296 Search results for "struggles"

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 […]
Black dreams and storytelling have long been a part of the push towards Black liberation
by Jamila Mitchell The emancipation of freed slaves and subsequent constitutional amendments of the 20th century meant that white people could no longer marginalize Black folks through the physical bondage of chattel slavery. Faced with new restrictions, they quickly resigned to maintaining their rule through a new age of psychological warfare on the formerly enslaved, […]
Black Lives Matter Cincinnati changes its name, issues scathing critique of national BLM network
While Black people often share cultural, historical and experiential linkages, we have never been a monolith. These tensions between collective identity and individual autonomy sometimes contribute to splintering among organizers who advocate Black freedom. As of Wednesday, the activist organization formerly known as Black Lives Matter Cincinnati (BLMC) announced their transition into Mass Action for Black […]
“The Shape of Water” and the problem with “privilege”: Escaping oppression at the expense of destroying it
*Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers of The Shape of Water. March is National Disabilities Month and our themes at Black Youth Project are Ableism & Physical and Mental Health. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them.* I don’t even recall who said it last. Perhaps it […]
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 […]
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 […]
Welcome to Wakanda: ‘Black Panther’ is a love letter between the African Diaspora and the continent
I’m wondering what words there are in existence that could be used to accurately describe Black Panther. Stunning, breathtaking, and majestic come close. This film stands firmly in a class all its own. It is not perfect (and I have many feelings about it, but you won’t find any spoilers here), but it is still […]
For Black people who avoid mental health treatment for reasons other than our “culture” or fear of malpractice
*Editor’s Note: March is National Disabilities Month and our themes at Black Youth Project are Ableism & Physical and Mental Health. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. Content Warning: rape, mental health* “… mad methodology resists rote positivism and deﬁes the cult of objectivity; it listens for […]
The question of Blackness: How conversations about Bruno Mars and Cardi B miss the mark
by Briana L. Ureña-Ravelo There has been much conversation regarding Blackness as of late. What it is, when and how it matters, and who can and cannot claim it. At times the conversation has been very illuminating and compelling, but more and more it has become overwhelmingly caustic and mired in elitist, ahistorical, and colonial […]
The ‘Tales from the Hood’ sequel will be right on time
by Andrew Keahey This essay contains spoilers for Tales from the Hood (1995) Tales from the Hood is a 1995 horror anthology masterpiece from director Rusty Cundieff and producer Spike Lee. The films follows three gang bangers visiting a funeral home to retrieve drugs from the eccentric funeral director, Clarence Williams III. The funeral director […]
A 2018 calendar and watch list for Black moviegoers and film buffs
Nearing the end of each year, I like to compile a list of upcoming films that look intriguing to me or that I have been anticipating for months, or even years. This year, I tailored my list to be extensive and hella Black, just for y’all. Each of these feature a predominantly Black cast, Black […]
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 […]