“I travel everywhere for my job. I can be at the last stop on the 5 in the Bronx, in Brownsville or Staten Island any day of the week. Also, I live in Harlem and a lot of my friends live in Brooklyn so I am often treking it out there for events.”

While the U.S. media has us distracted by the supposed down-low phenomenon, the real reason why the HIV infection rate is high in our community is because systemic racism and the stigmatization of the virus has our lips sealed and eyes closed.

My grandmother was a deeply spiritual woman, and chose to take her own life rather than live the life white rule in Africa offered her. It must have seemed to her like no life at all.

“While I see my identity as a triple threat to most, I choose to take pride in it and hope to work with others in the future to understand that difference is fundamental to human nature and that it does not make anyone inferior or wrong”

Thanks to the three deep DJ collective, Soul Summit Music, every summer thousands flock to Brooklyn, New York to replenish their spirits with the salving powers of house, classic soul, funk, jazz, R&B, electronic and international beats.

Tired of competing with the other 633,999 unemployed folks for a job in the U.S.? Get inspired by these three international Street Beaters who decided to pack it all up and make a living elsewhere.

But five years later, I knew this was my journey. I applied to the program, was accepted and assigned to Ethiopia.

I heard once that rhythm is a harmonious sequence or correlation of colors or elements. I wanted to find this balance of harmony, my own rhythm, where many things become one.

The line was founded by Valerie K. Ginyard as a tribute to her daughter who tragically died of liver disease at the young age of 18. After doing research, Ginyard discovered that everything we put on our bodies is processed through the liver. “As a contribution to humanity, I wanted to create something that was free from chemicals,” said the Philadelphia native.

This slide show is a celebration of Black Love and maybe more importantly, a recognition of our ability to love.