2011 was a very good year. Last year, I had the utmost pleasure of spending time and falling in love with a wonderful woman. She is one of the most kindest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Her smile has the power to light up my heart. Her voice soothes away all […]
2011: A Year in Crunkness
It’s that time of year again. Another year has come to a close, so it must be time for our second annual Crunk List! CFs offer up the books, blogs, films, etc. that get us crunk and keep us crunk! CF Crunkadelic It’s hard to narrow it down, but these books were really significant for […]
Umoja means Unity!
Today is the first day of Kwanzaa and I am having a few friends and family over to celebrate Umoja, which means UNITY. I was first introduced to Kwanzaa as a child when my mother volunteered me to work the slideshow at a black arts museum in Atlanta. I was so irritated then, but I […]
Teaching White Boys to Dance and Other Solutions to the Black Marriage Crisis
This morning, while reading Kate Weigand’s 2001 book Red Feminism in preparation for a book I’m writing, I ran across a fascinating story in her chapter on Black women’s participation in the Communist Party. In 1934, Black female communist organizers asked the Party leadership to outlaw interracial marriages in the Party ranks. Many of the […]
Is It Ever Okay to Tell a Sister to Go Kick Rocks?: Black Women and Friendship
This week I met a Black girl who doesn’t want to be my friend. Well, let me take that back. We didn’t meet this week. We met a couple of months ago, both of us newcomers to the university where I’m doing a postdoc. My custom in academic spaces is to make sure I […]
It Gets Messy in Here – A Review
If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive. – Audre Lorde The last couple of days have been a lesson in my own educational and societal privilege. In my day to day interactions with people on the planet, I’m generally privileged to interact […]
Teaching Moments: On Accountability, Love & Patience
I teach and do research on issues centering on identity and diversity. As the fall semester is coming to a close, I had the benefit of watching my students, many who started the semester ambivalent about difference and the need for diversity and acceptance, come full circle. Through presentations and last words, they expressed how […]
To Clarify Re: “An Open Letter to @awkwardblkgrl”
Hey World- Moya here. I, along with some other folks who watched the last episode of the Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, my favorite web show, were jarred with the use of a particular slur that’s generally directed at trans women. We wrote an open letter voicing our concerns and I posted it to the CFC […]
‘Tis the season for a different kind of giving…
I was really moved by CF Eeshap’s most recent post: Conflict is forever: Can we change attitudes about diamonds? In the post, she explains: I don’t write this post to make people with diamonds on their fingers feel bad. I shop for bargain goods that I know are made in sweatshops. When I purchase produce, I […]
Reed-ing Gender Between the Lines
So if you need a break from job applications and dissertation writing try watching The Original BET series Reed Between the Lines; it has me hooked. I particularly like the progressive gender politics and the representation of a “blended” family. Kasi and Kenan are Carla’s teenage twins from a previous relationship and Alexis is the […]