Black History Month 100 Years Strong!

100 years ago, February 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson was compelled to launch an annual celebration of the often overlooked, unknown, or deliberately dismissed achievements and contributions of Black Americans to the US and beyond. He was intent that Black Americans, as well as others, know the truth of who we are, our accomplishments, and our contributions to the world. 

100 years later, in 2026, the attacks on erasing Black achievement are relentless and targeted. Books are being banned. Historical data is being discounted, distorted, or discarded. Artifacts are being removed from Museums. All in vain. Black Americans are America's history. She cannot replace or erase us or our history. We live in a global society. Books, photos, movies, griots, and documents know no boundaries, geographic or otherwise. Our response is to preserve and protect our personal historical artifacts and memories and to passionately tell our story. We must be deliberate and diligent in passing our history to future generations.

What began as Black History Week in February 1926, over the years, has expanded into Black History Month. The Black community is now adamant that our history, America's history, be observed 365 days of every year! 

The theme for Black History Month 2026 is A Century of Black History Commemorations. The evolution of honoring the impact of Black history on the modern world will be explored in terms of how the culture and contributions of people of African descent have transformed not only the world, but also the status and presence of Black people globally. 

Thank you Dr. Woodson. Your vision lives on...

Happy Black History Month! 

✊🏾❤️🖤💚✊🏾

#BlackHistory365

Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes

I am transported to a time when, as a young woman, I was traumatized by repeatedly being forced to witness the brutal beating of Rodney King by LA cops in the middle of the night. It was caught on camera by an observer with a camera long before we all had cameras in our hands. Still, the country could not allow itself to believe it's lying eyes.

Despite the video, the response of the nation was to make it his fault that he was brutalized such that self respecting Americans, Black Americans specifically, were traumatized daily by being subjected to looping media coverage of depiction of the opposite. A Black man who, despite being mercilessly beaten by LA cops, who had no idea they were being filmed, who called for peace and understanding and pleaded "can we all just get along", was still vilified and dehumanized for a crime committed against him.

I am mournful for what happened to Mr. Pretti, a white male who, like George Floyd in the same state, has been murdered by law enforcement in plain view for the world to see, as was Renee Goode, a white female, just a few days before him, also in the state of Minnesota. I can't help notice, however, the difference in the response. Rodney and George were not seen as fully human. Supporters were criticized for daring to suggest that their lives mattered.

What we see happening to white folks now is what has always happened to Black people. They are being made the villain in their own death. Let us not forget Trayvon Martin, a young, innocent Black boy with a full life and limitless dreams before him. Certainly, too young to have a past behind him. Still, his character was assassinated, his and that of his family. He was made responsible for his own murder. Briana Taylor, killed in the sanctuary of her bedroom, was made responsible for her death. Her boyfriend defending her and their home was arrested. Likewise, Mr. Pretti and Ms. Goode are being made the villain of crimes committed against them by those presenting themselves aa law enforcement.

America has accepted that Black folks are hyper vilified in the media for commission of the most petty of crimes, and never are we victims, especially when the perpetrator is white or a cop. A double standard in reporting crime has been normalized. Black folks instinctively know when there is no mention of race, a white guy did it. I wonder if that is evident to or even considered by white folks. 

Black folks hear news of a heinous crime and hold our breath until we know it was not committed by a Black person. Often, we breathe a collective sigh of relief finding comfort in knowing that it was not one of us who did the dreadful deed, as we watch the media literally whitewash coverage of the crime and offer excuses for the perpetrator who is often white. When the perpetrator is Black, s/he and their entire family is smeared no matter their age or absence of a background worthy of mention. The media will create a stir removing emphasis from the crime committed against a Black victim when the perpetrator is white.

What we see happening now are reverse tactics being applied to white victims of police violence as is also being aggressively and incredibly applied to racism. Although ice agents are not trained police officers, they have been given like authority, a license to kill non-whites with damn near impunity. This administration uses the media to divert public outcry and ultimate responsibility and condemnation of the ice agents. As when the public witnesses the murder of a Black man, they are buying in to not believing their lying eyes and it seems to be working.

The media is running wild with lead stories classifying white victims of police terrorism as domestic terrorists. How will this play out? Is killing a squeaky clean white male the bridge too far? What impact does questioning or demeaning his humanity have on the psyche of those both reporting and receiving such narratives when the victim looks like them or could have been them, their son, their brother, their husband, their father, etc? Will white America be forced to come to terms with how she has judged Black victims and what Black victims have been saying for decades, if not centuries? Why is it that we have to wait until the crisis knocks on our door to truly see it as important or relevant? Is it too late?

Where and how does the madness stop? Miss Higgi really wants to know when will America believe her lying eyes? 👀 

Am I the Jinx?

You know that podcast, Am I the Asshole? I'm asking, Am I the Jinx?

Last summer I moved out of Florida for very sound reasons and would like to have returned to the life and fabulous apartment I'd left in New Jersey, which is home, but I decided I was over long, cold winters. So, instead I moved to North Carolina after considering South Carolina and the Tidewater area in Virginia. My reasoning was that while I didn't want a cold winter, I certainly I didn't want snow. So I considered places  that don't really get snow and if they do it's a dusting that only they think is real snow. If the temperature drops, it very quickly rebounds, or so I thought...

It was explained to me pretty early when I got here that the weather in North Carolina is bipolar. I was warned to expect wild fluctuations in temperature, nothing about snowstorms. From what I'm hearing, they have not had a real snow storm like the one we're expecting since 2000. It was believed that there would not be another such storm "in our lifetime". Here we are 26 years later and they're bracing for another snowstorm the magnitude of the 2000 storm. 👀 Some people say there was a big snow in 2014 as well but apparently 2000 was the whopper. So I'm asking myself, "so why didn't you go to New Jersey"? If they're going to have snow like this in NC, I could at least be home with my peeps. LOL! Although, I do have quite a circle here, which was part of the draw to NC, that is ever growing! I have met some really good people. I am content...

Turn the clock back a little bit. In 2009 I moved to Binghamton, New York. I know, I know, make it make sense... I keep making these moves but that one was really out of sorts for a summer bunny like me. But there I was in Binghamton, New York where they get this predicted flood everyone 100 years. Three rivers meet in Binghamton. It's called a confluence of rivers. So, it's a thing...

Binghamton had just had the centennial flood a few years before I moved there, I think 7 years before. Well, lo' and behold, what happens? They have this 100-year flood 93 years early and the whole city is a hot flooded mess! I take my car across town to higher grounds and return to my my high rise apartment where I rationlize if the water reached my apartment, it was gonna' be a wrap for most of us. I didn't get meet my maker vibes at all... So I perched myself on the rooftop where I could see what was happening from a prime vantage point. It was horrible! I even wrote a blog about it, There's A River A Rising in Binghamton.

So here I am in two different places where these natural disaster events that are only supposed to happen every blue moon decide to greet me with a spontaneous welcome party. So, Am I the Jinx? If you say yes, I'll be moving to your city soon. LOL!

Be safe, stay warm, and dry! Do all the precautionary things we're told to do, fill your gas tank, make sure you have batteries, flashlights, candles, blankets, and ample food. Somebody told me if the lights go out, put my food on the balcony because it'll stay frozen out there. Fill your tub with water in case your toilet stops flushing or something to that effect. But most important, eat your snacks in moderation. We may be in for a while...

Am I the Jinx? 🤷🏾 Miss Higgi really wants to know. (smile)...

The Tragic Cost of Illusions of Inclusion

If ever there was an example of why immigrants should listen to Black Americans, the recent reports of record deportation of Cuban Americans is it. Black Americans know white America as does no other... 👀 

Latino communities have been duped into believing themselves to have a status of whiteness that is not real or ascribed to them for any benefit of their convenience. They were labeled "white" as part of a numbers game intended to bolster the numerical illusion of a white majority. They are one of many clearly non-white appearing groups that have been lumped into this category merely for the sake of census.

They have been used as a pawn to create a wedge between themselves and Black Americans. They have been used to help keep a foot on Black America's neck. Sadly, as with many other immigrants of color, many were all too willing participants in the game of Black oppression and truly believe(d) the hype that, in America, they are considered white simply because America has applied such prefix to their ethnic identity (i.e. white Cuban, white Puerto Rican, model Asian). MENA (Middle Eastern North Africans) certainly don't fit the visual racial construct of white, yet, the census says they are so, despite loud cries of objection from within the community. 

Many an immigrant suffers from the illusion of inclusion. Having white ascribed as a prefix to their identity, feeds the insatiable need many have for white affirmation or white acceptance. Any Black American could have, and probably did, tell them no matter their "milky" complexion, or straightness of their hair, white Americans don't see them as white and that a "wake up" call was inevitably in their future. Can you hear us now? 

Latino immigrants and others, must come to understand that their being labeled as "white" has nothing to do with their truth but rather is for the convenience of others striving to maintain a numerical majority status thereby leading to this FAFO moment for the Cuban community, the inevitable wake up call. Still, some remain woefully asleep. Many others, still, are far too eager to throw even their own under the bus in which they believe themselves passengers.

Meanwhile, Black Americans are passing the popcorn as the drama unfolds...

~ Miss Higgi Says

To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/us/politics/cubans-florida-deportations-trump.html?smid=wa-share

For The Love of Roots

I was so sorry to read in The NY Times about the tragic loss of noted author, Chimamanda Adichie's, son, while receiving medical care in Nigeria. I enjoy her work and can only imagine the depth of her grief.🙏🏿

Can we discuss, however, how is it that we have so many successful Nigerian doctors in the US when the need for even basic medical care is so great in their own country?

Show me a Nigerian who will not boast about how proud s/he is to be Nigerian, how they are the strongest, most capable, most intelligent, and most confident of certainly all African people, perhaps people in general. So, how is it that they don't stay or return to Nigeria to develop it into a great place to live and work so that when one does fall gravely ill, they are not scrambling to get to the UK, US, Canada, or the like, for care?

I love Dr. Patrick Awuah, a Ghanaian who studied and obtained tremendous wealth in America, who went back to Ghana and started Asheshi University. He put his money and his commitment where his mouth was. He said he could not, in good conscience, live in the US in the lap of luxury knowing that basic necessities were non-existent in his own country. So he packed up and went back to Ghana and started the university. Students who attend Asheshi, pledge to reside in Ghana and use their talents to build that nation, not another. How commendable! I had the pleasure of touring Asheshi during my stay in Ghana. It is a beautiful campus. My hat is off to Dr. Awuah for realizing his dream. 

Some years ago, while living in Ghana, I had the pleasure of meeting a father and son while dining in a local restaurant. Dressed in matching outfits, they were adorable. I struck up a conversation with the father who let me know that Little Kwame was born in Reston, Virginia. I think he thought, as an American, I would be impressed at his announcement. He went on to explain that Little Kwame, when he reached the age of majority, would return as a citizen to the United States and attend the university of his choosing.

I asked if, when Little Kwame became a lawyer, a doctor, or an Indian Chief, would he remain in the US and contribute to that economy or would he return to develop Ghana. The father chuckled and gave a look of amusement at my question, and said, of course he would remain in the United States. To which I responded, then I am not impressed. I offered that Kwame should not stay in the US, but that he should return to Ghana with his new skills, to support the nation and the economy that had reared and educated him such that he was able to be accepted to a school of his choosing in the United States.

Seeming to understand my position, the father went on to share with me an African parable, if you will, that says if his grandfather, who died 100 years ago, should awake, he would have no problem finding his way back home. Translation, not much has changed in Ghana. Not much will change in Ghana, Nigeria, and similar nations, as long as their best and the brightest fail to return.

I know it's not as easy as I imply, especially for those who perhaps are not first generation immigrants or those who have become accustomed to a whole other lifestyle. I do understand the dynamics of such a decision. Many argue that monies earned abroad, afford them to take care of a families back home. But what about the nation?

While living in Ghana I also met other Ghanaians who did return to Ghana and started businesses to employ their own people, to build their own nation. Some of them reported feeling and being treated like expats in their own land. I appreciate and deeply respect that they are still there, still doing their part. Call it a deep recognition that self-preservation is the product of nation preservation, as is actively being modeled in Burkina Faso and neighboring countries of which I am immensely proud.

I remember having a discussion with a Haitian friend in the US who explained to me that I didn't understand the implications of how hard it would be to go back to Haiti, especially given the politics. I countered that I didn't think she understood or appreciated that the lifestyle she enjoys in the US did not come without much pain and much suffering. The sacrifices made and the struggle endured by Black Americans is unprecedented, unmatched, and sadly unknown to or respected by, far too many immigrants who enjoy hard won civil rights currently being dismantled in America.

I will continue to question persons from developing countries who don't return as did Dr. Awuah and others, especially those who judge Black Americans while enjoying the fruit of our struggle allowing that they live and prosper in this country while failing to physically support, live in, or develop, the homeland they "love".

Again, my heart bleeds for Ms. Adichie's loss. It is my prayer that some good might result from this very tragic and public loss experienced by such a high profile person. Perhaps her tragedy will bring attention to the need for provision of even basic professional services in Nigeria and other developing nations compelling migrants from said countries to physically [re]commit to taking care of home first, which is where all charity should begin...

~ Miss Higgi Says

Famed Nigerian Author Blames Death of Toddler Son on Negligent Care 

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/11/world/africa/nigeria-adichie-son-death-blame.html

Against The World...

The world is going to turn against the United states. Mark my words. There's no reason that the rest of the world should sit by and allow America to continue to be a bully who ignores international law, who kills innocent fishermen, and invades innocent countries kidnapping their President and  his wife for that which has nothing to do with the US or what's happening here. 

The US is stuck in a colonial state of mind. That ship has sailed. I can't imagine that countries are just going to sit back and allow them to bogart their way in and take what they want, Free Africa! There are other nations just as strong as the United States. They will intervene either to defend victim nations or to take control of their resources themselves. What they are not likely to do, is sit around and just allow America to dictate what happens in "their" hemisphere, which is what stephen miller proclaimed the US will do just yesterday on air with Jake Tapper. 

In our tolerance and failure to resist the tyranny of a trump presidency, not once, but twice, America has shown the rest of the world that it is not a nation to be trusted. It has shown the world that it is not a nation that can be trusted to even defend itself from an enemy within. Our universities, the highest of our courts, our Congress, our corporations, the largest of our law firms, have all capitulated to lawsuits, caved to policy changes, bought into the destruction of books, history, museums, free press, and so much more. Whatever trump wants, trump gets.

America has abandoned her three branches of government, conceding to the will of the executive branch, which is clearly anti-American. As a nation, Americans have sat back and allowed cruelty beyond cruelty - domestic and international, from ICE agents and alligator prisons to torture chambers in foreign lands. We have allowed that the constitution be disregarded. We watched as a foreigner was given access to top secret information and authorized to take a chainsaw to destroy our government and ruin the lives of countless American citizens and families. The destruction of an already inadequate, but improved, health care system is inevitable. As we have not defended ourselves, other nations are left to interpret our apathy as silent complicity or endorsement of the nation we are becoming.

America is in trouble. The US is not the superpower she still markets herself to be. There are other big boys on the field playing the same game, with the same big toys. She is effin' around and is about to find out that she cannot stand alone against the world. Sadly, those who have resisted, will be casualties of greed, displaced arrogance, delusions of supremacy, unprecedented corruption, and quite frankly, a government that was broken long before trump and his maga party, formerly known as the republican party, effectively consumed by the beast it fed...

~ Miss Higgi Says

And So The War Begins...

When I heard in the middle of the night that there had been an "explosion" in Venezuela, I knew that it was some BS that had something to do with trump's strikes on innocent fishing boats in Venezuelan waters under the pretext of combatting drug traffickers.

What is the connection between trump and Maria Corina Machado, the Venezuelan woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize but dedicated it to him? I am not versed in Venezuelan politics but it is my understanding that President Maduro is a Chavez guy. If this is so, clarity on Venezuelan politics is not required for it to make sense why some believe he must go. He's a Chavez guy, he's a melanated man presiding over a melanated people in a sovereign nation rich in resources. Venezuela has lots of oil. Need I say more?

trump is an out of control, deranged, maniacal, evil, demented bastard, surrounded only by like minds, all thirsty for war of no consequence to them or their loved ones, who no one can reign in, thanks to a lame duck, sell out Supreme Court and a spineless republican party that has effectively been consumed by the beast they fed. Who needs congressional approval to declare war risking harm to our nation and our troops? Who's gonna' stop him Boo? 👀 SMH...

Once again the press is protecting trump and misleading the American people by reporting that the Venezuelan president has been "captured" by the US government. President Maduro was KIDNAPPED, not by the US government but, by the trump administration, absent congressional approval, therefore absent the will of the American people...

If you are cool with or can make any excuse for any part of an action where a sitting president, a convicted criminal himself, goes into another country and kidnaps their president and his wife and "indicts" them, then you are a huge part of what's wrong with the world today. Pray for Africa...🙏🏿 

Even if this action was taken by a president I liked, such an egregious violation of treaty, trust, sovereignty, and basic humanity, would not be okay with me. I would be just as livid, just as disturbed...

This is a bad dream that worsens with every waking day and it has only been one year. The American people will soon grow tired but when, and what will we do? When, where, and how will our war against tyranny begin?