Black Women...my safe place

in 2019, Wellness is my portion. I will settle for nothing less.

currently, i am building a wellness team to carry me through the new year.

in doing so, what i am finding is that Black Women are my safe place.

Black Women have

raised me

educated me

loved me

inspired me

healed me

corrected me

disciplined me

encouraged me

Black Women have given me permission to be myself. to show up, to be free. Black Women have challenged me to think differently. to center myself. to not take bullshit.

for that, i will always honor, love, cherish, and respect Black Women. i will always wear this beautiful skin proudly, and will always be proud to be identified as a Black Woman.

We are Magic...always have been...always will be.

💖

~Lauren Ashley

Comments

Creating A New Normal

"I am not the exception, I am the norm" - unknown I cannot recall if I read the above quote, or if I heard someone say it. But wherever I was when I heard it, it struck a chord, and I made it a point to write it down. Just to be clear, I love this quote. This is one that I would make a life mantra. One of the things I love most about myself, is that I really want to see as many people win as possible, and that desire intensifies when it comes to young black women. For those of you who may not know, I am the founder of a non profit, Her Future: Teen Mom Empowerment Group, and this quote describes the reason I started this work. I feel like I tell my story so much, but here goes again. 18 pregnant, in college, no clue what I would do...fast forward, 34, career, founder of a non profit, Masters Degree, and that baby I had is the bomb! Thing is this, I am not the exception, and if I can help it, I will never be. I know so many women who were moms before they may hav

I Know I've Been Changed...A Reflection From My Weekend in NOLA!

I have to start this post by first saying thank you to my friend Tara Pringle Jefferson . Tara is the creator of #HereWeGrow a National Self Care Retreat that happens yearly. She is the reason that I was in New Orleans for 5 days, thus the reason for this change that I feel. So, Tara, THANK YOU for your hard work, and commitment to giving black women a space to BE, and for reminding us the importance of taking care of ourselves. I have so much to say about this weekend, but I am going to use a filter (some stuff is too personal to share) and I am going to try and keep this as short as possible. Preparation: Leading up to the retreat, I was all over the place. I just could not seem to get it together. Life was really hitting me hard. The week of, I had at least 2 breakdowns, there were a million things to do in order to get my children settled, and I was nervous about flying Spirit (which was actually ok). I wasn't able to take a deep breath until I to the airport. Maybe this

My Thoughts on Child Support

So, for some time now, I have wanted to say a few things about child support. Didn't know if I should rant on FB (I am not a twitter user), or post a blog. Obliviously, I decided to go with the blog, just because I wanted to make sure my thoughts came across clear. Let me start by saying this is NOT to bash anyone, but to offer a different perspective. I hear so many men (and some women) talk negatively about child support and the women who receive it, and honestly, I think it is nonsense. So, hear we go... A note, I will refer to parents as custodial and non-custodial, because I realize that although we are always talking about women who receive child support, the reverse could be true. A little background. I am a mother of 2, and my children have different dads. 1 pays child support, the other does not. I do not believe that all non-custodial parents should be on court ordered support. If you are responsible enough to give the custodial parent, a set amount (20% in Illinois

Random Thought...Unpredictable Mumbling

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