From Clutch:

We've all seen her - the young black girl at the bus stop with a couple kids at her heels, one in a stroller, and another on the way. We want to know why she keeps having kids she can't afford.

If I leave the office on my lunch break, I'm apt to see all kinds of people roaming the streets. It's the middle of the day, why aren't you at work? I wonder.

From Clutch:

Contrary to popular belief, all women do not want to have children. Shocking, I know.

I was watching the Today Show this morning, when they profiled Lilit Marcus, a woman who proudly does not want to have children. Although she is fairly certain in her decision, many have told her that she'll probably change her mind...eventually.

From Frugivore: In a move that - if one pays attention to The Obama Administration's economic polices - shouldn't surprise anyone. First Lady Michelle Obama announced yesterday that she will be supporting an initiative that will allow the largest retailer in the world - along with other national chains - to bring their services to "food deserts."

This declaration comes on the heels of a groundbreaking study, which suggested supermarkets do not help low income families battle obesity and other food-related illnesses effectively. By bringing in retail heavyweights like Wal-Mart and SuperVal-U, they are essentially creating larger fast-food depots.

Read more here.

From Madame Noire

I never understood what it meant to smell like cigarette smoke until I spent my first night away from home at college for undergrad. As I hung my clothes in the campus provided chifferobe, I noticed that everything from my favorite denim jacket to the duffel bag I carried it in smelled like I had been hanging in a back alley pool hall. Now I understood why past boyfriends had always suspected that I had been in a bar all night or why classmates in high school would always assume I had a lighter. I never could smell it until I actually moved out of my house. The problem is that I didn't even smoke, but I did live in a house with parents who had smoked all of my life.

From the Washington Post:

Washington has one of the the highest AIDS diagnosis rates in the nation, with higher numbers among African Americans than among the white population. Access to health care is another major dividing line. Roughly nine of 10 whites report having private health insurance, compared with fewer than half of African Americans in the District.

Read more here.

From HamptonRoads:

Bad report from the doctor // And my bills aren't paid on time // All these things come rushin' at me // But I ain't got time to whine // Lord I need your mighty wisdom // 'cause my situation is unclear // Don't know where to turn // God's word came to my ear // I say speak to that mountain of cancer // And cast down that spirit of fear // Pack your bags, you silly demon // I say you're not welcome here. Lynne Young wrote those lyrics when her situation was cancer. But the Chesapeake woman hopes her song will inspire others to persevere through their hardships, whether they are related to health, family, finances or what she calls "the other speed bumps of life." Young, named Survivor of the Year by the Tidewater affiliate of the Susan B. Komen Foundation, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. That is only part of her story.

Read more here.

From Clutch Magazine Online:

Raise your hand if you've stayed diligent to your New Year's resolutions!

No, really...I'll wait.

From the Washington Post:

She is 74 years old, and she is ripped.

Sculpted deltoids, carved biceps and a stomach chiseled into a glorious six-pack that rises and falls into magnificent little hills and valleys.

It is the first thing you notice when you see Ernestine Shepherd in the front of the class, teaching body sculpting at a gym north of Baltimore.

Shepherd is wearing tight red shorts and a red bikini top. Between the two is her signature span of chiseled abs.

She is a Dorothy Dandridge beauty, a knockout. Her makeup is perfect, lips painted candy red to match her workout clothes. She has thick, black eyelashes and wears her hair in a long, gray braid that swings down her superbly sculpted back.

Read more here.

The flight to Bangkok's Don Muang Airport felt far longer than I'd imagined. It was Christmas break during my freshman year at the University of Hawaii, and I was 18, anxious, and alone. After high school graduation, many of my classmates were throwing big graduation parties and buying new cars. Those kids went looking for good times and great memories, but I was desperately searching for one thing only: a chance to be in the right body for the first time in my entire life. I had traveled more than 6,000 miles to have gender reassignment surgery - a sex change.

From Black Girls Run!:

Reader Question: I am 35 years old and I am a semi-beginner runner. I have been running for about one year now. I have noticed that I have been sweating a lot lately. So much so that my head band, shirt, bra etc. are soaked. I am ok with the sweating but my face is not taking it well. I seem to be breaking out now, something I have never dealt with before. Is this something you have experienced? Can you pose the question to your readers for some suggestions? I have taken face wipes to the gym to clean right after. I have been washing with acne wash. Nothing seems to be working. Thanks in advance for your help!