A Different World (ADW): Favorite Episodes and What Surprised Me Most About “OG” ADW Characters
Tag: Writing
A Different World: Favorite Characters
Calling my fellow A Different World (ADW) fans!
Now that ADW 2026 has launched, who are your favorite characters?
MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS: Professor Freddie Brooks, Esq., Deborah Wayne, and Kojo Achebe
Freddie was my favorite character from the original ADW. I loved her evolution from boho vegan + astrology lover + social justice activist to law student. I could totally relate to her boho spirit! Her Hillman law school journey made me think of my Howard Law journey. I always wondered what type of legal career she had and what happened to her relationship with Ron. Part of me wanted her to work on Black women’s reproductive health issues in a nonprofit organization and have a lifelong partnership with Ron that did not include children.
I love seeing an older and wiser Professor Freddie with her fabulous boho grooviness, social justice passion and activism, turquoise jewelry, love affair with Professor Baptiste (played by actor and comedian Norman Nixon, Jr., Debbie Allen and Norm Nixon’s son), and classroom discussion that referenced bell hooks’ wisdom from “All About Love: New Visions” (1999). Throughout the entire 10 episodes, I kept wondering what happened between Freddie and Ron. Episode 10 answered my question (not gonna spill the tea in case folks haven’t watched the entire series).
I also love Deborah Wayne because she represents a 2026 version of a Black American Princess (BAP) who happens to be a daddy’s girl that drives her BAP momma Whitley CRAZY!!!!! I think Deborah is payback from Whitley and all of her BAP drama. I loved seeing Deborah navigate the ups, downs, and in-betweens of her “freshwoman” year at her parents’ alma mater. I could totally relate to many of her experiences given what happened during my “freshwoman” year at Morgan State University in Baltimore. The writers did an amazing job illustrating her self-discovery journey. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the relationship dynamics she had with her parents. I also loved the Black girl self-love focus of her independent art major presentation during the talent show.
The character Kojo Achebe stole my heart with his beautiful skin, suave GQ unique style, and London accent. I am a fan of Black British culture, music, art, fashion, food, and everything in between. I totally dig Kojo’s vibe and commitment to becoming a fashion designer. I really love his relationship journey with Rashida. His last name Achebe makes me think of Nigerian author Chinua Achebe and the first time I read his book, “Things Fall Apart” during my “freshwoman” year at Morgan in 1983. Also, I adore Kojo’s parents, Abena Achebe played by Ghanaian-American actress Tina Tena Ansah, and Chukwu played by Richard Mofe‑Damijo, the veteran Nollywood actor. I became a fan when I fell in love with his character Tega Castle, the husband, father, managing partner, and law professor in Castle & Castle, my favorite Nigerian legal series (two seasons on Netflix).
Photo Credit: Netflix
Harvest Full Moon in Aries Reflections: Creative Mornings Baltimore & Autumn Afternoon Retreat
Happy Harvest Full Moon in Aries!
Are you celebrating the Harvest Full Moon? What does your Harvest Full Moon celebration look and feel like?
Need some inspiration?
Take a moment and listen to my spoken word song, “Full Moon” that is featured on my Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter album. The album was produced by Garnet Jay a/k/a Garnet Jackson, founder of Footprint Productions. Garnet also composed the music for each song.
I started my Harvest Full Moon celebration a day early with a trip to Baltimore, one of my favorite creative sanctuaries. Since the Spring season began, my soul sistalove Ayesha (who currently lives in Baltimore) and I have been “moonifesting” our intentions of spending time together and connecting with the CreativeMornings Baltimore community on a regular basis. So far, we’ve been blessed to participate in several gatherings like the one we attended on Friday that featured speaker Krishna Sharma, audience engagement editor at The Baltimore Beat, at the SNF Parkway Theater (another fav B-more venue).
Krishna’s talk on the currents of his life helped me explore the autumn season currents in my life during the afternoon retreat Ayesha and I co-created with tarot readings, journaling, drawing, and sharing while eating yummy food ftom the Land of Kush, sipping peppermint tea, reading poetry and life lessons from sacred books, and listening and singing to music on our curated playlist in her living room. ALL I CAN SAY IS A TIME WAS HAD!!!
After I returned to DC, I headed to my hair appointment with my soul sistalove Evette. After we plotted out my autumn look, she worked her magic and made our vision come alive! My trip to Baltimore and hair cut were exactly what I needed in order to jumpstart my Full Moon journey.
Thriving Mindfully in Autumn with Intentional Softness
This year, autumn officially begins on September 22nd. The Autumn Equinox marks the end of summer and the beginning of fall. It occurs when the sun is exactly above the equator. It causes both the southern and northern hemispheres to receive the same amount of light. Also, it ushers in a time of calm and stillness as the light begins to wane going into winter.
Mindful self-care is one of the best ways to welcome this season into your life. It happens when you set an intention and choose to nurture your spirit, heart, mind, body, breath, and life in ways that uplift you. Setting an intention and making a choice to practice self-care are two choices you can make each day if you want to. GO HERE TO CHECK OUT MY MINDFUL SELF-CARE TIPS AND RESOURCES.
Your mindful self-care practice lays the foundation for intentional softness in your life. I encourage you to welcome it in your life this autumn.
Listen to one of my favorite Thriving Mindfully Podcast episodes that discusses intentional softness and how to incorporate it in your life. Click the video below.
Highlights from Thriving Mindfully on U Street Workshop on July 29th
As you may know, I am serving as the 2026 U Street Neighborhood Association Artist-in-Residence and leading the Thriving Mindfully on U Street, a multi-generational mindful creativity project that aims to help U Street residents and others take better care of themselves as they navigate the changes happening in their lives and the city, nurture connections with fellow U Street community members, express and document their love and gratitude for the U Street community and explore their vision of the U Street community in the future, and identify and share their favorite U Street memories, history makers and moments, movements, organizations, businesses, buildings, and places.
On July 29th, I led the first workshop entitled “Thriving Mindfully: A Love Letter to U Street” at the historic True Reformer Building on U Street. It started with a mindful moment that included breathing and yoga exercises to relax the shoulders.
I used my spoken word song, “Flow & Glow” to introduce participants to Thriving Mindfully, my heart-centered approach for being present, well, and the REAL YOU. In addition, I shared an excerpt from my poem, “Home” to help them reflect on their love for U Street (poem featured in my mindful creativity memoir, That Which Awakens Me). Participants also experienced a mindfulness of the body meditation and used two journaling exercises to discuss their love for U Street.
SPECIAL THANKS to everyone who attended the workshop.
MANY THANKS to the U Street Neighborhood Association and True Reformer Building for hosting the event.
Join me for the Thriving Mindfully on U Street series in August, September, and October. Click on the links below for more information.
AUGUST WORKSHOP: The second event in this series, “Honoring U Street as American History,” will take place on August 26th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Hamiltonian Artists, located at 1353 U Street, NW, in DC. Come share your love for U Street and contribute to a community art project (to be displayed during the final workshop). CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
SEPTEMBER WORKSHOP: The third event in this series, “The Future of the U Street Community,” will take place on September 16th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the True Reformer Building, located at 1200 U Street, NW, in DC. Come share your love for U Street and contribute to a community art project (to be displayed during the final workshop). CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
OCTOBER WORKSHOP: The fourth, and final event in this series, “The U in U Street Community,” will take place on October 7th from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at True Reformer Building, located at1200 U Street, NW, in DC. Come share your love for U Street and have a final chance to contribute to a community art project (to be displayed during the event). CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
Celebrating Older Americans Month in May: Highlights from American Change Agent Book Discussion at Next Chapter Book Shop & Cafe in Hagerstown, MD
Did you know Older Americans Month is celebrated in May?
HISTORY
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy and members of the National Council of Senior Citizens met and decided to designate May as Senior Citizens Month to to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of past and current older persons.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Older Americans Act in 1965, the Senior Citizens Month became known as Older Americans Month. Its purpose shifted to highlighting the need for services and community support for older Americans. The Administration for Community Living promotes the annual observance.
HOW I AM CELEBRATING OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
This year, my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke and I are celebrating Older Americans Month by encouraging folks who are over 60 to share and document their life stories and lessons learned with their family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, community, fellow club/church/group/service organization members, and/or online network in small, medium, and big ways.
On May 2nd, we had an opportunity to share some of my dad’s life stories and lessons learned during book talk for his memoir, American Change Change Agent: A Life & Legacy of Seeking Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (2025) at the Next Chapter Book Shop and Cafe in Hagerstown, Maryland.
During the discussion, we shared why Hagerstown is important to our Leak/Leek family history in America. In the early 1840s, Peter and Catherine Leak/Leek and their 14 children escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad and traveled approximately 410 miles to freedom in Amherstburg, Canada. Leonard Leak/Leek, my father’s great-grandfather was one of Peter and Catherine’s sons. Read his obituary below.
My dad also shared life stories that highlighted the importance of his lesson #2: Relationships are essential to your development and the impact you make on the world. His sharing sparked a discussion lively discussion among audience members.
FYI Chapter 22 in American Change Agent is entitled “A Legacy Gift for You: Lessons Learned.” It contains his top 10 lessons.
VISIT HERE to learn more about and purchase American Change Agent.
Many thanks to Dr. Genie Massey and the Maryland League of Women Voters for organizing the event.
Special thanks to Melissa and Bryan Noel, owners of Next Chapter Cafe’ & Book Shop, and their amazing team for hosting the event.
A deep bow of gratitude to my brother Matt for taking photos and recording videos during the book discussion.
MY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO SHARE & DOCUMENT YOUR LIFE STORIES & LESSONS LEARNED
1) Reflect and journal about the top one to three lessons you learned during your teen years, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s in your personal life, relationships, career, health, or finances. Look for any themes of resilience, intentional living, practicing gratitude, setting boundaries, asking for help, overcoming doubt and fear, or embracing change and joy.
2) Share what you have written with your chosen network of folks who would benefit from your lessons learned in a conversation, letter, email, blog, social media post, artwork, video, audio recording. and in-person or online gathering.
3) Consider turning your life stories and lessons learned into a Word or pdf document and/or an e-book with photos.
4) Write and publish a book.
Finding Spring Refuge in Creativity
Hey Groovy Folks!
How are you taking care of yourself this Spring season?
This Spring season has given me several opportunities to find refuge in my creativity and the creativity of others. These opportunities have served as a lifeline that leads me to peace, comfort, and joy, especially when I feel anxious about what’s happening in the United States and the world.
What are you finding refuge in?
FINDING REFUGE IN MY CREATIVITY
I started working on a new digital collage series entitled “Celebrating Black Joy in My Ancestral Womanline’s Friendships.” I created four collages featuring my grandaunt Paulyne Roberts (“Aunt Paul”) and her best friend Cleo, grandmother Frederica Stanley Roberts Leeke (“Freddie” and “Grandmommy”) and her girlfriends, and grandaunt Mabel Roberts (“Aunt Mabel”) and her sorority sisters.
The background for each collage comes from a photo I took of fabric from a dress I bought at Katuka, my favorite Afro-Brazilian boutique in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil in 2023. I used Canva to create small strips of the fabric and placed them in different directions in the main photo. The strips created a different fabric design. I included photos of the original fabric, dress, and Katuka boutique. I added Ghanaian Adinkra symbols to each collage.
Click the button to read my blog about these collages (additional photos of collages are included).
SPRING PRESS
Special thanks to my Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Sorors for featuring my debut spoken word album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter (released on November 20, 2025) in the Spring 2026 issue of The Aurora Magazine. It is an honor and blessing to have my creative work dedicated to my mother, ancestor, and Soror Theresa B. Gartin Leeke featured in our international publication during the month she joined our sorority in 1959 (April 26th).
Click here to learn more about my mom “Tee.”
Go here to learn more about and buy my album.
What communities feed your soul?
What communities welcome you and/or feed your soul?
Four years ago, I was seeking out local intergenerational creative communities and discovered Creative Mornings DC. After the first gathering, I knew I had found a welcoming tribe of like-minded folks and a source of inspiration. After attending a few gatherings, I felt the call to serve as a volunteer. Fast forward to now, I am still growing and cultivating my connections with folks organically by attending gatherings, volunteering, and meeting up one-on-one and in small group settings. Visit https://creativemornings.com/cities/DC to learn more.
Last year, I set an intention to spend more time in Baltimore getting to know the creative communities. Why you might ask? Because I’ve spent the past six years (since the global pandemic) visiting friends who live in the city and exploring various art, culture, and history venues. Baltimore has also become my second home again. The first time was way back in the 1980s when I attended Morgan State University (Class of 1986).
This year I decided to spend time with the Creative Mornings Baltimore community. Last Friday, I attended my first gathering at the Maryland Center for History and Culture with my soul sistalove Ayesha. As soon as we walked in and talked to the volunteers, I could feel the groovy vibes. The conversations I had with the diverse folks made me feel at home. The golden nuggets I received from the four speakers who shared their thoughts about the meaning of local were just the medicine I needed. All of it fed my soul in a deep and meaningful way. I’ll definitely be back next month! Visit https://creativemornings.com/cities/bal to learn more about the community.
FYI Creative Mornings is a global community that is free to join. It has chapters that meet in-person all over the world. It also offers online workshops and resources for creatives. Visit https://creativemornings.com for more information.
My 17-Year-Old Self
In addition to creating my Ancestral Medicine digital collage collection, I am reflecting on and creating digital collages about the person I have been and currently am.
Yesterday, I found my high school senior class photo and thought about who I was at 17 years old.
I looked into my 17-year-old eyes and saw Madelyn Cheryl Leeke (my legal name; known as “Puf” to family and friends), an independent, talkative, focused high achiever, leader, and student at Elizabeth Seton High School (all-girls Catholic school), poet, future lawyer, public speaker, and a fun-loving, social, party and flirty girl who loves lipstick, Prince, dancing, shopping, dressing in vintage clothing mixed with jeans, going to basketball games, dating, speaking Spanish and French, traveling, dreaming of living well on 16th Street in DC, nature, basketball, catching the Metro, art, music, beaches, and all things cultural.
I see a sensitive, creative, and smart girl who put a lot of pressure on herself to succeed.
I see an intense, self-determined, and brave girl who had high expectations for herself and believed she had to achieve academic, career, and material success in order to survive and THRIVE.
What a young woman!
Over the years, I have had to forgive myself for some of the beliefs I had and choices I made that created unhealthy mindsets, behavior, and experiences.
I know my 17-year-old self did the best she could with what she had.
Let me also say, I am still in the process of forgiving and healing the person I was during each decade of my life. That work is ONGOING.
With that said, I can honestly say at 61 that I would not change a thing about my 17-year-old self because she got me to the place I am today. All of her beliefs and choices, the good and not so good, led me to experiences, people, lessons, wisdom, grace, forgiveness, patience, dreams, joy, pain, loss, healing, growth, and blessings that make me who I am today. And that person is a Woman Intentionally and Patiently Progressing (W.I.P.P.).
The title of this collage is “17.” I started it with a painting I made in 2006 or 2007 as the background. I loved the red and yellow colors because they remind me of my high school colors.
The color red also represents my root chakra energy and how focused I was on establishing career and financial security.
The yellow represents my solar plexus chakra energy and my intense focus on personal power, persistence, and self-determination.
Three Ghanaian Adinkra symbols were added to the collage.
Epa is the name of the Adinkra symbol that is repeated on my graduation gown. It symbolizes law and justice and illustrates my dream and career goal of becoming a lawyer who helps people and makes good money to afford my lifestyle and home on 16th Street in DC.
The Duafe (the comb) Adinkra symbol represents femininity and beauty and illustrates my desire to be, feel, and look feminine, stylish, and beautiful.
The Bese Asaka Adinkra symbol represent abundance and wealth and illustrates my goal to live well.
Celebrating Women in Tennis & My Tennis Journey
Tennis has always been a sport I wanted to learn as an adult. It runs in my family too. Check out the photo of my grandmother Frederica Stanley Roberts Leeke holding her tennis racket during the 1930s
During the global pandemic, I decided to take lessons and become a beginner player. My soul sistalove Tonya (see in the third photo above) encouraged me. Tonya is an intermediate player and “tennis momma” with many years of experience due to her son’s tennis playing years.
Tennis has always been a sport I wanted to learn as an adult. During the global pandemic, I decided to take lessons and become a beginner player. My soul sistalove Tonya (see in the third photo above) encouraged me. Tonya is an intermediate player and “tennis momma” with many years of experience due to her son’s tennis playing years.
In October 2021, my tennis journey began at the grand age of 56 with the support of my coach Kendall, a Howard University senior and member of the tennis team, on the Banneker courts in Washington, D.C. Kendall coached me for several weeks before the weather got too cold and resumed teaching me during the spring and early summer in 2022 (see two photos of above).
After she moved, she referred me to Jadenn, a coach and junior at Hampton University who was a member of the tennis team. Jaden worked with me on the basics and encouraged me to sign up for the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation’s (DPR) fall tennis classes in August 2022.
During my DPR journey, I learned so much from a great group of coaches including Rich, Richard, Dave, and Kevin, and volunteers Gail and Dan. I also learned a lot from my classmates. When I graduated to intermediate tennis classes in the summer of 2024, I started working with Coach Marian Lang (see photos above). Coach Marian really helped me with dive deeper into tennis and build my confidence as a player. I worked with her until the end of 2025 and plan to continue working with her this year.
In October 2025, I realized I learn better when I am in a small group. So I stopped taking classes with DPR. My friend Tonya encouraged me to experiment with indoor lessons at Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) and Rock Creek Tennis Center and. So I signed up for JTCC’s Learn Tennis Now programs in November 2025. I also gave myself a birthday gift of intermediate lessons with Coach Bianca Eqalite at Rock Creek Tennis Center in December 2025.
Before 2025 ended, I decided to take intermediate winter classes at JTCC and Rock Creek Tennis Center. Unfortunately, I only attended one class at Rock Creek Tennis Center due to the winter snow and my schedule. I may go back in the spring or summer because I really enjoyed Coach Bianca.
My winter intermediate classes at JTCC have been pretty intense which is a good thing for me. I have enjoyed learning from Coaches Ross, Tayla, Eva, and Ale, and practicing with and playing my classmates.
Last weekend, I spent Saturday evening celebrating International Women’s Day and the great tennis legacy of women players like Althea Gibson, Serena and Venus Williams, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, and Taylor Townsend at JTCC. I had a great time participating in tennis exercises, games, and matches. It was an intense workout that was much needed.
Getting a peach Fila tennis skirt made the event even sweeter!
Special thanks to Marta and the JTCC women coaches for hosting the event.
