Photo courtesy of Emilee McGovern
About
Stephanie Younger is an 18-year-old student who created Black Feminist Collective and fights for a world abolished of prisons, policing and systems of policing, and is passionate about its intersections with womanism. On May 5th, 2017, Black Feminist Collective was born when she wrote & published a long article spotlighting Black girls, Black women and Black non-binary people. BFC started out as a platform to self-publish Stephanie’s writings, but in November 2018, so she opened the floor to more Black womanists & Black feminists across generations. You can keep up with Stephanie on Instagram and Twitter.
No One Should ‘Enjoy Things’ at the Expense of Black Lives
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 “Black women matter,” were speaking in reference to solely Black women who do the labor of “saving our Democracy.” Recently, liberals who “thank Black … Continue reading No One Should ‘Enjoy Things’ at the Expense of Black Lives
What Alice Walker’s Definition of Womanism Taught Me in 2020
By Stephanie Younger • In 1983, Alice Walker, a Black feminist, poet, author and activist coined the term “womanist” in her book, “In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens: Womanist Prose.” Womanism offers a space for Black feminists who have been erased from our own labor for the mainstream feminist movement, which often centers white, cis … Continue reading What Alice Walker’s Definition of Womanism Taught Me in 2020
Review: Little Fires Everywhere
By Stephanie Younger • Little Fires Everywhere is based on the book authored and published in 2017 by Celeste Ng, and was adapted into a limited series that aired on Hulu from March 2020, to April 2020. The series takes place in 1997, and begins when Mia Warren (Kerry Washington), an itinerant artist and her daughter … Continue reading Review: Little Fires Everywhere
Black People Can’t Wait Every Four Years for Our Liberation
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 are so many Black … Continue reading Black People Can’t Wait Every Four Years for Our Liberation
A Black Feminist Resource List
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 a Woman? by bell hooks (1981) · Are Prisons … Continue reading A Black Feminist Resource List
Co-Optation of the Fight for Black Lives
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 spoke in front of a large crowd of people. This was unplanned, and I had no Idea what to talk about, but I began by reading an … Continue reading Co-Optation of the Fight for Black Lives
Analysis: The Movement that Cancelled R. Kelly
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 status quo. Notably, “#MuteRKelly” was started in … Continue reading Analysis: The Movement that Cancelled R. Kelly
6 Ways I Have Faced Anti-Blackness By White Liberals
By Stephanie Younger • As a young Black female organizer, there have been times where white liberals have invited me to work with them. Each time this happened, and as time passed, I realized that I was experiencing tokenism, that I was consistently being spoken over and stereotyped. So, I wrote this article based on … Continue reading 6 Ways I Have Faced Anti-Blackness By White Liberals
Unpacking “Karen” and White Feminism
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, a white woman, claims that “Karen” memes are “misogynistic,” and make white women feel “marginalized,” and “invisible,” and as though their needs … Continue reading Unpacking “Karen” and White Feminism
Facing Anti-Black Racism at the Hands of “Gun Reform Activists”
By Stephanie Younger • There were good and bad experiences that I had as a young Black organizer between then and now, leading up to where I am today. When I was 15, I was taught to maintain resilience in the face of an empowering, defining moment in my activism, followed by a devastating experience. … Continue reading Facing Anti-Black Racism at the Hands of “Gun Reform Activists”
Why I Am not “Voting Blue No Matter Who”
By Stephanie Younger • When I learned that 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden won 10 states on Super Tuesday on March 3rd, I couldn’t help but think of his political legacy of fighting for segregation, and enforcing the criminalization of Black and Brown people. Appalled by the amount of Virginians that chose Biden in this … Continue reading Why I Am not “Voting Blue No Matter Who”
Analysis: The Ways we Talk About Gender Stereotypes Do not Represent the Struggles we All Go Through
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 the media degrades women and girls. Gender stereotypes obviously affect women … Continue reading Analysis: The Ways we Talk About Gender Stereotypes Do not Represent the Struggles we All Go Through
Ways the Mental Health Stigma Harms Black Youth
By Stephanie Younger • 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 dark skin and type 4 hair on Black girls is acceptable. In the Black community, being … Continue reading Ways the Mental Health Stigma Harms Black Youth
Analysis: The Impact of Policing on Black and Brown Mothers and Children
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 to protest and dissent. This … Continue reading Analysis: The Impact of Policing on Black and Brown Mothers and Children
Black Youth have Fought For Our Climate
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 very long time, we’re … Continue reading Black Youth have Fought For Our Climate
Black Youth Have Been Combating Gun Violence for Generations
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 the ACLU of Virginia’s website and to organize with a group of student … Continue reading Black Youth Have Been Combating Gun Violence for Generations
An Open Essay About My Experiences with the White Moderate
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 white moderate, who is more devoted … Continue reading An Open Essay About My Experiences with the White Moderate
Why I Am More Included in the Womanist Movement
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 Black girl people would rather comment … Continue reading Why I Am More Included in the Womanist Movement
Havana Chapman-Edwards on Student Activism
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, The Washington Post, USA Today and more. With her honorees … Continue reading Havana Chapman-Edwards on Student Activism
Black Girls Should Matter at School
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 I internalized that I lost my … Continue reading Black Girls Should Matter at School
‘Justice Parade For Youth’ Organized by Youth
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 Community Center to raise awareness about … Continue reading ‘Justice Parade For Youth’ Organized by Youth
Review: The Hate U Give
By Stephanie Younger • Based on the acclaimed YA novel by Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give debuts with a then 9-year-old Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), her younger brother Sekani (TJ Wright), who was one year old, and her older half-brother Seven (Lamar Johnson), who was ten, being given “the talk” by their formerly-incarcerated father … Continue reading Review: The Hate U Give
“Lift Us Up, Don’t Push Us Out:” Art 180 Opens Exhibition About School Push-Out
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
The Story Behind “Help Not Death”
By Stephanie Younger • At an art build for the National March For Justice and Reformation for Marcus-David Peters, I met Princess Blanding, a co-founder of Justice and Reformation, and interview her about how the murder of her brother, Marcus-David Peters galvanized her into action. Most recently, The Commonwealth Attorney of Richmond decided to not … Continue reading The Story Behind “Help Not Death”
Patrisse Khan-Cullors on Art, Intersectionality, and Her Memoir
By Stephanie Younger • On June 11, I had the unforgettable experiences of meeting Patrisse Khan-Cullors, briefly after she accepted the “Next Generation Award” at the ACLU National Membership Conference. I recently interviewed the artist, organizer, and writer, who founded Dignity and Power Now, co-founded Black Lives Matter, and recently authored her memoir, “When They … Continue reading Patrisse Khan-Cullors on Art, Intersectionality, and Her Memoir
When Black Girls are Robbed of their Innocence
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 my frustration for being … Continue reading When Black Girls are Robbed of their Innocence
Nupol Kiazolu on Womanism and the Fight for Black Lives
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 in a post on Instagram. “A few days after your murder, I came to … Continue reading Nupol Kiazolu on Womanism and the Fight for Black Lives
Why I Didn’t Participate in the National School Walkout
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 about police brutality, and the … Continue reading Why I Didn’t Participate in the National School Walkout
20 Things Black Girls Should Never Have to Hear or Experience
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 how I have transcended the misogyny and … Continue reading 20 Things Black Girls Should Never Have to Hear or Experience
It’s Important to Listen to Black Girls in the Fight Against Gun Violence
By Stephanie Younger • Today, I had the opportunity to speak 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 communities. From NBC12’s coverage … Continue reading It’s Important to Listen to Black Girls in the Fight Against Gun Violence
14 Black Girls, Women & Non-Binary People Every Womanist Should Know About
By Stephanie Younger • Many institutions fail to educate Black History and Women’s History from the most marginalized voices in the Black community. Black women, girls and non-binary people are often discredited for our contributions to the feminist movement and the civil rights movement. Civil Rights is often centered around cishet Black men, while mainstream … Continue reading 14 Black Girls, Women & Non-Binary People Every Womanist Should Know About
