-

Fabulous Me
In May, it will be twenty years since I graduated from college. Me—the high school dropout they quietly counted out. Me—the mother of two children by the age of twenty-one. Me—the welfare recipient society loves to reduce to a statistic. And also me—the college student who walked across that stage with a 3.8 GPA, a…
-

What is Feminism?
Feminism is the radical, sometimes inconvenient idea that women are fully human—with minds of their own, bodies that belong to them, and lives that are not side quests in someone else’s story. Feminism is about autonomy. At its core, feminism says women deserve political, economic, social, and personal equality. Not favors. Not protection. Not pedestal…
-

When Blood Recognizes Itself
Lately, I’ve been seeing the faces of my ancestors in strangers. A jawline in the grocery store line. A pair of eyes on the bus that feel like déjà vu with a pulse. A woman laughing two tables over, her mouth moving exactly like my mother’s used to when joy caught her off guard. It’s…
-

What Is Black?
“Black” is not a single thing. It’s a constellation. Black is a people, first—descendants of Africa scattered by history’s rough hands: trade winds, chains, migrations, love, survival. Not a monolith, not a hive mind. Nigerians, Haitians, Gullah Geechee, Afro-Brazilian, Black American, Somali, Jamaican—different tongues, foods, rhythms, gods, jokes. Same sun in the bones, different stories…
-

The Madonna/Whore Complex and Black Folks
The Madonna/Whore Complex is already a cracked mirror. When you angle it toward Black people, the glass doesn’t just crack—it shatters, because race rewires the whole thing. Quick grounding: the Madonna–Whore Complex is the psychological habit (popularized by Freud, refined by feminists) of splitting women into two moral bins. One is pure, nurturing, worthy of…
-
Happy Thanksgiving
Earlier this year, I learned that I had a mass in my right breast and had to have an immediate following mammogram. When I received the abnormal results, I put it away in the part of the brain where you put information that you’re not ready to deal with but late at night, I would…
-
Music, Music, Music
Three years ago, I went to a concert solo—and I had an absolute blast! I went to see Duran Duran, one of my favorite 80s bands of all time. And of course, the night was made even better by the fact that one of my many “don’t-know-they’re-my-men” crushes was there: the band’s lead guitarist, John…
-
Double Nickels Coming Up Shortly
In just a few months, I’ll be 55 years old—and I can’t wait. To some people, that probably sounds strange, because society is obsessed with youth and soaked in ageism. But honestly? I don’t give a flying fuck. I’ve lived. I’ve survived. I’ve been through storms most people couldn’t imagine. Health scares. The heartbreak of…
-
Selling “Femininity” to Gullible Black Women
I’m not watching any YouTube videos on femininity. I’m not cutting my hair and getting a long, flowing weave. I’m just going to do what women have been doing for centuries to make it in this world: surviving by their wits if they have any.
-
Eat Them All
I’m going to be frank. I’m a part of the soon to be working class in this country and I don’t give a rat’s ass about rich people. I don’t expect anything from them. Why? Because historically, they have shown that they don’t care about people like me, a disabled, overweight black woman. Last month,…