129 Search results for "visibility"

Why Black children must see themselves in the classroom.
by Liljuan Gonzalez I remember seeing a little Black girl being viciously yelled at to stop moving and to sit with her hands folded while her eyes followed the teacher. When she moved an inch, out of jitters or childish restlessness, her teacher responded with a death glare or a disparaging tone that blindly enforced […]
Why the interracial family in the new ‘Bewitched’ reboot matters to me
by Andrew Keahey As a kid, I watched a lot of TV. Like a lot of TV. My brother and I had our asses parked in front of that magical light box night and day, our eyes slowing becoming permanently damaged, and our hearts filling with ever-expanding love for pop culture. Our parents would try […]
‘The Sinner’ and why white killers are imagined as victims easier than the Black & killed
Editor’s Note: Contains spoilers for The Sinner and Seven Seconds “When a boy that young kills, it’s really never just his fault.” — Detective Harry Ambrose, USA’s hit series The Sinner “The threat just became incredible. I had to make the decision fast because Frank and I were in immediate danger. We were easy targets… […]
What I learned about the work it takes to protect children from anti-Blackness from being homeschooled
My fiance and I are at the point in our engagement where we are pouring over every decision we might possibly ever make together to ensure we are on the same page. I actually don’t know if it’s really just a singular point, or if continual desperate preparation for all imaginable disasters simply defines what […]
Why you should watch ‘Hook Ups’, a new queer, intersectional web-series about love and dating
by Arnetta Randall I think the more identity boxes you check, the more you yearn to see people like yourself in the media. For me, its young, Black, educated, queer characters on the screen. Even though we now have television shows like Queen Sugar, Love Is, Insecure and the groundbreaking Pose, there is still a […]
Yes, I can still be unapologetically queer while in the closet
by Indigo One of my personal attributes I am most proud of is my identity as a queer and non-binary afro-boricua. Whether I am in a classroom on my college campus or a house party on a Friday night, I allow my fullest and most authentic self to occupy the space I am in. Among […]
Revisiting ‘Rated R’ and Rihanna’s narrative of a Black woman’s experience with trauma
by Ayika Tshimanga Before Robyn Rihanna Fenty released her commercially successful project that is popularly regarded as her best work to date, ANTI (2016), she produced an underrated gem that would lay the groundwork for ANTI to exist, Rated R. At the time of Rated R’s release, Rihanna was widely regarded–and arguably may still be […]
As Kennedy’s retirement puts gay marriage on ice, don’t let the issues facing LGBTQIA+ PoC be ignored
Millennials are more supportive of LGBT community members than the generations before us, but we still have a lot of work to do. According to a recently released study by GenForward, “Millennial Attitudes on LGBT Issues: Race, Identity, and Experience,” just over half of Black Americans (53%) and 50% of Latinx Millennials believe that […]
With Mary J. Blige set to star in ‘Body Cam’, we may have another Black horror hit soon
by Andrew Keahey Black horror films have a consistent combination of factors that make them successful in the public eye: relatability and catharsis. The elements in our horror movies meant to frighten and upset are often familiar to us, and are scary because the fear is something we have felt before, and often. When the […]
March For Our Lives and the gun control debate are leaving Black children behind
by Jamila Mitchell If Black voices in a “movement” are auxiliary to everything, then it is not a “movement” that intends to end anti-Blackness, and is certainly not meant for Black people. Politics in America have proven that issues which affect predominantly Black people are not a priority, even in liberal social movements like March […]
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 […]
Call me Akata: Reclaiming our birthright as Indigenous and African people born on American soil
by Chelsea Neason In 1964, Malcolm X made history with “The Ballot or the Bullet”. With this speech, he proclaimed a bone-shaking truth: Black people born in America are not Americans. In Detroit, MI during one of the most impactful decades of visible Black resistance in the United States, Malcolm declared: “We are Africans, and […]