358 Search results for "relationships"

Meg’s journey in ‘A Wrinkle In Time’ reminds me of my own struggle with love
by Antoinette Gregg *This essay contains spoilers for A Wrinkle In Time* Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeleine L’engle’s novel is a stunning cinematic experience. It’s a classic coming-of-age tale wrapped up in fantasy with moral underpinnings, and it is ultimately about believing in yourself and showing love as often as you can. This is a […]
Romance is not the only type of Black love that matters
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within…” — James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time Black love is important. Some call it revolutionary. There are an abundance of art projects and essays which make that argument and explain why Black love matters—be it because marriage […]
How “Christianity is the white man’s religion” feeds the damaging disconnect between the Diaspora and Africa
By Dilara K. Üsküp “Christianity is the white man’s religion. The Holy Bible in the white man’s hands and his interpretations of it have been the greatest single ideological weapon for enslaving millions of non-white human beings.” — Malcolm X (Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X & Alex Haley) While the idea that Christianity […]
When a Black woman tells you her worth, believe her the first time
by Tynesha M. McCullers For the past few weeks, people have been up in arms on both sides of the argument about Mo’Nique’s video discussing her disagreement with Netflix concerning her pay for a stand-up special — though the excitement has died down some now. In the video, Mo’Nique calls for Black people to stand […]
Rethinking and retooling the “wife school” people always expect Black women to attend
by Josie Pickens Recently, singer Ciara caused some controversy when she retweeted a sermon from Pastor John Gray of Houston’s Lakewood Church, in which Gray warns single women that they need to learn to walk in the “spirit of a wife” instead of the “spirit of a girlfriend” in order to be chosen as a […]
Wendy Williams wants society to let #MeToo go
In many vulnerable groups, a subset will internalize and reflect ways of operation that parallel the oppressive party. Sometimes, this means people of color deploy respectability politics based on proximity to or distance from upper-class whiteness. Sometimes, this means women protect powerful and predatory men at the expense of violated women and girls. Sometimes, people […]
The Black barbershop is both toxic and intimate for cishet Black men
by Da’Shaun Harrison Disclaimer: this piece was written with the intent to create a productive dialogue around intimacy and attraction. It is not to say that the connection between barber and client is inherently sexual, but rather that the erotic/intimacy/attraction operate on a spectrum.
But Black women are not cocoons: I’m tired of being expected to mother Black men and applaud when they finally grow up
by Josie Pickens Even before Jay-Z sat down and began chatting with journalist and executive editor of The New York Times, Dean Baquet, I could tell that the rapper—turned business mogul—had come a long way from his origins as a Brooklyn based bad boy rapper who boasted on every record he released about how much […]
He’s gotta stop it: A Black, polyamorous femme on the Netflix “She’s Gotta Have It” reboot
by Veronica Morris Moore Spike Lee’s 2017 reboot of “She’s Gotta Have It” is mediocre, and that’s being generous. In the age of Black television like Issa Rae’s Insecure coupled with our collective endeavor to #StayWoke, Spike Lee seemingly understood that he had to “wake up” Nola Darling if the SGHI Netflix series was going […]
Twitter is deleting white supremacists’ verification badges, but not their rhetoric
by Ashley Nkadi Social media has long been thought of as a utopia for progressive thought. These platforms, generally founded and operated by “liberals,” often showcase voices of academia, journalism, and individuals that advocate for change, equality, and social justice. At its best, social media creates important dialogue, provides important information, offers free access to […]
She ain’t white girl pregnant: Black, queer & expecting in an anti-Black, anti-queer world
By michal “mj” jones She stares into the heart of the camera, a backdrop of ocean shore behind her and a swollen, pregnant brown belly below. Neck draped in seashells and her body in the watery spirits of Yemaya, she looks certain, calm, confident. As I gazed up at this photo of my partner during […]
We are not yours: I’m tired of white women’s racial-sexual terrorism of my BlaQueer body
by Tabias Olajuawon This essay contains discussion of racialized sexual violence and anti-Black fetishism “You are not to touch other flesh without a police permit. The State wants to seize your bed And sleep with you… The message is clear: your penis.. your anus, your orgasm, these belong to the state. The erogenous zones are […]