I don’t know how to tell her that she made me think everything was possible, how proud she makes me, how brilliant I think she is, how one of my biggest fears is not living up to her example. I got my feminism from my mother, there’s no doubt about that. But when I scour […]
Does the media see Mary Spears as “just another black woman”? Why isn’t there more outrage and investigation into her murder? Mary “Unique” Spears wasn’t killed because she ignored the advances of a man she didn’t know. Mary Spears was killed because she lived in a culture that turns dejected and confused men into wanton […]
Seven-year-old Aiyana Jones was killed in 2010 by Detroit police. Yesterday, a judge decided that her killer would walk free. Yesterday, a judge moved to ensure that Aiyana Jones’ killer would never serve time for taking her life and dismissed the charge of involuntary manslaughter. Apparently, shooting a 7-year-old sleeping on her couch is not […]
Until black women are seen as full citizens and treated with the same dignity and respect as everyone else, society will get nowhere. It’s been about a week since the story broke of Django Unchained actress Danielle Watts’ mistreatment at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department, and every time I sit down to write […]
Black women have been conditioned to be their brother’s keepers—and have allowed themselves to be perpetual victims by doing so. Sixty percent of black girls have experienced sexual abuse at the hands of black men before reaching the age of 18, according to an ongoing study conducted by Black Women’s Blueprint. Additionally: 1 in 4 […]
Black women are constantly scrutinized for their parenting. And attacking Blue Ivy’s hair is a way of attacking Beyonce. A topic of conversation I never found engaging was “natural hair vs. permed hair.” Seriously, who has the audacity to tell someone their hair is wrong? But the main reason I intentionally don’t engage in this discourse […]
When we talk about police brutality, we often forget about the women who have been killed by police. Here are just a few. Recently, The Root ran a piece that included a slideshow of unarmed black men killed by police. It was a disturbing, to say the least. But too often when we talk about police brutality, we […]
When it comes to standing up for black women, empathizing with us, and understanding our vulnerabilities, too often black men are not only missing from our side—they’re battling against us. I’m so tired of black men. I didn’t want to start with that thought, but there it is. Before I started writing, I talked this […]
Steve Friess wrote an article in TIME asking black women not to push white gay men away, because they, too, know what it’s like to be ostracized and pushed down. Preston Mitchum says black women don’t need Friess’ kind of solidarity. Dear Steve: It’s me, Preston. A queer, black man writing to explain something critical to […]
Rachel Jeantel blames herself for letting Trayvon Martin’s murderer go free. But considering how often black women are blamed for many of society’s ills, of course she does. One of the worst things about being a black woman is that too often other people get to tell our stories. And they tell it in such […]
What happens at home usually stays at home, but in this case what happened in an elevator made its rounds for the whole world to see. After a physical altercation took place between Solange Knowles and Jay Z, social media joyfully exploded—with hashtags like #WhatJaySaidToSolange and enough memes to last a lifetime—for a chance to […]
Tyler Perry’s films propagate capitalism, greed, colorism, abuse, patriarchy, and the perpetuation of stereotypes. So why exactly was the director chosen to headline a women’s empowerment luncheon this weekend? Many words reverberate when I find the strength to watch a Tyler Perry film: violence, misogyny, HIV/AIDS, stigma, stereotypes, dependency, greed, classism, and others. The one […]
