72 Search results for "emotional labor"

Learning when to cut off toxic marginalized people is imperative to Black mental health
The ways I have been hurt by white supremacy are enumerable. Its narcissism and dehumanization cut into me, day by day, like a thousand teeth in my flesh. The anti-Blackness that white supremacy permits, condones, and sustains itself through—whether it be subtle, benevolent, microaggressive, or institutionally and blatantly on display—hurts. Constantly. For me, this has […]
The bittersweetness in Junot Diaz’s #MeToo moment and how men traumatize women on their way to healing
by Briana L. Ureña-Ravelo Content Warning: This essay mentions of r/pe of a child I just read Junot Diaz’s essay about his childhood rape and the years of sexual, romantic, and relationship trauma and toxic patriarchal behavior that followed. I applaud him opening up and owning to some really deep, dark trauma on a significantly […]
Comic: We need to take the mental health of Black women far more seriously
by JeCorey Holder
As light-skinned people, it’s our job to make space for those silenced most by colorism
By michal “mj” jones A few years ago, I invited a group of scholar-activists to present a panel on intergenerational movement building and breaking barriers between elder and younger organizers. The conversation went well, I thought, and we gave the floor over to the attendees to share their stories. Afterwards, an older woman with a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Why asking Black people to forgive whiteness won’t ‘heal this country’
It’s time we have a serious conversation about what it means when white people offer disingenuous apologies to Black people they have harmed while expecting absolution and exoneration from those very same people. Last week, news broke that a 79-year-old Trump supporter named John Franklin McGraw, who was seen on video elbowing a young Black anti-Trump […]
Dream House Of a Thousand Kisses
Express your current obsession with a womyn to let her know that her efforts haven’t gone unrecognized. Explain to her how she provides you with mental, physical, & emotional support. Speak metaphors that clarify your position in the life of your relationship. Relationships engage a backbone-to-backbone collision that lays cement for a foundation, that produces […]
Seeing Michael Jackson Coming
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve always taken Michael Jackson’s optimism and musical happiness for granted. Black folks especially, at least those in my circle, praise his artful force for party R&B songs like “Shake Your Body” and “Remember the Time”. Not much has been said, however, about Mike’s collection of sorrow songs […]
We Were Taught to Be Useful Before We Were Allowed to Be Human
by DeLisha Tapscott, Ed.D. I learned to be useful long before I understood what labor was. Long before I had language for work, worth, or expectation, I understood that being helpful mattered. Being capable mattered. Being low-maintenance mattered. Those traits were praised early, offered as signs of maturity and goodness, folded into what it meant […]
Losing Recipes: Love in the Age of Ghosting
by Naiquan. Last summer, a friend and I realized we hadn’t seen children playing in the fire hydrant. No elder on the block with a key to unlock the “Johnny Pump”. As a child of the Brooklyn Spike Lee portrayed in “Crooklyn,” I know first-hand the feelings of protection and support from my neighbor’s grandfather, […]
Murals and Community Art Across Atlanta
Lasalle is an Atlanta-based muralist and multidisciplinary artist whose work appears across the city’s everyday surfaces — walls, utility boxes, and street corners people pass every day. A graduate of Valdosta State University with a degree in Fine Arts, he has been part of Atlanta’s arts community since high school. His practice grows out of […]