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  • On B. Smith, Husband Dan Gasby and the Backlash Over Moving on When a Spouse Has Alzheimer's

    Dan Gasby—the husband of style and fashion guru, restaurateur, and Alzheimer’s patient B. Smith—recently made a very public announcement: While he remains devoted to his wife, he is also in a deeply committed relationship with another woman, who happens to be white. Gasby’s admission ignited a virulent, often nasty, and I feel unreasoning backlash within…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • You're Single, Childless and Your Aunt Is Nosy. Happy Thanksgiving!

    The third Thursday in November is upon us! If you’re one of the brave people visiting a black family as a single and childless person, you need to devise a strategy for dealing with nosy people. Don’t think you need a strategy? Well, what are you going to do when Nana gives you a look…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Eyelash Extensions Are a Gorgeous, Frivolous, Expensive Habit That I Can't Keep Up

    The Lord blessed me with a lot of thick, curly hair that can go from Teenie Weenie Afro short, to all the way to the middle of my back long. But what I did not get blessed with was much in the ways of eyelashes. Sure, they’re “there” and they’re thick, but they’re very short…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • How I Finally Learned to (Sort of) Stop Hitting Myself

    As I often tell people, what got me to finally get my life together (of sorts) was not me. I wish I was enough, but alas, for me, as I’ve demonstrated time and time again, I am not. The first time I pulled it together out of the darkness of bipolar disorder was for my…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • The Ms. Foundation for Women Goes for a Welcome Laugh in Aggressively Unfunny Times

    A long time ago (2016), in a land similar to our own but very different (pre-Trump America), comedy was about the absurd. Presidents were fun to make fun of because they were confined by the stature of the office. It was fun to imagine how they would be if they were a more extreme version…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • So, What's Marijuana Got to Do With It?

    In a search affidavit that we apparently know all the contents of, we now know that the police apparently found some marijuana—about .37 ounces—in Botham Jean’s apartment after he was shot by Dallas police officer Amber Guyger. My response: So what? Marijuana, a substance that is legal, either recreationally or medically, in nine states, and…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • From Get-Out-the-Vote to Respectability Politics, Aretha Franklin's Homegoing Was a Dramatic, Political Affair

    DETROIT—A stage is a stage, even when it’s a church and the performance is a marathon of a funeral. Clocking in at more than nine hours long for those who showed up at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning to view her body, perhaps Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul and daughter of Detroit, wouldn’t have had…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • A List of Every Stress-Related Illness I’ve Ever Had, Ranked From Horrible to ‘I Think I’m Dying’

    A List of Every Stress-Related Illness I’ve Ever Had, Ranked From Horrible to ‘I Think I’m Dying’

    When you don’t listen to your body, your body has a way of forcing you to listen. Or at least that’s what my body does, over and over again, from annoying to terrifying effect. When you suffer from stress-induced anxiety, as I do and have since I was a child, you get a host of…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Marvel’s Luke Cage Premiere Party Was Cool and I Was Cool, Too, for Once

    Before I headed to Los Angeles for the BET Awards this weekend, I decided to test my old-person “stay awake” abilities by going to the premiere party for Netflix and Marvel’s Luke Cage series Thursday night before my flight. While I succeeded in turning all the way up at this party, I failed at staying…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • Our Hotel Is for the Birds (Literally). Cuh-CAAAAW!

    There are literal birds chirping, tweeting and running around our hotel for the BET Awards—the vast Westin Bonaventure in downtown Los Angeles, where scenes from the film True Lies were shot. These birds, however, are not just of the feathered kind but of these kinds, too. Yes, birds. Birds of the “Pick me, choose me,…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

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Danielle C. Belton