214 Search results for "memory"

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 […]
95 bodies—how sanitizing slavery keeps America’s hands clean
The remains of ninety-five Black people were recently found buried at a construction site in Sugar Land, Texas. The vast majority of reports about this discovery neglect to call these dead Black people what they really were: enslaved. This essay contains discussions of racialized state violence, slavery, and lynching. “African-American forced laborers” have […]
I’m finally decolonizing the queerphobia I learned at home
by Indigo I could not have been older than six or so. It was the first time I can remember any indication from my family that queerness was something I would not be afforded the space to explore or embrace. This first memory of anti-queerness was a short conversation between my mother and I. In […]
Black witnessing is an insistence on Black being: Re-membering those who were lynched
by Tabias Olajuawon This essay contains discussion of anti-Black violences, particularly lynching, and mention of r/pe “… Ancestors, you will find us still in cages, Despised and disciplined. You will find us still mis-named. Here you will find us despite. You will not find us extinct. You will find us […]
PTSD is more common than you think
by Tonya McKenzie This essay contains discussions and descriptions of sexual violence, child abuse, and murder There are some things that you never forget, like the sound of a car screeching down the street and slamming into one of your neighbors or the bombastic sound of a gunshot and the sight of the damage that […]
The tragedy and hilarity of Iyanla Vanzant’s ‘Fix My Life’ antics with Hazel-E
Content Warning: This essay contains discussion of sexual violence against a child and a mention of r/pe Listen. I cannot deal with either one of these women, especially after sitting through this episode of OWN’s Fix My Life. I came across a short clip of what happened in Auntie Iyanla’s Legacy Room (to be explained […]
11-year-old Naomi Wadler reminds America that movements for our lives must include Black girls and women
“I am here to say ‘never again’ for those girls, too!” 11-year-old Naomi Wadler said at the March for Our Lives rally in D.C. Saturday, spotlighting America’s need for a longer collective memory when victims are Black women and girls. Wadler’s speech earned the breakout success designation among nationwide marches and speeches for gun reform. “I represent […]
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 […]
Malcolm X documentary featuring never before seen footage allows his words to tell his story
A new documentary chronicling the last years of Malcolm X’s life was released on Monday on the Smithsonian Channel as part of its Lost Tapes series. Documentaries in the series break from tradition by allowing subjects to tell their own stories in their own words without commentary from experts or contemporaries.
‘Black Panther’ allows Black kids to see themselves as royalty
by Andrew Keahey I remember being put to bed by my Mother when I was a small child. I remember feeling my head start to bob and my eyes start to droop as I tried unsuccessfully to watch the late night shows that the grown ups got to watch. She would scoop me up in […]
Why #JanetJacksonAppreciationDay was food to my Black woman soul
by Tynesha McCullers This past Super Bowl Sunday was one of joy for me, and the NFL had nothing to do with it. Nor did the underdog Philadelphia Eagles beating out the New England Patriots. Nope. This Sunday I got to see something that I believe isn’t done often enough — a Black woman being […]
Majority white Vermont high school raises Black Lives Matter flag
Symbols often communicate histories, connections, aspirations, and the kinds of juxtapositions that remind people of where they have been as they work to get where they are going. In this spirit, Montpelier High School in Montpelier, Vermont offered a symbol of support to the Black students at the majority white school with a 350-student population. […]