75 Search results for "defining"

Editor’s Note: June is LGBTQ Pride Month. At BYP, we will be exploring gender, sexuality, transgender issues and queer theory, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. We want to hear from you! Send us your pitches at info@blackyouthproject.com By Latonya Pennington I knew that I […]

And that’s why Amy Winehouse was so unique, controversial and fascinating. It was impossible to tell where her music ended and her real life began. There was no script. In the words of Erykah Badu, Amy Winehouse was “an analog girl, livin’ in a digital world,” oblivious to the voyeuristic culture of camera flashes and snarky bloggers that surrounded her.

It’s a problem that we still allow ignorance to turn cultures into threats and let fear change constitutional rights into a compromise of sanctity or national security. It is moments like this that I am most disappointed to be human, to be American, the moments when people choose to not allow others to live freely. […]

In the past I have struggled with my self-image. Sometimes I feel beautiful, sometimes I don’t. It isn’t abnormal and it doesn’t mean that I don’t love myself. In fact, it’s probably more truthful to say that I struggle with my self-image in relation to what I think a man wants. And that is unfair […]

These past few weeks have been stressful so I won’t try and formulate a coherent opinion on any of the hot-button topics. To be honest, I’ve just been too tired to deal with much of anything lately. Instead, I will share something with you guys. I haven’t lived much. 23 very short years, in fact. […]

By Taylor Allyn On the apps, it is always the same choreography. I open the grid and feel my body enter a market, lit by the cold light of my phone. Faces slide past: white, light, maybe one or two Black men scattered like decoration across a page that was never designed for us. The […]

The Price of Presence: Notes From Atlanta’s Strip Economy Notes From An Urban Feminist A year ago I landed in Atlanta, Georgia without my three children, my husband or community. I arrived with four luggages in tow, and although I considered myself a fully realized feminist whose identity could stand alone, I felt like something […]

Breathe, from Gira Soul’s album The Clay, reflects the kinds of questions that run through much of her music: how do we remain present with ourselves and each other while living through difficult and uncertain times? The track unfolds slowly, allowing space for reflection rather than rushing toward a conclusion. In that quiet pacing, breath […]

by Jo (Foderingham) Brown I remember sitting in the cafeteria in kindergarten when something made me feel anxious. When I was around this age, if I felt that way, I would physically ground myself: I’d clench my fists really hard or get up and move around. This particular day while my empty lunch box was […]

“Sex is what makes us human.”  This, of course, is an absurd claim. And yet, it’s a lie that many believe. A lie that I have heard many times, in one form or another. I continually find myself having to argue that sex and sexuality are not and never will be factors in whether or […]

Content Warning: Descriptions of medical violence against folks who are intersex and/or have been diagnosed with PCOS by Gillian Giles When I was 12, the anticipation and excitement of preparing to experience my first period was all consuming. Cultural messaging taught me that the event would be a gender defining moment. I hoped starting my […]

by Kamilah Bush I love clothes. I love fashion and style. I love all kinds of clothes from the big fashion houses to things I’ve fished out of thrift store bins. I watch the major award shows just for the gowns. My favorite holiday is The First Monday in May, also known as the Met […]