WHO RUN RWANDA? Women. Ever since the country’s tragic genocide nearly 25 years ago, the women left behind have been rallying together. As entrepreneurs, politicians (nearly 68 percent of the country’s government officials are female), and business owners, women are building Rwanda up, and the heart of all the action is Kigali—the capital city’s become a center for technology, tourism, arts, and more. This small country is known as the land of a thousand hills, and driving through Kigali can feel like breezing across California, but...

“Can’t wait to write a tell-all about my experience during my last two trimesters dealing with incompetent doctors and lack of efficient care toward minority women,” Amber Rose Isaac posted on social media on April 17th. By April 21, just four days later, she had died. She was only 26 years old. Amber, a high school classmate of mine, died in childbirth from complications related to HELLP Syndrome. HELLP Syndrome is a pregnancy complication which affects the blood and liver. It tends to arise in the last trimester of...

Holed up in the drab bedroom of my tiny Chinatown walkup, I scrolled through Instagram, inundated with stories of exes who reunited after years apart because of the global pandemic. The disorienting chaos has forced people to yearn for the comfort of past loves. At 34, I’d spent the last two years working hard on forgetting mine, though I still hoped to hear from him.  Was my old flame flirting with someone new over text? Maybe they were quarantined in his Brooklyn apartment together, her leg...

May is Mental Health Awareness month, and at this point, after almost 90 days of lockdown because of the coronavirus, we can all agree, everyone needs and deserves as much care as possible. At the forefront of the most deserving, are those in the frontlines. Courtesy of the Divine Feminine School of Hypnosis, The Mind Massage Hotline—a free emotional support service for frontline healthcare and essential workers, or anyone who is feeling in need is now available. Founded by Brooklyn based, CHt, Shauna Cummins, The Mind Massage...

I had thought that the world being turned upside down might put a dent in diet culture, that having a real and very serious health issue to contend with would get our collective perspective in order. Turns out that was naive. If anything, it’s worse. The fatphobia has amplified. It’s coming from new and unexpected directions, along with all the regular ones. It’s demoralizing to realize how quickly all those supposed body positive allies are willing to throw the fatties under the bus; people I respected...

Cereal Killer TAKE SOME NOSTALGIC BREAKFAST STAPLES ON A NEW CULINARY ADVENTURE Last year marked my 30th as a caterer (and my 20th writing for BUST!). One thing I’ve learned is that adults love to be treated like children, and nothing feeds your inner child more than eating classic breakfast cereals in unexpected ways. Here are some delicious dishes to get your kid on. Corn Flake-Crusted Mac ‘n’ Cheese Fritters Boil a 16-ounce package of elbow macaroni until al dente. Drain and set aside. In a deep,...

When was your last normal day? Can you remember it? These three New Yorkers can. BUST spoke to three different individuals in New York City about their experiences, feelings, and advice for others during the coronavirus pandemic. From their last normal, pre-lockdown day to now, over a month into quarantine, everyone's life has changed irrevocably in just a matter of weeks.  On Wednesday, March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 was no longer just a public health emergency of international concern, but a pandemic. On March...

With its latest ad campaign, Dove is making a big statement. Dove announced their campaign “Courage Is Beautiful” on April 8 as a message of gratitude for health care workers tirelessly working on the front lines to help treat COVID-19 patients. The ad shows the faces of nurses and doctors with their faces marked by the masks they have to wear all day, every day. “There was a feeling we got that courage is beautiful. We thought, Why not try to show people who were doing...

As far as crafts go, embroidery could totally win a popularity contest these days­—but not a diversity one. Contemporary embroidery artwork—vintage florals, whimsical woodland creatures, cute cottages, and an occasional pop-culture reference—just screams whiteness. Enter Krystle Collins of Create the Culture Embroidery (@createtheculture_embroidery). Capturing the textured kinks, coils, and curls in Black hair, Collins has stitched Black icons from Beyoncé and Solange, to Biggie Smalls and Tupac, to Lauryn Hill, Malcolm X, Sade, and more. And her craft is not confined to hoops; her works...

Mental health professionals and lay folk alike have taken to social media to suggest all kinds of aggressively positive activities, from how to craft the perfect banana bread to 15-minute yoga routines to center your day. Maybe it’s the overuse of the word pandemic that’s making people feel like this should be a time of productivity and spiritual enlightenment: the word rings sterile and faceless, and it leaves too much space for self-projection. We’re living through a plague and anyone trying to put a positive spin on the mass devastation...