Out of the Mouths of Babes
by Lexx Brown-James In many communities of color there is a belief that “children should be seen and not heard.” I recently met with a 7 year old girl who turned this idea around with me. When I asked her about those who loved her she replied “Grandpa.” She proceeded to tell me how sick […]
Lexx’s Hairstory
At the age of 2 my mother gave me a relaxer. I did not have hair up until she game me the relaxer, I have no idea how it worked, but it did. Then growing up, in a predominantly, culture of power communicty I wore braids. My mother and I would drive one Saturday to […]
Yesterday I Cried
In my 14 years of doing counseling, yesterday I did something that I have never done. I cried in a therapy session. A client Vanessa* was finally able to adopt a child. After years of struggling with infertility and then waiting for more years to adopt a child, she was finally going to be a […]
Tonya’s Hairstory
Like many little Black girls my age I had pressed and then relaxed hair as a child. My mom always used a hot comb that sat on the stove top and I would sit in our orange kitchen chair dreading the whole process. When I became of age, about 10 years old for my house, […]
Time Alone, the Hard Way
I have wanted, no needed, some alone time for a couple of weeks now. Last week I started to make plans to carve out a morning where I would be responsible for no one or no thing. A morning during Memorial Day weekend was my plan. It’s a three-day weekend and I would get what […]
