330 Search results for "black spaces"

In May, I quit my paid job as a counselor/ organizer in Oakland, CA. I was burned out, depressed, and incredibly frustrated with the conditions that Black folks are exposed to and expected to accept while working within social justice organizations. I had health insurance, but my co-pay was $60 and it didn’t cover mental […]

Washington Post columnist, Christine Emba, published a piece on Oct. 27, titled Why millenials are skipping church and not going back. Emba declared millennials were interested in gaming, ambitiously building their careers, or just too busy to make time to attend service. While Emba isn’t necessarily wrong in her assessment, I couldn’t help but notice […]

Contrary to their portrayal in the media, Black Muslim women (also referred to as Muslimas), are powerful and active change agents in our communities. They are fierce advocates who regularly contribute their time, energy and service towards a more equitable world.  New Jersey Muslimas, in particular, have a unique experience that rests at the intersection […]

The societal impact of straying from what is considered a norm is greater for Black people than it is for our white counterparts.   by Sarah Thomas Of the many places to learn about my sexuality, That 70’s Show was as good as any. There were tons of make-out scenes and implied sex during its […]

I was 23 and at a birthday party the first time it registered that I was having a panic attack. I locked myself in the bathroom to get away from the noise, the flashing lights, the woman who was sharing her secrets and everyone else. Initially, I thought it was a heart attack and reasoned […]

by Donnie Moreland  This essay contains discussions of domestic violence and sexual assault  Ruminations of my daughter’s hypothetical death play on repeat, ever since her birth. I’ve accepted them as inescapable conditions of parenthood—Black parenthood especially. I also believe the story of Julia Martin’s death in 2016 partially informs my anxieties in raising a daughter. […]

Editor’s Note: This month at BYP, we will be exploring the US Elections & Family/Parenting issues, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. How has our political system been working for and against us? What dynamics are different today? How should we prepare for the presidential election, and what is the […]

by Donnie Moreland  One of the most haunting images to come out of the Reconstruction Era, for me, is that of the 1872 Harper Weekly engraving entitled “Visit of the Ku Klux.” It’s a crude image, taken up mostly by the figures of a Black family—a mother, her daughter and an elderly man over a fireplace […]

I always think of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) whenever someone pretends to be a Black woman or disingenuously evokes our aesthetics. While there are many who outright pretend to be Black women, there are also those convinced that they can somehow actually become Black women and others who simply benefit from appropriating our […]

by Jamara Wakefield  Let’s keep it real, there are few radical resources available for Black students when experiencing oppression on campus. It manifests in a variety of forms: from explicit aggression to microaggressions to institutional policies to interactions that feel “off” but aren’t easily quantifiable, in part because the campus environment justifies these actions.  The […]

This essay contains spoilers for Set It Off, and discusses sexual exploitation and state violence   “Women respond to racism. My response to racism is anger. I have lived with that anger, ignoring it, feeding upon it, learning to use it before it laid my visions to waste, for most of my life. Once I […]

Editor’s Note: This Sexual Health and Awareness month, we will be exploring related issues at BYP, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. What does sexual health look like outside of cishetero norms? Where does the #MeToo movement go from here? What can we do to better support survivors, including survivors […]