thoughts on january 2025

January 2025 was filled with emotional highs, including joyous reunions, and bitter lows, like grappling with unsettling news. I rang in the new year with Kevin (@_kevmanu), and friends at what turned out to be a private party at Lobo in Brooklyn. Going to church would have been ideal, but celebrating New Year’s Eve in New York with family has become somewhat of a cherished tradition. When I returned to my parent’s house in Maryland, one of my maternal cousins, a medical doctor, reached back out to me about pursuing a civil suit in North Carolina. It only took an hour of my time, but he couldn’t thank me enough for it. I’m glad I can help family in that way; it’s an honorable duty for me.

A post shared by @lobobrooklyn

I flew back to Minneapolis after the holidays, and turned thirty a week later. I received a lot of love on my birthday — in the form of text messages, an Instagram story mention from Audrey (@audreyaddo), and a cocktail on the house at Sanjusan (@sanjusanrestaurant). Kojo (@kaddo), Kwame (@kwameadiyia_), and friends helped me celebrate that weekend over the best burger and fries combo in Minneapolis with some dill aioli and Old Fashioneds at Parlour (@parlourcocktails). We also caught a live show across the street after dinner. I flew to San Francisco the following weekend to visit family and friends on the west coast.

The Bay didn’t disappoint. We enjoyed meals at a mix of classic diners and acclaimed restaurants throughout San Francisco. Unsurprisingly, the weather out west was also much warmer than it was in Minneapolis that weekend. The temperature in the Bay was mostly in the 50s and high 40s, meanwhile it was single digits back home. We did a lot but barely scratched the surface; we climbed steep sidewalks downtown, rode my first Waymo, explored all of Alcatraz, and thrifted and read manga in Japantown. We saw a DJ set at a bar with rotating art installations in Lower Haight. We also went to a comedy festival in the Italian North Beach neighborhood, and had Chinese Mai Tais at Li Po Lounge in Chinatown.

Leaving Alcatraz Island

On our last day, Frankie (@frankie.cancino) picked us up in the company Mercedes Maybach (Note: Frankie drives a GLE-Class, not a Maybach, but he couldn’t stop talking about the weekend he got to drive the Maybach). He showed us around Hayes Valley and we had authentic Mexican for brunch. After brunch, we picked up some coffee and tea and shopped at the boutiques on Hayes Street.

One of the highlights of the weekend was visiting my paternal cousin, Richmond, and his family in Oakland. Richmond’s parents, my Auntie Victoria and Dr. Sarpong, were also in town visiting from Ghana. Auntie Victoria, my dad’s older sister, told hilarious stories of my dad from when he was a rebellious teenager as we sipped red wine and snacked on appetizers in the kitchen. Dr. Sarpong shared memories of when I was a little boy in New Jersey taking over the family room television without remorse to play video games whenever he tried to watch the news. It was a lovely reunion, and we laughed all evening. Richmond and his wife, Niki, were amazing hosts. For dinner, we had Jollof rice, spinach stew, chicken, salmon, and roasted vegetables. We ate in the dining room which was decorated with African masks and had panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay. After dinner, we had coffee and vanilla bean ice cream in the family room, and watched Washington dismantle Detroit in the Divisional Round. It was the best way to cap off an action-packed belated birthday weekend in the Bay.

Catching up with Auntie Victoria and Dr. Sarpong before dinner at Richmond’s.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was quite American this year. Trump was inaugurated for a second term, and Ohio State beat Notre Dame in the National Championship game. Later that week, President Trump signed a barrage of executive orders that took the media by storm, and mass deportation of migrants began to take place. While everyone braced for increased tariffs on Canada and Mexico, a Blackhawk helicopter crashed into a commercial jet landing at DCA. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families involved in the incident. It was a deeply saddening tragedy. The news weighed heavy on me last week. The loss of life of sixty-seven people knowing how close everyone was to home makes me shake my head. There was another plane crash of an air ambulance in Northeast Philadelphia this weekend where seven people lost their lives as of this writing. I’m praying for everyone remotely impacted by these tragedies.

Amidst all that was happening, a woman anonymously posted my firm photo along with defamatory remarks about my character to a Facebook group of thousands of women. I’m not going to lie, it was one of the most shocking and upsetting news I’ve received in recent memory. Reading the comments posted by anonymous women made me sick, I couldn’t even finish lunch. Thankfully, I am blessed to have women in my life that know my heart and believe in my character. Not only did they inform me of the post, but they also helped report it to Meta. This effort helped with the removal of my firm photo and some of the vilifying comments. After a few hours, the post lost steam. At the same time, I had to help with a medical emergency that involved a family member. Everyone is okay now, but the last week of January felt like a whirlwind of bad news. Despite the chaos, we can only put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward; I find solace in the love and support of my family and friends.

Now it’s February, the Super Bowl is in one week, and Kendrick Lamar and SZA are slated to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. I’m not a gambling man unless I’m in Vegas, but if I had to put my money on the Big Game, I got all chips on red, and give me Kendrick to perform “Not Like Us” live in front of millions at halftime.

In other news, I finally picked up a new MacBook yesterday, it was time to upgrade. My old MacBook, a 2019 MacBook Air with the Intel 5 chip in space gray, barely survived law school. In fact, one time the fan on the laptop got so loud that my Torts professor had to speak over the fan noise during a lecture. I ultimately closed the laptop shut and took handwritten notes that day. I purchased the M3 MacBook Air in silver because I wasn’t sure whether my OCD would’ve appreciated the fingerprint-prone midnight color after spending a grand on the device. The midnight MacBook Air is probably the most aesthetically stunning MacBook to date, but I decided to go with the classic silver this time around. I was a bit tempted to wait for the MacBookAir with the M4 chip, but the improvements from the M3 chip were probably going to be incremental, and using my old MacBook drove me up the wall. After updating and syncing all my settings on my new laptop, I was eager to write without the frustration of laggy apps and a noisy fan.

All in all, the times that I spent with family and friends will be my favorite memories of January 2025. I head into February with this mantra in mind: control what you can control. Adversity will come that is out of our control, but how we react will define the moment. As I continue to share more this year, I hope to highlight more memories to reflect upon, providing inspiration to live a better future.

Flying to DCA next weekend will be a somber reminder of the fragility of life, but I’m excited to spend time with family and friends and watch the biggest event in the country. Here’s to faster processors, cherishing moments with loved ones, and creating new memories together in February. Happy Black History Month.