Adiba Nelson

Adiba Nelson

Bio

Adiba Nelson currently resides in Tucson, AZ with her fiancee, 6 year old daughter, and 2 teenage stepsons-to-be. When she is not advocating for disability rights, performing burlesque, or writing her monthly style column, she is busy managing social media for her local Easter Seals affiliate. She is also the author of the children's book Meet ClaraBelle Blue, and is currently working on the follow up book, ClaraBelle's Big Discovery. You can find Adiba at http://thefullnelson.net/

Adiba Nelson Articles

Black and badass.

3 Reasons I Love Being A Black Woman

Black women have endured the unfathomable. We’ve watched our leaders be assassinated, and our hopes go with them. We’ve watched the nation’s leaders be assassinated, and watched our hopes float away with them too. We’ve buried our 5-year-old daughters after they were bombed to death in church, our 12-year-old sons who were playing in the park, and our 29-year-old daughters who were stopped for simple traffic violations.

Read...
Pictured: real women.

Ain't I A Real Woman?

It’s insane the number of ways people want to pigeonhole, categorize, and ultimately TEAR DOWN women. What’s even worse is that we, as women, buy into it. We run around in T-shirts that say “Real Women Do XYZ” or “Real Women ARE XYZ.” We post these memes and quotes and think they’re funny, but what are we really doing?

Read...
I'm a diva. Image: Jade Beall.

I Stand Accused Of Being A Diva

If I had to pinpoint it, I’d say I am a diva because I had a mom who demanded nothing but the very best from me, from how I sat in a chair, to how I entered a room, to what grades I brought home. She demanded the best from me — and now, finally, I am at a point where I demand the very best from myself, and those I surround myself with.

Read...
"Not because we HAVE to be, but because there's no fuckin' way we COULDN'T be."

F The Clique. I Got A TRIBE.

It is made up of women that I've known since I was 8, and women I met last week.

Read...
Image: Behind Blondie Park

Dear Pantene, Girls Without Dads Are Just As Strong

Where did you even get that statistic from? Did you make it up?

Read...
Just scream. Let it out. It feels really fucking good!

10 Things I Did To Recover From My Divorce

Want to go on a carbs and wine tour of Italy? Break out the leggings and go for it. This time is yours.

Read...

Do NOT Photoshop My Child

A: No one is perfect, B: Perceived perfection is a LIE, and C: THEY’RE CHILDREN FOR FUCK SAKE!

Read...
I watch, fearfully, sadly, and angrily as evidence of everything she said my father did to her slowly reveals itself to me.

'It's All In Your Head': Intimate Partner Violence And Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy

My father was an abusive man, plain and simple.

That wasn’t all he was, but to my mother, that's who he was. He was a controlling individual who perhaps took the scripture, “Wives, submit to your husbands” a tad bit too literally — and when my mom didn’t submit, she paid the price. Often with a blow to the head.

Read...

Jes Baker: Cool Human, Author Of Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls

This book is real, folks. As well it should be –– it was written by one of the realest women on the planet.

Read...
Credit:  Skwid Inc. Photographic Arts

3 Ways Burlesque Has Made Me A Better Mom

"...do you know what happens in lightly buzzed stupors? You get brave. Really brave. So, I signed up for it. In my lightly buzzed stupor I signed up for the burlesque mentorship program.

Read...