It's important to shop Black throughout the year, especially during the holiday season. During this time of COVID-19, it's even more important that we support Black-owned businesses. Large or small, supporting Black-owned businesses means we can help keep their business open, support those who look just like us and pour into our own communities. Times are tough and spending $$ on the "non-essential" items may be difficult so feel free to interact with the businesses on social media. Just by liking, commenting or sharing a post (or website) from Black-owned businesses can help. Hair: Links to other Black-owned things:
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2020 is a huge year for the elections. If you aren't already, please register to vote. Please inform yourself on the candidates and identify which ones align with you and your beliefs. Choose a candidate that supports Black Lives and the Black Lives Matter movement.
One thing I love to photograph outside of architecture are flowers!
Not sure how that became one of my favorite things to photograph, but it has been my favorite for years. I’m always trying to find new and fun ways to take photos of flowers. Below are photos I’ve taken over the past few months, either here in Detroit or from my DC trip. A moment of honesty - I have been using autofocus on my Canon Rebel since I've bought it years ago and never took [or had] the time to learn manual focus. Along with learning how to use and master manual focus, I decided to learn more about (micro) influencer marketing since I had some free time. Micro-influencers are those people who have between 1,000 to 1,000,000 followers/audience members on a social media site and are consider to be an expert within a certain field (i.e. food, fashion, travel). I heard about this website called Influenster and heard that it is great for beginners within the influencer world. After trying it out and receiving some free products, I agree that it's great for beginners and great to learn about the influencer world. Below are some of the shots I've taken using manual focus and/or trying out different angles/layouts for product shots. *not an ad. Shea Moisture products were complimentary from Influenster* Graduation season is always an exciting time, especially for African American/black grads.
Society believes that African Americans can’t/won’t graduate from college so it’s amazing to see year after year, semester after semester, AA/Blacks graduate. Because my younger sister is graduating at the end of this year and we finally got some sunshine in Michigan, we walked around MSU to take some grad photos. 📸 Back in Detroit! ✈️🏙
I just got back from my week long vacation in DC and wanted to share some photos. I knew I wanted to go on vacation somewhere, but wasn’t sure where so there are so many places I want to visit. A friend suggested I visit DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival because I love flowers and they knew I would get some great floral shots. Long story short - I spent a week in DC to check out the Cherry Blossoms and I was quite satisfied & amazed. See below for some pictures! I also checked out a few other places in DC that I recommend.
Did you know you can be a tourist in your own city?
Whenever I have some free time, I like to explore my hometown, especially Downtown Detroit because it has changed so much over the years. If you’re from Detroit or frequently visit, what are some places you like to check out? When First Lady Michelle Obama announced she was going on tour to promote her book “Becoming,” I think 99% of American lost it and was ready to spend money to see her.
I thought it would make the perfect Christmas gift for my parents so when I seen she was coming to Detroit in December, I made it my mission to get the tickets. Seeing First Lady Michelle Obama in my hometown is something I will never forget. She is the epitome of Black Girl Magic, Black Excellence and a true role model. Here’s a recap of her stop in Detroit from the Detroit Free Press. I’m sure you have heard of TED & TEDx. If not, TEDx is a program created by TED that brings together everyone, ranging from creators to entrepreneurs, artists and designers for an event filled with learning and fun experiences.
2018 makes the 10th year of TEDx being here in Detroit and because of my job, this is my second time covering the event via social media. Planning a social media strategy (i.e. plan of attack) for an event like this was challenging but seeing everything come together in the end was amazing. If you haven’t been to TEDxDetroit, I highly recommend checking it out one year. If you aren’t from Detroit, see if your city holds it or travel to a city if you can. Back to the Windy City!
I always manage to learn something new every time I go outside of my hometown, especially when I visit Chicago. Summer 2018 was my third time visiting the windy city, but my first train ride through Amtrak. The train ride was great and I would definitely do it again. Since I’ve been to Chicago twice before, I decided to pick a hotel that was in the center of it all and close to a lot of places I wanted to visit. In case you want to stay in the center of it all, I recommend checking out the Central Loop Hotel. It’s blocks away from Union Station, Millennium Park and plenty of restaurants nearby. Here’s a list of places I decided to check out during my week long stay:
If you are in Chicago for a few days and is looking to visit most (or all) of the major Chicago attractions like the Art Institute of Chicago, Shield Aquarium and Willis/Sears Tower, I recommend purchasing the CityPASS so you can get access to those places for one price and save some money. |