Tag Archives: friendship

Beauty Parlor Politics

Posted on May 7, 2012 by rboylorn
22 comments

The first time I “got my hair done” beyond school nights sitting between my mother’s cocoa butter legs while she combed through my hair with grease soaked fingertips, or  Saturday morning hot comb rituals in front of the stove, was in the house kitchen of a church lady who did hair on the side.  She was not professionally trained or licensed but her clientele graced her threshold every other Saturday and she worked from sun up ‘til sundown, frying, dying, twisting and curling our hair into beautiful masterpieces on our head.  I felt grown up and welcome when I “got …Read more »

Category: Self-Care | Tags: , , ,

How to Lose A Friend in 10 Days

Posted on April 30, 2012 by rboylorn
24 comments

Day 1: Maintain a friendship with your childhood friend, despite the fact that you no longer live in the same state. Tell her you love her like family and that she is like a sister to you. Day 2: Like friends do, share your secrets and fears. At the moment, because you are both approaching 40, talk about your frustrations about not being married and wanting to start a family. Talk about how the lack of prospects has led you both to rekindle and revisit past loves. Day 3: Listen intently as your friend talks about her man problems. She …Read more »

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: ,

Tu(r)ning to Black Love

Posted on February 20, 2012 by crunklife
8 comments

This past week, I found myself swept in an emotional whirlwind witnessing Whitney’s homegoing while remembering that she was not even in the ground before the Fox-affiliated shock jocks called her a babbling idiot, bag lady, and a crack ho that should have died years ago. From AM talk radio to morning cable television, a Fox News anchor “jokingly” told Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) to “step away from the crack pipe” to squash her criticism of a racist conservative right.  And right as I prepared myself for the first Valentine’s Day unhitched in years, I heard more misogynoir (i.e., hatred …Read more »

Category: Film & TV, Music, Politics | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Feminist Musings on Showing Up

Posted on September 1, 2011 by crunkonia
29 comments
missing

It’s 11:30 PM. I have a baby with a cold. I have a looming, untouched exam prep list. I have a sink full of dishes. I have students writing me after 9:00 asking for “leeway” in tomorrow’s class. I have a headache. I have a backache. I have anxiety-induced insomnia. I have people. And when the rest of the list makes the latter seem small, my people show up and, as the church folk say, show out. You may be wishing for a quota on feminist writing about friendship. You may be wishing that we would stand erect and alone, …Read more »

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , ,

Sex, Scripts, & Single Ladies

Posted on June 23, 2011 by crunkadelic
17 comments

I’ll admit it.  When VH1’s scripted dramedy Single Ladies premiered a few weeks ago I had very low expectations–so low, in fact, that I forgot it was even coming on that night. It wasn’t  until I logged on to my Facebook and saw a bunch of statements like, “OMG!” “He said what?” “Stacey Dash is how old?” “Why does LisaRaye always play herself?” that I realized the show was on. So, I flipped the channel to VH1 to see what all the buzz was about. To tell the truth, it took me a minute to even find VH1 because a channel …Read more »

Category: Film & TV, Pop Culture, Relationships | Tags: , , , , ,

Nene vs. Star: Black Women & The Vulnerability of Anger

Posted on May 9, 2011 by rboylorn
9 comments

The first season of The Apprentice brought with it an impressive black woman (Omarosa Manigault) who deconstructed her brilliance to pacify an audience that seeks (if not requires) black women to fit a particular prototype on television.  Omarosa embodied what Patricia Hill Collins would designate the black lady, a black woman whose intellect and success make her difficult to like and love.  I find it fascinating that no matter what a black woman does and who she is (smart, beautiful, independent, etc.) —she is ultimately made to feel undesirable and unwanted–even and sometimes especially from people (who look) like her. …Read more »

Category: Film & TV, Pop Culture, Relationships | Tags: , , , ,

How To Say No: The “B” side to Self-Care

Posted on March 14, 2011 by rboylorn
18 comments

(This post is in response to Life Is Not A Fairytale:  Black Women and Depression, one of our earlier and most popular posts.) It took me years to unlearn the habit of saying yes automatically when someone asked me for (or to do) something.  So often had that single syllable fallen from my tongue that I would often agree to things before people even asked.  In time I realized that I had spoiled the people around me to the point that they assumed I owed them a response of agreement, no matter how inconvenient and unreasonable it was.  Many times, if …Read more »

Category: Self-Care | Tags: , , , ,

“We Created A Circle”: Reflections on the CFC Retreat

Posted on February 28, 2011 by rboylorn
3 comments

We began making plans for our first Crunk Feminist retreat months in advance.  The first attempt, in May, failed because of an unexpected death in Brittney’s family.  We initially planned a workshop-like gathering in Atlanta on Emory’s campus but the postponement, coupled with hectic schedules and life’s work, lasted one year. Our second attempt, scheduled for February 2011, nearly a year from when we started, would be a weekend getaway in the mountains of north Georgia.  Eight of us confirmed our plans to attend.  Aisha Durham, Moya Bailey, Asha French (and baby Asali), Susana Morris, Brittney Cooper, Sheri Davis-Faulkner, Whitney …Read more »

Category: Family, The CFC, Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

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