I Been On (Ratchet): Conceptualizing a Sonic Ratchet Aesthetic in Beyonce’s “Bow Down”

Guest Post by Regina N. Bradley at Red Clay Scholar     While listening to Beyonce’s latest single “Bow Down/I Been On” an eyebrow raised in amusement along with a low “woooooord?” I couldn’t believe that Beyonce, Mrs. “Girls-Run-the-World” was talking to bitches and – gasp! – demanding they bow down. But it wasn’t Bey’s emphatic […]

Beyonce’ In the Hands of Jesus Freaks

So apparently, Christendom is “uncomfortable” with Beyonce’s performance at this past Sunday’s Superbowl Show. Well I’m “uncomfortable” with their discomfort. This post from  David Henson over at Patheos.com, who called out his friends and acquaintances for their thinly veiled racism during the show inspired this FB rant from me:  “Let me say as a Christian how […]

101 Things That Are Not True About The Most Famous Black Women Alive: Alexis Pauline Gumbs on Black Women, Black Feminism, and The Capacity to Love

My favorite biographical description of Alexis Pauline Gumbs is included in her Conscious Campus profile:  “Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a queer black trouble-maker and a black feminist love evangelist. She walks in the legacy of black lady school teachers in post slavery communities who offered sacred educational space to the intergenerational newly free in […]

The story that’s taken ten years to tell: On abortion, race and the power of story

Guest Post by Shanelle Matthews “Are you in college?” The doctor could tell from my face I wasn’t at all interested in having a conversation. “You speak well. I mean, you’re articulate.” The wrinkles in my forehead deepened. I wrung my fingers tightly around the scratchy, blue exam gown and briefly thought about the woman […]