HERstory: univ. of alabama's audacious vivian malone jones

meet vivian malone jones, the first black woman to attend the university of alabama.  we think we have it hard in school?  in 1963,

HERstory: ballerina janet collins

meet janet collins, the first black woman to perform at the metropolitan opera [ "the met" ] in new york.  janet collins was born on march 7, 1917 in new orleans.  she auditioned for ballet russe de monte carlo -- a very prestigious dance company in her time-- at age 15.  she was talented enough to be apart of the company, but the company wanted ms. collins to

HERstory: the honorable jane bolin

meet the honorable jane bolin, the first black woman to become a judge in the United States. her honor was born april 11, 1908 in new york.  judge bolin came from a comfortable family-- her father was also a lawyer-- but she could not ignore

celebrate black history month with brenda michelle . !

it's a celebration girls ! while some people may be salty that we got the shortest month of the year to salute our culture, i'm hype that we get to brag about how wonderful we are for 29 straight days (it's a leap year) ! even though we're wonderful 365 days of the year, we have the entire country's attention this month, and sometimes people need a little reminder of our greatness.

to recognize and honor those who paved the way for us, [brenda michelle . ] will feature a fabulous black woman each day of the month with a HERstory series of posts; you'll meet women that you probably have never even heard of.   it's their time to shine, so stay tuned!

have a [peaceful, inspirational, proud, powerful] happy black history month, ladies !

UPDATE: FOUND ! : 13yearold breana hernandez

UPDATE: breana returned safely last night, saturday, january 21! her friends&&family are grateful and thank you all for spreading the word and keeping breana in your thoughts! 
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one of our girls has been missing since thursday, january 19.  breana was last seen at northwest high school in germantown, md at about 12:30 PM.  breana is just 13yearsold and her friends and family are very worried about her.  please contact the numbers in the photo if you think you have seen breana! 


brenda michelle . sends thoughts&&prayers to breana and her family, and hopes for this princess' safe return.

more than revenge : how to win a fight in 2012

2011 was the year of girl fights. kimbella&chrissy, tammy&meeka, the bad girls&all of new orleans.... these girls made it look too easy-- they buss some heads, did a quick interview, made a name for themselves, and got to do another season of their tv shows. nice, right? while you're thinking about how teen mom's jenelle rocked that girl in the front lawn, think about 3 more girl fights in 2011:

happy birthday, first lady!

today is [First Lady Michelle Obama's] birthday !!! president obama has asked us all to wish our First Lady a happy birthday, so click here to sign her birthday card !

"no person has the right to rain on your dreams." : thank you, dr. king.

"Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others."

today, we celebrate the life & legacy of dr. martin luther king, jr. we celebrate his courage, his faith, his perseverance, his service and so, so much more.  today, we take the time to thank dr. king, because if he did not take a stand, we would not be able to flyy.

brenda michelle . [hearts]: stacy t. smith

who doesn't want to feel beautiful every s i n g l e day ?? well, stacy t. smith has set out to make sure that we feel & look beautiful all of the time with her skin and hair care company, I Design Beauty.  with some determination and creativity, stacy

very kinky curls: [asha] is a teen with natural hair !

i [heart] girls who [heart] their hair ! lately, tons of black girls have been turning down relaxers [a.k.a. perms a.k.a. the creamy crack] and wearing their n a t u r a l kinks & curls [remember ms. safiya ?]-- and 15-year-old asha is one of those girls [she's also one of my darling younger cousins :) ] !  asha was curious & brave enough to see what her hair looked like without a relaxer and