They Have Joined The Ancestors

 

We lost some real treasures in our community in 2024. 

They came, they did the work, and  have now joined The Ancestors. May they rest in eternal peace...:

🙏🏾 Frankie Beverly
🙏🏾 Nikki Giovanni
🙏🏾 Greg Gumble
🙏🏾 Willie Mays
🙏🏾 Judith Jamison
🙏🏾 OJ Simpson
🙏🏾 Quincy Jones
🙏🏾 James Earl Jones
🙏🏾 Lou Gossett, Jr.
🙏🏾 Sheila Jackson Lee
🙏🏾 Donald Payne, Jr.
🙏🏾 John Amos
🙏🏾 Tito Jackson
🙏🏾 Cissy Houston
🙏🏾 Sandra Crouch 
🙏🏾 Angela Bofill
🙏🏾 Marian Robinson
🙏🏾 Carl Weathers
🙏🏾 Faith Ringgold
🙏🏾 Mandisa
🙏🏾 Wallace "Wally" Amos
🙏🏾 Abdul "Duke" Fakir (Four Tops)
🙏🏾 Dikembe Mutombo
🙏🏾 Rev. Cecil "Chip" L. Murray
🙏🏾 Joe Madison
🙏🏾 Dorie Ladner
🙏🏾 Dexter Scott King
🙏🏾 Bill Strickland
🙏🏾 Rev. James L. Lawson
🙏🏾 Ralph Kennedy Frasier
🙏🏾 Marlena Shaw
🙏🏾 Reggie Wells
🙏🏾 Hydeia Broadbent
🙏🏾 Bill Cobbs
🙏🏾 Wanda Smith                                                                                                                        🙏🏾 Alfa Anderson                                                                                                       🙏🏾 Richard Parsons                                                                                                                 🙏🏾 Saafir

If I missed anyone, please do share.

Welcoming In The New...

 

Well, 2024, as tumultuous as it was, is behind us. We can only look forward to 2025 with optimism, albeit cautious optimism, but optimism nonetheless. Our approach must be fearless, confident, and all knowing that we have overcome many things before, and that whatever our concerns, they, too, shall pass.

When I think of that for which I am most grateful in 2024, it is without doubt, that my sister survived a terrifying stroke. Talk about a will to survive... Thank You God and for the support of all my friends who saw me through it.🙏🏾

I am grateful to have survived surgery. Special thanks to my long time Sistah' girlfriend, Roboid Covington, who dropped everything and came to care for the horribly "incorrigible" patient (inside joke). Love you girl!!!

One of my many life mottos is, "Some people do drugs, I do airplanes". I am grateful to have had opportunities to travel in 2024, especially to Cuba. What an experience! We are a valiant people. Survival is in our DNA. Thanks to Reset Tours, for making that happen and all those who traveled with us.

On another travel note, I am grateful, too, for being able to once again hit the road for another of my infamous southern treks. Long distance driving is free therapy and has always been a favorite pastime. As a Boomer',  I am happy to still be able to do it. Give me some good R&B, good weather, open and clear highway, I'm in heaven and likely to show up on your doorstep, near or far! In September, I drove almost 3000 miles between Florida and DC and several stops in between, clearing my head, being rejuvenated, and spending time with friends, after making a definitive and necessary decision in my professional life. Know when to fold em', it is truly  gratifying and validating. Don't allow folks to define you or to disturb your peace...

I am grateful for masterminding and realizing success with three new friends who share my passion for giving voice and presence to all in the workplace. Together, we hosted, for a standing room only audience, a much needed discussion about Working While Black. Talk about a unnecessary conversation, this was it. It was affirming not only for us as hostesses who provided space for the necessary conversation, but more importantly for the more than 300 people who needed and attended this necessary conversation on November 6, 2024... Our speaker satisfaction rate was an all-time high of 98%! Yes, we are proud of ourselves and look forward to hosting more of these and other conversations about the workplace.

In 2024, I launched a consulting firm focused on helping HR and leadership executives evaluate and enhance organizational culture, H Squared Solutions. Please recommend and contact me for executive coaching, training, or employee focused workshops vested in helping your organization to create and realize healthy, equitable, inclusive, and harmonious work environments. It ain't rocket science folks, it truly is all about the culture! Let me help you to see what you have, and to build what you want...

I am grateful for realizing almost five years of holding space, some affectionately call it "holding church", for Black Women on Sunday afternoons. Since the pandemic in March 2020, When Black Women Gather, LLC (WBWG) has provided a sanctuary where Black Women from all walks of life, from around the globe, gather online, sometimes with others, mostly just us, to discuss a multitude of topics relevant to Black Women. We intentionally gather to celebrate, honor, and uplift one another.

WBWG has 163 online gatherings under our belt, most are available to view at my Miss Higgi YouTube channel. Check it out and while there, please subscribe. We have traveled together, domestically and internationally, Jamaica, here we come, Jan 2025! We gathered at the range to sharpen our shooting skills. Don't look for me to save you, I was horrible!

WBWG has an active Facebook page with more than 8,500 members. We have a very lively Google Group where women post information relevant to and about the Black community and sometimes we engage in what can become very fiery, sometimes heated, but always respectful, conversations.

In 2024, WBWG launched a weekly mindfulness activity held online on Wednesday/Hump Day mornings at 6am. Let me know Black Women, if you want to lead a 15-20 minute session. And finally, we launched an online store! Please support us with a  purchase by visiting, WBWG Shop at www.whenblackwomengather.org. I love what we have created! Black Women are invited to join. We welcome you to our AMAZING...

I am focused on, and grateful for, the good in 2024, good health, family, the very best of friends, and for being blessed to have the basic necessities of life. I am guided by the principles of "Do Unto Others", Teach and treat folks the way you want to be treated, and living life with a full understanding of and appreciation for, "But for the grace of God, there go I"...

I am happy to be alive and CHOOSING to thrive in 2025!

Miss Higgi Says, Happy New Year Everyone!

Merry Christmas 2024!!!

Good Morning & Merry Christmas to all! 

I don't know where the year went. It feels like I blinked my eye, and voila!, it is Christmas again! 

I remember as a child, Christmas Eve was the longest night of the year. Brief spells of sleep felt like a full night's rest. We would wake up, jump out of bed, run to see the Christmas tree, only to be told to go back to bed and that Santa had not yet come. After a night of many false alarms, when the time did come, we would awake to find a fully transformed living room. Overnight it would become that happy place anticipated by most children all night. Gifts and toys were everywhere! 

Our parents went above and beyond, often well beyond their actual means, to ensure that on this special night, their children knew pure delight. If on no other day, children were over indulged on Christmas day.

I am told that today's children have to be awakened on Christmas morning. How sad that they have been robbed of such an innocent and happy life sustaining moment. While commercialization of the holiday surely has robbed the day of it's true meaning or intent, I surmise that today's children are gifted so often throughout the year, special occasion or not, that gifts on Christmas are just another gift, on just another day... It's a new day. 🤷🏾

My generation was mostly showered with gifts on birthdays and Christmas, with an occasional token gift in between. The farther away was your birthday was from Christmas, the happier was your childhood at least twice per year! Those poor babies born between mid December and at least early January, sometimes their magnificent days were blurred... LOL!!! 

What has not changed, however, is Christmas is still a time for family and friends, families with children especially. Take the day off! Ignore all work related calls or emails. Spend this time being truly present with loved ones. 

Extend yourself to the elderly, the sick and shut-in, those who have no family, and especially to those who have experienced personal loss during the last year. If ever they need you, it is now... 

It's Christmas Y'all! 

Be Especially Merry, 

Be Intentionally Happy, 

and Eat Waaay' TOO MUCH on Purpose! 

ENJOY!!!

~ Miss Higgi 

Reject The Double Standard, You Are Enough...

While I understand that Black folks have been indoctrinated to internalize the message that we "must be twice as good to get half as much" as a mean of survival, I reject the notion that I need to be twice as good, do ten times more, or suppress myself simply to fit in or be palatable to the taste buds of someone whose palate has been trained to not appreciate the flavor of me on their best day. If someone doesn't appreciate you as an appetizer (the interview) or vice versa, their flavor seems not to blend with yours, trust your instinct, don't stay for dinner (accept the job). Politely excuse yourself as you get up from the table where the in between courses and dessert promise not be tasty...

Black folks suffer disproportionately from stress related medical disorders. We spend more time at work than almost any place else. When we internalize other people's insecurities or judgements about us, or prioritize the comfort level of others over our own comfort level or well-being, we essentially concede to a double standard that says we accept some unspoken station in life that tells us that we are "less" or just not quite good enough. In our internalization of this double standard, Black folks limit and pose tremendous harm to ourselves as we suffer killing ourselves slowly trying to demonstrate or prove to others that we are more, or somehow, that we are good enough. To what end? Most times we exceed the standard of "good" and have credentials and experience that says we more than enough.

Stop with the code switching intended to make your chair fit at a table where upon first bite, you sense that the meal is not tasteful to your palate. If you decide, because it is your choice too, to accept a seat at the table (take the job), be compelled to do your job as well as does your co-worker who is often excelling in mediocrity and who sometimes is your supervisor. Sigh... That's a whole other story...

Yes, commit to your survival, but first be true to yourself. Your mental health, your physical health, your longevity, and those who love, appreciate, and value you and your presence, depend on you protecting and putting yourself first.

In the words of Maya Angelou, we teach folks how to treat us. It is time we start teaching others, but more importantly, ourselves, another lesson...

No job, no paycheck, no title, is worth your life, your health, or your peace of mind. Instead of "knowing your place" at work, or in life in general, claim your place and your peace while standing firmly in your truth and your authenticity. To do otherwise, is to dishonor yourself and sends a dangerous message that says the treatment of you is OK, or worse, that you are OK, when often, neither is true. Do not suffer in silence rendering yourself complicit in your own demise. Instead, find, claim, and protect your peace in defiant rejection of any semblance of acceptance of the double standard...

~ Miss Higgi

Indifference Is A Two Way Street

So many Americans were indifferent to the murder of an insurance company CEO earlier this week. The response was actually quite telling and likely a sign of what's to come in these states uniting America. I haven't seen a more unified attitude of IDGAF' since the death of justice scalia. The above picture demonstrates the likely cause for the display of overall indifference. 

Insurance companies have no business making medical decisions. Doctors should not be secondary in our health care. Lots of Americans suffer or die because insurance companies, not our doctor, deem our demise more expedient while their CEOs take home fat checks garnered from exorbitant premiums we pay. May the CEO and those innocent others who have lost their life, a limb, a child, a fight against cancer or some other, sometimes curable, disease, etc. because of heartless and callous decisions made by companies like his, may they all rest peacefully right alongside one another...

Sadly, his death will do little to change the immoral and unethical practices of the overall health insurance industry, to which we give sizeable monthly donations called "premiums". Having a soul or compassion for others does not have a place in capitalism. Actually, any hint of such characteristics or human-like sentiments are frowned upon. 

While I wonder what might have been the conversation around the dinner tables of executives in this industry, and all other overpaid corporate execs during this past week, I suspect that it had little to do with culpability, accountability, or any examination of the message behind the vast support of the results of an act as vile and as extreme, as was this senseless murder of their colleague. I doubt any consideration was given the response as a sign of Citizen Joe's undeniable waning tolerance of their severe greed and exploitation of the 99%. I don't think they get it. They don't want to get it. Capitalism won't allow them to get it... 

An indifference to humanity is embedded in the very root of America. It is how she was built. It is what makes her "great". I digress... Occasionally, America becomes a casualty of her own doing. The beat simply goes on as loss of a fallen soldier is considered a mere utilitarian sacrifice, collateral damage if you will. The good soldier dies for the good and survival of the others, the others in this case being the execs and the shareholders. The beat goes on, reportedly as did the meeting this CEO was scheduled to attend on the morning of his demise. 

Let it be a lesson to you, We the 99%, it's a job, nothing more. Be clear that your first loyalty must be to you, your family, and your overall well-being. Match the energy you receive. Exit stage left when necessary...

~ Miss Higgi 

Review: Jamie Foxx, What Had Happened Was...

 

I watched the Jamie Foxx Netflix special. It was special because it demonstrated the power of the energy source Black people provide for one another naturally. We are empowered and unstoppable when we come together. On queue, no rehearsal necessary, the audience responded to song lyrics, movie scripts, they understood the humor, they went to church and became a choir. Throughout, there was a natural and unspoken connection. Non Black folks might not have understood, but surely they felt the energy... 

Jamie knew that his healing was with his people. He knew where to revitalize his strength. At times, you could see that he was overwhelmed by the love of the audience. I would imagine he held this Homecoming' in Atlanta for a reason. One thing that's true about the Black community, we are a loving people. There is no joy like the joy we find in one another. Our moments of togetherness are priceless, they are enviable. It is that part of our culture that cannot be stolen, replicated, or bottled up and sold back to us. It is ours. It is innate. We love it when we see it. We love more being immersed in it. People WANT to be invited to "the barbecue" for more than food and fun. There is a belongingness at the barbecue that cannot be sold. Like our melanin, it is not packageable. Thank You God! I can only imagine the euphoria enjoyed by the live audience, just being in community with one another and in celebration of our Brotha'. Priceless...

The special said to me that no matter how far we stray, that no matter how overwhelmed, defeated, hopeless, or challenged we may feel, we need only be reminded to find our way home to be rejuvenated. In our gathering, be it at a wedding, a repast, a concert, a family reunion, church, HBCU Homecoming, no matter the setting or occasion, we will find healing, strength, and reaffirmation in our togetherness. No one else can do that for us. That's what I saw beyond celebration of Jamie's recovery. I was also reminded of my own family's miracle in a similar recovery of our Sister. Thank You God. 

Jamie hosted that special as much for himself as for the community. He did it brilliantly and takes the audience right along with him. It was a pleasure to watch. 

In times like this, if ever we needed to be reminded of the power and energy of our collectiveness, it is now. We need only find our way home, back to our roots. We must channel the spirit of our Ancestors who paved a way out of no way for us and left us a blueprint, literally and figuratively ingrained in our soul. 

Always, well most times, no matter how far we may have strayed or appear to have forgotten from whence we came, once home, we will be received in love and find whatever answers we seek right back there in the arms, and at the bosom, of Big Mama and dem'. We are loving like that... 

Sidechick, I mean side note, don't get me wrong in all this "finding our way home" talk. Despite his declaration, Jamie will not swear off white women. That's who he likes... 🤷🏾

Check out the special. You'll enjoy it and be inspired to know that we have it within ourselves to overcome all things. Jamie's full recovery is proof of that...

~ Miss Higgi

Ms. Giovanni, Now An Ancestor

 

Just a week or so ago, I shared with a friend a recent photo of Ms. Nikki not looking so well. And, it has been on my mind to call another friend who secured her as a guest for an online fundraiser When Black Women Gather held during the pandemic for Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green for her work in cancer research. What an honor...  

"I can fly like a bird in the sky..." Growing up, we loved her poetry. Who amongst us didn't Ego Trip' with our dear Sistah' Nikki? I dare say, her poetry, set to the soft sound of drums and played on all Black radio, introduced many a Black child to dream of Africa and to appreciate the melodic flow of poetry, the art and power of spoken word, if you will.

When "rap" was cool and meaningful, it was represented by the likes of Nikki Giovanni, Gil Scott Heron, and The Last Poets. Even as children, we understood the[ir] messaging as words of Black Pride. We were thriving and drunk with Black Pride in the mid to late 60s and 70s. We wore it like a badge of honor in our dress, our music, our 'soul' food, our poetry, our literature, our walk, our talk, our familiar gestures, in our every communication even when nonverbal. Our pride was fueled by the influence, voice, and presence of people like Ms. Giovanni which was fed to us daily on Black owned radio, which now, almost without exception, is a thing of the past.

It is not by accident that Black radio and the positive messaging of Black music have been effectively silenced. Don't get me started on the silencing of the Black church. Black newspapers and Black magazines are essentially nonexistent. Black books are presently being banned, burned, and belittled. Through each of these mediums, Black pride was nourished and affirmed daily. That these mediums and others, have been silenced, is no coincidence. Conversely, it is quite by design and according to a "master" plan which we are experiencing in real time as we live to witness America dangerously dancing with calls for a rebirth and seemingly intentional repetition of the most shameful parts of her history as is demonstrated in tolerance of very loud and deliberate declarations to dismantle valiant, hard fought for, and won, civil rights gains...

May our dear Sistah' Queen Nikki rest in much deserved peace. She definitely did the work. She came, she did the thing, and left her forever mark. She has now earned her wings and her place as a treasured Ancestor. Sleep well, my fellow outspoken Gemini Sistah'. Your work continues to inspire us. Your life was not in vain...  🙏🏾  

Renewed Power to the People!
👊🏾❤️🖤💚👊🏾