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Happy New Year

Today is the last day of 2011 and I have a list of resolutions that I've actually started on earlier this month. 2011 was very challenging. But, it was highly illuminating. I did a lot.  I was blessed to have the opportunity to try new things and know what it is I want to do and what it is I don't want to do. I realized that I no longer am interested in maintaining an online personal blog. It was fun while it lasted. It was cathartic. It really taught me a lot as well in operating on line-- from using HTML, using photos, etc. But, I think, I have lost an interest in the oversharing blogging requires sometimes. I think I want to focus on writing some books, too. My website at http://www.KhadijahOnline.com will remain up and running, of course, to attract clients and document my appearances and work. But, this blog will no longer be updated. I thank you all who have visited my blog, left comments, retweeted my blog on Twitter, etc. There are tons of blogs online, and you taki
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Happy Thanksgiving: Giving and Learning

Happy Thanksgiving. I work at Northern Virginia Community College and in October, I had assigned my class the assignment of making a commercial or PSA about something they are passionate about. The students were in groups of about five and were to create a video to screen in the class. This group decided to begin a community service at the church across from our campus. None of these students had volunteered before and the community service-- giving food to people who are not homeless, but struggling financially, really touched them. They told the class how the people were just like all of us and were "normal", not the stereotype we have of people who are poor and hungry. Thought I'd share their experience.    
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Infinite. A Poem for Troy Davis

Somehow, I can't fall back into my every day routine without my mind creeping back to the horror of this past Wednesday. I listened on the radio as somehow was executed. That reality haunts me, that we've come to this in our history. That we listen to people being unjustly killed. That radio programs and tv shows count ratings as folks crowd in to stay aware of someone's murder. Wow. Troy Davis' execution was so highly traumatic for me. I will admit that I never openly condemned the death penalty, but, it isn't because I don't disagree with it. My opinion and advocacy has always been around addressing the corrupt legal system first. A legal system that disproportionately imprisons black people and enforces policy borne through slavery is not something our country should be upholding. Troy Davis' case, infused with all types of inaccuracies, questionable doubt and inconsistencies deserved a fair trial and that never happened. Not only should he not been exe
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Didn't Hear About Troy Davis Before Yesterday? Get Over Yourself.

The tears, avid attention to the Democracy Now! broadcast and twitter sparring last night in the name of Troy Davis didn't stop the man from being executed at 11:08pm Wednesday evening. The hashtag #TroyDavis didn't wield powers to unlatch him from the gurney he lay to await word on whether he was going to be killed or not when his execution, originally set for 7pm was halted. Carefully explaining the details of his court case and his dire situation to my 8 year-old last night after she asked me why I was sad and angry both at once didn't somehow make everything magically turn-out to end on a happy note either. I mean, after all, it was just a day. Building awareness and changing people's minds about something as singularly significant as saving a man's life isn't supposed to happen in a day, right? If you read any of the posts on social media tweets and Facebook posts, you'll likely hear the refrain that "Who was Troy Davis" or "Why ya'
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Bill O'Reilly, Soybeans & Breastfeeding, Oh My!

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My baby Khari in 2004 In light of Bill O'Reilly's recent words of stupidity (really, when ISN'T he spouting inflammatory dumbness?) about breastfeeding and how it will cost the government a fortune once breastfeeding pumps are covered by government subsidy, I thought it would make sense to revisit my blogging advocacy regarding breastfeeding. I actually started blogging in 2005 on iparenting.com about being a breastfeeding mom and have had essays featured on ClubMom.com and other sites early on sharing my own breastfeeding story. I nursed my daughter until she was three years-old and I believe wholeheartedly that nursing her from birth has positively impacted her immune system. On the Womenshealth.gov website, you will find the common facts that we all hear about the benefits of breastfeeding your baby. Among them are: Breast milk is the most complete form of nutrition for infants. A mother's milk has just the right amount of fat, sugar, water, and protei
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Not a So Long, Just a See Ya Later: My Personal Blog Hiatus

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This week was terrible and awesome all at once. Life works that way often, it seems. Some of the awesome the greeted me this week was being recognized by eMedia as a "Woman of Power". The recognition ceremony was held this past Thursday at Eden's Lounge in Baltimore, MD and my wonderful spouse, good friend and cast mate Quineice were there to cheer me on. The wonderful Shani Elliot , a local writer and online radio host, I learned, nominated me for the recognition. I was so honored by this and told her so. Women uplifting other women is a beautiful thing. Here are some shots from that evening: Photographer Stevie Robinson took this shot of me accepting my award ERIC STEWART AND WOMEN OF POWER 2.3.11: Patricia Fitzhugh, Khadijah Ali-Coleman, LaShella Miller, Wendy McIntyre, Dr. Monifa Jackson, Tarsha Beaver and Genevieve Wilson My sweetie came out to support My good friend Quineice was in the house! This shot is funny. I have no idea who that man i
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New Baby, Squirrel Take-Over & Best Week Ever on Twitter

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So, last week was major. Good things happened, really good things happened, that gave me faith in humanity. Yes, times are so hard that it's come to that-- finding the good to counteract the negativity. I don't know about you, but sometimes there is stress in just sitting at my desk and getting online, for the first thing to pop up most days is dreadful news. Last week, the news of the week that started earlier in the month was the case of Ohio mom Kelly Williams-Bolar. Click here to get the run-down of the situation.  Kelly Williams-Bolar So, after reading about Williams-Bolar, I felt defeated. Defeat was the sentiment because I certainly would have done the same thing if most of my relatives weren't more broke than me and lived in an even worse (or the same) school district as I do. The fact that she was actually living with her dad made the ruling against her worse. What has been interesting to read are comments that people have made indicating that she didn'
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