Phaedra Parks

Marriage is hard, and it is even harder when your marriage is under public scrutiny.

It is incredibly painful when you realize a marriage is not working, and it's so easy to get lost when you are making decisions about whether or not a relationship should continue.

Being a new mother is a blessing.

As an African American woman and the descendant of slaves, I do not condone any form of racism or oppression. I most certainly do not take lightly our history of slavery and the battles that were fought, and won, to gain the freedoms that we now enjoy.

I get that we live in a culture where political correctness is expected, especially in polite company, but we also cannot divorce ourselves from our history and the references thereto that have found their way into our speech.

I have never been one to cry over spilled milk, because I usually have another gallon or two in the refrigerator to pour.

While I have been noted as many things, a less that astute business woman has not been one of them.

I don't choose to take time away from my family, work, and school to engage in name-calling and participate in petty arguments for the sake of pacifying someone's ego.

Atlanta is a major metropolitan city; however, as in any town or city, there are small social circles. It isn't unusual to see many of the same faces at every event you attend.

Some of us always have to play the victim in order to be the center of attention.

Here's a thought, instead of taking the easy road under the guise of being politically correct and making hasty judgments about matters as serious as racism, we should face the issue and attempt to have transparent dialogue in the direction of resolve.

Being politically correct does not change the existence of poor race relations; it just gives us an acceptable mask to hide behind rather than address any real issues.

Opinions do not constitute racism, nor does the way you treat a friend make you a racist.

Every culture is different and it's easy to adopt perspectives depicted via various mediums.

I am passionate about social issues and work hard in the community to positively impact the evolution of social ills.

It is because of my frontline work in the community that I am sensitive to what happens when people overreact, causing situations to needlessly escalate and create further misperceptions.

My goal is to provide transformative programming in order to empower young people and communities; thereby creating a spirit of resilience.

I have learned that if I don't share my lessons and blessings born from life's challenges, then my living is in vain.

I am not surprised by much.

I have a great relationship with Apollo's parents. My mother-in-law is a very supportive and caring lady. We both consider family very important, so we make spending time together a priority.