Since about 9, during every award show we became CRITICS from the COUCH holding court like Vogue editors giving looks a “lousy” or “love” rating. Years later, THE MET became our favorite ⭐️ studded event to JUDGE like JUDY.
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And you would always say: “They need to wear something I couldn’t wear in my closet!” And somehow that statement became theology to me.
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You taught me fashion (and most of life) was never about FITTING IN. It was about ARRIVAL & COURAGEOUS CHOICES.
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You have always lived in COLOR; not simply wearing it but COMMANDING IT.
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I remember that Black & white usher dress: polka dots & puffed shoulders. You marches around the pews like PAPARAZZI should’ve followed you. Auntie Pam whispered to Auntie Trunka: “Look at Shawn! Look at Shawn!” Women have often looked at you the way little girls 👧🏾 👧🏾 look through @macys windows 2 weeks before Christmas.
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MAMA, I can’t wait for us to attend THE MET”
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I can already see the night now:
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RIHANNA @badgalriri would RELISH in your REGAL edge. “Your outfit is FUCKN 🔥” she would say again.
“GIRL 👧🏾, where did you get that GOWN?” would be said as a UNION from GABRIELLE & GAYLE.
And PRADA would be PERPLEXED they hadn’t discovered you sooner.
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Because on that MET MONDAY, Mama you would not be entering someplace FOREIGN; instead where your creative spirit has always been FAMILIAR.
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We’d skip even an afterparty hosted by BEYONCE for a greasy BURGER in the West Village. Still laughing. Still critiquing outfits. Still us.
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One day soon Mama we goin on that Monday so the world will know YOU ARE THE MET. Happy Mother’s Day!
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#BigCityCountryGirl #MamaAtTheMet #MyForeverMuse #MM
A quintissential question in the Scriptures was posed: “Why Are You Looking For The Dead Among the Living? “
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I serve a LIVING SAVIOR who is UNDEFEATED!
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NO RIVAL. NO EQUAL.
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#Christ Is Risen & He Reigns Forever ✝️ #ODeathWhereIsThySting #OGraveWhereIsThyVictory #HeLIVES
I have the pleasure of co-producing iconic music showcases with my dear pham @stephybloom & her company @stephybloomandfriends & @seventhandlane called Back to the Feel which pays homage to pioneers from classic eras in R&B music.
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On Monday March 23 we celebrate the timeless catalogue of the late Luther Vandross & Anita Baker with some of the best vocalists in the game! For real, dont miss this night of elegance.
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🗓️: Monday March 23
⏱️: Doors open @7P & show starts 8P sharp
📍: SOBs (Sounds of Brazil) @ 204 Varick Street in Manhattan
👔👗: Attire is elegant & sophisticated
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TICKETS IN BIO
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#BackToTheFeel #StephyBloomAndFriends #ClassicR&B #LutherVandross AnitaBaker
Just months before my mothers party in 2020, we lost my brother - her baby son to gun violence.
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This shot symbolizes how we stayed alive: the prayers of an anointed community. I watched these women from all walks of life pray my mother back to life… and they still doing it to this day….
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#PRAYERS #TheVillage 📸: #devonwatsonphotography
All those who know me know i undoubtedly love BLACK WOMEN with every fiber of my being and its genesis can be traced to the unfailing relationship with my Black mother.
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Circa 2020. 3 weeks before the world shut down almost 80 women most of whom NEVER MET MY MAMA came together to celebrate her 60th birthday remaking a music video of “I’m Every Woman”. •
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To this day, it’s the best thing I have ever done.
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Happy International Women’s Month to the thousands of women in my life.
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#Mama #InternationalWomensMonth #BlackWomen #NYC #CelebratingMine
22 years in & I still love you like the first time I realized you existed 💛🖤
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#119 #AlphaPhiAlphaFraternity #AphiA #FoundersDay #IceCold #IotaDelta #401 #FSU #AGL #NYC #buttas
Year 6 without my little brother 💔
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#JustinGarner #Justice4Justin #GarnerLegacy #Houston #3rdWard #LovedTupac #BoneThugsNHarmony #Fishing #missingYouForever
One of my literal life goals is to have enuf strength to knuck & buck even at a seasoned age. 👨🏾🦳👨🏾🦳🖤💛🤙🏾
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#IssaCelebrate #AGrandLove #Al&Nicole #NYC #PennDistrict #Manhattan #Knuckin #Buckin #AndReadyToFight #KnuckIfYouBuck
“Skeeter!”, folks would holla out the car window - almost getting in a wreck to greet you riding around 3rd Ward. “Alright now!”, was your reply back and you would always have a backstory for everyone. I used to wait on it. You loved Black people so intensely.
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One of the few rap songs you loved was Ghetto Boys. We always turned this up a lil bit ridin thru the hood.
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You read the newspaper daily. Always knew what was going on. You taught me about Juneteenth💚❤️🖤. We loved goin to Frenchys and gettin’ a jalapeño pepper on the side & strawberry soda.
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You loved HOUSTON so much. So much. Our mornin routine of Shipley Doughnuts 🍩. Astro games. Yellin at the Oilers. Fixing the locks at Wheeler Baptist Church @wheeleravenuebc and tellin me Id be like Rev. Lawson. Walkin on the Bayou. the PABA. Scott and Macgregor. Dowling. Cleburne. TSU.
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More than Houston, you loved me and Justin fiercely. So glad I know what it’s like to be loved and affirmed by a Father.
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#HoustonToHeaven #Skeeter #HeavenlyFathersDay #ThirdWard #Htown #TheTrey #Scott&MacGregor
