Observing the tradition from the outside, it looks like it's about looking fine in a big fancy hat. But it's about more than that.

There were no criteria at all except that a woman wear a hat or enjoy wearing hats.

From the outside, it looks fine. It's strikingly gorgeous. But that's what is deceiving about it.

For me, walking has become less physical transit than mental transportation. It is engaging. I have become, I fear, a difficult walking companion, liable to slow down and point at things. I can turn this off, but I love to have it on: a sense of wonder that I, and we all, have a predisposition to but have forgotten to enjoy.

It was so beautiful, because I knew they weren't just embracing what we had done. They were embracing us as men. And they appreciated the fact that we, as black men, had done something to elevate black women.

They were giving us these incredible bear hugs, and my ribs are still aching from all of those bear hugs,