As first posted on mixedmag.co Cover art by @stacieswift Do you ever feel like you don’t deserve to be in certain spaces? I have a bad habit of appraising my worth from my years of experience (or lack thereof) and how much I don’t know compared to the rest of the people around me. I… Continue reading Imposter
As first posted on feministbookclub.com A few days ago, Jenna Bush Hager revealed her December pick for her book club Read With Jenna. This month, she and her book club members will be reading The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Now, this isn’t a surprising book club pick considering the huge wave of anti-racism education happening since the riots… Continue reading Remove the Sticker
Books would be boring if we read the same stories about the same people all the time. I am starting to really like books with traditionally unlikeable characters, especially if they are Black women. Books about crazy, messy, or disagreeable Black women are so important; they provide important perspective that Black women can exist however… Continue reading Books About Crazy Black Women
In preparation for a (failed) buddy read of Paradise with a friend from #bookstagram, I started reading Beloved by Toni Morrison. I read on Wikipedia that Paradise is the final part of a trilogy that includes Beloved and Jazz. They aren’t a trilogy in the traditional sense, but they are a representation of a Danteques… Continue reading Beloved and Hell
My article as posted first on The Black Girl Archives 🥰 I am a Black woman and I have internalized a lot of messages about mental health from society and my family. Growing up, I was surrounded by strong Black women that I aspired to be. I really drew on that strength. From their love,… Continue reading The Shared Trauma in Black Women & Mental Health
I have a lot of thoughts about the book Patsy. I have been on a streak reading about mothers lately, but I notice that I have always seemed to gravitate toward books about mothers (or maybe people just use fiction to process their relationships with their mothers). I think I am noticing themes about mothers… Continue reading Patsy and reflections on motherhood
You were never broken You were always whole You may not feel at home in your body But you have every right to feel loved You are like Samson, drawing strength from your hair Changing its shape, like clouds in the sky Changing its color, like leaves in autumn Changing its length, texture, style… Continue reading A Home Body
Trauma. This word is buzzing around my head after I finished Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson. So many iterations and layers of trauma. So many ways it can show up in the body of a black girl and a black woman. The trauma of a best friend who disappeared. Of lost children. Of… Continue reading Somebody sing a Black girl’s song
I love well-meaning white folks. Like the ones who tell me I’m articulate or who remind me quite often at how not racist they are. The ones who use that infamous quote from The Help. “You is kind. You is smart. And you is important.” I love a good story where black people’s main role… Continue reading Well-Meaning White Folks
I’ve written before about how growing up, I was not happy with being black. When I look back on how I thought of myself and the messages I internalized, I am sad and ashamed. Occasionally, I may revert to those awful thoughts, but it’s gotten a lot better. It’s funny (it’s actually not funny). As… Continue reading Coffee Will Make You Black and Womanish
