Justikeandthetribe

Leading With Love and Compassion

This blog is for the individual that desires more of themselves + the people in their lives.

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My Modern Family

August 19, 2020 by Ikeranda Smith in black, black mothers, history, LGBTQIA, life, love, loveislove, marriage, parenting, motherhood

This image impeccably illustrates my life. Uninhabited + varied; yet filled with loads of oxymoron’s coupled with a lot of love. Our life is full of many imperfections; but it just works! I envision somewhere in the near future; we will weep tears of joy witnessing this moment come together. This moment is a flourishing smile from the Universe with an assurance that everything is always working out.

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August 19, 2020 /Ikeranda Smith
family, black family, love, blended family, modern family
black, black mothers, history, LGBTQIA, life, love, loveislove, marriage, parenting, motherhood
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Making Love Work

December 06, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, love, LGBTQIA, loveislove, marriage, relationships, spirituality

Making life work with you is revolutionary + necessary. Not because we are perfect or that we couldn’t be with someone else that oozes with pulchritudinous splendor, but rather we want to make our love work. Every day I pray for you to keep evolving in this space we are cultivating for both of us to expand. Every day I pray that we work harder on our character than we do on staying. See staying is nothing without the will to be forgiving. Hell, staying is nothing without the capacity to see the worst in someone + say “you good...I promise I got you.” Truth is staying is nothing without the testimony of how we make this work.

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December 06, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
love, black love, african american, loveislove, queer marriage, marriage
black, love, LGBTQIA, loveislove, marriage, relationships, spirituality
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Black Love Always

December 06, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, LGBTQIA, life, love, marriage, queer, relationships, spirituality

When I decided to love you I asked the Creator one thing + that was to sustain our love. To give us back every year that our parents spent separated + divorced due to addiction. I asked for intentional presence that despite every hurdle we drew closer together. Proximity is everything with you! I asked for us to dwell in love + even when it seemed difficult that it would surface in the last place we put it.

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December 06, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
black woman, black love, love, loveislove, self love, womenofcolor
black, LGBTQIA, life, love, marriage, queer, relationships, spirituality
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Loving My Wife

December 06, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, LGBTQIA, love, loveislove, marriage, people of color

Loving my wife has come out of necessity, the desire to get something right. To succeed at relating to another human being in the most intimate way when you have never seen healthy relationships. When witnessing abusive love coupled with complacent love not to mention toxic love throughout your life you live in a perpetual space of survival. Working to beat the odds for fear of letting down an entire generation. It’s complicated!

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December 06, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
marriage, queer marriage, love, loveislove, lgbtqia
black, LGBTQIA, love, loveislove, marriage, people of color
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Intimacy

December 06, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, LGBTQIA, marriage, loveislove, love, people of color, purpose, queer, relationships, spirituality, women of color

We love deeply because how else do you adore the woman that resembles your past; yet works hard to heal your future. I don’t know how after 15 years, distance, heartbreak, past lovers, mistakes, trauma, children, divorce + everything in between has kept us this in love. They say courting is not for bringing you together; but seeing if life can tear you apart. I would agree 100%! We see each other in ways that our parents didn’t get a chance to because of our father’s addiction. It’s complicated!

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December 06, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
locs, love, lgbtqia, loveislove, relationships, queer marriage, queer, qwoc
black, LGBTQIA, marriage, loveislove, love, people of color, purpose, queer, relationships, spirituality, women of color
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Growth

December 06, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in life, marriage, personal development, personal growth, queer, purpose, relationships

Lately I have been leaning into life in such a way that has been keeping me prostrate with my heart open. I cannot recall seeing gentle women in my life because they often carried the weight of unrequited love; heavy with deceitful longings. Frustrated at the thought of giving themselves over to another person or having to carry the burden of raising children alone. I have become the remnants of delicate flesh yearning to heal from centuries of not acknowledging the pain.

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December 06, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
lgbtq, life lessons, love, lgbtqia, learning, #atllife
life, marriage, personal development, personal growth, queer, purpose, relationships
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Love Is The Highest

December 05, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, LGBTQIA, marriage, love, life, people of color, queer

When growing in love, I have been learning to yield more to the Universe. Allowing the Creator to lead me. I have been learning to forgive quickly because holding grudges interferes with the work I am called to do. I have been surrendering + allowing because love needs room to grow + expand. Especially this love. This love is being cultivated with every exchange, every argument, every disagreement, every misunderstanding, every apology, every intimate moment that reminds us that we are changing an old narrative. A narrative that would like to prove that black love doesn’t exist + if it does, it resides only in movies. So I let love rule!

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December 05, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
lgbtq, love, loveislove, learning, life, lgbtqia, black woman, black mothers, marriage
black, LGBTQIA, marriage, love, life, people of color, queer
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Looking For The Door

April 09, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, education, history, LGBTQIA, life, love, loveislove, marriage, motherhood, parenting, people of color, personal growth, purpose, queer, relationships, spirituality, women of color

I have been searching diligently, quietly summoning every ancestor while chasing my purpose fully understanding that the Creator + I are in a deep covenant. I question every intention, every motivation, ensuring that my will is put in check + that my ego is buried. I die to myself daily debating my choices, scrutinizing every word that falls from my lips. Why? Because I know that I am responsible for everyone that comes across my path. I am crystal clear about many things in my life, but some things are extremely blurry; terrifyingly unclear to the point that I am often left humbled to a whisper. Often crouched in a corner with tears streaming, staring aimlessly at my plans hoping they align with the Most High.

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April 09, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
love, LGBTQIA, learning, life, black woman, becoming, black queer and educated, God, relationships, resilience, trauma, strength, self-love, qwoc, queer woman of color, queer and black
black, education, history, LGBTQIA, life, love, loveislove, marriage, motherhood, parenting, people of color, personal growth, purpose, queer, relationships, spirituality, women of color
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Divine

March 12, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, LGBTQIA, love, life, loveislove, marriage, people of color, purpose, relationships, spirituality, women of color

I consciously live in color as it relates to my relationship with my wife. Intentionally dissecting the effort, it takes to love another human being. Regularly our conversations consist of what it takes to make a marriage work when we have never witnessed a successful union. Frequently, we communicate the pain that stains our perspective as we contemplate the route we should take to unhinge our own wills. Often we forgive fully understanding that love is a choice + we don’t always get to decide on how we get to distribute it. It’s eerily complicated! A space only those who dare reside can humbly admit, it’s everything you hoped + nothing like you ever expected.

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March 12, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
loveislove, black love, womenofcolor, LGBTQIA, love, life, black, marriage, relationships
black, LGBTQIA, love, life, loveislove, marriage, people of color, purpose, relationships, spirituality, women of color
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To Be Black + In Love

February 04, 2019 by Ikeranda Smith in black, LGBTQIA, life, love, marriage, loveislove, relationships

On most days, I am praying for my wife + all the unions that deserve to penetrate darkness. Some weeks my to-do list is just to love her so I stay shackled to humility ensuring that my ego stays beneath my longings to do right. Heartfelt + intentional I seek to exhibit a commitment that resurrects everyday just to succeed.  My only wish is to close the gap of the incessant reminders of unresolved trauma. Daily I am reminded of the extraordinary people that have covered my struggles with a blanket of stars as a testament that we can survive. Perhaps our love can cover a multitude of transgressions.  So we love…

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February 04, 2019 /Ikeranda Smith
compassion, careers, lgbtq, love, LGBTQIA, life, learning, women, black, black love
black, LGBTQIA, life, love, marriage, loveislove, relationships
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Staying

November 28, 2018 by Ikeranda Smith in marriage, life, relationships, women of color, womensupportingwomen, love

 

I’ve never seen commitment modeled + I wouldn’t recognize it even if it was mirrored daily. I’ve witnessed so many poor examples that even the finest illustrations fall short of my expectation. I am critical of so-called relationships that represent this false sense of excelling. I am not impressed by relationships that hide behind busy children + elaborate hobbies + quiet filters. I am not fascinated by the years together when you reside in separate rooms + live isolated lives. It’s a thing!

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November 28, 2018 /Ikeranda Smith
black woman, queer marriage, queerwomenofcolor, love, marriage
marriage, life, relationships, women of color, womensupportingwomen, love
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The Power of Commitment

August 27, 2018 by Ikeranda Smith in queer, marriage, relationships

There is no mystery that it takes an unusual amount of work to make a relationship work. As a matter of fact, I am convinced the strength of your relationship does not surface until two completely different individuals are nestled underneath the same roof seemingly living life.  Meanwhile there is always the weight of reality that settles on the cracks of your delicate foundation as you pray that the structure doesn’t give under massive pressure; yet we strategically construct elaborate plans to pursue elusive #relationshipgoals. The truth is relationships are not merely some make-shift perfunctory union; rather it is an intentionally crafted business that decides to make things work.

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August 27, 2018 /Ikeranda Smith
love, marriage, commitment, queer marriage, loveislove, relationships
queer, marriage, relationships
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