1032 Search results for "words"

What Tamar Braxton’s comments about men not wanting sex reveal about compulsory (hetero)sexuality
Tamar Braxton has issued a non-apology following some recent comments in which she declared that men who lay beside women for several nights without initiating sex are secretly gay. On Instagram, she posted the following: The text reads, “The truth is ladies that these dudes out here really do be gay!! It ain’t enough money, […]
Protecting Black children should never mean re-injuring them, owning them, or denying their sexual autonomy
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. […]
Looking to the Blues as record of Black folks’ loss and longing
by Donnie Moreland This essay mentions domestic violence. August Wilson once noted, “The blues are important primarily because they contain the cultural expression and the cultural response to blacks in America and to the situation that they find themselves in.” I believe this to be true, in so far as the Blues may no longer […]
The Obamas keep attacking “cancel culture” because they are scared of being held accountable
By Marcus Board A few days ago, my feed, TL and story were covered with the Obama’s at their Foundation Summit in Chicago. Michelle went viral for saying that being a good person is the best way to show racists the error of their ways. Meanwhile, Barack lectured young people that activism is not the […]
How the myth that all Black parents give kids “the talk” about police is used to silence resistance
It’s interesting how so many of the stories we claim to be universal Black experiences seem to involve cutting ourselves smaller to avoid anti-Black violence. Stories involving that ever-present white woman—more perennial than any weed—who clutches her purse whenever she crosses our path, and how we all supposedly just want her to know we aren’t […]
Black asexuals are not unicorns, there are more of us than we know
This essay contains discussions of sexual violence as well as racist violence and fetishization I personally know of fewer than five Black people who identify as asexual, and I’ve only met two of them in person. The others remain virtual friends for now, but I hope to meet them someday. Of course, these are just […]
Black youth suicide is increasing. We can’t wait to create space to talk about mental health
Editor’s Note: This essay contains discussion of suicide By Carlett Spike The thought of killing myself has crossed my mind before. I was depressed as a teen — overwhelmed by the pressures to succeed in high school, keep up with way too many activities and ultimately get into a good college.
Why I no longer police my Black son’s behavior to make the world more comfortable
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 […]
Maybe Black men protect white women because we see ourselves in them
by Donnie Moreland My crushes, in high school, were all white girls. I used to fantasize about asking them out, kissing them, fucking them. It was about the only way by which I judged my social value—by how many of them I was of interest to. In fact, the first girl to ever hear the […]
Reclaiming our bodies through Black erotica
by Donnie Moreland Literarily, the words Black and erotic are dissonent. A by product of what would become synonymous with talk about sex, in the public domain, for Black folk—sin, depravity, immorality, etc. Though canonically scattered, some Black folk do dabble in erotic fiction. A previous romantic partner of mine introduced me to Zane—the most […]
Why the new trailer for Netflix’s ‘Raising Dion’ feels bittersweet
by Andrew Keahey Netflix recently released the trailer for Raising Dion, an upcoming original series produced by Michael B. Jordan about a single Black mother raising her super-powered son as the government attempts to take him and use his abilities for their own nefarious purposes—or as we know it, “standard government stuff.” Based on the […]
Finding refuge from white supremacy in our Indigenous cultures
by Djanaïna François Someone said to me once: “God created wolf first, then us, then white people—he warned that misunderstanding others is their default, from a cultural standpoint to an existential one, as they will continuously see the world through a lense of authority.” An autumnal evening sky hovered above us and I held a […]