Recently, I had a five-hour ice-cream date with an intelligent, ambitious, chocolate cutie, with friendly eyes and a great smile. Yep, I said five hours. He’s a great conversationalist, wonderful at asking questions, and pretty interesting himself. He showed genuine interest in my career, my research, and my recent career-related travels. He respects my intelligence, told me so in not so many words. Awesome, right? This is what feminists have been fighting for. Yes. But these days me and my well-educated hetero feminist friends have two categories of male-female relationships, if we have them at all. There are those of …Read more »

On June 16, two Black, female, Seattle teenagers were arrested and detained for jaywalking. Marilyn Levias, the 19 year-old perpetrator, unwisely chose to resist arrest. When her friend, 17 year-old Andrea Rosenthal, intervened on her behalf, the arresting officer, Ian Walsh, punched Rosenthal in the face. She was charged with third degree assault; after apologizing later that day, she was still forced to endure a lecture from the officer about keeping her hands to herself. Many folks in the blogosphere and news outlets have debated the rights and wrongs of this issue. Certain things are clear. It is never wise …Read more »

There is a reason why the CFC is a people-of-color collective. Our sheroes come in all shades of brown: Barbara Smith and Gloria Anzaldua, Chandra Mohanty and Patricia Hill Collins, Cherrie Moraga and bell hooks. Many a feminist therapy session has been devoted to healing the divide between Black and White feminists. It remains a necessary conversation, but the future of feminism is all about us brown-hued girls. And I, for one, am much more interested in stitching a dream coat of many colors in a global community of sun-kissed sisters, than I am in rehashing tired debates about whether …Read more »

My post Black Women x The Streets x Harassment has 114 comments on Racialicious. I don’t think I have ever written something that has received such a massive response. The comments are illuminating because they demonstrate the ways in which people may or may not see how racial sexism is at play when Black men harass Black women, White women, and other women of color in the streets. As a writer, as a Black woman, and as a feminist I am incredibly grateful to have spaces to have my work read and responded to in real time. To that end, …Read more »

1) White privilege. 2) Heteronormativity. 3) Racism. 4) Hearing Latinos referred to as “spicy.” ~ Bite me. 5) Fox News. ~ Refer to #1 and #3. 6) Stupid people. ~ They are everywhere. They procreate. They choose their “own” truths. Refer to #3, #4 and #5. 7) When American women call women of other cultures second-class citizens, as if we’re exempt. ~ Women in this country do not have that much to celebrate, especially women of color. Refer to #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5. 8] Patriarchy. ~ It’s still over. Stop calling me. Refer to the “Dear Patriarchy” post. …Read more »

For me, this recent HuffPo article really struck a nerve. Cleverly disguised as flattery, this article so effortlessly reduces Indian people to their “datability” and crushes a culture of 28 states, numerous faiths and hundreds of languages into one spiffy little assessment. The author, Andrea Miller, who is married to an Indian man, mentions 7 things that she thinks any non-Indian who wants to date an Indian should know. Those 7 things might resonate in different ways with different Indian people. Some might agree, some might disagree, others might want to puke. I, personally, want to puke. Here’s why: I …Read more »

Last night’s episode of The Rachel Maddow cemented her as a crunk ally. Although I generally eschew msm outlets, I do appreciate Maddow’s rare brand of journalism. Walking along the increasingly endangered marshland in southern Louisiana, Maddow remarked, “Beyond petroleum, my ass!” Maddow’s sentiment is more than a pithy jab at the behemoth oil company. It is a spot on, albeit brief, assessment of the travesty happening on the Gulf Shore. In 2001, BP, also known as British Petroleum, started using the tagline “Beyond Petroleum” to emphasize their commitment to alternative energy sources and the like. However, considering the company …Read more »