! Movement for movement…there…always within me…was this feeling that I could be anything I wanted to. That feeling…my dear…was BLACK GIRL MAGIC! ?? #thankyou #mistycopeland ~KJM on Temptation Tuesday!

Day 20! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Today is President’s Day and I want to salute the one and only president in my lifetime that I truly believed in, President Obama! Dear Mr. President, you lit a fire in this nation when you ran for office! I did not live in the Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr eras…but when I laid eyes on you…I got a taste of how the mystical mind of a socially conscious genius moves…and saw up close and personal what freedom looked like. Because of you…there is no longer any office that Black People cannot run for. This country’s forefathers did not create the Constitution for Black People but just by existing….you proved that what God has created…no man…especially one filled with hate…can stop! ?? My 8 years with you is something I will always treasure…for besides being our FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, I believe you are fundamentally an amazing human being. No one could have accomplished what you did…bringing us all together for the greater good of the country and the world! Your task was not easy and the road was not perfect but by the grace of God you thrived! Thank you for your service! #yeswecan #thankyou #blackhistory #presidentobama ~KJM on Charm School Monday?

Day 19! SAY IT LOUD! I AM BLACK AND I AM PROUD! Today is one of the hardest salutations for me. I am saluting ALL BLACK MEN AND WOMEN IN THE MILITARY! I do not understand serving a country that initially did not view me as an entire person. Putting my life on the line to still be treated as three fifths of a person…even in 2017! Represent a country that would want to see me blown to pieces instead of prosper in my God given rights! Showing honor to a country that purposely separated my family in slavery and even now…continues to do so…through mass incarceration. I do not understand it but what I do know is my sisters and brothers in the military deserve my salute more than any other military servicemen! I honor you, I admire your courage, and I pray for you! The struggle is so real…even today…yet you hold your heads up high and serve with pride! Where would we be without you? Where would this country be without your bravery?! Thank you for being on the front lines and for continuing to represent us…even when some of us at home just do not understand. Keeping pressing on! ?? #thankyou #blackmilitaryservicemenandwomen #mayGodprotectyou #thankyoutothefamilieswhoservewiththem #militaryfamilylifeisnoteasy #jesusbeafence ~KJM on Serenity Sunday?