Brittney Griner is not the first female athlete to come out about her sexuality, nor is she the first black woman in the WNBA to do so. What she is, though, is the first black woman athlete of her caliber (she is compared to the late great Wilt Chamberlain) to come out on the front […]
Tyler Perry Hates Black Women: 5 Thoughts on The Haves and Have Nots
****Spoilers**** Welp. I watched the premiere of Tyler Perry’s latest train wreck on OWN last night for two reasons. A.) Morbid curiosity and B.) I didn’t wanna hear negroes’ mouths about how I didn’t give it a chance and was therefore uninformed and unqualified to speak on his show (despite the 12 or so […]
Bringing Back Wonder Woman
AS LOVELY AS APHRODITE – AS WISE AS ATHENA – WITH THE SPEED OF MERCURY AND THE STRENGTH OF HERCULES – SHE IS KNOWN ONLY AS WONDER WOMAN. Dear privileged Hollywood women, We need you. It’s time. You can no longer remain silent. You must act. You must step up. White men alone cannot decide […]
The Unending Heartbreak of Great Expectations: Why I Can’t Watch The Mindy Project Anymore
Mindy Kaling is a boss. Widely regarded by her coworkers and by critics alike as the best writer for the popular sitcom The Office, since September she’s been staring in, writing, producing and directing her own primetime TV show, The Mindy Project, which just wrapped up its first season and has been picked up for […]
Getting Free & Staying Free
It might seem a bit cliché for an English professor to be all like “Beloved is one of my favorite novels,” but it’s the truth. I love that book with a fiery burning passion. It’s one of those texts that I can always go back to and that never gets old. I can open any […]
the light of us: a mother’s day mix
call it our craziness even, call it anything. it is the life thing in us that will not let us die. Poet Lucille Clifton’s language for lineage was cherished. “roots,” a poem from her 1974 collection An Ordinary Woman named it light and I choose to liken it to mothering. it is the light in us it […]
Corned Beef and Cabbage, Shrimp and Crabs: For Assata Shakur
ONE One would grow weary of the list of foods I generally refuse ingesting: I don’t eat beef or pork, peas or boiled peanuts, and, of course, a lot of things in between. Something about being able to decide what one wants on one’s tongue, what flavors one decides to savor, is something I hold […]
Baby Hair: For Gabby, Blue Ivy & Me
All blackgirls have a hairstory. I have always had a love-hate relationship with my hair. When I was little my mama called me tender headed when I shrieked at the harsh brush bristles pushing my hair and scalp together until it laid all the way down, or enough to keep the inevitable frizz at bay. […]
“The Booty Don’t Lie”: Kelly, K. Michelle, & Janelle Monae’ Sing Black Girl Freedom
One of the biggest conundrums faced by this generation of Black feminists is the challenge of articulating a pro-sex, pro-pleasure politic in the face of recalcitrant and demeaning stereotypes that objectify, dehumanize, and devalue Black women’s bodies and lives. To be “good” feminists, we always feel that we have to make sure and say it, […]
Some Thoughts on ‘Accidental Racist’
Thought #1: When I first saw the name of this song go across my Facebook feed a few weeks ago I didn’t know what to make it of it. I assumed, at first, that it was an unfortunate spoof or offensive rant. I was disinterested in either so disregarded it. Thought #2: When I realized, […]