Keep It Moving — Shanelle Gabriel

Some of you will remember the 1980s public service commercial where the man holds an egg in his hand and says, “This is your brain.” He then cracks it into a sizzling cast iron pan and says, “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” I’m not sure…

“Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots!” The chant is repeated by my squad of friends at the bar. It’s my friend’s birthday and celebrations go hand in hand with alcohol. For many, it’s not a good birthday if you can walk a straight line at the end of the night.

My face starts to itch. I’m noticing my skin is more photosensitive than ever before, and it’s annoying. I feel the little red bumps beneath my Urban Decay makeup, and as “beat” (meaning done-up) as my face is, I don’t feel like I’m in a Beyoncé video. Well,…

I took my niece to a soul food restaurant in Harlem one day. It was there that I realized that growing up in Flatbush can sometimes limit your taste buds to only Caribbean foods. I suggested she order the collard greens. She made a face. “That’s gross!”…

What others call “overdoing it” I call “maximizing the hours of the day.” One example is this past weekend, for which my Saturday was scheduled to go like this: 7:30 a.m. – Walk for Lupus in Manhattan 9:30 a.m. – Perform at a conference at Fordham University…

Five years ago, when I realized my mother would pass because of lung cancer spreading throughout her body, one of the first things I did was look for a therapist. My mother was the first person truly close to me to pass away, and I knew it would…

To this day, I don’t know how to braid hair. I missed this rite of passage in middle school, because while the girls in my class were doing each other’s hair in the bathroom, I was playing handball with the boys. Fast-forward to high school, where unlike many people I…

Lupus is a part of me, and like a baby, it’s something I need to nurture, pay attention to. But at times, I neglect my lupus so much that someone could call the Administration for Children’s Services on me. I never asked for this cranky brat that changed my life,…

One of my favorite childhood shows was “A Different World.” It was one of the first TV shows that made college (and Greek life) seem real for me and exciting, especially as a young woman of color. There was one scene from the show that cracks me up to…

So, I signed up for Match.com. Why? Because I’m single and it’s presently what some call “cuffing season.” This is the time when people who spent the summer BBQ hopping and frolicking in fields of flings lock themselves down to one person. Some suggest this is in order to stay…

It was my umpteenth time in the ER for complications with lupus. My nurse was from the Caribbean (like many in this hospital in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York), and he had a thick Jamaican accent. He came in to do a vitals check and asked if I’m chronically…