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Originally Published Jan. 4, 2016

Happy New Year! Can you believe 2024 is here already? How did you bid farewell to 2022 this past New Year’s Eve? Were you turned up at the club or hanging out with friends and family? Even though I had some traveling to do, I was sure to find time to spend with family and friends. It was low-key, but cherished nonetheless.

Some of my friends and colleagues also kept it low-key. Here’s how they chose to ring in the new year.

A Dinner Party

A dinner party for close friends or relatives is at the top of the low-key list for ringing in the New Year right. The secret to pulling off a stress-free, memorable event is to enlist the help of a professional! I know folks who hooked up with celebrity chefs to create festive menus that allowed them to indulge in their favorite foods one last time before the ball dropped for 2023. (I went to one where Chef J.R. Robinson provided the eats.) Be sure to decide how many people you want to invite, your budget and your theme, if you pick one.

A Pajama Jam

There’s nothing more low-key than putting on your most comfortable PJs for an adult pajama party. Since you’re going to be up anyway, why not be comfortable all night? The key to a successful pajama jam is to invite people who will actually participate. Folks who show up “dressed to the nines” or in street clothes—and they haven’t brought PJs to change into—are just killjoys. Specify what passes for pajamas so no one feels uncomfortable or sticks out like a sore thumb.

Play a Game—Other than Spades

As New Year celebrations go, playing a few games is decidedly low-key. But why not pull out something other than the usual deck of cards? Some of my friends celebrated American Black culture with a hidden treasure called Black Card Revoked. This game will have you debating like crazy, going back and forth about who’s wrong and who’s right. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone broke out with a song from The Five Heartbeats while answering some of these questions. The game is family-friendly—up to six can play at a time.

However you choose to bring in 2024, I hope it is meaningful. Here’s to a healthy, happy and prosperous new year.

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Jillian Hishaw is fighting for Black farmers who faced discrimination, after her own family lost their Oklahoma farm due to theft.

The author, agricultural attorney, and nonprofit leader wants to make sure the families of mostly older Black farmers feel peace of mind before they pass away. She believes her actions can help restore the legacy her grandfather wanted her to leave, according to Capital B.

But, the fight hasn’t been easy for Hishaw. She told the outlet, “With all of the [lawsuits] filed by the white farmers, they got discovery within days, and they got an injunction within days … for me representing all Black farmers, whether it’s in front of whatever court, they’re not even giving me discovery,” she said.

Hishaw is fighting for farmers like Marvin Smith in rural Georgia. Smith is battling to protect his family’s 600 acres of land that was purchased in 1926.

The private Sandersville Railroad Co. is trying to seize the property through eminent domain for a new railroad, despite resistance from Smith and other Black residents who refused to sell, Capital B reported.

Smith testified during a four-day hearing in November 2023. “The American dream says if you play by the rules and work hard, justice will prevail and you will be rewarded. It never occurred to me … over 43 years of playing by the rules … I would end up in a position where my land could be taken through eminent domain,” he said. The land has been used to pay for education and is still being farmed today, Capital B noted.

Sandersville’s president, Benjamin Tarbutton III, believes economic development and jobs are most important, stating, “The American dream starts with a job.” He claimed he wanted to seize the land for his railroad to create jobs, Capital B reported.

Despite barriers, Black families press on to preserve their land legacy. Attorney Bill Maurer with the Institute for Justice, who represents Sparta property owners, questioned Tarbutton. “Do you think part of the American dream is having property without it being taken for others use?” he asks.

This clash represents the ongoing struggle by Black families across America to retain their land against racism, discrimination, and theft.

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After 60-plus years, Robin Williams, a ballet dancer, recently experienced a first: performing in pointe shoes that actually matched her brown skin tone.

Williams, herself in her 60s, purchased brown pointe shoes and tights for her Nutcracker performance this past December. Her shoes came with dyed ribbons and elastics to match her complexion perfectly, CNN reported. The store was not named, but her purchase marked a milestone, as today’s Black dancers are now able to buy shoes that match their hue.

Williams reflected that early in her career in the 1960s, as the lone black ballerina in her company, brown pointe shoes weren’t an option. Her teacher emphasized that the pink tights were supposed to match the dancers’ skin. “I thought about it when she said that because I was like, ‘Well our skin isn’t pink.’ And I never forgot that,” Williams recalled, according to the outlet.

The traditional pink shoes and tights break the visual line of the body on Black dancers, disrupting the intended graceful effect. Some directors still make dancers of color wear pink for the sake of “uniformity.” While more shades have become available since 2020, “pancaking,” or slathering pointe shoes in makeup or foundation to modify the color, remains a common practice.

World-renowned ballerina Misty Copeland shared a video of her painstaking pointe shoe makeup routine, saying the lack of options always made her feel excluded. Last September, Copeland started a petition for more diverse shades for Apple’s ballet shoe emoji.

For Cortney Taylor Key, who teaches dance at the Misty Copeland Foundation, watching Arthur Mitchell’s Dance Theatre of Harlem performing in tights that matched their skin tones was groundbreaking. “There’s no amount of money that would make me disrespect Arthur Mitchell by wearing pink tights,” she said, according to CNN. She called traditional European pink “a tradition, and it can change.”

While grateful for the progress, Taylor Key still modifies her own shoes to match her tone. The pancaking process is tedious, frustrating and costly, she said, and it wears shoes down faster. She hopes Copeland’s petition accelerates change for the better.

Meanwhile, for Williams, finally being able to perform in shoes her own shade was a breakthrough moment and a sign of hope for a more inclusive future of ballet.

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