Black Feminist Collective

"Black mommasupposed to be strongweakcannot breathe.Called on the ancestors for protection.They survived." By Tanya Barnett •  I lie awake at night. Slowly dying on the inside. I am a Black momma. I am supposed to be strong. I am afraid. I am weak.  I cannot breathe. I feel the world’s hate. I cannot protect my … Continue reading Black Mommas

Photo courtesy of Ludovic Berton By Stephanie Younger • Last week, we spoke with Fatima Derby, a Ghanaian feminist thinker, writer and organizer, who stands for freedom, justice and equality. During our conversation via Instagram Live, we discussed the violence LGBTQ+ people in Ghana are experiencing, what influences homophobic and transphobic violence against queer and … Continue reading The Movement Fighting for LGBTQ+ Liberation in Ghana

Anonymous •  Trigger warning: Language of abuse the tireless calls from an institution disguised as a safe haven  claiming to nurse and aid the winded, bewildered, and aimless  claiming to heal and protect the ignored, silenced, and hurt  he calls out to me endlessly  he wants me to pour my soul into his seed  one … Continue reading Abused Womb of the Margin

Art by Stephanie Younger. Flowers grown in Teresa Younger's Garden. Black Feminist Collective has a put together a collection of 10 articles authored by Black feminists and abolitionists. Black Feminism Offers a Path to Abolition, by Elizabeth Jordie Davies for Bitch Media Black Trans Thought Can Set Us Free, by George Yancy for Truthout The … Continue reading 10 Readings Authored by Black Feminists and Abolitionists

"You instilled a sense of fear within your kin, and chose to continue the cycle of criminalizing, humiliating Black children. I will disrupt that cycle, and I stand by those words." Anonymous • Content Warning: Mentions of suicide and self-harm, and descriptions of ableism and anti-Blackness. To my relative who called the police, When I … Continue reading To My Black Relative Who Called The Police

Photo courtesy of Jazz Thompson/The Bristol Cable By Kayla Alexandria Dorancy •  In an effort to achieve what some may call “the American Dream”, “reparations”, or just “getting theirs” — far too often do we see the main perpetrators and victims sharing the skin color and experiences. While the Black experience is not a monolithic … Continue reading Prioritizing Promises over Pennies: The Exploitation of Black Trauma for Profit

Tweets by Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger • During a movement in defense of Black life calling for the abolition of the police state and the carceral state, it seemed that liberals who were saying "listen to Black women," were solely speaking in reference to Black women who do the labor of "saving our Democracy." … Continue reading No One Should ‘Enjoy Things’ at the Expense of Black Lives

Francis Miller/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images By Teresa Younger •  In the future what will we name the period of history that we are currently living in? Every aspect of life feels so volatile as we are thrown from one crisis to another. No matter how urgent, it is easy to fall out of the news … Continue reading Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. as a Radical Dreamer

Photo courtesy of ClayToonz By Kayla Alexandria Dorancy •  Immigration is a universal practice by people that’s survived countless generations. The United States is known universally as a “melting pot” of culture and nationality. The inclusion and diversity of America is often embraced and is her most remarkable feature yet, internationally. Racial and ethnic variety … Continue reading Demonizing Human Movement: Criminalizing Immigrants in the United States

Photo courtesy of Frank Hurley/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images By Kayla Alexandria Dorancy •  If I were to ask you when New York City schools were integrated, what would you tell me?  1954 right? In fact, most people reference Brown versus The Board of Education and 1954 as when schools were integrated.  You're not wrong … Continue reading New York City School Integration, An Urban Legend

Photo courtesy of Jeff Grigg By Yemi Miller-Tonnet •   During the Civil War,Harriet Tubman spent some monthsin South Carolina’s low countryworking as a nurse for the Union armyand a laundress in a local wash house.Harriett mended wounds,changed gauze, scrubbed linens,and hung shirts on clothespins.She worked and waiteduntil orders from the north camefor her to form … Continue reading On the Ancestral Blessing of a Union

Photo courtesy of Alina Amador By Teresa Younger •  Content warning: Mentions of sexual violence and murder. According to PEW Research Center, 235 Black people were shot to death by the police in 2019. The social movement against systemic racism and police violence continued in 2020, when believers around the world turned out following the … Continue reading Black Women and Girls Must Be Protected When We Are Alive

Photo courtesy of Kent Eanes. By Teresa Younger •  During a conversation about Virginia Museum of History and Culture’s  Agents of Change: Female Activism in Virginia From Women’s Suffrage to Today, which featured a panel about my daughter, I was asked, “Is your child happy doing this work?” I wondered if I should respond by … Continue reading Reflections on Activism in 2020

Photo courtesy of Marissa Mann By Marissa Mann • REFRESH THIS PAGE IF THE DOCUMENT DOESN'T LOAD. Marissa Mann is a graduate student studying Speech-Language Pathology, who loves advocating and helping those who are in need and feel that they do not have a voice. Marissa's project highlighted their college experience during the COVID-19 pandemic … Continue reading A Tale of Two Schools: Brooklyn College Edition

Photo courtesy of Riss Clark By Marissa Evonne Clark • Marissa reflects on her experiences as from a child perspective to an adult perspective living with Single- Sided Deafness. She wants the reader to understand that there are so many incidents and not enough time. (October 2020)  Age 11 My mom places the phone to … Continue reading SSD: A Timeline of Dealing with Single Sided Deafness

Photo courtesy of Riss Clark By Marissa Evonne Clark • Marissa reflects on her body’s change during the pandemic. (Sep. 2020) I can’t look in the mirror anymore  because I don’t want to see myself. My face is tired.  My eyes are weary and  my bags tell a sad story at 23.  My smile? Nonexistent.  … Continue reading Slipping into My Pre-Pandemic Pants

Photo courtesy of Eze Amos/Getty Images 1. From womanish.  (Opp. of “girlish,” i.e. frivolous, irresponsible, not serious.)  A black feminist or feminist of color.  From the black folk expression of mothers to female children, “you acting womanish,” i.e., like a woman.  Usually referring to outrageous, audacious, courageous or willful behavior. Wanting to know more and in greater depth than … Continue reading What Alice Walker’s Definition of Womanism Taught Me in 2020

Photo courtesy of Erin Simkin/Hulu By Stephanie Younger • Little Fires Everywhere is a limited series on Hulu, based on the book the book authored and published in 2017 by Celeste Ng, that aired from March 2020 to April 2020. The series takes place in 1997, and begins when Mia Warren (Kerry Washington), an itinerant artist … Continue reading Review: Little Fires Everywhere

Art by Stephanie Younger. Flowers grown in Teresa Younger's Garden. By Joyce Angela Jellison Hounkanrin • I hate mornings, yet I make a promise to myself to be up early. This morning I have no choice in the matter; someone is incessant in their attempts to reach me. The phone, which I keep under my … Continue reading A Hummingbird in the Palm: The Impact of Racism on Black Women’s Mental Health

Photo courtesy of Kayla Dorancy, Dr. Shawn Rux (The Real Pandemic) By Kayla Alexandria Dorancy •  REFRESH THIS PAGE IF THE DOCUMENT DOESN'T LOAD. For as long as she can remember, Kayla Alexandria Dorancy has been motivated by her parents -- both educators, to fulfill her part in expanding education and exposing inequity/inequality towards Black … Continue reading How America Believed the Coronavirus Proved the Existence of Educational Inequity

Art by Stephanie Younger By Skyla Bailey •  A Message to Virginia Department of Education (VDOE): Our history classes constantly teach students to think of European History when they think of “American” History. However, African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinx Americans are all part of America. Students of Color in Virginia want to … Continue reading Call-to-Action Update: Making Classrooms Equitable for Black and Brown Students in Virginia

Tweets by Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger • Demanding labor from Black youth is rooted the anti-Black idea that our worthiness relies on what we do and how much we do, which affects the fight for our liberation. Liberals have been demanding labor from young Black feminists to electing our way towards Black liberation. There … Continue reading Black People Can’t Wait Every Four Years for Our Liberation

Students celebrate the resignation of University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe amid allegations of racism. Photo courtesy of Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images. By James A. Perry Jr. •  The presence of elitism, capitalism, racism, and sexism are still ubiquitous within the apparatus of higher education. Higher education leaders need to move beyond rhetoric involving diversity, … Continue reading Colleges Pretend to Care about Black People

Art by Stephanie Younger By Skyla Bailey •  As Black and Brown youth, we are tired of being considered second place, tired of having the education system fail us, and tired of being behind. We want to have all schools in Virginia to become equitable sanctuaries where every student can flourish. This petition is an … Continue reading Call-to-Action: Making Classrooms Equitable for Black and Brown Students In Virginia

Photo courtesy of Shontrice Carin Barnes By Shontrice Carin Barnes •  Ever since I could remember, writing has been a huge part of my life.  All throughout my childhood, I had kept journals of random things that I would write. Stories, poems, songs, random thoughts… words were some of the only ways I knew how … Continue reading How I Found My Own Garden

"Co-opting #SayHerName by sharing #SayHisName, pushing Black women (cis and trans) out of the conversation, ignoring the experiences of Black trans sex workers, and disregarding the voices of Black youth among other erasures stifle our ability to fully articulate the holistic violence of police and policing. Intra-racial solidarity building is extremely critical in articulating the … Continue reading Who is Solidarity For: Intra-Racial Solidarity for True Black Liberation

Photo courtesy of Marisa Mack By Alexandra Brown •  What is the difference between absence and loss? How would you articulate the 'loss of loss' and the 'absence of absence'? What if, in your attempt to articulate, they both become synonymous? What if, you are in a state of sorrow and lament for something that … Continue reading Pain Poem

Photo courtesy Unknown By Alexandra Brown • This reflective piece is a summary and critical analysis of a conversation between author, activist, and Afro-Pessimist philosopher, Professor Frank B. Wilderson III and Chairman of ‘Before Columbus Foundation’, Justin Desmangles. The discussion was entitled, ‘Re-Imagining the Black Body: Race, Memory, and the Excavation of Freedom Now’.  I … Continue reading Reflections on Black Suffering, Grief and Re-imagining Freedom

Photo courtesy of Conversations With By Alexandra Brown •  I wish to begin by sharing a prose I wrote in response to the murder of George Floyd. Institutional, systematic and structural racism, feels like I am dying a slow and painful death. When I learnt of the murder of George Floyd, it was like trauma … Continue reading A Letter of Urgency

Photo courtesy of Diana Simumpande/Unsplash By Tanya Barnett •  Come close so you can hear me.You’ve endured for too long. The time has finally come to shed the shackles. No more shrinking.No more hiding.No more playing safe.No more accepting abuse.No more lying to ourselves.No more ignoring the pain. It’s time for you to be free … Continue reading Sista, Be Free

"Black women have been interwoven into the fabric of this country prior to formalization of the medical profession, therefore we must consider indigenous practices as imperative to our well being as these practice and spaces have held us before and beyond colonization." - Joyce Angela Jellison Hounkanrin By Joyce Angela Jellison Hounkanrin • "Do you … Continue reading Giving Birth While Black

Photo courtesy of NejroN/Shutterstock By Joyce Angela Jellison Hounkanrin • What is embedded in the language of Black women? What belongs exclusively within our mouths? Briefly translated, there are secrets we have transported from the Middle Passage and kept secreted beneath our tongues; in the folds of our spirits; in the curves of our smiles; … Continue reading The Secret Language of Black Women

"I will not compromise my blackness to make others comfortable. I will confront them and make them face their own biases whether they are offended or not. White? Black? It don’t matter. What matters is that I live authentically and command respect from those around me." - Tanya Barnett By Tanya Barnett •  How do … Continue reading Reconciliation

Photo courtesy of Alex John Beck By Tanya Barnett •  Dear world, no longer will I shrink away from my blackness in an attempt to make you finally love me. Oh you had me fooled. Hoodwinked. Bamboozled. You made me think if I permed my hair you would love me. You made me think if … Continue reading My Blackness

Photo courtesy of Frederick D. Nichols By Addison Walton • CW: This content contains descriptions of murder and white supremacy. Come to church in your Sunday best!Let your mama press your hair.Your daddy polished your good shoes.New and black and shiny.He did it with love. Your mama kisses your head and puts in a pink … Continue reading Church Sestina

Photo courtesy of The Graphics Fairy By Tani Washington • It seems that every year, when Black activists speak up against large-scale inequity and systemic brutality against people of color, there are those who attempt to qualify this suffering through questions that point to the sufferings of other, usually non-marginalized, groups. This kind of response … Continue reading An Open Letter to the “What About”s

Art by Stephanie Younger. Flowers grown in Teresa Younger's Garden. By Stephane Younger •  In light of the recent events of police violence against Black people, and the uprisings in defense of Black life, I created a list of Black feminist resources, including books, movies, series, media platforms, and organizations to support. Books Ain’t I … Continue reading A Black Feminist Resource List

Photo courtesy of Andrew Burton/Getty Images By Ryan Edward Perry • I was talking with one of my best friends today. She has recently, to my delightful surprise, become quite outspoken and engaging regarding social justice and the current state of American culture and the movements that have risen in that space. My friend, who … Continue reading The Pain Of Anger

Photo courtesy of Teresa Younger By Stephanie Younger • 10 days ago, I climbed up the Robert E. Lee Statue at a protest in Richmond, Virginia, the former Capital of the Confederacy, and I was asked to speak in front of a large crowd of people. This was unplanned, and I have been grieving so … Continue reading Co-Optation of the Fight for Black Lives

Art courtesy of Stephanie Younger By Lux Aghomo • The president called my people "thugs." They riot, loot, run through the streets for justice, really just tired. The Hate You Give Makes us Wanna set this country on fire. In 2014, people came together to chant "I can't breathe," in 2020 we're still suffocating. George … Continue reading The President Called My People “Thugs”

Photo courtesy of Inclusion Solution By Giovanna Adams • We’ve all heard the sentiment over and over again. It feels good to hear and it feels good to say, doesn’t it? Those words are comforting and encouraging during a time when we are all facing uncertainty and insurmountable burdens. It really is a nice sentiment, … Continue reading Maintaining Solidarity in the Black Community in the Face of COVID-19

Photo courtesy of Jufu Han/Detroit Free Press By Stephanie Younger • Content warning: Mentions of sexual violence. Could a hashtag topple the career of a popular artist? Hashtags have the power to raise social consciousness about the exploitation of marginalized communities, to give them a platform that influences public discourse, and to ultimately change the … Continue reading Analysis: The Movement that Cancelled R. Kelly

"White liberals who claim to be anti-racist, while forcing Black women into the same spaces as white supremacists, policing how we respond to oppression, and speaking over us to center their own voices, are part of the same problem. As long as they continue to do this, they will never recognize the significance of doing … Continue reading 6 Ways I Have Faced Anti-Blackness By White Liberals

Teresa Younger as a toddler with her father Robert "Bob" Leon Wilmer. Robert "Bob" Leon Wilmer By Teresa Younger •  Given the deep divides apparent in society today, it is refreshing to re-read Poet Laurent Maya Angelou’s “Human Family” poem as a reminder of our endless similarities. “Human Family” was featured in an Apple ad … Continue reading Remembering my Father

Wikipedia's Definition of a Karen. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger •  In late January, I was scrolling through my Facebook news feed during my break in between college lectures when I came across a blog post, in which the author claims that "Karen" memes are "misogynistic," make white women "invisible," "marginalized, wondering … Continue reading The Backlash Against “Karen” Memes is Peak White Feminism

Photo courtesy of iStock/RuslanDashinsky By Giovanna Adams • As a global health crisis has entered all of our lives, we’ve seen the impact on equity in education, challenges to our daily economics, and have only begun to see the ramifications on our psyches from social distancing and for some, social isolation. We must all recognize … Continue reading Equity Beyond COVID-19: Why we Shouldn’t go Back to the Beginning

Photo courtesy of Team Enough via Twitter By Stephanie Younger • Police shootings against Black people initially galvanized me into the work that I do, which eventually led into organizing for the abolition of youth prisons. One week after the Parkland shooting, I first heard about a local March For Our Lives rally in Richmond, … Continue reading How a Movement to Fight Gun Violence Has Silenced Black Youth

Photo courtesy of Raina Cornish By Raina Cornish •  Gone.You left.I stayed.I waited.But you, you left. I was ready to give up my name for you But you left. You came back.I let you in. Let your words poison my mind.“I love you.”“I need you.”“Only you.” I let you do what you wanted to me … Continue reading Gone.

"Although I don't expect things to get much better for us, I am determined to remain committed to fighting for Black liberation by organizing towards a world abolished of prisons, and by creating spaces for us and by us." - Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger •  When I learned that 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden … Continue reading Why I Am not “Voting Blue No Matter Who”

Photo courtesy of Raina Cornish By Raina Cornish •  Woman- noun ; an adult human female.  Human. But to man we are property. Coware. What women do when a man raises a fist to her.. If a woman is too strong, she wants to be a MAN.  If a woman doesn’t listen to her husband … Continue reading Hermosos Tontos

Photo courtesy of Euro News By Amaya Madarang •  Every older generation says, “Remember how we thought there’d be flying cars in the future.”  And everyone laughs and nods their heads.  “Look at us now!” the adults reply, mockingly.  Again, everyone laughs.  But, really what’s funny is that people still think that there will be … Continue reading What I Want to See for the Future

https://youtu.be/_VJPMGDLCwo We cannot help but be surprised by the capacity of Spanish society to normalize brutal acts with racist content, disguised as alleged anti-racist content. This is the case of the Mataculebra perpetrated in Puerto de la Cruz de Tenerife. The video speaks for itself and we will not say more than that it is … Continue reading The Mataculebra, the Ultimate Expression of Slavery in the Carnival of Tenerife

Art courtesy of LA Johnson/NPR By Nchedochukwu Ezeokoli •  undisturbed the air rang clearly with the loudness of nothingness lingering ever so gently  filling the empty spaces between the spaces filled solely with atoms of life she spoke to me disrupting the stillness mind raced in fetching images of trauma past lived repressing images of … Continue reading Be Silence

Photo courtesy of Deun Ivory/LLC By Summar McGee • I am a Black girl at a PWI.  So I get a lot of kudos.  The people congratulate me for “making it” out of poverty Through an “education”  and to as close to whiteness as I’ll ever be.  Summar McGee is a Black woman, student & writer from Mississippi.

Photo courtesy of Ray Collins By Sahana Kapumba • Water H20 A transparent liquid that is drunk and swam in for recreational purposes Water 60% percent of my black body Water If we already have so much why do we need more? Why do I need to overfill myself with this colorless liquid If its … Continue reading Water

Photo Courtesy of Phuong Tran/ACLU of VirginiaPhoto Courtesy of Teresa Younger By Stephanie Younger •  Do the ways we talk about gender stereotypes represent the struggles we all go through? In Katherine Toland Frith and Barbara Mueller’s article entitled, “Advertisements Stereotype Women” written for the book, “Advertising and Societies: Global Issues,” they write about how … Continue reading Analysis: Where Gender Stereotypes Intersect with Anti-Black Racism

Photo courtesy of Teresa Younger By Teresa Younger •  Complete with unsolicited comments, touching attempts from strangers, and pressure to do away with your coils right now, or you risk the shame of being prevented from attending your graduation or losing gainful employment? Is natural hair controversy a real thing? How have generations dealt with … Continue reading Is it Open Season on Natural Hair?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMc0jhIxnVQ By Elvira Swartch Lorenzo •  It doesn't matter what you think you are trying to represent. It does not matter that you think that this way you make children happy. It doesn't matter if it's a tradition. If you paint yourself in a color that is not yours, it is racist. The blackface controversy   comes every Christmas like nougat. We can … Continue reading 4 reasons why Alcoy’s Black Pages are Violence

"Believe Black youth when we open up about their mental health, and accept us for who we are." Anonymous • Content Warning: Mentions of self-harm • In the Black community, talking down to, speaking poorly of, publicly humiliating and criminalizing Black youth as a whole is acceptable. In the Black community, body shaming, and devaluing … Continue reading The Mental Health Stigma and its Impact on Black Youth

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPi8TJyFJ5D/ https://twitter.com/saint_CHuBBZ/status/822940921847279617 By Stephanie Younger • This year, the Black Lives Matter chapter in Los Angeles, California was excluded by the Women’s March in LA. In an article for LA progressive, Melina Abdullah, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter LA, wrote an article detailing the harm caused by the Women’s March. “Beyond the specific harms, … Continue reading The Long Legacy of Anti-Blackness within the Mainstream Feminist Movement

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger • Beyonce's 8-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter has been subjected to despicable acts of anti-Blackness, from petitions calling on her parents to "comb her hair," racist social media posts about her features, and most recently, a Black male journalist and a white female journalist disparaging her features. … Continue reading We Must Combat Texturism within Black Communities

Photo courtesy of Johan de Jager By Jourdan Lobban • “Defiant!” “Fresh!” “Rude!” Those titles followed me all through my childhood and into my teen years. Anytime I did something bad, I knew what was coming. Lectures in yelling style, laced with fury, and if I didn’t shape up in time, the belt would make … Continue reading The Terrifying Adventure of Autonomy

Photo courtesy of Tom Swinnen By Jourdan Lobban • It was endless  The sea of self-doubt Rejection Beating me  With its ruthless water  Every chance it got  It was brutal How it told me  Over and Over “You’re bad, Worthless.  Rude, Evil,  A sinner who needs saving.” All the while  I hung my head low … Continue reading Riding Rising Waters

Photo courtesy of Kathleen Foster By Stephanie Younger •  Are all people in America served and protected by the law? In the documentary, “Profiled - The Mothers of Murdered Black and Latino Youth,” director Kathleen Foster utilizes the power of art, amplifies the voices of Black and Latin American women and youth, and directs attention … Continue reading Analysis: The Impact of Policing on Black and Brown Mothers and Children

Portrait of La Shakata Astoa. Photo courtesy of Carlos Rodriguez By Princess Jiménez •  In the Dominican Republic, where supposedly moral society and the Church often espouse virulent homophobia and transphobia, an unusual alliance has appeared among the very poorest: singers and producers of popular music genre Dembow are working with queer people and trans … Continue reading Queer Windows in Dembow Music

Photo courtesy of Traycee Truth/Amazon The following excerpt is from Traycee Truth’s e-book, the Therapeutic Alliance Handbook. •  “Usually, it is customary to begin an essay/journal of this sort of measure with a precise definition regarding whiteness, yet what are the intersectionalities of this concept? Within most contemporary and progressive circles, it is assumed that the … Continue reading An Excerpt from the E-Book, “The Therapeutic Alliance Handbook”

I will never know your happinessHistory only saved your painSleeping Ancestor,When we meetWill I represent your dreams,Or your shame?" - Kiarran T.L. Diaz By Kiarran T. L. Diaz •  I will never know your happiness History only saved your pain Sleeping Ancestor, When we meet Will I represent your dreams, Or your shame? Ancestors tell … Continue reading Broken Tree

"Because I have spent generations equating my worth to money, neglecting my heart’s desire in the name of stability, battling every single desire we harbored to create a livelihood on the basis of providing." - Shelby Moring By Shelby Moring •  She’s so relaxed. That hazy daydream of myself that I conjure, praying on her … Continue reading Song of Harvest

"Even with skids still on our backs, we rise. Even through the torments of class systems that everyone else struggles with, through our atrocious world, with the torments of racism and sexism, we rise. Even from other people, from our own, from ourselves, we rise, and we are expected to rise." - Krystal Tang By … Continue reading Nine Phases: Black Women Crying in the Bathroom

"The assault on Black bodies is not always by police officers and campus security; it can be done by the ones that are trusted with your love and support." - Joshua Redd By Joshua Redd •  The House. The Red One. Right there on Macdonough. You can leave me on the corner, I’m fine. I … Continue reading Spots on the Rug

"When a certain race and class of students gets funneled into a school system that is poorly funded, poorly staffed and poorly executed these children have a smaller chance of succeeding in life." - Sharayah Alkire By Sharayah Alkire •  Throughout American History systems have been built up to bring down Black people in many … Continue reading The School System is Failing Black Students

Photo courtesy of Steve Helber By Belan Yeshigeta •  Women have often been given the short end of the stick when it comes to equal rights, and it is no secret that African Americans are still prejudiced against to this day. The unique experience of being apart of both of these marginalized communities is one … Continue reading Op-Ed: The Role of Black Women in the Fight to Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment

Photo courtesy of Chuck Stewart By Ayana Graham •  I’ve foreseen spirits, visitations of death, fire eating off sheeted breath, Sometimes I see the outline of God’s back turned to me Wretched hands stroke the lynch knot and bear the karma of the lost little girls There was no good outcome, I was born as … Continue reading Birmingham Burning

Photo courtesy of Carl Van Vechten Photo courtesy of Jack Mitchell/Getty Images By Kristin Couch •  Reading Zora Neale Hurston and Audre Lorde led me to question myself about the stance I take on activism. These writers represent two polar ideals of being that I have struggled to find identification with. Zora Neale, my humanist … Continue reading Oppression Expression: Answering Zora Neale and Mother Lorde

Photo courtesy of Joshua Redd By Joshua Redd •  Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison on October 1st, 2019 for the murder of Botham Jean on September 6th, 2018. The murder of Black folks by the hands of officers is nothing new. What made this case extremely peculiar was that he was … Continue reading Botham Jean: When Your Politics Present a Challenge

"My mama told me to grow upAnd be beautiful like our sunset,But what she forgot to tell me Was to pack a gun for the worldI was growing into had men with no scruples And no respect for women." - Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba By Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba •  What my mama told me My mama told … Continue reading What My Mama Told Me

"Words have always failed meI cover my body in thick robesFor the world I live in There are slurs at women who express their womanhood."- Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba By Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba •  My name resides in shabby conformation I take a few steps but then Fail to find the strength to face them … Continue reading My Name Presides in Shabby Conformation

"To All the Men Who Have Fetishized Me Before," by Kimberly Davis By Kimberly Davis •  “I’m a gentleman lives in _____________ looking for a long term relationship dating also hanging out. I believe in treating a woman with respect and honor I am 5”11 prefer African American and Hispanic types of women no offense … Continue reading To All the Men Who Have Fetishized Me Before

Iesha Evans being arrested peacefully protesting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on July 9th 2016. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Bachman/Reuters. By Ryan Edward Perry •  I did not always appreciate my Blackness. I used to be one of those “I’m not Black, I’m O.J.” types that purposefully eschewed the culture in favor of a more centrist … Continue reading Crown Her With Many Crowns

Photo courtesy of Brittany Jeter/Of Cats & Women By Brittany Jeter •  The Following Excerpt is from Brittany Jeter's upcoming novel, "Of Cats and Women." "Var always been dismissive to Joy, and Joy always been the type of girl who takes up space without even trying. Vita knew Var hated that shit about her so … Continue reading An Excerpt From the Upcoming Novel “Of Cats and Women”

Dirt in my mouth As I listen to them speak About those that look just like me A pat on my shoulder Reiterating that I’m "not like the others"- Kiarran T.L Diaz By Kiarran T.L Diaz • Dirt on my tongue  Each time I swallow my protests  It travels past my throat  And down my esophagus  Each time I … Continue reading Fire and Mud

"The nerve of white menTo read my emailTo read my emailTo read my emailAnd still misspell my nameHe giggles and shrugs and says "its just so different" -Baletica Genous By Baletica Genous •  The nerve of white men To read my email To read my email To read my email And still misspell my name … Continue reading Black Music

"Anger is also Grief." - Nelle Jones By Nelle Jones •  angry black girls clenching desks with tight fists holding their breath a breeze passing through their hair the pale hand of yet another ghost angry black girls the blacker the berry, sweet blood from biting lips holding one's tongue angry black girls sitting on … Continue reading Stage 2

Quincy Evans with his artwork. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Younger. By Quincy Evans •  Excuse me, I’d like to re-introduce myself. I’m a good time. A misunderstanding. A plea and a red flag all at once. I’ll forever be that boy who gets really excited when the sky is in pretty colors. You slip into … Continue reading Two Poets

Tene'sha Crews at the Women's March RVA 2019. Photo courtesy of Victoria N. McGovern. By Tene'sha Crews •  “The pen is mightier than the sword” A sword that has grown from hate and drawn blood, Blood spilled onto books and the hearts of families Has sunk deeper into human veins than into a land’s mud. … Continue reading Mightier

Photo courtesy of Huffington Post By Kayla Austin •  The aftermath of the natural disaster that was Hurricane Katrina is a display of the effects of environmental racism, redlining, and the neglection of people of color and those facing poverty. Katrina is one of the worst natural disasters to occur in the history of the … Continue reading Mother Nature Does Not Discriminate. America Does

"We Safeguard the Peace the Enslaved Africans Dared Only Dream About." - Sarah Mathew In partnership with the Richmond Peace Education Center's annual essay contest, "Remembering 1619 and Restoring Justice." By Sarah Mathew •  In 1619, my second great grandfather was kidnapped from his home in Angola and forced onto a Portuguese slave ship, just … Continue reading We Safeguard the Peace the Enslaved Africans Dared Only Dream About

"I am the reality of their dreams for the future." - Gloria Amado In partnership with the Richmond Peace Education Center's annual essay contest, "Remembering 1619 and Restoring Justice." By Gloria Amado •  400 years ago, my ancestors were kidnapped from their homes. Not only was there fear from their original captors, the Spanish, but … Continue reading I am the Reality of my Ancestors’ Dreams for the Future

Photo courtesy of Robert Alexander/Getty Images By Simonne Elease Willis •  i trace america's outline on a map, flinch when i reach the thirteen. a single prick on my fingertip. a single drop of blood falls. (the shape of a dog bares its teeth) another drop of blood falls. (the shape of a crow tilting … Continue reading My Name is Pronounced ‘Revolution’

"If I have a daughter or son who is leopard print like me I will teach them to love themselves no matter what they look like because nothing can get to you if you have profoundly entrenched confidence and self love." - Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba By Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba •  When someone talks … Continue reading Leopard Print

"But pointing fingers will not solve our problems too, so we need to come up with solutions and one way in which we can do that is by liberating the mind by absorbing information from the right sources and using it to change our fate." - Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba Sinenhlanhla londiwe Meyiwa Magcaba •  … Continue reading I am Sick and Tired

"Beauty is a state of mind." - Graciela Barada By Graciela Barada •  When I was about ten or eleven years old, I became overly conscious of my body and the lens through which the world saw it. Arguably, everyone deals with fluctuations in their self-esteem, particularly in regards to body image and especially during … Continue reading Beauty is A State of Mind

"Having the option is freedom in which we should rejoice.In my home, I perceive everything perpetually my ownEmbellished in what I want, what I need, and what I choose.I relish in this freedom and my body I hone as my homeAnd like choice, is something that I cannot ever lose. "- Tene'sha Crews By Tene’sha Crews … Continue reading Perpetual Home

"I’m here in your inbox asking you to spend some money you didn’t have to spend on the pill or Monistat or bloody tampons to support the Black women who have been fighting for reproductive justice for a minute. There are so many!" - Mia Birdsong By Mia Birdsong •  I sent this to many … Continue reading Uterus Support: A Letter to Some of My Dudes

https://twitter.com/KenidraRWoods_/status/1133924886706044936 "I was filling everybody else's cup, and not my own cup, and that's where I messed up." - Kenidra R. Woods By Kenidra R. Woods •  Depression. You and I were once close. And it's so ironic that you were the one who hurt me the most. And I don't mean to boast, but … Continue reading My Raw Thoughts On Depression

Photo courtesy of Leigh Vogel and Bethany Edwards (Dress: TheMaddyCo) By Havana Chapman-Edwards •  My name is Havana Chapman-Edwards and I am 8 years old. I am here today because sometimes democracy looks like disagreement. I can’t sit in my classroom learning about our government when the government isn’t taking my future seriously. I am here because … Continue reading You are Never Too Little to Make a Difference

"When he does terrible things, another man shrugs his shoulders, I’m one of the good ones though, not all of us are like this. And he can say that because men is such a big broad term and it’s unfair to use a brush under which a whole gender might be painted." - Quincy Evans … Continue reading Trigger Warning

Photo courtesy of Peathegee Inc/Getty Images By NaVosha Copeland •  Hello, mother, Hello, friend, Hello, sister, How you been? I love you so much. You’re so strong and so kind and so sweet. Your melanin mixes so well with your bright white teeth. Your high cheekbones And chocolate brown skin Greets me, warms me, and … Continue reading An Affirmation to Black Girls

Photo courtesy of S.O.N.G Photo courtesy of S.O.N.G By Taneasha White, Brooke Taylor, Sarmistha Talukdar and Rebecca Wooden Keel •  Mother’s Day inspires images of family, bonding and care. May 12 is right around the corner, and many of us will be spending the day with our family. However, we forget that many Black womxn … Continue reading Black Mama’s Bail Out Day Is Freeing Incarcerated Black Women In Richmond, Virginia For Mother’s Day

Art by Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger •  I believe in womanism and the abolition of youth prisons. I also believe that climate justice is racial justice, and in this fight for climate justice it is important to validate Black lives. Even though Black and Brown youth are one of the most affected demographics, and have been combating this issue for a … Continue reading Black Youth Climate Justice Movement

"A community that prioritizes racial solidarity at the expense of the safety of young girls and women is an unstable and unsafe one." Anonymous • Peace and love, how y'all feel? Sisters, how y'all feel? Brothers, y'all alright?-Erykah Badu Black men have to grow a politic around gender based violence. Y'all need to know how … Continue reading The Mandate for Black Men

"It’s happening in the streets, it’s happening in war.And then It bleeds into schools, and into churches and what for?I don’t know.But I do know that hate is at the roots.Poisoning the branches and rotting the fruit.It is not okay." - Tene'sha Crews By Tene'sha Crews •  “It has happened again.” That thought echoes through … Continue reading It Has Happened Again

Photo courtesy of CNN By Raina Cornish •  Racial profiling, “color blindness”, racist crimes, hatred. These are all issues that are making the world more divided than ever. People always say that we need to stop history from repeating itself, but how can we stop it if we continue to add fuel to the fire … Continue reading Review: MTV’s Documentary “White People”

"I realize that even though I want to hold strong American pride The more things that I see pulled out of the dark, the more that I want to hideThen I think about the news, and that long list, how in my brain burned their nameHow the pictures that they broadcasted seemed to reverse the … Continue reading Don’t Forget

Photo courtesy of SolangeKnowlesMusic via YouTube By Tene'sha Crews •  Had Her Hate for Her Hair been cultivated or passed down? Passed through words like “nappy” and “needing of a perm Ignoring the monthly visits of that scalp stinging burn Like first it was grandmother, then mother, now it’s your turn To gradually detest your … Continue reading A Poem About Hair

Photo courtesy of Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS By Mei-Ling Ho-Shing •  According to the Oxford Dictionaries, Intersectionality means, “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage." This term is very well-known in … Continue reading Reflecting on Intersectionality One Year After The March For Our Lives

"Few spaces exist where I feel I belong, and it is an exhaustive way to live. That being said, I still love being Black and queer and I am very proud to have made it this far." Anonymous • In the third grade, I remember standing in the lunch line waiting for cheap spaghetti and … Continue reading Living at the Intersections of Anti-Black Racism and Queerphobia

Photo courtesy of Erin Edgerton/VCU Capital News Service By Stephanie Younger •  Nearly a year ago, I was given the opportunity to deliver a speech at the March For Our Lives in Richmond, Virginia, which led to being quoted in multiple local news outlets, being invited to contribute articles to other publications and to organize … Continue reading Black Youth Have Been Combating Gun Violence for Generations

Photo courtesy of Victoria N. McGovern By Stephanie Younger • “Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender.” - Alice Walker At age 13, the fact that adults would teach me to value my appearance over everything else, especially at an age where I was extremely self-conscious about the way I looked as a … Continue reading Why I Am More Included in the Womanist Movement

Photo courtesy of Rachel Stewart Jewelry By Jourdan Lobban •  February 2nd was Groundhog Day, although one little critter can’t possibly change the swirling halo of frigid cold we must all endure (insert sad face). It’s also one of the few precious days making up Black History Month. For 28 days (29 in leap years) … Continue reading A Love Letter to Black Girls

"Black Womanhood is only exalted if it’s in servitude for someone else. Why are almost all popular depictions have Black women having to be super-humans?" - Atari Gems By Atari Gems •  I'm exhausted. My mother tells me to slow down. Drink more water. Cut back on the things. Limit time on social media. Go … Continue reading For Black Girls Who Are Tired, but Rest Isn’t Enough

Photo courtesy of Howard Sochurek/Getty Images By Stephanie Younger •  In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote in his "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," "I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride towards freedom is not the White Citizens Counciler, or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the … Continue reading An Open Essay About My Experiences with the White Moderate

"Where liberal feminism is shallow, intersectional feminism is deep; where liberal feminism lacks, intersectional feminism compensates; where liberal feminism seeks to reform, intersectional feminism seeks to reconstruct." - Roshaé M. Lowe. By Roshaé M. Lowe •  Liberal feminism (often interchangeable with humanist feminism1) has very little relevance today. Times have changed and gender is no longer … Continue reading Reconstruction Over Reformation: The Argument Against Liberal Feminism’s Relevance in 2019

"My Confessions," by Kolby Whack By Kolby Whack •  I am a nonconformist. Semi conservative liberalist, Broken binary Gender role hating, Masculinity equals femininity generalist non institutionalized Institutionalized soldier 2 + 2 = 5 if you give me the paper Time is an illusion, and atoms create evens But Eve is Adam, her rib is … Continue reading My Confessions

Photo courtesy of Erin Edgerton By Chelsea Higgs Wise •  It’s been a few days since the Women’s March RVA, and as motivated as I am to build; my passion is to amplify narratives of persistence for Black women. I understand that dismantling the patriarchy will take bulldozers of disruption as well as barriers of … Continue reading Masculinity Over Everything

Olympic Swimmer Simone Manuel. Photo courtesy of 2016 NBC Universal Media/LLC By Zakkiyya Anderson •  Teach our Black children to swim Take them to the ocean and show them life has no bounds Teach Black children to read and to explore more than the outside of their broken door Give them tangible hope Dreams that aren't just riddled in fables Show them … Continue reading Teach Black Children to Swim

Art courtesy of Mary Syloria By Fallen Matthew •  Life just keeps getting better and better for me. I have been afflicted with inexplicable symptoms and anxiety surrounding them for the past decade—all of which were either downplayed or dismissed by my MD, an upper-middle class white man generations removed from mine, despite a CT … Continue reading What You Need: My Experience Being Dismissed by my Doctor

"Protect My Olive: How Policies Around Gender Binaries Affect the Portrayal of Black Womxns' Olives Within Family Planning Commercials" - by Jameelah Lewis By Jameelah Lewis •  "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me," these are just a few that every person bullied followed by to stay strong, but … Continue reading Protect My Olive: How Policies Around Gender Binaries Affect the Representation of The Black Womxn’s Olive Within Family Planning Commercials

Photo courtesy of John Hamilton/Visual Editor By Daylisha Reid •  I grew up in a family with liberal viewpoints. As a child I had a basic, uninformed understanding of politics: Republicans are racist and influenced policies that benefited the wealthy, and kept the poor stagnant; Democrats are not racist, they are progressive human rights influencers … Continue reading 5 Ways “Nice” Racism Shows Up in Progressive Communities

Photo courtesy of Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America. By Mei-Ling Ho-Shing •  On February 14, 2018, my school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, came face-to-face with gun violence. On that day I was on the 2nd floor of the Freshman building, the same building we lost 17 of our MSD Eagles. I hid behind my teacher’s desk … Continue reading What Armed Teachers and Police Presence Mean for Black Youth

"We as Black women have been a group that has been portrayed in so many forms we must struggle to be seen in any other way. In the terms of feminism, the Black mothers who helped give life to a movement are scattered throughout our literature being what is seen as “minor characters,” while supporting … Continue reading A Look into the Women Behind Intersectional Feminism

Photo courtesy of Mark Strandquist/Performing Statistics By Stephanie Younger • My advocacy for the abolition of youth prisons is influenced by the discrimination I experienced in school. Feeling unaccepted by my white peers and profiled by my teachers, I quickly internalized the notion that my Blackness wasn’t desirable. I was so consumed in the self-hatred … Continue reading Black Girls Should Matter at School

Photo courtesy of Hulu By Kiarran T.L. Diaz •  In the age of "wokeness," TV shows, and media alike are rushing to find a way to sell their ideas to people who are tired of the nonsense. Different shows, movies, and books try to align themselves with diversity by trying to take shortcuts left and … Continue reading Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is Problematic

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Webb By Stephanie Webb •  Fight for youFight against the indifference and the determination to assimilateFight against your self-intolerance and the rage against your individualityNo, you don’t want toI understandYou feel trapped in this existenceLost in the mindset of normalizationYes, your efforts mean something to you but no one elseThey applaud … Continue reading Fight for You

Photo courtesy of Jessica Holmes and Megan Landmeier Photography/Teen Vogue By Stephanie Younger •  7-year-old student activist Havana Chapman-Edwards (@TheTinyDiplomat) was the only student at her school to participate in the national school walkout to honor the victims of the 1999 Columbine school shooting. Her story went viral and captured the attention of CNN, Refinery29, … Continue reading Havana Chapman-Edwards on Student Activism and Black Girl Magic

Photo courtesy of Mark Strandquist/Performing Statistics By Stephanie Younger •  On Saturday Nov. 3rd, the Richmond community joined RISE For Youth, Art 180, and Performing Statistics, to "honor the voices, dreams and demands of youth affected by the school-to-prison pipeline." The community, composed of speakers, dancers, singers, poets and other performers gathered outside of Hotchkiss … Continue reading The Black Youth Standing for the Closure of Youth Prisons in Virginia

Photo courtesy of Erika Doss/20th Century Fox Photo courtesy of Erika Doss/20th Century Fox By Stephanie Younger •  The Hate U Give is a film based on the acclaimed YA novel authored by Angie Thomas. Directed by George Tillman Jr., this film begins with a then 9-year-old Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), her younger brother, Sekani … Continue reading Film Review: The Hate U Give

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger •  Art 180 is an RVA-based organization that gives marginalized young people the opportunity to create change by expressing themselves through music, poetry, dance, and more. On Friday, October 5th, they opened "Lift Us Up! Don't Push Us Out!" a mixed-reality exhibit that raises awareness about the … Continue reading “Lift Us Up, Don’t Push Us Out:” Art 180 Opens Exhibition About School Push-Out

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger •  A week ago, I met Princess Blanding at an art build for the upcoming National March For Justice and Reformation for Marcus-David Peters. I recently had a conversation with Blanding about how the police murder of her brother, Marcus-David Peters, pushed her into activism. Stephanie Younger: … Continue reading The Movement Demanding Justice For Marcus-David Peters

Photo courtesy of Agaton Strom Photography By Stephanie Younger •  On June 11, 2018, I had the unforgettable experience of meeting Patrisse Cullors, briefly after she accepted the "Next Generation Award" at the ACLU National Membership Conference. Cullors is an organizer, writer and artist who co-founded Black Lives Matter and founded Dignity and Power Now. … Continue reading Patrisse Cullors on Art, Intersectionality, and Her Memoir

Art by Stephanie Younger. By Stephanie Younger •  My painting in Art 180's gallery called "Everything is Connected" shares the online harassment I faced for acknowledging the Black youth have been rallying against gun violence for generations and my experiences with racism in the gun violence prevention community. This piece has allowed me to express … Continue reading When Black Girls are Robbed of their Innocence

Photo courtesy of Agaton Strom Photography Photo courtesy of Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images North America By Stephanie Younger •  The murder of Trayvon Martin ignited a fire within a then 12-year-old Nupol Kiazolu "that [she's] never felt before." "I couldn’t fully articulate how I felt at the time, but I knew I was angry," she wrote … Continue reading Nupol Kiazolu on Womanism and the Fight for Black Lives

Photo courtesy unknown By Stephanie Younger •  Virginia, we have a problem. We need to come to terms with our state’s history of the marginalization of the Black community. Virginia is where the first enslaved Africans were brought against their will. We live in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. A racist act of … Continue reading Richmond Protestors Demand Justice for Marcus-David Peters

Photo courtesy of Teresa Younger By Stephanie Younger •  I am writing this as a Black female student activist who was excluded from speaking at the Virginia National School Walkout Protest at Brown's Island in Richmond, VA; on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting. Weeks ago, the organizers guaranteed that I could speak … Continue reading Why I Walked Out on My Own

Art and photo courtesy of Stephanie Younger By Stephanie Younger •  The following list is based on real micro-aggressions and instances of racism I've experienced, written on the mixed-media piece I created in a VCU Future Studio program at the VCU Arts' Department of Sculpture + Extended Media, and exhibited at Art 180. It symbolizes … Continue reading 20 Things Black Girls Should Never Have to Hear or Experience

Photo courtesy of Church Hill People's News By Stephanie Younger •  Today, I spoke at a March For Our Lives demonstration in Richmond addressing the fatal school shooting at Majory Stoneman Douglas High school in Parkland, Florida. My speech shed some light onto how gun violence disproportionately affects women, queer and trans people, and Black … Continue reading It’s Important to Listen to Black Girls in the Fight Against Gun Violence

Photo courtesy of Mark Strandquist/Performing Statistics By Stephanie Younger •  Richmond, Virginia is the former capital of the Confederacy. Nowadays, the Legal Aid Justice Center reports that Virginia has the most school-to-prison pipelines in the country, disproportionately referring Black and disabled youth from school to prison. RISE For Youth aims to disrupt that system. Given … Continue reading Marching For Juvenile Justice with Art 180, Rise For Youth and Performing Statistics

Photo courtesy of Richmond Grid Photo courtesy of Teresa Younger By Stephanie Younger •  On August 11-12, Klansmen, and Neo-Nazis attended the Unite the Right Rally, a demonstration against the removal of the Confederate monument. They attacked anti-racist counter-protestors, many comprised of anti-fascist, and Black Lives Matter activists. According to Al-Jazeera, the white supremacists' violence … Continue reading Richmond Marches for Racial Justice