I can think of no other speech or presenter that could deliver a more spellbinding message about the power of human progress and the importance and magic of unity. On the eve of the 10th anniversary of September 11th, I want nothing more than to spread this voice and passion. Please take a moment to [...]
Last month, Nike Women presented a few different topics to choose from for the Nike Women Make Yourself Movement campaign, which I began writing for this year. The options were: 1. Tell us about one person in your life who has inspired you to Make Yourself healthy and fit. 2. How do you maintain your [...]
“You’re a smart motherf*cker, aren’t you?” he asked just loudly enough for me to hear over the horn section blasting “Mo Better Blues” at my favorite jazz club in Los Angeles. The bass line began to vibrate harder against the back wall of the smoke filled room. I smirked lightly and raised my right eyebrow. [...]
We’ve come a long way LA, from the body of water on the West side that brought my beneficiaries to shore, to the lake in the East lit with Silver that I’ll bathe in until my hair no longer weaves through the rugged hands of your hard time. LA, I surfed your unicorn-rippled waves, and I sank in your [...]
You could say I went though a bit of a bad-girl phase growing up. Far from being the girl next door, I was the girl at the Dead End. I was 12 years old when I smoked my first Marlboro Red and chased my first pint of Jack Daniels with Mountain Dew. I began practicing these habits [...]
The first time I met Michael Franti I was leaning against a sweat-covered swaying wall about ready to pass out from exhaustion inside the classic live New Orleans music venue the Howlin’ Wolf during JazzFest ’03, the best vacation of my life to date. It was 5:00AM, and I hadn’t slept in at least 48 [...]
NEW YORK You made a woman out of me, Manhattan. You – with your iron will, mammoth hands, and enchantingly unforgiving height. It’s no wonder you were a soldier in another life, possessing the best and worst of times, purple triumphs, and the most lurid crimes. Unwittingly, I fell into your fold twice when I [...]
It happened instantly, the change you made in me, the response to the questions I don’t know how to ask, and the awakening of “ A Love Supreme.” I drink my red wine to your tones over and over, and you swim through my veins in the deep end. I make a toast to you, [...]
I have always thought that I’m much better on my own. I get more accomplished. I take more risks, and I’m more in control. A salsa dancing instructor once told me I have “control issues.” He wasn’t kidding. “Your decade of solo dance training has made it difficult for you to trust your partner,” [...]
Me on Fourth of July Many Ions Ago Before I venture off into a great beer and barbecue abyss on this lovely 4th of July, I’m going to come right and say something that I haven’t felt compelled to express since I became an [...]
