Sandra Bland

"Believe it or not, I am still not over Sandra Bland

Go figure, right?

I mean a black girl, with a loud mouth, and take not shit from nobody serving it blood running through her veins

You know, they type to own her own body or swear she did anyways

And parade around all proud and what not of this churn or woman and darkness she has bled

It's almost as if she had a voice or tried to use it somehow before the noose and/or trash bag snatched it out of her throat

And I know it's hard to believe that months later your ears are hearing the same damn poem

And, trust me, it's hard to believe that my fingers are writing it

But how eerie it is to see a woman so much like you die and have it called a mystery

You know we crowded around Twitter that day, and so many after, trying to solve a riddle

Like, how long can a black girl lives if she speaks when not spoken to?

And how closely can America watch and still not see the blood spilling from the brown?

Must you drown in it to realize?

Must we all go missing?

When I stand in the center of campus and say that, "I AM SANDRA BLAND" 

And a sea of white faces look on in confusion

Or look away in disgust

I realize how suicide =CAN be murder

And we are still trying to solve the riddle

The answer is clear:

It is easy to be killed by oppression

To have it fester beneath your skin and have it suck all the light and/or blood out of you

I do not know what type of pain one must cower under to hope for death instead

I do not know who wrote this riddle, who thought it funny

But I do know that I AM Black

That I AM Woman

That sadness accompanies my loud mouth and slides beneath my toes daring to swim its way into my throat

That, itself, is reason to believe they tied the noose

So. Believe it or not, I am still not over Sandra Bland.

Go figure, right?"

Dance Will ALWAYS Be Life

And this is truer than true. No matter how far I have strayed, Dance will always be at the core of who I am.

Dance has taught me more about myself and this world than I can put into one single blog post. 

I'm grateful for the late nights and early mornings. 

For the bruised toes.

For sprained ankles. 

Tendinitis.

Rotation.

Concussions.

(Yes, concussions.)

Blood. Sweat. And literal tears.

For it all.

One thing for sure, dance is not easy. That's not why we do it. There are no easy claims to fame. No fast money. And often times it can be a world full of rejection.

But we are FREE here. 

I say "here" and it can be kind of confusing, being that I don't really study dance any more. I'm not actively taking classes or performing, and to be honest I don't even remember the last time I thoroughly stretched. But every single time a song comes on, I'm moving inside. 

Every time, I want to give up on a simple task I hear the words of all of my former teacher-loves cheering me on; reminding me that complacency never gets cast. 

People who give up don't see the bouquet of roses. 

And that no matter what, you dance through it all.

From house lights to curtains, you leave your entire soul on the stage and for one moment you are both completely empty and drastically full.

For that moment, it is all worth it and you are breathing with your favorite song.

Dance has taught me that perseverance is the only way to make the curtsy worthwhile.

So even when times are tough, when the work is piling, the interviews are plenty, but callbacks are few...when it seems the easiest thing to do is fall and stay there,

Remember that, we have danced our entire life here.

The beauty is coming.

The beauty is here.

It's in the dance. 

DIY Avocado + Banana Deep Conditioner

Welcome back loves!

Alright, so I've taken out my Marley twists, trimmed my hair....and abruptly realized it is MORE DRY THAN DUST. As you all know, I've been on an all-natural journey to cleansing my mind, body, and spirit, but my hair should not be exempt.

We are taking it back to the basics with this easy, all natural deep conditioner that you can make from ingredients STRAIGHT from your kitchen! This particular recipe is inspired by the beautiful Naptural85.

The first thing I do is wash my hair with a sulfate-free shampoo. Then I apply the conditioner.

Here is what you will need: 

1. One Whole Ripe Avocado 

2. One Whole Ripe Banana

3. 1/2 Cup of Aloe Vera Juice

4. Two Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil

Blend all of the ingredients together in a blender. This helps smooth the chunks of avocado and banana so that you don't spend hours in the shower trying to rinse it out later. Next, I pour the mask through a small rice strainer and into a large bowl to completely eliminate the chunks!

*The Blender and rice strainer are OPTIONAL. You can always whisk the ingredients together and it will work the exact same!*

Apply the conditioner, generously throughout your hair. Be sure to coat EACH strand!

Wrap your hair in  a plastic cap, or Kroger bag :), and allow it to penetrate your strands for at least an hour. During this time, you can go for a walk, watch some episodes of Grey's Anatomy, or cry about finals LOL.

Once an hour has passed, rinse the deep conditioner thoroughly. I also like to follow up with a rinse our conditioner to ensure that all of the avocado and banana smell is out of my hair.

AND there you have it folks! Soft, Moisturized, and Defined Curls! Comment down below some of your favorite DIY hair product staples. I'd love to chat with all of you.

Until next time!

Stay happy, Stay healthy!

~Naturallykbiggie