As parents, we wanted to introduce our sons to a new superhero-a superhero that reflected them. We wanted to, as Richard explained to me, “make sure our boys didn’t see themselves as an afterthought.”
Danielle Koonce
(Just trying to make you think...and then act)
In a few days, the Obamas will no longer be present. Like the presidents that have come before them, they will attempt to slip into obscurity to make room for the president elect. I am sure we will hear from them, and occasionally we will see them, but the familiar faces that have dotted our …
Do’s and Don’ts Every Black Parent May Have to Tell Their Son…
1. Don’t ever walk alone in any neighborhood, ever. We will make sure we stock Skittles and all the iced tea you need. 2. Since you are an adolescent, it is possible for you to forget #1. If you forget #1 and you do venture out and a strange man starts falling you, don’t run. I …
The Evolution of Clair Huxtable into Being Mary Jane
Perhaps a more suitable title for this blog would be, “The Deterioration of Clair Huxtable into Being Mary Jane,” but for the sake of attracting readership I chose to go with the word, ‘evolution.’ I wanted to purposely offend all of your memories of the smooth, professional, beautiful wife, mother of five, New York City …
It Takes a Man to Raise a Girl?
Yesterday, I invited my father to speak to my classes on leadership. He was impeccably dressed as most black men are who were born into the era of the segregated 50’s when being black, male, and American was extremely dangerous and extremely painful. As much as my siblings and I have tried to “dress Daddy …
I Love Me Some…
I luv, sho-nuff love, got-to-be more careful, love me some Richard Koonce. When my emotions are weighing me down, he carries me As if I weighed a feather. He just carries me with his words: “It’s okay.” With his lips upon my forehead. His hand on the small of my back. He is so strong …
Hurricanes, Floods, Snow Storms, Oh My!
Reading about the events that are occurring in the Northeast, is truly amazing. Just when things seemed to be subsiding after the torrential rains and floods of hurricane Sandy, Mother Nature shakes off a gust of record snowfall in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. It sounds like something right out of an apocalyptic movie …
Save the Whales, Males, Females…Part 2
I know. I know. It isn’t the responsibility of television to teach our future and present generations about family values, but we cannot deny the influential power that television exerts upon its viewers. Unfortunately, because television has become the new, cheap and inexpensive nanny or babysitter for a large majority of children in America, many of …
Save the Whales, Males, Females…
The following article “Why Men Are In Trouble” motivated me to write this blog: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/04/opinion/bennett-men-in-trouble/index.html It was a very disturbing article for many reasons. Men don’t spend time with their families and children, they don’t go to church and they play a lot of video games. Women are graduating at three times the rate of men, climbing …
Danielle Koonce 