Whether you hate them or love you, you can’t knock the Kardashian-Jenner’s hustle. Those girls seriously know how to brand themselves and keep it in the family. Nevertheless, the youngest of the clan, Kylie, has been making tons of headlines and cash with her Kylie lip kits. Everywhere you look, there’s someone boasting about the products, but there are also some that aren’t too happy with the quality.

Even still, many of those that have tried out the lip kits have very little melanin so for us brown gals that might be on the hunt for the perfect lipstick. Well, thanks to the ladies over at Cosmopolitan, this is no longer a problem. While no lipstick, like no skin tone, is the same, a few of their editors tried out Kylie’s latest launch KKW x Kylie, a collection of four neutral shades chosen by Kim Kardashian herself. Boasting of a new crème formula, see what happened.

Everyone, meet Maya, Cosmopolitan’s Fashion & Beauty Editorial Assistant. Maya says she has yet to find one nude lip shade that she absolutely loves. She’ll be your guide to whether or not Kylie’s new lip kit is brown gal-approved.

Thoughts on Kimberly: 

“This is definitely not a brown girl nude. I would pair this with a dark brown liner to balance out the light pink undertone so it feels more like a true nude for my skin tone.”

 Thoughts on Kim:

“The texture is really hard to control. I felt like the gloss was going to slide off my mouth, and the hue was way too light for my dark complexion. It also comes off really easily and isn’t long-lasting.”

Thoughts on Kiki:

“This reminds me of a pink I wore in seventh grade. It’s not a grown-ass woman pink on me, and I wouldn’t wear it on a date or anywhere I needed to rely on my lipgloss to be poppin’ because it would come off in two seconds. I do think if paired with a light berry-pink liner, it could be good with an ombré lip, but never just by itself.”

 Thoughts on Kimmie:

“This is probably my favorite. The ‘Kimmie’ is the only shade that doesn’t make my lips look absolutely ashy — aka it’s not too light, so it suits my skin tone the best. Something about the texture feels less slippery than the others too, and I can actually control where it goes on my lips. I just wish it were matte!”

The post This Is What The KKW x Kylie Nude Lipsticks Look Like On A Brown Gal appeared first on MadameNoire.

Any avid wine drinkers out there in the world? Well, if that happens to be you, you and your pockets are in luck because Trader Joes has made all of our dreams come true.

The national grocer recently introduced Simpler Wines, a line of canned wines that cost just $4 for a 4-pack. So if you do the math, it’s just $1 each. You really can’t beat that for a 6.3 oz can of sparkling white and rosé.

So yesterday at kiddo drop-off a fellow preschool mom brought me a can of #simplerwines rosé to try … I joked that I am either doing something right, or something terribly terribly wrong as drop-off doubles as wine trade time Anywhoo, we both tried it and decided to ensure our scientific experiment had a proper control group, we needed to also try the white version #obvi Stay tuned for test results … also, happy Thursday! Nothing says Thursday quite like sparkling wine (in a can), confetti, and ranunculus … right?!! **Edited to note that we tried it later in the day … not during preschool drop-off ‍♀️

A post shared by Jessie (@jessiebennettphotography) on Apr 27, 2017 at 11:30am PDT

According to Trader Joes website, the sparkling white features notes of “juicy honeydew and fresh-cut herbs,” while the rosé has “elegant, mineral notes and red fruit flavors.” Acknowledging the amazing price point on its site as well, the grocer said that Simpler Wines are “a fraction of the prices we’ve seen elsewhere,” adding, “we’ll drink to that!”

No, seriously. We’ll not only drink to that but also cheers to that!

The post There’s A Line Of $1 Canned Wines At Trader Joes appeared first on MadameNoire.

“When they go right, they’re great, but when they go wrong, they go really wrong,” I joked with a colleague recently as we discussed a call we had received on the sexual and reproductive healthcare hotline we give referrals on. It wasn’t the first call we received from an uninsured woman looking for  a facility for where she could get a transvaginal ultrasound so a provider could locate her IUD that mysteriously disappeared from her uterus.

According to Planned Parenthood, the IUD or intrauterine device is quickly growing in popularity as a LARC method for many women. In addition to other long acting reversible contraception methods like Nexplanon, an IUD is a small t-shaped piece of plastic that a medical provider inserts into a woman’s uterus to prevent pregnancy. Popular brands include Paragard, Skyla and Mirena, the latter which can last up to six years using the hormone progestin to thicken cervical mucus making it harder for sperm to enter the uterus and sometimes even stopping ovulation altogether. The sexual health site also reports that although the odds are slim that a woman will get pregnant while using an IUD (1 out of 100 women using one will get pregnant each year), if she does it’s important that it is removed or results can include an ectopic pregnancy.

Apparently the odds were in Lucy Hellein’s favor. The new mother recently posted her “IUD fail” in a viral Facebook post (that has since been removed) of her newborn son Dexler holding the Mirena IUD that was supposed to prevent his conception. The caption read:

“Mirena fail! Dexter Tyler, 27 April 2017 @ 0840 (His original due date was May 4th). He is 9 lbs 1 oz, 21.5 in.”

The Fort Mitchell, Alabama mother revealed to Metro that she’s used IUDs for a long time because they’ve been so effective. She had her most recent one inserted in August, but found out she was pregnant in December. She assumed she was only a few weeks along until an ultrasound confirmed she was actually 18 weeks pregnant:

“My Mirena was nowhere to be found on ultrasound so my OB assumed that it had fallen out. But I wasn’t convinced.”

Hellein’s suspicions were confirmed when doctors discovered the IUD behind her placenta during the C-section performed for Dexler’s birth. She later posed him for a picture holding the Mirena that must have fallen out of place before his conception.

According to Planned Parenthood guidelines, the IUD is one of the most effective forms of birth control, but if a woman has an IUD inserted at any other point of her cycle other than during a period, there is a small chance she could become pregnant if no back up method such as a condom is used while having sex.

Doctors who spoke with Yahoo Beauty reported that the chances of a woman becoming pregnant with an IUD in place are rare but not impossible and that doctors should attempt to remove an IUD if a woman does become pregnant or her chances for miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and preterm labor rise significantly. Jessica Shepherd, MD, an assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology and director of minimally invasive gynecology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago told the site that once a woman is over 12 weeks pregnant, it’s best to leave the IUD in place:

“The earlier the pregnancy is, the more likely you are to not disrupt the pregnancy. If the pregnancy is further along, it can potentially disrupt it.”

Hellein says that although Dexler wasn’t planned, she and her family are still happy that he’s here:

“Dexter was definitely meant to be. His original due date was May 4th and even the doctor said ‘the force was strong with this one’.”

“Although he wasn’t planned, my family and I feel incredibly blessed.”

Have you ever had a negative experience with an IUD or gotten pregnant while taking any type of birth control?

The post A Woman’s Mirena Goes Missing…Did Her Unborn Child Find It? appeared first on MadameNoire.

After releasing two highly-anticipated standup specials on Netflix, revered comedian Dave Chappelle shows no signs of slowing down. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chappelle is joining the cast of A Star Is Born, alongside Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.

The Warner Bros.’ remake will focus on a movie star who sets out on a mission to help an aspiring young actress find fame all while age and alcoholism sends his own career plummeting.

Chappelle will be reprising the role of Noodle, a longtime friend of Cooper’s character, Jackson Maine, in the Warner Bros.’ remake.

This will be Chappelle’s foray back into film after Spike Lee’s2015  musical drama Chi-Raq. A Star Is Born is slated for a Sept. 28, 2018, release.

The post Dave Chappelle Is Returning To The Big Screen appeared first on MadameNoire.

As much as a radiant and glowing complexion is coveted, so is a pair of pearly whites. But what happens when you can’t afford to cash out at the dentist on a thorough whitening kit or aren’t into the whitening strips?

Well, leave it to beauty blogger Farah Dhukai to come through with a DIY method that will truly give you bang for your buck. In one of her recent videos, Dhukai combined one tablespoon of coconut oil (known for detoxifying) and a pinch of turmeric (an ancient medicinal herb, helps removes plaque), creating a paste and brushing it on her teeth. Letting the mixture sit on her teeth for five minutes, she then rinsed it off, brushed her teeth, and revealed an instantly brighter smile.

GET WHITE TEETH INSTANTLYYYYYY! 😁🐚💎 You need: ✅1tbs coconut oil ✅A pinch of turmeric 🔸mix the coconut oil and turmeric together to create a paste 🔸brush your teeth with the coconut oil and turmeric paste 🔸let sit on ur teeth for 5 mins 🔸rinse mouth and brush teeth as u normally would with ur regular toothpaste 👉🏽Do this as often as you can and you’ll get a brighter, whiter smile! No more chemicals! 😃 #damnfarahbackatitagainwiththeturmeric 👌🏾this is NOT a joke it REALLY WORKS! Yes the turmeric is yellow but once u rinse it off you’ll have brighter teeth instantly! The turmeric does NOT stain your teeth! ❤️❤️ #hudabeauty #wakeupandmakeup #vegas_nay #diytop #diy #makegirlz #makegirlzvid

A post shared by Farah D (@farahdhukai) on Apr 2, 2016 at 6:11pm PDT

Now, the difference won’t be drastic the first time you try it, but the more you get in the habit of doing something a few times a week, like the whitening strips, it will gradually show results. What we love most about this method is the fact that it’s natural and healthy for your oral health as there are no harsh bleaches involved. Seriously, what’s not to love? But ladies, do be forewarned that this method will turn your toothbrush yellow so it would behoove you to keep a separate brush for this specific method.

The post Make Your Teeth Whiter In Minutes With This DIY Method appeared first on MadameNoire.

Orange is the New Black star Danielle Brooks has a slew of achievements on her stacked resume: racking up some SAG awards and landing a role on Broadway’s The Color Purple where she sung alongside Jennifer Hudson. But one of the most exciting feats has been her modeling career.

With the fashion world becoming more and more inclusive by the season, Brooks has been headstrong in pushing for more plus-sized models to be represented in on the runway, in ads and in media. “A big part of my thing is being the voice of the curves,” she told ELLE.com in a recent interview. “I hashtag it a lot.”

Many can recall Brooks calling out America’s Next Top Model on Twitter for their lack of plus-sized models. However, these days the actress has taken her talk on the issues beyond social media, slaying the runway for Christian Siriano’s Lane Bryant collection and modeling for their #ThisBody campaign, too. “It’s just a reminder to women that are plus-sized,” she said. “Because 67-percent of women are plus-sized in America, and only 1-percent are represented in media.”

Brooks also highlighted the fact that growing up she didn’t have role models who looked like her, pushing her to go hard for the young women growing up in today’s society where beauty standards are fickle. “It’s very important to be that person that I wanted to see when I was a young girl, and I’m very grateful that I’m finally starting to get into fashion, and modeling, and being an example for young girls that are curvy.”

The post Danielle Brooks On Plus-Sized Modeling: “My Thing Is Being The Voice Of The Curves” appeared first on MadameNoire.

Have you ever peered at a mannequin in a store and wondered whether it you were seeing things incorrectly or its body type was basically nonexistent. Well, if you experienced the latter, then you’re right. According to a new study from the Journal of Eating Disorders, female mannequins in stores are overwhelmingly underweight.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool, who visited two major shopping districts in the U.K. and found that 100 percent of the plastic models showcased underweight body types, which visually registered as “that of an extremely underweight human woman.” It should be noted that it’s unclear if researchers went to any stores selling plus-sized fashions.

Instead of actually measuring the mannequins outright, the viewers compared in-store mannequins to pictures of 10 human adults on a BMI-based scale. Researchers also confirmed that the comparisons between mannequins of the opposite sex were drastic with only 8 percent of male’s characterized as “underweight.”

“We of course are not saying that altering the size of high-street fashion mannequins will on its own ‘solve’ body image problems,” lead researcher Eric Robinson said in a press release. “What we are instead saying is that presentation of ultra-thin female bodies is likely to reinforce inappropriate and unobtainable body ideals, so as a society we should be taking measures to stop this type of reinforcement.”

Agreed!

The post Study Reveals In-Store Mannequins Are Overwhelmingly Underweight appeared first on MadameNoire.

himalayan salt done the @nailjob way (kinda) 😬💅

A post shared by SO HOT RIGHT NAIL (@sohotrightnail) on Apr 2, 2017 at 12:10am PDT

With the changing of seasons comes new trends in nearly every department of your life: hair, beauty products, clothes, even nails. While neutral shades rocked summer 2016, there’s a new trend that’s equally as subtle but adds a bit of wow-factor for those who are looking to spice things up a bit. Quartz nails, anyone?

Yes, just how it reads, quartz nails boast a similar look to marble as they mimic the natural lines and grooves of crystals. So, instead of copping rocks for your bedside table or desk, you can carry good vibes 24/7 with ease.

As of late, Instagram has been flooded with the now-trending nail art. Ladies, are you feeling quartz nails? Continue scrolling to check out how ladies are rocking good vibes via their manicure.

I got inspired today 💅🏼 #pinkquartznails #nailsgoals #rosequartznails #nailsinspo #nailsinspiration #nailart #pinknails

A post shared by Erika Avila (@erikkatt) on Mar 2, 2016 at 3:00pm PST

Pink Quartz nails 😻|| nails by @alexenails

A post shared by Jamie Paige (@jamiepaigebeauty) on Apr 26, 2017 at 9:00am PDT

#rosequartz #rosequartznails #nails #nail #nailswag #nailholic #nailgame #nailgasam #nailporn #rock #gelpolish #acrylicnails #nailart #naildesign #nailfashion #gel #slay #nailgame #modernsalon

A post shared by rocky sivilay (@rockysivilay) on Apr 5, 2017 at 5:36pm PDT

Soft Rose Quartz nails #gelnails #lightelegance #naglar #gelnailsdesign #nails #pinknails #pinkmarblenails #pinkquartznails #rosequartz #handpainted #nailart #nailporn #nailsmagazine #nailit #nailsmag #almondnails

A post shared by Nails By Karin (@karincraddock) on Mar 13, 2017 at 2:57pm PDT

The post Quartz Nails — Would You Try It? appeared first on MadameNoire.

It started with a trip to Toronto for Drake’s 2013 OVO Fest and I never looked back. It was my first trip out of the country and I got my luggage thrown off a Megabus and clowned by a Canadian customs agent who joked, “You know we have a lot more to offer here than Drake.” All this just to witness Big Sean, TLC, Diddy and Mase all perform on one stage. Drunk off a few shots of Appleton, belting out “No New Friends” off key with my bestie from undergrad (despite linking up with some fellow Drake fans I had only chatted with on a message board until that moment) was pretty damn epic. I’ll never forget how the Toronto rapper skipped around on stage geeking while fist bumping and hugging celebs who were the soundtrack to my whole adolescence and probably his too.

To this day it remains my favorite experience traveling. Only a year before I found myself tweeting, “This just wasn’t my summer,” after I had failed to land tickets for that year’s festival or a passport to get there. The issue is I hadn’t taken myself seriously. I had done a whole lot of talking about getting a passport and going to OVO Fest that winter and that is where the conversation ended. In the summer of 2012 I found myself sitting in a room surrounded by boxes of shoes, half packs of Velvet Remi weaving hair and unopened lip glosses. Every two weeks I blew a portion of my check to be “fly as hell in Philly” as I now refer to it and still wanting more. That first trip to Toronto incited a case of wanderlust I haven’t been able to shake since. And more than sneakers and skinny jeans I found myself wanting to invest my time money, and energy into experiences more than things and I feel like I’m a much more fulfilled person for it. Science says “happiness anchors” may be the reason.

I once read a quote (I can’t remember where) that said something like the high you get from experiences lasts longer than that from buying “stuff” and when I discovered that was true for myself, I decided to apply that same philosophy to my parenting. I figured that my daughter would remember feeding giraffes or the smell of sand and salt water taffy and a whole lot longer than another talking Elmo or a pair of baby Jordans. And according to recent research, it’s because family trips have a profound and lasting impact on kids’ overall happiness and well-being.

A study published in The Journal of Commercial Research says skipping Toys R’ Us and heading straight to your travel agent may increase your child’s brain growth as well. Traveling forces people out of their comfort zones and tests your ability to problem solve, think critically and manage stress. I can attest to the fact that I could probably do my daily commute with my eyes closed walking backwards. Navigating my way through a new city even with the assistance of Google Maps gives me a sense of accomplishment and confidence. Learning about different people and places gives me a sense of my place in the world and my impact on it, so it’s important for me to teach my daughter that there’s a whole lot more to life than her family and friends and the twenty minutes to and from her grandparents’ houses. Through travel I hope my daughter and family as a whole are both humbled and enlightened. But don’t get it twisted, experiences don’t mean you have to blow your budget to Milan or Marrakesh in order to broaden your family’s horizons. The study says travel can mean a car ride to small town a few counties away or simply a change in environment for the day.

Similar studies have shown that the effects of travel and new experiences may last well beyond summer vacay and into to school year as  kids who travel on vacation come back to school and score higher grades in reading, math and general knowledge than their peers who don’t travel. Research also shows that children carry these experiences (dubbed “happiness anchors”) well into adulthood with family vacations being reported as most people’s favorite memory which scientists say can directly affect the fabric of a person and the way they view the world.

Since the day she’s been born, my mission has been to give my daughter a health collection of “happiness anchors” of her own and whether we’re at the aquarium or art museum it’s important for me to teach her to be comfortable regardless of her surroundings and for her view on life and other people to be shaped more from her experiences than material things. Because toys will be broken and clothes will be outgrown, but memories are something that require very little maintenance and have so much more meaning.

Toya Sharee is a Health Resource Specialist who has a  passion for helping young women build their self-esteem and make well-informed choices about their sexual health. She also advocates for women’s reproductive rights and blogs about  everything from beauty to love and relationships. Follow her on Twitter @TheTrueTSharee or visit her blog, Bullets and Blessings.

The post Why You Should Skip The Car Or Class Ring And Take Your Grad On A Family Vacay Instead appeared first on MadameNoire.

After getting candid with co-host Peter Rosenberg on Ebro In The Morning about life after divorce, comedian Chris Rock recently went into detail about the part he played in split from ex-wife Malaak Compton-Rock. In a cover story with Rolling Stone magazine, Rock who is currently on his Total Blackout tour revealed he wasn’t the best husband and often used his wealth to justify his infidelity:

“I was a piece of s—t.”

“That’s bulls—t. That actually goes the other way. My faults are magnified. Your significant other, if they really love you, has a high opinion of you. And you let them down.”

Fans took notice when Rock began dating actress Megalyn Echikunwoke almost immediately after announcing his split from Malaak. Now Rock is getting “disarmingly specific, describing three women: one famous, one semifamous, and one a member of the retail class.” However, borrowing a few lines from his stand-up, Rock says a second marriage is definitely out of the question:

“Would I ever get married again? Not if it would cure AIDS.”

The 52-year-old’s divorce was finalized last year in August officially ending 19 years of marriage. The two will continue to co-parent daughters Zahara who is 12-years-old and Lola who is 14. Rock says despite dropping quite a bit of detail on the breakdown of the marriage in his stand-up, he’ll only be saying so much out of respect for his ex-wife:

“It’s not fair. I have a mic, she doesn’t. God forbid people are bugging her in the supermarket. That’s not cool. I’m going to have to see her at weddings and graduations.”

He also reveals that he was quite emotional during the custody proceedings, mentioning how quickly his daughters are growing up, one even blocking him from her Instagram page:

“We live in a world where men are assumed to not have feelings. All my friends assume I moved into the city after my divorce, away from my girls. When I say I bought a house around the corner, it blows their minds.”

The comedian says he is now in the middle of “starting over” but admits it hasn’t been easy:

“Getting divorced, you have to f–king start over. You get to reset. It’s not a breakdown, but something in your life broke down.”

You can read the story in its entirety here.

The post “I Was A Piece Of S—t.” Chris Rock Reveals He Cheated On Ex-Wife With Another Celeb appeared first on MadameNoire.

Getting an undergrad degree from an Ivy League university is no easy task, but for some the journey is even more difficult. Black students in Harvard’s 2017 graduating class are saying the pressure from society and the discrimination they face because of their race makes their accomplishments that much more distinguished and for this reason they have decided to hold a separate commencement ceremony.

The Root reports that the event which took almost a year to plan is an effort to acknowledge the struggles and resilience Black students have had to possess in order to thrive in higher education, an environment where minorities are typically underrepresented.

Michael Huggins, who is graduating with a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School says the event will also highlight a feeling of “community” among students and their families:

“This is an opportunity to celebrate Harvard’s Black excellence and Black brilliance.”

“It’s an event where we can see each other and our parents and family can see us as a collective, whole group. A community.”

Huggins says the event wasn’t intended to encourage segregation as some have speculated:

“This is not about segregation. It’s about fellowship and building a community. This is a chance to reaffirm for each other that we enter the work world with a network of supporters standing with us.”

“We are all partners.”

According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, 96 percent of Black Harvard students graduate within six years, giving the university the distinction of having one of the highest graduation rates for Black students. Still at a time where race dominates many social issues in a country that seems to be more and more divided each day, some Black Harvard students say they often feel isolated on a campus where wealth disparities and cultural differences are evident. Courtney Woods, who is completing a master’s degree in education policy and management, says the ceremony is meant to acknowledge students’ success in what can be a “challenging” campus atmosphere for minorities:

“Harvard’s institutional foundation is in direct conflict with the needs of Black students.”

“There is a legacy of slavery, epistemic racism and colonization at Harvard, which was an institution founded to train rising imperialist leaders. This is a history that we are reclaiming.”

“It speaks volumes that there has never been a Black graduation ceremony until now. We created this from scratch, because for me, for many of us, we are not here alone. I carry with me the dreams and desires of my family. And as a first generation, I know I am here to change the trajectory for all of us.”

More than $27,000 was raised to pay for this year’s ceremony which will focus on graduate students and 125 students have registered to participate. Event organizers hope to expand to include undergraduates next year. The school will join Stanford, Temple and Columbia, schools that already have separate ceremonies for black graduates.

Participating students plan to attend the main commencement ceremony, but Huggins said they are excited to celebrate their unique journey as Black students at Harvard:

“Too often at Harvard, there is not cross discipline contact between Black students. So it can feel like you are the only person of color. At this graduation, we can show each other and the administration that we are here, we are strong and we are not going away.”

The post Separate But Not Equal Effort: Black Harvard Students Plan Individual Graduation Ceremony appeared first on MadameNoire.

AncestryDNA is the world’s largest and fastest growing consumer genetics database. With a simple saliva sample, Ancestry can unlock your ethnic heritage from 26 regions around the world. Three years ago, the entire MadameNoire team submitted samples for testing with the AncestryDNA kit and now we’re giving away two kits for Mother’s Day and two World Explorer Memberships so you can connect even more dots of your heritage.

Along with the AncestryDNA kit, you’ll also get to see the newest feature, Genetic Communities, which shows migration patterns from more than 300 communities around the world, showing exactly what part of a particular country your people came from. To enter this Mother’s Day contest simply follow the rules below. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Win A Free AncestryDNA Kit Or World Explorer Membership For Mother’s Day! appeared first on MadameNoire.

The post Rihanna’s Best Street Style Moments appeared first on MadameNoire.

Yara Shahidi

Tracee Ellis Ross

Zendaya Coleman

Taraji P. Henson

Issa Rae

Jasmine Sanders

Jourdan Dunn

Amber Rose

Amandla Stenberg

Jhene Aiko & Big Sean

Kat Graham

Rep. Maxine Waters

The post Sequins, Satins & Slits: The Best And Boldest Looks From Black Women At The MTV Movie & TV Awards appeared first on MadameNoire.

When Harlem-based artist Dianne Smith was selected to create a visual interpretation of the poem, “somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff” as part of a group show to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf” at the Schomburg Museum last year, she never dreamed she would be talking about domestic violence, least of all her own. But that is exactly what happened when her 6’6, 170-lb boyfriend of two years threw her down on the bed and punched her multiple times in the face. It was the first time she’d ever been physically assaulted, and she was clear that the already ending relationship was now over.

“Someone is leaving here tonight, and it’s definitely not going to be me,” she told him immediately after. But he refused to go and even snatched her phone. When she threatened to seek help from the neighbor upstairs, he gave it back, not wanting anyone else to see her face, which by now looked like a “cartoon character.” Eventually, she called her best friend over from across the street, and his best friend who lived nearby, and together they convinced him to pack some things and go. After he left, Dianne’s BFF questioned why she hadn’t called the police.

“I was clear that I wanted him out of my apartment with as little disruption as possible. If I had called the police it could have made the situation worse, from them feeling threatened by his size and killing him, to me being forced to continue contact with him due to the way the system is set up,” she explained. Besides, she had already begun work on her “For Colored Girls” art installation, and she had an important meeting the next day. She had to stay focused.

The next morning, however, Dianne found that moving forward wasn’t so easy. For one, her boyfriend was back waiting for her on the steps outside of her building. Luckily, she had alerted her neighbors who made sure that she was able to leave without him getting near her. She also found she was hiding her face. “It forced me to ask myself, ‘who am I protecting?’ ‘Am I afraid of what people will think of me?’ I had never lived in that space in my life and I decided I would not carry a burden of shame for something I did not ask for.”

From that moment on, Dianne decided to speak truthfully about what happened to her face if anyone asked. It was the beginning of many conversations around domestic violence, whether she was defending herself to friends about why she was choosing not to press charges against her ex– who was now leaving her violent voice messages– to defending Janay Rice, the victim of an assault at the hands of her football player husband, Ray Rice.

“I discovered that a lot of people blame the victims of these assaults by asking very judgemental questions like, ‘why didn’t she leave?’ or ‘what’s wrong with her?’ when they should be asking, ‘what’s wrong with him?’” she pointed out.

It’s a good question because there’s a universe of startling statistics regarding male domestic violence. Everything from three women die every day at the hands of domestic violence to 3 out of 4 victims of domestic violence are killed as they attempt to leave or have already left, and domestic violence is the greatest predictor of future violence against other men. Forget that kids who grow up with domestic violence are three times as likely to repeat the cycle, and 50 percent of homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence. Clearly, there’s a lot we’re ignoring when we focus on the victim. If anything, she needs help out of a horrific situation. Not ridicule.

While all of this trauma was taking place, Dianne was still working on her installation, and one day after reading “For Colored Girls” again something clicked. “I knew that if I was going to do justice to Ntozake Shange’s poem, I had to be authentic. I had to address what happened to me with the same courageousness that she displayed when she wrote this play about black women in the 70’s,” said Dianne.

Address it she does. The installation, which just ended a month-long show at the Houston Museum Of African American Art- includes a visual interpretation of ‘stuff’ that people walk off with, which Diane used butcher paper, rope, and African textile fabric to create, along with a video component that clearly shows her beaten face from the night of the assault. Dianne took the footage as documentation in case anything ever happened to her. “People become very apologetic, and visibly shaken when they realize that I was actually the victim of an assault, and the pictures are not performance art,” she said. Ultimately, Dianne hopes that telling her story will cause people to look at domestic violence and its victims differently. Given the horrific domestic violence statistics, the recent separation of former Spice Girl, Mel B., from her husband of 10 years for physical and mental abuse, and the recent tragedy in San Bernardino where a teacher and her student were both murdered by her estranged husband, we clearly have work to do.

For more on Dianne Smith, visit DianneSmithArt.com

Follow Erickka Sy Savané on Twitter and Instagram or ErickkaSySavane.com

It Happened To ME from Dianne Smith on Vimeo.

The post How Getting Physically Assaulted By An Ex-Boyfriend Led Dianne Smith To Create A Telling Work Of Art appeared first on MadameNoire.

If you watched last night’s finale of the Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 9 reunion like the many people who tweeted about it, then your conclusion was that Phaedra Parks is the shadiest Southern belle this side (whatever side you live on) of the Mississippi. And for a lawyer who has always had a quick tongue and been good with her words, she was left with very little to say aside from “I screwed up” and giving what felt like hollow apologies to Porsha Williams and Kandi Burruss.

Now that we know that she’s behind the ugly rumor that Burruss and husband Todd Tucker wanted to drug Williams and friend Shamea Morton to take advantage of them, she’s speaking out. And while she can’t explain why she spread the lie that she claims she heard from someone else (my money is still on the idea that she is just that angry with Burruss), she believes that everything happens for a reason, so she has no regrets.

“What’s meant to happen will happen,” Parks told PEOPLE. “They say you’re set up to step up for the next thing, right? I know that I’m fortunate. I know that good things happen to me because I have my feet on frugal ground. I can’t regret anything, but I know it was destined to happen.”

There have been rumors over the last few months that Parks will not be brought back for Season 10. And while that’s been neither confirmed or denied by Parks or RHOA producers (they reportedly haven’t made all of their casting decisions yet), she’s still hopeful that she will be back. This, despite a rocky couple of seasons.

“I would love to continue,” she said to the publication. “Obviously the show documents your journey, and every journey has its ups and downs.”

She continued, “It’s not always accurate, of course. But for the moments that they capture something that’s real — like being a mom, helping someone out, having a very sensitive moment on television that turns into something beautiful — that’s the legacy that counts when it comes to reality TV. The moments that change people’s lives.”

If she can continue with the show, Parks plans to show a more positive side of herself and Black women than what we usually see on a lot of reality TV.

“I really want to show that you can be well-educated, you can be a professional and you can solve conflicts without being ratchet,” she said. “You can be a lady, you can have dignity in your dealings — whether it be personal or professional. I think sometimes as Black women, we’re stereotyped in categories of being overly sexualized, of being the aggressive Black woman and of being this ratchet sort of character that doesn’t know how to behave herself.”

“I want people to know that there is definitely a real kind of Black woman who conducts herself in a certain way,” the 43-year-old added. “She’s not out here screaming and cursing and acting crazy. She does things differently, and people love her for it.”

You’re probably thinking, as am I, that just because a woman doesn’t yell, curse and fight on TV doesn’t mean she can’t portray herself and the rest of us in a negative way. I mean, spreading a very slanderous lie about a former friend with the intent to hurt is a pretty terrible thing, too. Either way, she says she wants to be a part of sharing more positive images.

“We have to show more images of that,” she said. “So that people don’t believe that the only way you can be successful and be on TV is by fighting and being a crazy character of a person — versus being very real and saying, ‘Hey, at a certain age you don’t have to raise your voice. You can think before you speak. You can articulate a problem. And you can either agree to disagree or you can resolve it.’ You don’t have to go to extremes every time you have an issue.”

With her friendship with Williams on the rocks right now and any future reconciliation with Burruss pretty much dead and buried, it might seem like Parks is on her own out here. But she told PEOPLE that she has plenty of positive people in her corner, including her family and closest friends you don’t really get to see.

“I’ve had great friends since I was a little girl, I’m very close with my parents and I’m constantly bringing people into my circle who believe my vision and support my vision and who I believe are positive people,” Parks said. “I have a great sense of faith and I have a great sense of humor.”

Image via Splash 

The post Phaedra Parks Says “I Can’t Regret Anything” About Shocking RHOA Reunion Finale appeared first on MadameNoire.

The post Naturi Naughton Turns Up At Adorable “It Takes A Village To Raise A Child” Baby Shower appeared first on MadameNoire.

While many of us know Ayesha Curry for being the super supportive and hilarious (have you seen her do her Jamaican alter ego Gina?) wife of NBA star Steph Curry, behind the scenes, she’s garnered her own fame as a homemaker with skills in the kitchen.

She’s gone from a blog to a YouTube channel to a book to a pop-up restaurant to a TV show (Ayesha’s Homemade on Food Network), and now, her own major restaurant. She announced the news on Instagram:

Curry did a pop-up restaurant called International Smoke with chef Michael Mina in 2016. It was such a hit that she and Mina are opening up a permanent restaurant of the same name in San Francisco. The spot will open in the city’s Millennium Tower this fall.

According to an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, fare that people can expect at International Smoke include her popular St. Louis pork ribs, a Singapore-style black pepper barbecue lobster, the slow-cooked char sui pork shoulder, braised mustard greens, a spicy merguez sausage with a purple potato salad and onion rings.

As for what her role will be in her first big restaurant venture, Curry will operate behind the scenes and even be a member of kitchen staff. She’s hopeful that this opportunity will not only be a success, but help her to up her culinary skills and business experience.

“One thing I’m not worried about is the aesthetic or the deliciousness of the food,” Curry said. “I just want to … take my game to the next level.”

Other great opportunities Curry has to look forward to this year include a children’s tableware collection in May called Cheeky and her own cookware collection in the fall. Kudos to her for nurturing what started out as a hobby as a housewife and making it into a number of successful business ventures.

Image via WENN 

The post Ayesha Curry’s Love Of Food Is So Major, She’s Getting Her Own Restaurant appeared first on MadameNoire.

The best way for a friendship to end, I’ve found, is when two parties gradually grow apart. Instead of their being any bad blood, it’s just kind of understood that your interests are no longer the same, the place of importance in one another’s lives has fallen, and you’re just different people. But more often than not, friendships end because of disagreements, questions of loyalty, and just flat-out disrespect. Sadly, when relationships end in a less than positive way, things can get really ugly.

The obvious example of that would be the dissolution of Kandi Burruss and Phaedra Parks’s friendship. If you’ve watched Real Housewives of Atlanta over the last few seasons, you saw that things between the two women started to go sour when Parks’s marriage to Apollo Nida was coming to an end. She felt that Burruss, whose husband, Todd Tucker, is friends with Nida, wasn’t being a support system for her. From there, drama continued to surround the friendship. That drama included Nida’s belongings in Burruss’s garage, Tucker’s request for reimbursement for the workout DVD he did with Parks, opinions over her sons visiting Nida in prison, Mama Joyce inserting herself into things, whether or not Parks started a new relationship before her estranged husband went to jail, and Parks helping Burruss’s former employee sue her for alleged unpaid wages. But I don’t think anyone thought the end result of their discord would be the former besties going at it over allegations that Parks put in motion, which accused Burruss of wanting to drug and take advantage of Porsha Williams. It was an all-time low, even by Real Housewives standards. but it was a true slap in the face considering the lie, which Williams kept going, initially came out of Parks’s mouth — Burruss’s former BFF.

Despite the fact that Parks said she didn’t spread the lie because she was angry with Burruss, it seems obvious that that was the case. While some people choose to avoid any mention of their former friends when things fall apart, Parks, who felt some type of way about Burruss’s mother talking about her and that Burruss put it on blast that she was dating someone before Apollo went to jail, thought that by pushing what she thought was a little lie, she could find some form of retribution. She, however, didn’t expect that lie to get so big, eventually becoming a major part of the storyline in Season 9 and blowing up in her face by the finale.

Seeing Burruss’s confusion and wondering why someone who was once her friend would do something that could be so damaging, I thought about a former friend of mine who, in her anger, did something I never saw coming. She tried to get me fired from my job.

In my early years of writing, I published a story about dealing with the pain of a friendship ending unexpectedly. I told my side of the story, but included no names and no slander. In my side of the story, I expressed that I believed that the stress of trying to find work after college, along with the fact that no one shared her anger at one of the women in our friend circle (anger which would eventually be aimed at the entire friend circle), caused her to want to distance herself. I had no interest in trying to drag her through the mud, but instead, wanted to speak on the work I’d done to move past being dumped by one of my best friends. I was just doing what writers do — using my life experiences as subject matter. She, however, saw it as an attempt to publicly embarrass her.

Again, I didn’t say her name, what she looked like, where I knew her from or any details that people outside of the folks who knew the situation in my personal life might know or find. But somehow, she took it as the ultimate insult and drafted an email to the company I worked for. In it, she basically said I’d attacked her name and character and literally asked that I be given some form of “punishment” or even be “terminated” for speaking about her.

Because I never mentioned her by name, she had no proof that I’d attacked her. When my boss asked her for that proof, she never replied back. Still, it was something I didn’t see coming and was very hurt by. I knew that she was upset, but I never thought she would take things to that level. As I told my sister, who encouraged me to “cuss her a– out,” I wouldn’t have done something like that to my worst enemy. But instead of reaching out to give her a piece of my mind, it ended up being the closure I needed. I could forgive the low blow, but I knew we were done. We all make mistakes, but she proved herself to be a person of faulty character by coming for my livelihood.

I can’t say I know how Burruss feels exactly, but I know that being betrayed by someone you used to call friend is a very painful thing. However, if anything, it does provide the confirmation you need to know that if they would stoop that low, they weren’t a true friend in the first place.

Image via Splash 

The post What’s The Shadiest Thing A Former Friend Has Ever Done To You? appeared first on MadameNoire.

In a perfect world, we would all be married by 25, planning our families and building our dream home. That’s not the case for most of us. Sometimes, we have unconventional views on weddings and marriage.

Fashion designer turned author K.M. Jackson has released the new Unconventional Bride Series brought to you by Kensington Publishing. Get the scoop on the newest romance novels for you to curl up and read.

Insert Groom Here
Eva Ward thought she had it made. She and her fiancé worked hard to win a lavish televised wedding. Too bad he backed out, on-air! No thanks to cameraman Aidan for filming that catastrophe and making the worst moment of her life viral. But misfortune turns to opportunity when Eva accepts the challenge to find a groom in one month! On this journey, she overlooks Aidan but she soon finds out he may have a caring side. Will he break her heart? (Available now)

To Me I Wed 

“When is it going to be your turn?” The dreaded question. Lily is completely happy with her life. Even though she is always-a-bridesmaid, she is content and doesn’t want the pressure of finding a husband. She will not settle and made her own rules: she plans to marry herself. Not worried about how people will perceive her, including Vincent, the chef whose restaurant is hosting her wedding. (Available now)

The Betting Vow
Tradition is out the window. Leila Darling’s got the talent to be a serious actress, but the industry sees her as an impulsive party girl with a reputation for leaving men in the dust. TV producer Carter Bain’s had his eye on Leila for years, so when a bet gives him a chance to get close to her, he accepts. With the goal of getting Leila the image makeover she needs and Carter the star he desires, the game is on. But as their “I do” turns up all kinds of heat, Leila and Carter find they have more in common than they ever imagined . . . (Available 8/29)

Check out the latest books from Kensington Publishing.

The post The Unconventional Bride Series Is Here From Kensington Publishing appeared first on MadameNoire.