Category: Essay

April Is National Poetry Month, and I Haven’t Published A Thing: But Poetry Is Still Happening!

April 16, 2019

I had planned to post this essay on Monday April 15, to mark the Ides of National Poetry Month. However, my personal life—and the life of the World—intervened. My personal concerns are mine to deal with. My life as a poet/writer and citizen of the World is another matter; and events of the past few … More April Is National Poetry Month, and I Haven’t Published A Thing: But Poetry Is Still Happening!

Celebrating 4 Years of baltimoreblackwoman!

December 29, 2018

How It All Started On December 27, 2014, I posted my first essay after setting up this site [https://baltimoreblackwoman.com/2014/12/27/christmas-past-the-toys-i-played-with-and-how-they-shaped-me/]. In my second post [https://baltimoreblackwoman.com/2015/01/01/ringing-in-the-new-year-2015/], I explained my vision, which is summarized in my tagline: Black Lives Matter. The Black Experience Is the Human Experience. After a lifetime of having to prove this truth in my … More Celebrating 4 Years of baltimoreblackwoman!

The Real Story of the 900 Block of Payson Street

November 10, 2018

The front-page story in the Sunday, July 15,2018 digital edition of The Baltimore Sun(“Collapse,” by Tim Prudente, http://digitaledition.baltimoresun.com/html5/desktop/production/default.aspx?pubid=99644e1a-52da-4fe3-8f78-a84e4fe4d386&edid=2192616c-ec73-42b8-a798-f58dedfe23f0&pnum=87),describing the demise of the 900 block of Payson Street, is a decent investigative piece about the real-estate woes of a single block of West Baltimore rowhouses and the recent loss of one human life because of those … More The Real Story of the 900 Block of Payson Street

How to Stay Sane in These Dark Days: Turn Off the Noise

October 28, 2018

My Multi-Media Addictions I am an admitted news junkie. Though I start most of my days with at least two hours of silence before turning on the television, those hours of silence are spent checking my emails for…. e-News. I subscribe to The Washington Post (thanks to Amazon), The Baltimore Sun, The Boston Globe, Axios, … More How to Stay Sane in These Dark Days: Turn Off the Noise

Readings with Ralphie at Ikaros Restaurant Was a Great Event for a Great Cause

October 13, 2018

It was an honor to be the featured poet Thursday night at this special READINGS WITH RALPHIE event, especially since it was my first-ever poetry reading! Ralphie (Rafael Alvarez) hosts numerous readings by a wide range of authors in Baltimore throughout the year. But this event was a fundraiser for http://www.mothersetonacademy.org, a middle school whose … More Readings with Ralphie at Ikaros Restaurant Was a Great Event for a Great Cause

What Are the Odds of Two Great Americans’ Lives Being Celebrated at the Same Hour?

August 31, 2018

Read my latest post (originally published 3 hours ago) about the strange intersection of The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, and the Maverick of the Senate, John McCain, as their lives are being celebrated today, on the new Baltimoreblackwoman Facebook page, at the link below. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjolivia1016%2Fposts%2F477519436083541&width=500 [NOTE: The Facebook page is an extension of the … More What Are the Odds of Two Great Americans’ Lives Being Celebrated at the Same Hour?

As Technology Changes, So Does baltimoreblackwoman.com

August 22, 2018

  Technology can be both friend and foe, often, simultaneously. On July 30, 2018, I received a notification from wordpress.com (the platform and primary site of this blog) that Facebook would no longer automatically share my posts as of August 1, 2018, due to new rules concerning user authenticity and other issues. This meant that … More As Technology Changes, So Does baltimoreblackwoman.com