womanism
Reclaiming ALL of Black History
You cannot add a “but” onto Black Lives Matter. You can’t align yourself to a multi-faceted, all-inclusive movement and still carry prejudices that put you at odds with it’s leaders. You can’t claim to want to fight against white supremacy while harboring the exact patriarchal, misogynist, homophobic, hetero-normative beliefs that characterize their oppression. While Black […]
The Darkness of Light / The Problem with ‘Light Girls’
This critique is not meant to discredit the experiences of the women interviewed, but to analyze the discussion and look further into the source(s) of colorism. After watching Bill Duke’s documentary Light Girls, there seemed to be a few things left unsaid. It didn’t shed a lot of light on the larger issues of black […]
To Be Seen, Not Heard: A Critique of Selma
Recent film Selma, produced by Oprah Winfrey and directed by Ava DuVernay, has joined the ranks of 12 Years a Slave, Cesar Chavez, and other films which downplay the role women of color played when it came to suffering discrimination, as well as fighting for civil rights. Though what makes Selma special is the two […]
Seattle Officer Who Broke Handcuffed Woman’s Eye Socket Will Not Face Charges
Officials recently announced criminal charges would not be filed against a Seattle police officer who broke a woman’s eye socket while arresting her over the summer, multiple local TV stations reported. The June 22 incident, which was filmed on the officer’s dashboard camera, occurred when Officer Adley Shepherd responded to a domestic violence call and attempted to arrest 23-year-old Miyekko […]
11 Empowering & Inspiring Black Women to Follow on Twitter
Black Twitter, a word started as an inside joke by the black community to describe Black twitter users, has become a buzzword in the past few years. Black twitter has shown its power over social media by starting many trending hashtags. Many of those very hashtags have dealt with race, sex, gender and sexuality. […]
Gabrielle Union’s response to Leaked Nude Photos
by Gabrielle Union as as told to Abigail Pesta for Cosmopolitan A day after I got married this past August, rumors spread on the Internet that my name was on a list of more than 100 women whose private photos had been stolen off Apple’s iCloud. I had been so happy that week, thinking about […]
(Video)A Dark-Skinned Girl’s Response to Lupita’s Oscar Win
Long after Lupita Nyong’o won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 12 Years A Slave I lay in bed awake. Although she was most deserving, past experience has taught us not to anticipate the recognition of talent if possessed by a person of color. We’ve learned to expect very […]
Renisha McBride and the Victimization and Criminalization of Black Women
Often at times the discourse of black folk is reduced to narratives of Black Men; likewise the discourse of women is reduced to a narrative of white women. In both cases, the voice and experiences of Black Women are left muted and silenced. A combination of racist and sexist historical and social forces render […]
March on Washington: Will Issues Affecting Black Women Always Take A Backseat?
What’s worse than separately suffering racism or sexism? Probably enduring the compounded effects of both racism and sexism. On the Eve of the 50th anniversary of the historic “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom” and in the midst of escalating attacks on women’s rights, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s much celebrated “I […]