Wayna

Thank you Marea and the for this 2026 Social Songbird Icon Award at the 2nd annual Caribbean and African Women of Impact Honors🙏🏾👑

I am so deeply moved by every honoree who poured out their hearts on stage, sharing the losses and challenges that led to this high point and the why behind their passions and persistence.

Thank you to my my dearest friends and and my cousin who celebrated this day w me. You are those people in my life, who are equally there in the lowest and highest moments. I love you just as unconditionally, and we are on this ride for life!!💕🫶🏾🤍

Thank you to my sister stylist for magically doing what you always do and making me feel special and supported in every space. I love you sis!

So proud to be part of the CAWI sisterhood now and look forward to building w every previous, fellow, and new inductee! Congrats Marea and all the honorees👑🍾👑

It dawned on me that nearly all the people I asked to take pictures w during GRAMMY week were politicians or pundits.

Maybe it’s because of the state of our world and who we’re hoping will get us thru.

Or maybe it’s how this moment makes me remember a season of my life when politics and public service was my world.

I don’t know…but they felt like the most ‘important’ people in the room.

God strengthen them and us 🖤

It was the but we took it to church ⛪️ Thank you for leading the way.

Thank you 👑 Shirikiana and for gathering us together to celebrate your latest film and for being the mentors, truth tellers, and uncompromising revolutionary artists you are.

Thank you to my sistars .mesfin for making this show a truly family affair. I love you so very much. And love to High Sis Mama Laini Mataka for your powerful poems and presence.

To the incomparable we are family now. May this be just the beginning. Thank you for your vision and for making this connection and all the magic that followed happen.

Thanks to everyone who packed the Lincoln Theater to support — a powerful new documentary exploring Ethiopia’s resistance to Italian colonialism. Let’s keep supporting these triumphant stories and the fearless filmmakers who tell them🙏🏾🖤

“I love us” GRAMMYs Black Music Collective Co-chair

Congratulations to this year’s honorees!! 🙏🏾👑

Styled by

So very honored to help present the GRAMMYs Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award, a category I helped to create. 🙏🏾

This year’s winner “Ice Cream Man” by is a powerful anthem about sexual assault and couldn’t have been more timely, vulnerable, and evocative. It is especially meaningful to me to present it as a longtime advocate of women’s issues and the mother of two girls.

A HUGE thanks to the Chair of our GRAMMY Board of Trustees for this honor and for representing living history as the youngest and first Black woman to serve in this role.

And a special thanks to for overseeing the creation and ex*****on of this category over the last 4 years and championing women’s voices across the Academy.

Styled by ‼️

My date to the Grammy’s this year was my 15 year old daughter, Beza 💕

In addition to the winners who used their platform to speak out against ICE, I was so touched by the Black women superstars Beza encountered who took a moment to pour into her uninvited and unincentivized. 🙏🏾

The next day she said, ‘If and think I’m beautiful, I can do anything! 🥺

With all that’s happening in our world and industry lately, its beautiful to see celebrity used for its highest purpose — to stand up for the voiceless, and in our case, to reflect and affirm a very special young girl. 💅

I couldn’t be more proud of her and the generous ones who use this influence gracefully. Congratulations to all 🤍

Mom and daughter styled by the great ‼️
Hair by 👩🏿‍🦰

Grateful to return to my alma mater to host and perform at the scholarship pageant I won at 21. Congrats to our new Miss Unity and thank you Anne Carswell, Trinity, and everyone at for letting me relive this very special night of my life

Speaking of beauty queens, a happiest birthday to my mom, who would have crushed us all at 21 🤍

This day is my template for what I intend to manifest in 2026. Let me explain.

Growing up in the DMV makes you a default football fan. The Hogs, Darryl Green, Doug Williams — all heroes to us. And while I cheered and followed, I wasn’t really one of the hardcores until I started working at the White House. See, one of my assignments there was to write the President’s congratulatory letters to all the teams or players who’d won championships.

As writers, we were responsible for being up on the latest news involving our issues, and I could lowkey feel one of my male colleagues wanting my sports assignment and doubting how informed I really was. Truth be told, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

So the 23 yr old me started reading the sports page daily just in case he ever tried to test me in front of our editor. It wasn’t long before I started to see a connection between sports and my dream of becoming a performer. Particularly, the parallels of how athletes cope w pressure and that moment when the game is on the line and all eyes are on them.

One day, I looked up and realized my office walls were covered w pictures of my favorite sports stars. By then, it didn’t matter that I could go toe to toe w anyone who challenged me, I was a genuine fan.

So to be at Northwest stadium as the performer I dreamed of becoming in those days while inspired by home team and to stand on the sidelines reading, up close, the energy and focus of the players I’ve analyzed from afar — all while having my own game time moment, was just so meaningful and inspiring.

I receive and declare more of this fun and excitement in 2026🙏🏾 And I know that when it counts, I too, want the ball 🏈

Let’s go👊🏾

Instrumentation
Make up
Grace - My Heavenly Father

Merry Christmas❤️🎄🤍

One of my happiest days ever! Thank you and Darius for this special opportunity to sing for my beloved !

Thank you for this beautiful interpretation and all the time spent translating, experimenting, and being such great company and comfort throughout the day.

My team, my team, my team!!! I’m so proud of every last one of you, and fewer things could make me as happy as to sing you into battle👊🏾

Congrats to the bird gang. We will see you again in a couple of weeks!!!

! So deeply grateful for the new friends, music, and memories I made in Cairo 🤍 I couldn’t be more proud of our global music community and the Academy for being our bridge. More to come!

Gala styling:

Friends in Silver Spring, my friend and our sister Meklit is performing this Saturday! I saw an iteration of this show last year and it was unbelievable!! Make room to see her if you can, it will be welll worth it!

https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/MCPAC/7088/event/1443925