On being Black, being disposed of, and seeking status.
“You may as well leave my class now because you’re wasting my time and your’s,” Mr. Harris interrupted our Calculus class. “You’re never going to be anything anyway. Why are...
“You may as well leave my class now because you’re wasting my time and your’s,” Mr. Harris interrupted our Calculus class. “You’re never going to be anything anyway. Why are...
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published July 25, 2017 · Last modified December 27, 2017
Black people have never been considered truly “American”. That fact becomes even clearer when they are also disabled or poor or queer or trans. Yet, study after study about young...
Gender & Sexuality / Love and Relationships / Pop Culture
by Daren W. Jackson · Published July 20, 2017
This is not an album review. This is also not a man’s take on Jay-Z’s “Lemonade Moment”. Rather, it’s an honest look at the ways men, especially “good Black...
Moving to Chicago in 2014 taught me a number of things. It taught me what real cold felt like. It taught me how pizza should taste. And it also taught...
Love and Relationships / Reflections
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published July 12, 2017 · Last modified July 28, 2017
One of the greatest R&B lines ever delivered is “don’t need no hateration, holleration, in this dancerie.” The Queen of R&B, Mary J. Blige gave us that one in...
Culture / Love and Relationships
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published July 10, 2017 · Last modified July 13, 2017
Recently, rapper Jay-Z released his thirteenth solo album 4:44. The album details his infidelity to his wife, mother of his three children, and perhaps the biggest superstar in the world, Beyoncé....
by Daren W. Jackson · Published July 6, 2017 · Last modified January 15, 2018
I have achieved the rare feat of being in a committed relationship for nearly fifteen years. I have been married for over a decade and have three kids. I’m still...
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published January 23, 2017 · Last modified January 30, 2017
Growing up, one of the most consistent messages I got about women, specifically Black women, was that we were golddiggers. Concerns about women “always wanting something from a man,” and...
Let’s be honest, most of y’all couldn’t get with Serena or Ciara (or any level-headed woman) on your best day. And, yet, you stay pressed about who these women date,...
I never thought I would put the words “Oprah” and “straddle” in the same sentence ever, yet here we are in this glorious and unprecedented moment. At Monday’s premiere of...
Lifestyle / Love and Relationships / Reflections
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published May 23, 2016 · Last modified May 30, 2017
My life partner (husband) and I are coming up on our first decade of marriage this Friday. And, while it has been getting me all up in the feels over...
Lifestyle / Love and Relationships / Reflections
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published March 18, 2016 · Last modified October 7, 2017
Poet and educator Gwendolyn Brooks once said, “We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond.” I have always lived in this...
Lifestyle / Love and Relationships / Videos
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published February 19, 2016 · Last modified February 20, 2016
Folks have been concerned about Meagan Good’s clothing choices for what feels like forever. A few years ago, she was in the news for wearing a revealing dress (that she looked...
Health and Fitness / Lifestyle / Love and Relationships / Motivational
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published January 1, 2016 · Last modified December 16, 2016
Real life is sometimes the greatest deterrent to living. Bills, family obligations, career limitations, unexpected health emergencies, and a host of other issues can sometimes lead us to step away...
Lifestyle / Love and Relationships
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published November 30, 2015 · Last modified December 20, 2015
I am 31-years-old and I just found my people. They weren’t at my high school. They weren’t at my undergrad institution. They were all waiting for me in Chicago, at...
Love and Relationships / Motivational / Race
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published November 17, 2015 · Last modified December 16, 2016
Alice Walker once said, “No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.” I couldn’t agree with her more. Over the years, I have...
Lifestyle / Love and Relationships / Race
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published November 11, 2015 · Last modified December 17, 2016
Last week, I thought I lost two of my dearest friends. They thought they lost me too. But, it turned out, we each were navigating a world hell bent on...
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published October 23, 2015 · Last modified December 23, 2015
First, yes. The title of this article has the word “vagina” in it. I’m going to say it a lot because that’s what this post is about. I’m also going...
Gender & Sexuality / Lifestyle / Love and Relationships / Race
by Jenn M. Jackson · Published October 22, 2015 · Last modified December 17, 2016
Growing up, I was socialized to believe that other people, especially men, had a right to invade my personal space. Men were constantly commenting on my gender representation as if...
I am a cis-queer Black woman who has been in a heterosexual relationship with a cis-heterosexual man for the past twelve years. For almost ten of those years, we have...