In the fall of 2018, I was…pretty depressed, for lack of a better word. My book wasn’t selling (I was not a marketing genius), and I was working for a school that--bless the kids--drained every ounce of energy and joy I had, so I had none leftover for my book. The past summer had been a reprieve from the madness, but the fall had hit me like a ton of bricks.

So when my good sis, artist Suhaylah Hamzah (IG: suhaylah_theartist), invited me to an art show in which she was participating, I’ll admit that I didn’t have the spoons to go. Outdoors, it was cold and wet; on the inside, I was dark and twisty--you get the picture. Nevertheless, Suhaylah is one of my dear friends, and when I make her a promise, I always want to come through. So, I got out of bed (with my hair still in twists, so you know I wasn’t about it)--I trudged through the muck and the awful fall Cleveland weather, and I attended the RAW Artists show at the Cleveland House of Blues.

The House of Blues has always been one of my favorite venues. I’d gone there for plenty of notable concerts (SZA, Miguel, Smino, Adele, etc.) but had...Read More