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Mélusine: The Devil’s Daughter, the Serpent Woman, and Another Man Who Couldn’t Mind His Damn Business
Every now and then I fall down one of my historical rabbit holes and come across a woman—real, legendary, mythical, whatever—who makes me stop and say, now who the hell is this? Today that woman is Mélusine. And baby, Mélusine has a story. She has been called the Devil’s daughter, a fairy, a water spirit,…
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Winsome Witch and the Town That Forgot Women
If you’ve never seen Winsome Witch, you’re missing one of Hanna-Barbera’s most charming and underrated cartoon characters. I had forgotten all about this cartoon until MeTv Toons started playing it again. My favorite episode is the one where Winnie lands in a lonely frontier town where the men have gone twenty years without seeing a…
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Masters of Mischief: The Tricksters of Old-School Cartoons
When I think back on old-school cartoons, I realize they were absolutely crawling with tricksters. I loved those characters—the ones who lied, schemed, disguised themselves, broke every rule in sight, embarrassed authority figures, and somehow still had me rooting for them anyway. Some of the best trickster characters from cartoons of yesterday: What makes these…
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The Tradwife Movement: A Pretty Apron Wrapped Around an Old Idea
I’ve never understood the appeal of tradwife content. Watching a woman bake sourdough bread in a spotless farmhouse kitchen while wearing a ball gown has never been my idea of compelling entertainment. Yet it’s wildly popular, especially the content of Nara Smith. Nara Smith is a model with more than 12 million followers on TikTok.…
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Soft Sheen: The Black-Owned Company That Helped Shape More Than Our Hair
If you grew up in a Black household during the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s, chances are Soft Sheen products lived somewhere in your home. Maybe it was a jar of Care Free Curl moisturizer sitting on the bathroom sink. A tub of Sportin’ Waves on your father’s dresser. A bottle of Let’s Jam keeping somebody’s…
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George E. Johnson Didn’t Just Sell Hair Products. He Sold Possibility.
A living icon has become an ancestor and his name was George R. Johnson. Every now and then, somebody leaves this earth, and you realize they weren’t just successful.They changed the damn landscape.George E. Johnson was one of those people. He didn’t build Johnson Products because it was trendy. Hell, back then Black folks weren’t…
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The Female Trickster: Outsmarting the Rules
History remembers kings, conquerors, and warriors. But tucked into the margins of myth, folklore, and history is another figure who refused to play by the rules—the female trickster. She rarely possesses armies. She seldom inherits kingdoms. She isn’t usually the strongest person in the room. So she becomes the smartest. The female trickster understands a…
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The Everleigh Club: From Silk Sheets to Section 8
Chicago has always had a talent for reinventing itself. Sometimes it builds a skyscraper. Sometimes it tears down a brothel. And sometimes it tears down a brothel…and builds public housing on top of it. You really can’t make this stuff up. If you had wandered into Chicago’s Levee District around 1900, you would have found…
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Zina Garrison: The Trailblazer Who Helped Change Tennis
When people talk about the history of Black women in tennis, the conversation often begins with Althea Gibson and then leaps straight to Venus and Serena Williams. But between those eras stood a remarkable athlete whose contributions deserve far more recognition: Zina Garrison. Born in Houston, Texas, November 16, 1963, Garrison fell in love with…
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Hoard Park: Known as the Da Park
Tourists will never find Hoard Park in a guidebook. It doesn’t have Buckingham Fountain or the grandeur of Jackson Park. It’s just a small neighborhood park tucked away on 72nd and Dobson. But for me and my childhood friends, it was our treehouse. Long before I knew anything about urban renewal or city planning, I…
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The Potty Mouth Granny 