Housing Works throws a graduation party

Tapping into this very Obama moment with her address, which ranged from her history as a performer (her high school English teacher, who happened to also be Mayor Dinkins' mother, turned her on to poetry and hence music) to thoughts on sexual orientation (she doesn't buy it; sexual exploration on the other hand...), Hendryx had us worshiping at the altar of self-determined hope. "The human spirit is my faith. Faith is you. It's believing that I can get from this moment to the next. Because no next moment is promised to anyone." Sister also shared her secret for success: a healthy dose of self-love. "It's very important that you make time to value yourself. I believe in being good to me." Words we can definitely relate to. And while we've been known to value ourselves every day (usually before bed), we caught up with Hendryx afterwards to see how a soul diva does it. "I like to just go to a park and look at spring flowers," she admitted, "or take time to read a book." Um, right, that's what we meant as well... (The Seat of the Soul, a spiritual self-discovery on relationships by Gary Zukav and Michael Lewis' finance industry expose Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street are currently on her nightstand, in case you were wondering.)

Musical guest Maiysha (above left) -- who will be appearing in Hendryx's genre-bending emerging artist showcase Hopestock: Music to Bailout Your Soul, June 11 in NYC, and whose performance of her Grammy-nominated progressive soul single "Wanna Be" gave us progressively bigger chills as it got the congregation on their feet -- loves up on herself a little more closely to our own gay hearts: "I'm actually Master Cleansing right now -- Day 7 of 14," she admitted, laughing. "It's not about weight loss; it's a control thing. I tend to just go, go, go, go, go, so I have to have little self-imposed timeouts to check in with myself and make sure I'm okay. It's completely liberating!" Hallelujah! Pass us some lemons and cayenne, we have a train (and hopefully some love) to catch.

For more info on Housing Works and its programs, head here.

-- JUSTIN OCEAN

Previously > Lammy Whammy