Tag: books

Februllage Days 16 (Toilet Paper), 17 (Mathematics), and 18 (Costume)

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This week has been a slow one for me. My body has summoned me to rest and sleep deeply. Translation: No digital devices in my bedroom and earlier bedtimes than usual. It’s been dreamy, definitely needed, and delicious to experience!

DEE-LISH-SHUSSSSSSSSSSSS. Yes, I had to spell out the word in all caps and the way I say the word.

And HELL YEAH, it’s EXTRA just like the name of one of my favorite my lip glosses by The Lip Bar. For inquiring minds who might want to know, I am not an influencer for this brand. I just love wearing it cuz’ it is a lovely vegan brand created by an African American woman who was born in my home state of Michigan.

Okay, all that sleep and rest coupled with the Lunar New Year and New Moon Solar Eclipse in Aquarius on Monday created space for me to flow in and out of my ancestral dreams. I don’t remember what the dreams were about. I just have this inner knowing that my loving + wise + well ancestors are reminding me of the power and choice I have to dream, be, live, love, and create freely. They keep telling me they are working on my behalf so that I can relax into a more Jupiter expansive being-ness that opens a portal into my inner truth, beauty, joy, magic, play, and fun adventures.

The Februllage collages I have created for Day 16 (PROMPT – Toilet Paper), Day 17 (PROMPT – Mathematics), and Day 18 (PROMPT – Costume) were born from my journey into this new portal of expansiveness. Check them out below.

FEBRULLAGE DAY 16 (PROMPT – Toilet Paper)

“Pandemic Memories” is the title of my Februllage Day16 digital collage. This collage gave me a chance to make playful art from the rolls of toilet paper and masks many of us kept stocked in our homes.

I started the collage with a photo of a bathroom in the Hackney apartment I stayed in during my visit to London in 2023. I added a photo of myself wearing a mask from 2021 in the mirror. Graphic images of masks and rolls of toilet paper were also included.

FEBRULLAGE DAY 17 (PROMPT – Mathematics)

“Black Mermaid Mathematics” is the title of my Februllage Day 17 digital collage. This collage celebrates the soul sistalove bond I share with my cousin Gail and my childhood and adult passion for numerology and mermaids of African descent. I started the collage with an AI-generated background of numbers and added one of my favorite photos of my cousin Gail and I when we were young girls. I added different mermaids of African descent. The mermaids also represent my connection to Oxum/Oshun and Iemanja/Yemanya, two Afro Brazilian/Yoruba Oxisas/Orishas.

FEBRULLAGE DAY 18 (PROMPT – Costume)

The Costume prompt made me think of Mardi Gras which was celebrated on February 17th this year. I love Mardi Gras and New Orleans art, culture, history, and spirituality. My love affair with New Orleans and Louisiana shows up in my debut novel, Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One.

“Great-Great-Grandmother Ida Mae at the Mardi Gras Ball” is the title of my Februllage Day 18 digital collage. My imagination took over this collage and explored what my great-great-grandmother Ida Mae Goins Bolden would have looked like if she attended a Mardi Gras ball.

Great-Great Grandmother Ida Mae was born on December 10, 1866, in Michigan. Her birthday is eight days before my December 18th birthday. We were both born in Michigan. She was a daughter of Franklin Goins and Polly Mary Rickman Goins, sister to three sisters and two brothers, wife, mother, aunt, and grandmother.

She married my great-great grandfather William Henry Bolden on December 29, 1887, in Decatur, Indiana. Together, they raised five children, Ada May Bolden McWilliams (1889-1947), Arthur William Bolden (1890-1943), Clyde E. Bolden (1891-1916), Iona Hazel Bolden Johnson King (my great grandmother), and an unnamed child who died early (1899).

While reading her death certificate, I learned she died of cancer of the uterus, rectum, and bladder on March 16, 1917, in North Vernon, Indiana (Jennings County). The cause of her death is something I will explore in another collage series.

I used Canva to create AI-generated ballroom background. Mardi Gras confetti graphic images and a sign decorate the entire collage. I added a woman of African descent dressed in a Mardi Gras mask and costume. I included a black and white photo of Great-Great Grandmother Ida Mae as a young woman in her early 20s. I think the photo was taken before she got married in 1887.

YOUR INVITATION

Click on the video below and listen to my song, “Ancestral Medicine” that is featured on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter. Also, reflect on the question.

What personality traits or experiences you share with your loving + wise + well ancestors

Something Powerful Happened Last Night: Reflections on Unity & Presence Book Club Reading of My Debut Novel, “Love’s Troubadours”

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Something powerful happened last night as I sat in community with the members of the Unity and Presence Book Club in Odenton, Maryland.

As we discussed my debut novel, Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One, I witnessed the powerful impact of what I co-created with Creator and my loving + wise + well ancestors.

I experienced in real-time the beauty and blessing of having the book we co-wrote be examined inside out. It was a joy to listen to everyone’s reflections and insights. It was one of the most soul- affirming and fulfilling experiences I have had as a writer.

It was also inspiring and encouraging as I prepare to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Love’s Troubadours with some new stories in 2027.

Special thanks to the Unity and Presence Book Club for reading my book and inviting me to lead their first discussion for 2026.

Learn About & Buy Love’s Troubadours

Love’s Troubadours is a self-love and yoga-inspired novel about Karma Francois, a thirtysomething, California-born BoHo BAP (Bohemian Black American Princess) with Louisiana roots and urban debutante flair. When the novel begins, Karma’s life has taken a sudden drastic turn. Her relationships and the museum curator career that she struggled to form in New York City have crumbled, leaving no viable options to rebuild. Relocating to Washington, D.C., Karma struggles with denial, depression, and debt. A lack of full-time employment opportunities forces her to craft a gypsy existence as a Jill of Many Trades: yoga teacher, art consultant, and freelance curator. Unable and unwilling to appreciate these jobs as gifts, she wallows in a pool of lost identity—and doesn’t see a way to keep from drowning. When she looks in the mirror, Karma sees a woman whose choices have dishonored her true character. Now, for the first time in her life, Karma must learn to see herself for who she really is.

Stay tuned for upcoming posts about the making of the novel and what’s next.

Reflections on My Father

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In honor of Father’s Day (which is every day), I am sharing an excerpt from American Change Agent, the book my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke, wrote about his life and work in diversity, equality, and inclusion. This excerpt is from Chapter 21: Our Father’s Journey: How My Children See Me (pages 428-429).

Copyright 2025 by John F. Leeke and Madelyn C. Leeke


Before former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant coined the phrase “girl dad” and it went viral as a hashtag on social media after ESPN anchor Elle Duncan shared a memory of her conversation with him during a tribute to his life in 2020, my father lived and breathed it. For those who don’t know, a girl dad is a father who wants his daughter to be treated equally. That means he wants her to have the same rights, opportunities, and privileges as any boy. For as long as I can remember, my father has shown me a fierce love wrapped in an endless bow of support and freedom of expression. His personal investment in my well-being as a child, teenager, young adult, and now as of this writing a 59-year-old woman is beyond words. He and my mother taught me I could be and do anything in the world because it was mine.

There are moments I can remember when he showed up in my defense as only as a girl dad could. Like the time, he met with the two nuns at my all-girls Catholic high school and told them in his loud Black man voice that they were racist due to their mistreatment of me and the other members of the Awareness Black Culture Club. He has believed in me when I couldn’t, especially during the eight times I took and failed the bar exam and each time I have written and published a book. He has even helped me write parts of my books over the telephone when I was running out of creative energy and patience. He has listened to me in my craziest moments and advised me before and after I have taken several risks in my career.

Ours is a rich, layered, and intense relationship that has allowed me to explore and express myself; experiment with my life, career, and creativity; and passionately pursue my healing and wholeness with confidence, freedom, and a safety net that he will always be in my corner no matter what. Being Dr. John F. Leeke’s daughter has given me the honor of sitting in the front row of his life as a digital senior citizen activist, blogger, podcaster, storyteller, and author. As time moves us forward, our relationship is blessing me and my brothers with perhaps the greatest honor: supporting my father as he walks the path of a wise person in his aging process. What a gift to behold!

WATCH ASK DR. JOHN, A FATHER-DAUGHTER CONVERSATION VIDEO SERIES

The video features a discussion my dad and I had about fatherhood.


ABOUT BOOK

American Change Agent: A Life & Legacy of Seeking Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion is a memoir written by Dr. John F. Leeke with his daughter Ananda Kiamsha Madelyn Leeke. It tells the rich, inspiring journey of Dr. Leeke, a descendant of the Akan people of Ghana, the Yoruba people of Nigeria, Indigenous Turtle Island nations, European settlers, and freedom seekers who escaped slavery in Hagerstown, Maryland. This collection of stories spans 85 years of his life, showcasing his family, career, and dedication to diversity, equality, and inclusion.

Explore Dr. Leeke’s early years in Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Indiana, his Catholic education in Washington, DC, and his academic pursuits at Indiana State Teachers College. Follow his career as a teacher and guidance counselor in Flint, Michigan, his graduate studies at the University of Michigan, and his impactful work in community organizing and organizational development.

Learn how Dr. Leeke’s leaps of faith in various roles, including his tenure at the National Education Association and his entrepreneurial ventures, solidified his commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion. His reflections on six decades of diversity, equality, and inclusion work reveal the institutional changes he championed and his ongoing influence in retirement through church involvement, civic engagement, and online activism.

Dr. Leeke’s stories are an invitation to reflect on your own journey, embrace humanity’s diversity, and become a change agent in your community.

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