I was most comfortable with my identity when I was anti-Black
“That’s so ghetto,” he said to another student in my classroom. The tall, attractive Black 15-year-old was commenting on how he thought that Black women who speak loudly in public...
Category: Gender & Sexuality
Why, As A Queer Black Woman, It’s Important That I Write About Culture
Growing up, my mother never had a shortage of Ebony and Essence magazines splayed across our coffee table, a fact that has shaped me into adulthood. When I was bored, I...
It’s Not ‘Impostor Syndrome’ When You’re Black and Woman
Almost every morning for the past two years, I have found myself sitting in my car on this predominantly White campus playing Tasha Cobbs or Kendrick Lamar or BJ the...
What if We Loved Black Women Like We Love Black Male Rapists?
When I was seventeen, I was groomed and preyed upon by a high school basketball coach. He told me to stop wearing panties if I wanted to get a ‘real...
Being Respectable Won’t Keep You From Being Labeled the ‘Angry Black Woman’
I guess Shonda Rhimes didn’t get the memo. She was the latest victim in bigoted white America’s endeavor to undermine successful black people. And she certainly won’t be the last.
When You ‘Mistake’ Me for the Other Black Woman at Work…
Being a six-foot-four inch tall black woman often precludes me from being mistaken for other people. Growing up, I was almost never told “Hey, you look just like my friend,”...
Hair Woes for Black Girls in a Colorblind World
I looked out of my driver side window at a shiny, red convertible. Next to it was an average looking white man and a black girl no more than twelve...
I Was ‘Black While Mothering’ Today…
My husband and I have three gorgeous children. Our oldest will be six next month. Our youngest just arrived last month. We were married in 2006 after dating for three...
