Today I want to honor my beautiful Black Mom and all the dating advice she rolled out over the years to her girlfriends, four sisters, and to her four daughters. And my earliest childhood memories begin at around age five. Needless to say, we were never formally sat down and preached to; it was more like drive-by sermons.
Our house on any given Saturday night would be filled with dancing, cigarette smoke, and gossip. Cheap Strawberry Hill wine would be flowing fast and furious; while the hits of Marvin Gaye could be heard blasting from the record player.
They would dissect their latest boyfriends or husbands and critique the actions of a not-so-smart female foe and her dealings with men. In doing so, sex, the rules of engagement, and the anatomy of breakups, hookups, and fuckups would be preached.
It was like an overcrowded Baptist church on Christmas morning. And my mother was the overzealous, effervescent, quite effective fervent Preacher! This, in turn, made her sisters and girlfriends, more than happy to play her eager esoteric congregation. Because our house had five rooms- not wings. We were never consciously invited but invited by defaultβthere simply was no other place to go.
We never received an invite to pray or get baptized at the altar of femme fatale, but we overheard so much, that it just became the norm for us. In no particular order of importance, here are her favorite books:. This is the O. THE astrological book for the ages! Authored by a mysterious author who went by J, taught women how to make love to a man in a myriad of ways. More importantly, she pulled the covers back on women enjoying themselves in the process!
