Cis and trans* women of color do a lot of work that they don’t get paid for. Work at home, work at work, work in our communities, everywhere really. And a lot of it is done out of love. Love for our communities, love for our lovers, and things/people we believe in.There’s a saying, “do […]
Category: Family
Lessons Learned
“Mas sabe el Diablo por viejo que por Diablo.” “The devil knows more from being old than from being the devil.” This is my birthday month and I have now lived on this planet for 3 whole decades. I’ve been thinking a lot about the lessons I have learned and thought I would share them […]
Close Kin & Distant Relatives: Some Thoughts on Family
Folks who know me know that I have family on the brain. I am writing a book on family as theme in contemporary black women’s literature. Right now I’m also teaching a survey course on African American literature, with family as the guiding theme and this is not the first time I have done so. […]
The Choices We Make
Story #1- Last Monday I picked my son up from his afterschool program and was met with a full on tantrum. He was upset that I would not allow him to eat the gummy Starbursts given to him by his chess coach and informed me that he had already had some at “snack” time. Story […]
Rituals , Spells, and Intuition
I come from a world where you don’t mess with your ancestors, dreams have meaning, seashells give advice, upside down coffee cups tell stories, and practicing black magic has severe consequences. As a child, I would sit between my mother and aunties’ legs witnessing women tipping stained coffee cups to the side, preaching of ills […]
“wife” is code for “The Help”
So all the women in my life are going to or have already seen the new movie The Help, but I cannot possibly bring myself to go because 1) I really don’t feel that I need another “black women as domestic servants to white women” or “black women as nanny/mammy to white children” story in […]
Musings on (the day after) Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to CF’s Asha, Sheri, Rachel, Whitney & Chanel! Happy Mother’s Day to all Mamas! As a graduate student, with a penchant for procrastination, I watch a lot of reality TV. In particular, I watch a lot of shows on Bravo that point out the hardships of being rich, white, and woman in […]
I Will Follow – A Movie Review
My bestie Yolo and I decided to see the movie I Will Follow after hearing rave reviews from friends. We were a bit taken aback because the movie was well… good! There were queer characters not caricatures, complex family dynamics, and emotional tenderness. We liked it so much we made a video blog documenting our […]
“We Created A Circle”: Reflections on the CFC Retreat
We began making plans for our first Crunk Feminist retreat months in advance. The first attempt, in May, failed because of an unexpected death in Brittney’s family. We initially planned a workshop-like gathering in Atlanta on Emory’s campus but the postponement, coupled with hectic schedules and life’s work, lasted one year. Our second attempt, scheduled […]
Living Single
I hate the term single. Despite the fact that most of us come in to this world by ourselves and leave that way there’s an expectation of partnering in the interim. And while you are granted a bit more of a reprieve from single shade* in queerdom, there’s still a palpable partner privilege that operates. […]