New Year, Same Reality! Grounding for 2026!

☀️ Good morning and Happy New Year, y’all. ☀️

This is my first long post for 2026!

We’ve had a lot of new folks join recently, so I wanted to pause and properly (re)introduce what this space is and why it exists outside of the irritation I felt earlier this week.

If you’re new here, welcome to the porch. If you’ve been here a while, thank you for helping hold it down. 💜

Why Rocktown Realness Exists

Rocktown Realness started back in 2016 (TEN YEARS THIS YEAR Y’ALL) because I was tired. Tired of seeing Little Rock talked about with nothing but meanness, snark, and contempt. Tired of watching people reduce a whole city and the people living in it to a list of failures and statistics.

I was looking for a local voice that was honest but kind. Real but hopeful. A little silly. A little challenging. A place that treated the city like a real friend. Someone you love deeply, worry about honestly, and still believe can grow.

I couldn’t find it, so I made it. There is no pay-to-say dynamics here and my posts are my own thoughts, opinions, and analysis of community patterns and problems. You’ll get posts from the pickup line, from the grocery store, from anywhere in Little Rock I am. This page has always been a labor of love.

I was born here, raised here, still live here, and I am raising the next generation of citizens right here in Little Rock, Arkansas. I stay by choice. I believe in this place not because it is perfect, but because I have watched it change with my own eyes.

Growing up, my family took long winding drives all over the city almost every Sunday. So when someone tells me “nothing has changed,” I have to laugh a little. I’ve been watching the whole time. 😂

What “Real” Means Here

This space is called real for a reason. I am not here to write romanticized views of my life. I am a mom. An employee. A neighbor. A wife. A daughter. A sister. A resident. A citizen. Just making my way, raising my family. I’m hustling, fighting, and planning for my future in this city like anybody else.

And over the years, this community has walked through a lot together. During COVID, we watched the numbers together, kept each other updated on how we could help and support local businesses and each other. In election years, we discuss issues that really matter to us and the candidates we feel aligned with. We don’t always agree, but we DO always respect (unless you are a bigot or any degree of unapologetic ___ist. You will be clowned and then probably blocked. I can’t and won’t save you.)

Celebration. Grief. Growth. Setbacks. Small wins that mattered. Big losses that hurt. And somehow, through it all, there has been a shared commitment here to respect one another and to want our home to improve and thrive. The spirit of this space is sustained by the conduct of the people who frequent this space and a collective commitment to immaculate vibes that has grown well beyond me.

The Rocktown Real Fund

And in 2025, something new grew out of that spirit.

I officially created the Rocktown Real Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to extend what we do online into real, tangible community impact.

Together and just last year, we:

• Sponsored families at Jim Dailey Fitness & Aquatic Center so kids could swim and move and belong
• Supported displaced students relocating to Shorter College with supplies and essentials
• Supported teacher funds that put money right in people’s hands and let them support their classrooms
• Established and regularly restocked a community fridge on Cross St with Arkansas Community Advocates
• Hosted no-cost markets that distributes free food in Little Rock in partnership with Potluck Food Rescue
• Coordinated grocery orders for families all over the city during the SNAP gap last fall
• Attended public community events centered on food, joy, dignity, and shared space (We ARE a little outside.)
• Gathered for a free show at the Museum of Fine Arts and then had a great park day after
• Showed up, showed love, and spent money with local businesses

Overall, the Real Fund has been an exercise in transitioning from a community online who really “wishes somebody would do something” into becoming the somebodies we are waiting for. It is the natural continuation of this space and it has been beautiful.

About Those Statistics

Now, let me be clear.

I am fully aware of our statistics. I am not peddling utopian delusion. Beloved, the 1990s and early 2000s in Southwest and Downtown Little Rock made me and taught me some things early:

You learn how to be ambitious even when the future is unclear.
You learn how to make plans without guarantees.
You learn how to connect with people because relationships are often more reliable than systems.
You learn how to stretch what you have, manage what you can access, and build something meaningful from limited resources.
You learn how to dream even when your daily reality is not a dreamscape.

That kind of upbringing does not make you fragile. It makes you creative. It makes you practical. It makes you stubborn about possibility. And, my friends, it makes you very VERY hard to discourage.

Why the Sunflowers 🌻

You will see a lot of sunflowers in this space. That is not happenstance. 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

Sunflowers do not wait for perfect soil. They do not ask for ideal conditions to grow. They turn their faces toward what warmth they can find, draw what they need, keep it moving, and grow tall.

That is what this city taught me.
That is what this work is rooted in.
How to thrive in hard conditions and grow toward the light anyway.

Where I Land

Shame does not build cities.
Mockery does not build community.
Dunking on people with less does not fix systems.

Little Rock has problems. Arkansas has problems. Yes. Check. Highlighted. Underlined.

But we live here. So the question becomes: is listing our failures your contribution, or are you interested in what comes after?

I pay close attention to who only shows up to narrate our worst moments and disappears when there is growth, repair, or joy. My mama taught me that everybody in your face is not your friend.

Being “the worst” does not have to be the end of our story. Rock bottom is not a tomb. It is a foundation. A hard surface you can plant your feet on and jump from.

So if you are new here, this is what you’ve landed in. If you’ve been here for any part of this ten year journey, remember where you are:

A corner of the internet where we are kind.
Where we tell the truth.
Where we hold space for joy and grief.
Where we face problems without giving up on each other.
Where we believe improvement is possible and worth working toward.

Little Rock is growing. You can be part of that, or you can watch it happen.

Either way, I’m glad you’re here. 💜🌻