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Black Business Directory | 2026
ATTORNEYS K & A Law Group | Trademark Copyright | Business | Immigration Attorney | Keshia Joachim Alexandria, Virginia 703-493-0169 BEAUTY | HAIR SUPPLIERS Heatfree Hair Natural Textured Hair Extensions Founder | Ngozi Opara customercare@heatfreehair.com 1-877-686-9044 Zuma Wigs Dreadlock Wigs & Accessories Wayne, New Jersey info@zumawigs.com BEAUTY | HAIR PRODUCTS Dr. Locs Owner | Chimere Faulk Atlanta, Georgia customerservice@drlocs.com chimere@drlocs.com 877-376-376

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Jun 113 min read


Forgiving Our Mothers: They Were Just Girls Trying to Survive
Forgiveness does not mean pretending the hurt didn't happen, and it doesn't mean you have to place yourself back in harm's way. Some boundaries are necessary, and protecting your peace is not a betrayal. But forgiveness can mean seeing your mother as a whole person, a girl who was shaped by a world that resented her, disrespected her, and failed to protect her. It can mean understanding that much of what she did was survival, not malice. When you see her that clearly, the ang

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Sep 231 min read


Influenza
Why The Fake Physician Assistant Story Hit A Nerve! Everybody has an opinion about Angel Victoria Murdoch this week. If you missed it, she is a social media personality and reality show alum who spent close to two years posting content about life as a Physician Assistant student at Duke University, the birth of the PA program. Get ready with me for rotations. What is in my PA school bag? Then actual students in the program started asking why nobody had ever seen her, and Duk

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Aug 275 min read


The Fake Lore of Motherhood
Let's talk about the indoctrination of marriage and children as accomplishments. Congratulations, you signed a contract and split some cells with a guy you met on Tinder last year. A real hero's journey. Research shows, that the true purpose of marriage is a transfer of power and wealth. Not love. Not destiny. A transfer of power and wealth, dressed up in white lace so nobody has to look at it directly. Women who think the ring is a symbol of love are welcome to that belief,

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Aug 243 min read


Influencers are Not Beauty Professionals
CONVICTED GURU Let me tell you about this guy Christopher Lowe. 1985. This man gets convicted of taking client money, bouncing checks, and tampering with evidence. A hat trick. The SEC pulls his registration, bars him from going near another investment adviser, and figures that's that. So what does Chris do? He starts a newsletter. Paid subscribers. And when the SEC drags him into federal court to shut it down, he goes all the way to the Supreme Court and he wins. The Court s

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Aug 14 min read


Howard University | THE MECCA or the MESS?
What Howard's 2026 Enrollment Meltdown Says About Settling for Less! When my daughter chose Howard over schools that offered her a full ride, I did what any parent weighing a six-figure gamble would do: I pushed back. She had options - full scholarships, career-aligned programs, campuses without a reputation for chaos. Howard was the one school offering only partial funding, which meant roughly $200,000 in exposure' over four years and a stack of student loans with her name o

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Jul 253 min read


A Briefing For Black Parents & Their Black Sons
An 18-year-old got on a boat with his friends on the Fourth of July and did not come home. Nolan Xavier Wells was a wide receiver at southwest Mississippi community college. He was last seen on Horn Island around three in the afternoon. I want to talk about what we should tell our black sons before they go anywhere with a group of white people. The disappearance and subsequent death of Nolan Xavier Wells is a developing situation. Based on current reporting as of July 6, 2026

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Jul 62 min read


Black Girl Magic
CATCHA A FIRE I remember my first day of high school like it was yesterday. Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to cover it. Now, I had already gone to a predominantly white school before this, so I was used to that environment. High school was actually a diverse mixture of Black, White, and Hispanic students. But what gave me absolute whiplash was something else entirely. I had never seen so many Black girls with long hair all in one place. I know that sounds crazy to some, but i

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Jun 14 min read


Happiness on Layaway
It took me two weeks to write this piece. Was I navigating my own thoughts or connections to this blog? Why did it take me a week to write seven short paragraphs? Had I become my own muse? Happiness is only two feet away, yet so many never reach it. WHY? Because the entrance fee requires authenticity. As a hairstylist, I’ve become a subject matter expert in human behavior. When your lived experience includes thousands of people, your empirical data is undeniable. No disserta

Natasha Watterson, MPA
May 222 min read


The Dr. Cheyenne Bryant Controversy | It’s Not About the Degree
Dr. Bryant is a popular life coach and media personality who operates under the title of "Doctor," claiming a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. She has been in the life coaching space for a decade, but the drama unfolding in 2026 was certainly not on her bingo card. Following her recent appearances on The Joe Budden Podcast and The Breakfast Club, she admitted that she is not a licensed therapist and has no intention of becoming one. Her position is that professional licensure

Natasha Watterson, MPA
May 164 min read


The Messy Middle | Caregiving to Aging Parents & Rebellious Teenagers
You are 45. Your dad just fell getting the mail. Your mom has stage two breast cancer and cannot drive herself to treatments. Hubby is physically there but has emotionally checked out. Your 21-year-didn’t listen to you. She got an apartment she couldn’t afford and has just moved back home for the second time. She is now in the spare room you converted to your home office. You just picked the perfect wallpaper and you’ll never see it again. You love them all, but need a vacati

Natasha Watterson, MPA
May 53 min read


Black Tax & Broken Wills | Losing the Family Home
I’ve spent a third of my life behind the chair as a salon owner. If those mirrors could talk, they would tell stories that would make your heart cry. Before I perfected my interlocking skills, I was in the trenches of Brooklyn Housing Court and running a homeless shelter in Queens. I had a front-row seat to the limitless ways a person’s life can pivot. The Conversations That Matter Lately, I’ve realized I don’t want to spend all my energy explaining the difference between hig

Natasha Watterson, MPA
May 23 min read


Black Mirror Episode
Have you seen that Black Mirror episode, “Nosedive" the one where everyone was obsessed with their five-star rating? It felt like each character was living in a pastel-colored purgatory where every smile was fake and every latte was just a photo op. When I look at the current state of social media in 2026, I have to ask: Who are these people even influencing? In the episode, the main character loses everything trying to climb a social ladder made of glass. I decided to break

Natasha Watterson, MPA
May 13 min read


"I Love Natural Hair, But Not the Community | Why I’m Walking Away from My Natural Hair App”
"And yes, your favorite D.I.Y Microlocks influencer probably goes to the salon. The modern-day grifter is a “creative.”

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Apr 43 min read


New York Senate Re-Introduces Bill To Prohibit Certain Non-Compete Agreements
On April 6, 2026, New York State Senator Michael Gianaris re-introduced a bill that would prohibit most non-compete agreements between employers and employees in New York State. On June 20, 2023, the state legislature passed S3100, which banned non-compete agreements for nearly all employees regardless of annual earnings, applied both retroactively and prospectively, voided new and existing non-compete agreements, and gave covered employees a private right of action against e

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Apr 32 min read


ARE BEAUTY SCHOOLS CLOSING?
If you’ve noticed career schools closing their doors at a record pace lately, you might think it’s just the economy. But the reality is much more layered and urgent. We are currently witnessing a perfect storm where federal accountability is clashing head-on with outdated salon hiring practices. The result? A dead zone that is leaving students in debt and schools out of business. FEDERAL FUNDING For decades, many career schools operated as license factories. As long as a stud

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Apr 22 min read


ULTA BEAUTY Accused of Discrimination in Manhattan
In 2025 a Black woman filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of her and her seven year old daughter, alleging discrimination ( NYCHRL ) at an Ulta beauty salon on the upper East side of Manhattan New York. The suit alleges a violation of New York Civil Rights Law 40, which guarantees all persons full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges in places of public accommodation. The suit claims Ulta beauty created a segregated service m

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Apr 12 min read


Why "God Brought Me Here" is My Biggest Red Flag as a Business Owner
The internet has a way of digging up the truth, and the recent story out of Cambridge, Maryland, is a chilling reminder of how some people use authority as a weapon. A homeowner reportedly hired six Guatemalan roofers for tens of thousands of dollars in labor. When the job was $10,000 away from completion, she didn't reach for her checkbook-she reached for the phone and called ICE (allegedly). She even handed the agents a ladder. Thankfully, one of the workers, Bryan Polanco,

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Mar 12 min read


Corporate Success is a Lie!
In high school, I was convinced college was a NASA-grade launchpad. I thought I’d board that vessel and blast off into a galaxy of hyper-competence where everyone spoke in profound metaphors and solved world hunger between classes. Then I actually got to campus and realized the rocket was mostly a refrigerator box held together by duct tape and student loans. I would would arrive armed with hot takes on how religion and Greek life walk a fine line between community and cult

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Feb 12 min read


The Positivity Gap
Exploring Why Negative Outliers Drive Reviews More Than Consistent Positive Experiences BEN-GURION Academia often paints a broad-stroke picture of consumer behavior, but the view from the front lines of business ownership tells a different story. A landmark study by Ben-Gurion University, analyzing a staggering 1.2 billion consumer reviews, suggests a world where women are the "benevolent graders" of the digital age-leaving higher star ratings than their male counterparts an

Natasha Watterson, MPA
Jan 13 min read
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