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Happy birthday dad. 💕 listening to you all day today! I love you… and i miss you…😔 #happybirthdayking continue to #RIP

A post shared by Carlysia Levert (@carlysialevert) on Jul 13, 2018 at 8:30am PDT

When R&B legend, Gerald Levert, passed away in November 2006, at age 40, he was survived by his three babies, his son, LaMicah Levert and daughters, Carlysia Levert and daughter, Camyrn. Each of his children are much like their dad in various ways- either with their strong physical resemblances to him, or their talents. His daughter, Carlysia has a double dose of both, but these days she’s gaining attention for another reason. She’s just started a incredible journey in her life after experiencing incredible heartbreak, followed by amazing resilience. It had much to do with her ex-girlfriend. Yes, Gerald Levert’s daughter is a proud lesbian and here’s what she’s now revealed about herself…

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BMI Award ready 💕 #bmi #bmiawards Cannot wait to see @janetjackson 🙈😭 makeup by @breanna_cantrell hair by me…. 😊

A post shared by Carlysia Levert (@carlysialevert) on Aug 30, 2018 at 2:51pm PDT

Meet Her Ex-Girlfriend

Many Levert fans may not have heard that Carlysia was in a public relationship with her ex-girlfriend, Alicia. The two apparently broke up at some point within the past year or so, because up until 2017, everything appeared to be all good between them. So much so, that Alicia wrote this lengthy caption on social media dedicated to her love of Carlysia:

Carlysia Explains New Emotional Journey & Video Of Shaving Her Hair Off

Fast forward to today and many things have changed between them. They’re no longer together and now Carlysia has shaved all of her hair off in a new self-discovery journey to heal from her past, among other things. She’s now on a mission to take a 50-state trek around the world- alone in a vehicle- and she’s capturing the entire process online.

During one of her stops in New Mexico, she stopped by a radio show to reveal this about how she was partly the cause of her relationship ending, as well as the cause of her past pain:

“I was in Atlanta at my mother’s house, going through a heartbreak, because my ex has moved on and she’s dating someone new, which is fine, but whatever…LOL…POINT IS- it hurt me to the point where, like, I thought this [the visit to her mother’s home] was to get away and it’s not.”

Stating that she realized her trip to Atlanta was actually the start of her spiritual/healing journey, she then went on to explain why she’s in love with herself now:

“I want somebody to love me for who I am and what my spirit brings, because I’m a good fuc*in’ person. … My past is my past and I will always own up to everything I’ve ever done, but you have the power to define your present. That’s what I’m doing right now. I had to realize that and when I did and I cut my fuc*in’ hair off, I was like ‘Look, YOU did that. THAT’s YOU!'”

See what else Carlysia said in the video clip below. She starts talking about her breakup at the 21:40 mark:

Days before heading out on her journey, Carlysia also shared video of herself shaving every strand of her hair off and here’s what she bravely wrote about her process:

Hello all!!!! It’s me Carlysia Levert! No I’m not losing my mind… and no I’m not depressed! I did this because I’d rather be called BOLD AND BRAVE than to be told “Wow, you have good hair”…. I’d rather someone love me for everything that I stand for than how I look… I’m beautiful either way, but damn you can really see me now! I want to thank Sanaa Lathan and the creators of “Nappily Ever After” for the courage and the inspiration to shed some layers! I’m about to hit the road in the morning to travel to all 50 states! I’m driving to them all but flying to Hawaii at the end! #50statesaturnreturnjourney #IMREADY #Itstime #selflove #embraceurjourney #nappilyeverafter #embraceyourjourney #energyhealing #meditation #yoga #Travel #blackwomentravel Wordlife Astrology Retreat 2018 keep sharing this everyone.

Carlysia Levert is living life loud and proud and her journey to shed herself of society’s brainwashed stereotypes is a very commendable one indeed. Her Pops would be hella proud, as are we, at ILoveOldSchoolMusic.

Be on the lookout for her book, Embrace The Journey.