The LuvvLetter

Hey Reader, What a DECADE January has been. 😩 I turned 40 on January 5, and that feels like it happened 2 years ago at this point. The LA wildfires began this month! And now Marmalade Mussolini got the nuclear codes again and we ain’t had not an ounce of a break. Dis tew much. Let’s just jump in. RANT Folks better not colonize cowrie shells! At Tang Tyrant’s inauguration, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson showed up wearing a cowrie shell collar, looking like the ultimate baddie that she is, and...

Hey Reader,I need to celebrate some things that blew my mind this week. I recorded the audiobook for "Little Troublemaker Defends Her Name" (coming out May 6th!), completed writing my next Little Troublemaker book (my SIXTH total), and I'm already working on my seventh! 🤯It also blew my mind to be in the room this week at ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood. I've been attending this event since 2012, and it's one of my favorites. Looking around and seeing so many dope women in one place and...

Hey Reader,I hurt my own feelings this week. 😭 I went back to my Instacart receipt from April 2024. A dozen eggs cost me $3.99 back then. And this last order we placed? They cost $11.99. WHAT IN THE INFLATION?!Listen, I know prices go up, but TRIPLING in just a few months?? This is robbery happening in broad daylight! I'm out here trying to make an omelet and suddenly eggs are luxury items. The way these grocery stores are acting like we're shopping at Neiman Marcus for BASIC NECESSITIES has...

Hey Reader, This week has had me knee deep in The Book Academy’s launch (shoutout to y’all for not dropping me and unsubbing with all the emails we’ve sent but this is a transformative program that I truly believe in and y’all know I do not like to send you MANY emails in one week but my Chief Strategy Officer said I wasn’t letting her do her job if we didn’t go HAM on the emails 😩 so I had to go “aight fine” but she had a point). Anyway, long story short, I’ve been busy this week while...

Hey Reader,We're only 10 days into 2025, and what a week it's been. I turned 40 on January 5th. 40 feels so grown and all I am is a babygehl 👼🏾so I'm not understanding that number. But I am so thankful for God's grace, and that we don't look like what we've been through. This is definitely giving GROWNNN and I appreciate that. I had such a great birthday and felt adored and adorned. But since then? January 6 was the 4-year anniversary of the insurrection, and Vice President Kamala Harris had...

Hey Reader,We lost a giant this week. The legendary Nikki Giovanni, poet extraordinaire, truthteller supreme, and legendary literary voice has ascended to be with the ancestors, becoming an ancestor herself. A Delta Dear who dared to dream of a world where Black love flourished and justice reigned supreme. Her pen was her sword, and with it, she carved pathways through the darkness. 🕊️❤️ I, of course, wrote her an Oriki. The way it hit me when I heard the news. I had to pause and sit with...

Hey Reader,The world is SO WEIRD right now. The vibes are completely off. And when I say the vibes are off, I mean they packed their bags, left a note, and ain't even paying their part of the rent anymore. 😩The energy is giving unhinged but let's get into what's on my mind this week... RANT We're living in dystopian times and it's wild.Listen. I try not to be one of those "end times" people who stay catastrophizing everything. But WHAT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD is happening right now? Every single...

Hey Reader,The holidays are here and WHEW. What a year this month has been. Between global chaos, economic foolishness and just gestures at everything, we've all been through it. But we're in the final stretch of 2024, and somehow we've made it. 🙏🏾I don't know about you, but I'm ready to close out this year with some intentional joy. Some purposeful peace. Some chosen cheer. Because even in the middle of everything going on, we deserve to find pockets of light. Now, let's get into what's on...

Hey Reader,I've been on my "Have Laptop, Will Travel" wave this week, from New York where I got to see my sis Cynthia Erivo KILL IT as Elphaba in Wicked (y'all. The VOCALS. The PRESENCE. I was in tears! Give her the Oscar!), to California where I got to share some wisdom alongside the legendary Jon Batiste and my boo Eunique Jones Gibson on the AdColor stage. 🎭✈️ Being back on stages and in rooms with amazing people has been energizing. But even as I'm experiencing these beautiful moments, I...

Hey Reader,It's been over a week since election day, and I've been sitting with all of this. Processing. Reflecting. I think about Toni Morrison's words: "In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent. This is precisely the time when artists go to work." In this moment, that feels like a beacon of light. 🕯️Let's get into what's weighing heavy on my mind... RANT America keeps showing us exactly who it is. It's time we believe it.The most consequential election of our lives has...