123 Search results for "black respectability"

by Tanya Fields On a daily basis, I have to quiet the voice in my head telling me that I ain’t shit. It constantly compares me to all of the fabulous Black women whose lives I get to witness snippets of on social media and beyond. Women with the alphabet behind their name, posing for […]

“Black masculinity and respectability are not synonymous, nor do we need/want them to be,” writes the Crunk Feminist Collective

“What shall I tell my children who are black, of what it means to be a captive in this dark skin? What shall I tell my dear one, fruit of my womb, of how beautiful they are when everywhere they turn they are faced with abhorrence of everything that is black. The night is black and so is the boogyman. Villains […]

by Dr. Chaz Barracks In the early 2000s, as a little Black boy with ‘two much sugar’, I received my first durag from my favorite cousin’s boyfriend. While babysitting me, just him and me in the house, it was a rare occasion to be alone without any other kids around; he gave me a fresh […]

by Jari Bradley During the peak of the pandemic in 2020, there were numerous online poetry readings being held for the public to attend. I was just finishing my Master of Fine Arts program after three years on the East Coast, and with all the calamity that the world felt comprised of at that time, […]

Kendrick Lamar dominated the news cycle in 2024 not only with his ongoing feud with Aubrey “Drake” Graham, but also with the announcement that he would be headlining the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show. With the Kansas City Chiefs vying for a record-breaking three consecutive Super Bowl victories and Philadelphia Eagles’ running back Saquon Barkley […]

by Asha Ransby-Sporn A full decade ago this summer, I arrived at a retreat center in the Chicago suburbs with about a hundred other Black organizers, and community leaders from around the country brought together by Cathy Cohen’s Black Youth Project. Not long into former President Barack Obama’s second term, the goal of the gathering […]

Editor’s Note: This month at BYP, we will be exploring Black Liberation & Organizing, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. How do we hold politicians accountable to Black communities? Is that even possible? What should be our role in the electoral politics? What does abolition look like in practice? What […]

A host of popular Black shows from the 90s and early 2000s are finally being made available to stream this year, and many of us are rejoicing. As we should. There has been a glaring gap on popular streaming platforms lacking Black shows from this era and it’s nothing less than egregious. We deserve to […]

I come from folks who organized rent parties and bail funds, who put money away for rainy days or times when mamas needed to escape dysfunctional and abusive households. I come from folks who believe in direct giving and show it. Folks who give hugs and offer handshakes in order to exchange money discreetly. Folks who […]

It’s Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week and, as per usual, the miserable trolls have crawled out of their pitiful caves to smear their shit on any and everything that might make people feel happy, accepted, and seen. Trolls, of course, typically believe in nothing. They simply enjoy a perpetually contrarian existence, and actively seek to make […]

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 […]