-
Whatever Happened to Honey Magazine? The Publication That Spoke to a Generation of Black Women
There are magazines you read, and then there are magazines that become part of who you are. For me, Honey was the latter. Founded by Kierna Mayo and Joicelyn Dingle, Honey debuted with a preview issue in 1999 featuring Lauryn Hill. It blended fashion, beauty, music, politics, relationships, and culture through a distinctly Black feminist…
-
Mary Jane Richardson Jones: The First Lady of Black Chicago
Long before Chicago became known for towering skyscrapers and bustling streets, there was a woman quietly building something far more enduring—a legacy. Her name was Mary Jane Richardson Jones. If you’ve never heard of her, you’re not alone. History has a habit of overlooking Black women, even the ones who helped shape cities. But without…
-
The Many Ways in Which the United States Ain’t Shit
I was sitting here thinking about America, a country that is often described as the greatest nation on Earth. It is a nation that has accomplished extraordinary things. It has sent human beings to the Moon, produced some of the world’s greatest innovations, and given birth to cultural treasures such as jazz, blues, gospel, and…
-
If I Was Black and Male For A Day
First of all, before I write this essay, I would like to state that I love being a Black woman. I love the beautiful brownness of my skin, my hair which is a crown that has anointed me Queen of my universe, my full lips, slanted eyes, and the strength of my ancestors who endured…
-
The Long Shadow of Patriarchy
Patriarchy did not fall out of the sky one random Tuesday afternoon like bad weather. Human beings created it. Layer by layer. Rule by rule. Fear by fear. Property deed by property deed. And once you really start studying history, you realize patriarchy is not simply “men being in charge.” It is an entire social…
-
The Romanticization of Marriage Amongst Black Folks
Every day on social media, Black people bewail the lack of marriage in the community. Folks write think pieces, make podcasts, go live for three hours at a time mourning the “breakdown of the Black family” like they’re standing over a gravesite in a church hat and hard-bottom shoes. But some of these same people…
-
Wisdom and Age Ain’t the Same Thing
Perhaps one of the reasons some Black women are leery of receiving advice from older women is because some of these Crones are out of order. Age does not automatically bring wisdom, emotional maturity, accountability, or honesty. Some older women are still deeply invested in patriarchy, bitterness, competition, respectability politics, and suffering in silence. Some…
-
The Policing of Black Female Sexuality: A History Written on Our Bodies
There is something deeply exhausting about living in a world where your body is never simply your own. For Black women, sexuality has never been allowed to exist in peace. It has been surveilled, dissected, judged, legislated, mocked, feared, exploited, and weaponized for centuries. Black female sexuality exists under a microscope built by racism, patriarchy,…
-
Whole, With or Without Him
I’ve always joked that I’m the youngest only child—caught in that strange little space where the age and gender gap between me and my siblings made me feel like I was raised solo. But that strange little space turned out to be a gift. It taught me how to enjoy my own company. I had…
-
We Were Never Meant to Be Silent: A Love Letter to Black Feminist Thought
Let me tell you something plain—Black feminist theory didn’t come out of a classroom. It came out of kitchens with cracked linoleum floors. Out of bus stops in the cold. Out of women raising babies with one hand and holding themselves together with the other. It came from us. Before anybody gave it a name,…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
The Potty Mouth Granny 