call it our craziness even, call it anything. it is the life thing in us that will not let us die. Poet Lucille Clifton’s language for lineage was cherished. “roots,” a poem from her 1974 collection An Ordinary Woman named it light and I choose to liken it to mothering. it is the light in us it […]
Category: Pop Culture
Baby Hair: For Gabby, Blue Ivy & Me
All blackgirls have a hairstory. I have always had a love-hate relationship with my hair. When I was little my mama called me tender headed when I shrieked at the harsh brush bristles pushing my hair and scalp together until it laid all the way down, or enough to keep the inevitable frizz at bay. […]
“The Booty Don’t Lie”: Kelly, K. Michelle, & Janelle Monae’ Sing Black Girl Freedom
One of the biggest conundrums faced by this generation of Black feminists is the challenge of articulating a pro-sex, pro-pleasure politic in the face of recalcitrant and demeaning stereotypes that objectify, dehumanize, and devalue Black women’s bodies and lives. To be “good” feminists, we always feel that we have to make sure and say it, […]
Some Thoughts on ‘Accidental Racist’
Thought #1: When I first saw the name of this song go across my Facebook feed a few weeks ago I didn’t know what to make it of it. I assumed, at first, that it was an unfortunate spoof or offensive rant. I was disinterested in either so disregarded it. Thought #2: When I realized, […]
always arriving: a black scholar’s mixtape
But we knew. And our knowing was like a sister’s embrace. Sonia Sanchez, “A Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King,” homegirls and handgrenades (1984) I first sat at the feet of Sonia Sanchez at Spelman College where I was assiduously loved and educated. Sanchez was invited by the Women’s Resource and Research Center to help […]
Truth. Be. Told. An Interview with Katina Parker
If you’ve been looking at my posts lately, I’ve clearly been on a kick of interviewing people who are creating work in the world that inspires me. The latest installment comes from multimedia maven Katina Parker about her project Truth. Be. Told. that highlights Queer Black Visionaries and their work in the world. Let’s take […]
thank you: a women’s history month mix
“You are magnificent.” So read the final line of an email I received from the CFC’s Moya Bailey the first Friday of 2012. The subject line was, “Love for you in the new year!” It recalled the summer we became friends and its consequence on her journey. She offered thanks and called me by a […]
Trigger Warning – How to Love?: Thoughts on Wayne’s “Emmett Till” Lyrics and More
By CFs Moya and Whitney We’d initially planned to post this the monday after the Oscars but other things were more pressing. *Trigger Warning for expletives, misogyny, and violent lyrics* In the remix to Future’s Karate Chop, Lil Wayne sings the “very unfortunate” (really, Fader?) lyric that compares sex to the beating of Emmett […]
A Love Letter to Quvenzhané Wallis
give your daughters difficult names. give your daughters names that command the full use of tongue. my name makes you want to tell me the truth. my name doesn’t allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right. – Warsan Shire Dear Quvenzhané, Hi! My name is Moya. I am a big BIG fan of […]
101 Things That Are Not True About The Most Famous Black Women Alive: Alexis Pauline Gumbs on Black Women, Black Feminism, and The Capacity to Love
My favorite biographical description of Alexis Pauline Gumbs is included in her Conscious Campus profile: “Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs is a queer black trouble-maker and a black feminist love evangelist. She walks in the legacy of black lady school teachers in post slavery communities who offered sacred educational space to the intergenerational newly free in […]