The Quiet Rebel 04.28.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: Invitation is My Love Language Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Hi Reader! For years now, I’ve said that invitation is my love language. Whenever I explained it, I meant something specific. An invitation says:I’d like you here.I’d enjoy your presence.You matter enough to be included. But it also says something else. You can say yes.You can say no.And either answer will be respected. It struck me recently that what I’ve really been describing...
15 days ago • 2 min read
The Quiet Rebel 04.21.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: The gift of familiar faces Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Hi Reader! One of the best things about living in the city where I grew up is that I often find myself in rooms with people who went to the same high school I did. Not always the same year. Not always at the same time. Just enough shared history to recognize one another and smile. Recently, I was at Bridge Houston, hosted by the American Leadership Forum Houston chapter, and it...
22 days ago • 1 min read
The Quiet Rebel 04.07.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: Permission to be THAT girl . . . Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Hey Reader! If you've been here a while... you might remember how we found each other. Maybe it was 100 Voices. Maybe it was Would I Marry Me, or Introspection for Leaders, or the I'm Glad You Asked Card Game. However you got here... you've been part of something that has always run on the same engine: honest dialogue, real human connection, and the belief that even the people...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Quiet Rebel 03.31.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: Legal, Procedural… and Still Harmful Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Happy Women's History Month Reader! Last week I attended a Community Seder. Even that felt layered. Because these are tense times. Violent times. Times when identity, government, grief, and global harm keep colliding in ways that are difficult to hold cleanly. As an American who is dissatisfied, disappointed and angry about the chaos my government is inflicting, I do not want...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The Quiet Rebel 02.24.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: You came in peace. I chose violence. Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Happy Women's History Month Reader! It started with a text. Two words: Grand Rising. Now, I have feelings about “Grand Rising.” Strong ones. Feelings I have never once communicated to the person who sent it. And by all accounts, they were simply trying to greet me warmly on a Tuesday morning. Did that matter in the moment? It did not. I hit thumbs down and kept it moving. And...
2 months ago • 3 min read
The Quiet Rebel 02.24.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: Complexity on a Global Stage Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Happy Last Tuesday of Black History Month Reader! I wasn’t planning to write about this. But this is what community does. We pay attention to the moments everyone else is reacting to, and we slow them down. Sunday evening, as Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo stood on stage at the 79th ceremony hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the N-word was shouted...
3 months ago • 2 min read
The Quiet Rebel 01.20.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: I AM Somebody Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Happy Black History Month Reader! Today is Mardi Gras.It is also the first day of Ramadan.It is the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Fire Horse.And this morning we learned of the passing of Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., at 84 years old. I grew up repeating, “I AM somebody.” In 1984, I was in a middle school classroom - Social studies, I think. Maybe language arts. I cannot remember the subject,...
3 months ago • 3 min read
The Quiet Rebel 01.20.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: Fully HUMAN - Aloud, together Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Happy Black History Month Reader! My friend Necole reminds me to keep saying that everywhere I go, so there you go. Now you've been reminded too. A little over a month ago (for my 53rd birthday), we gathered for the first HUMAN. Stories. I've been sitting with what it takes for people to speak honestly in a room full of other people. Not just the courage to tell a story, but the...
3 months ago • 2 min read
The Quiet Rebel 01.20.26 Tuesdays w/TJae: Home Ownership Share this, and previous newsletters. ↓ Happy New Year Reader! I’ve lived in quiet a few houses - as a daughter, a wife, a roommate . . . Until I moved into Aunt Lois’ house, I had never been the sole and primary homeowner, the one fully responsible for everything that comes with it. Just before my New Year’s trip to Atlanta, my hot water heater went out. There was no landlord to call. No spouse to rely on. No maintenance request to...
4 months ago • 3 min read