July 2, 2026

Hey Reader,

In May I attended the DC book tour stop for New York Time's Best Selling Author Kennedy Ryan when she released her new book SCORE.

During the event she shared that she didn't get her first book deal until she was 40.

I've watched interviews of couples on the Dear Future Wifey podcast and one or both spouses got married for the first time in their forties.

Society likes to place limits on what we are supposed to achieve by a certain age.

But that's the beauty about life. Things don't happen on our time. They happen when they're supposed to. Everyone's journey is different and we do ourselves a disservice comparing our timeline to others.

This month, I want to encourage you to let go of the idea that things are supposed to happen at a certain time.

Focus on living your life. Trying new things. Chasing new passions and exploring new career opportunities.

And when you do that, you'll look up one day and realize everything happened exactly the way it was supposed to happen.

XO,

AFFIRMATION You deserve to experience your own life, not just survive it. ​ - We The Urban -

Culture’s Biggest Night: Shoutout to whoever has been in charge of the BET Awards these last few years. After years of viewers complaining that the quality of the show had declined, these last few years have been really good. And this past Sunday was no exception. The awards honored Lauryn Hill with the Living Legend Icon Award, Teyana Taylor with the Icon of the Year Award and music executive Sylvia Rhone with the Ultimate Icon Award. Additionally, the ceremony featured a massive musical tribute dedicated to R&B legend D'Angelo. Check out clips and performances from the show here.

Hidden Figure: Floyd Norma, Disney's first Black animator, is set to receive an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in November. As a pioneer in animation, Norman has been honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2002 Annie Awards, inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2021, and named a Disney Legend in 2007, among other honors.

Beauty Blueprint: Spelman College is the first HBCU to offer a cosmetic science program, building off the success of their 2023 certificate program and creating new pathways for Black chemists, researchers, and beauty entrepreneurs. The college is also joining forces with Tuskegee and other HBCUs to help launch the HBCU Cosmetic Science Consortium in early 2027.

The Man Who Built LA: I lived in LA for four years and had no idea some of the most famous architecture in the city was the brilliant work of Paul R. Williams, a black architect ahead of his time. As exhibits at the Getty, LACMA and USC’s Fisher Museum of Art celebrate his work, in a recent Vanity Fair article, his family, friends and fans reflect on his influence on Beverly Hills and beyond. If you don't have a VF subscription, check out the high level Instagram feature here.

Changing The Mississippi Delta: Amputations happen more frequently among Black patients with diabetes; 3 to 4 times the national average. ​Dr. Foluso Fakorede​ is changing that reality in Mississippi. Through early screening programs, educational campaigns, and community outreach to catch the disease before it became life‑threatening, in four years, he saw an 88% drop in amputations.

Bringing Change Home: The Obama Presidential Center is officially open! If you missed the opening ceremony, you can watch it ​here​. If you want to get passes to visit next year, sign up for the email list ​here​.

I celebrated Juneteenth this year and it was a breath of fresh air.

I don’t know if it was the warm weather. The holiday falling on a Friday. Or the fact that we’ve been under attack as a community for the last 17 months and we needed a reprieve.

But Black joy was on full display in DC and I loved every minute of it.

One of the things I want to do this year is create more content on YouTube outside of my blog so I tried something new and recorded a vlog (a very short one!) of my time celebrating Juneteenth in the city.

I attended the grand opening of ​Urban Garden Brewery​, the first Black woman owned brewery in DC and I danced like I was at a family reunion at the National Museum of African American History & Culture (aka the ​Blacksonian​).

Celebrating Juneteenth was a reminder that our joy is resistance.

Check out the vlog below!

​

The Good Good Shea Formulated with clean, skin-loving ingredients like shea butter, cucumber, avocado, and fruit extracts, The Good Good Shea products are designed to deeply nourish, hydrate, and rejuvenate. Products include moisturizers, shea butter, sugar scrubs, body oils and more. SHOP THE GOOD GOOD SHEA

The First 200: The new media platform, the First 200, released a comprehensive index chronicling the first 200 Black women entrepreneurs in the US who have raised more than $1 million in a signal venture capital funding round since 2022. Check out the index and podcast featuring the first 200 founders ​here​.

Sweet Fantasy: The feminine wellness company, Her Fantasy Box, recently launched in more than 4,000 CVS Pharmacy stores nationwide and on CVS.com, marking its largest retail expansion to date. Her Fantasy Box has expanded rapidly over the past year, including recognition on Inc.’s 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States.

From YouTube to Disney+: Disney announced last month that it acquired the global streaming rights to "Gracie's Corner" and will develop new original content. The deal includes global linear and streaming rights to more than 120 shorts and 18 themed compilations from the existing series.

Ready For The Big League: Ice Cube's Big3 Basketball league is eyeing a $290 million valuation as it plans to go public later this year. The league will be available on one of the major stock exchanges in the fourth quarter of 2026 under the ticker TONT (for 3-on-3).

Braid My Hair: Biomechanical Engineer Yinka Ogunbiyi raised $7M seed round for her patent-pending braid assist device for professional stylists. She co-invented HaloBraid that will allow stylists to complete braids five times faster while honoring the braid style. HaloBraid will officially launch later in 2026.

READ: The Revelation of Dionne Daphne​
​Known for creating some of our favorite shows (Girlfriends, Being Mary Jane, Love Is, Forever) Mara Brock Akil is adding novelist to her resume. Set in 1990s New York, this emotionally charged novel follows Dionne Daphne whose perfect life is shattered by devastating news, forcing her to confront long buried secrets of her past.

WATCH: Survival of the Thickest Season 3​
​The final chapter starring Michelle Buteau promises more of the humor, friendship, and romantic chaos that made the show a fan favorite. The Season 3 premieres on Netflix July 2nd.

LISTEN: Kill The King​
​The King of the South, T.I. dropped his final album Kill The King on June 26th. The 18-track project marks the end of an era. The album explores peace, growth, family and new chapters and features Anderson.Paak, The-Dream, T-Pain, Jessy, Summer Walker, Usher and more.

What In The iRobot: According to Cloudflare, agentic AI bots generate 57.4% of all web requests globally, while humans account for just 42.6%. Forty percent of Facebook posts are estimated to be generated by bots. Music-streaming service Deezer announced in April that 44% of new music uploaded to its platform is now AI-generated.

How To Save A Life: Boston's Children's Hospital is using AI to improve diagnostic outcomes. The hospital developed a “co-pilot geneticist" and combined with genetic information, phenotypic information, literature search, and the reasoning of AI, has helped at least 40 families receive diagnoses for rare conditions.

Not So Fast: Ford rehired more than 300 engineers it replaced with AI. After implementing AI across various parts of its operations, the performance of AI fell short of expectations.

You Are Qualified: A federal judge in California ruled that the HR software company Workday must continue defending itself against allegations that its artificial intelligence tools unlawfully discriminate against job applicants based on race, age, and disability. Unlike most employment discrimination lawsuits, this class action lawsuit targets the software provider rather than individual employers. Learn more here.

Miracles In Motion: 23-year-old Daniel Cressy became the first person in Louisiana to be functionally cured of sickle cell disease through gene therapy. He underwent the procedure at Manning Family Children’s Hospital and the disease is no longer active in his system. Listen to his remarkable story here.

Born In The USA: The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees automatic birthright citizenship to virtually all children born in the United States. Although it's a win, I'm side-eying the fact that the decision was 6-3 and not 9-0. The Supreme Court ended its term also ruling on temporary protected status, mail-in ballots, transgender athletes in girl's sports and political party spending.

Science Wins: Former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently launched Climate.us. The site fills a void that was left when the government website, Climate.gov, was shut down last year during layoffs. Climate.gov had long been a trusted source for official government climate data with nearly 1 million visitors on the site each month.

SHOP DOSSO BEAUTY

SHOP BEST SELLERS

You are receiving this email because you opted in via a website or social media.

What to change how you receive these emails?

You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from the list.

Enjoying the newsletter? Leave a tip here​
Was this forwarded to you? Subscribe here​

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246