Under normal circumstances, I’m someone who spends time in the General Assembly advocating for reproductive rights and abortion access with other activists throughout the year. The security guards at the entrance to the General Assembly building are basically my best friends at this point because we see each other so often. Unfortunately, supporting reproductive rights […]

National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month was last month! July was meant to serve as a time to increase public awareness about mental illness among minorities. It’s inspired by a woman named Bebe Moore Campbell, an actor, writer and co-founder of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Urban Los Angeles. “But, why do we […]

I have a pre-existing condition. You probably have one or know someone who has one, too. Yet, my very common and highly treatable condition could force me to lose my health insurance if Trump has his way by finally getting rid of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).  I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in 2014. The […]

One of my favorite summer memories was going fishing with my mother’s brother. My Uncle Ricky would always tease me when I started to squirm when he scaled and deboned the fish he caught. He was sweet, amazing at martial arts, an Army veteran, and was among the 19.7 million Americans battling drug addiction.  Because of […]

Bills to prevent gun violence in Virginia don’t get a vote from all 140 legislators.  That’s because they’re defeated early in committees or subcommittees dominated by Republicans––one of them being State Senator Glen Sturtevant (R-10). He’s part of a cohort of Republicans that does the bidding of the gun lobby and kills commonsense gun violence […]

This month I reached a serious milestone. June 2019 is a month that I’ve been anticipating for quite a while. Guess what the milestone was? Drum roll please.. via GIPHY My Student Loan Debt Is Killing Me I got my student loan debt to under $10k! Now, that’s still a huge chunk of change, but […]