These days, it’s hard to read something in regards to feminist activism without hearing the phrase “war on women.” Despite important and sharp critiques regarding the limitations of the phrase, it continues to hold cache as a means to characterize the depth and fortitude of the conservative legislative attack on women’s reproductive rights. This attack, as […]
this is how we do it: the crunk feminist summer mixtape series
Josephine Baker famously fled the U.S. for the reprieve from racism post World War I France provided. She called France her home for the rest of her life but continued to perform stateside. She also protested. She addressed the masses at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and juxtaposed the measure of […]
I Want New Dreams: On Rachel Jeantel and Citizenship
There was a friend I had once and we spent – in my 20/20 hindsight perhaps – too much time together. Meeting my last year of undergrad, our camaraderie, our communion, genuinely moved me deeply. Even today, maybe, still. But throughout our time together – dinners and lunches, walking and talking – there was a […]
To Rachel Jeantel, With Love
If you’ve been following the George Zimmerman Trial, the name Rachel Jeantel probably rings a bell. Rachel is 19 years old and was one of the last people to speak with Trayvon Martin before his murder. Brought on as a witness for the prosecution, this brave young person has been ridiculed in the mainstream media […]
Happy Birthday Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson!
Guest Post by Reina Gossett A few months ago I took the PATH train to Hoboken with my artistic collaborator Sasha Wortzel to interview Randy Wicker for a film we are making about Sylvia Rivera. Randy is one of the few surviving members of Mattachine Society, an early queer radical organizing group in the US. […]
Girl, Bye: Why This Moment is Bigger than Paula Deen
Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past few days, you’ve probably heard about the kerfuffle with Our Fair Lady of Butter, Paula Deen. The quick and dirty of it all is that Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers, are facing a discrimination suit from a former employee, Lisa Jackson, who has accused the […]
soul glow: the crunk feminist summer mixtape series
Summers ago, the sage Cee Lo implored us to “drop the top and let the sunshine in.” But we don’t all ride around and get it: some of bus, bike and stride. I pound the pavement in part because I was terrorized by a jheri-curled narcoleptic on my mid-aught subway commutes. Each morn this ostensible, […]
Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe
Father’s Day has come and gone again. As someone who did not grow up with a father or father figures, this day has not traditionally been on my radar at all. These days, though, it’s hard to forget Father’s Day, besides all the incessant commercials urging you to buy the fathers in your life any […]
Getting Crunk at Charis: Sweetwater and Supporting Feminist Bookstores!
Come one, come all! Join us in Atlanta at Charis Books and More on Friday, June 28th, 2013 at 7:30pm EST for CF Robin Boylorn’s book talk for Sweetwater: Black Women and Narratives of Resilience. The CFC is so proud of our girl Robin! Earlier this year, she published her first book with Peter […]
How to Not Die: Some Survival Tips for Black Women Who Are Asked to Do Too Much
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” –Audre (the) Lorde High blood pressure runs in my family. I have been taking medication to regulate it for six years and I recently started getting intense headaches and migraines that I realized were related to hypertension. Deadline-driven […]