Last year, Gabrielle Union received the Fierce and Fearless Award at Essence magazine’s sixth annual Black Women in Hollywood pre-Oscars luncheon and gave a dope speech about her journey in Hollywood and learning to love herself and other black women. She opened up and shared the truth of her experience, her pain, her insecurity, […]
Twerkers Beware: Juicy J Thinks Reading is Fundamental
Yesterday, Juicy J announced the winner of the $50,000 twerking scholarship that he began advertising in October in a partnership with World Star Hip Hop. The winner, 19 year old biology major Zaire Holmes distinguished herself from many other applicants by deciding not to twerk. It turns out twerking was not required. Congratulations […]
When You’re “the One”
It was the summer of 2004. I was a grad student with experience in resident life and I had taken on a job as co-director of a summer program hosted at my university. The pay was good and it gave me time to read and prep for my first go at teaching that fall. At […]
Black Queer Trouble in Literature, Life, and the Age of OBama: Part II
Originally Delivered by Cheryl Clarke as the Kessler Lecture on Dec. 6, 2013 at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center Scenes of black queer and feminist resistance; or “forced confinement and forced mobility” Recently I said the following at a “Symposium: Black Women’s Studies and the Transformation of […]
Black Queer Trouble in Literature, Life, and the Age of OBama: Part I
Originally Delivered by Cheryl Clarke as the Kessler Lecture on Dec. 6, 2013 at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center Note: Elizabeth Lorde Rollins, my friend and sister, introduced me at the event. Thank you, Beth. Wonderful to see you again. We miss your Mother. In case I […]
Open Letter to Bishop Joseph Walker and the Members of SHIFT
[Note to our readers: One of the things we are passionate about is challenging structures of domination. Crunktastic is especially passionate about challenging those structures in the Church, which plays a disproportionately significant role in the lives of Black women and women of color. So the open letter printed below is in response to […]
5 Reasons I’m Here for Beyonce’, the Feminist
Last night while we were all still trying to get our lives after the Scandal Season Finale Part I, Beyonce’ stealth dropped a new self-titled totally unpromoted album. The fact that she managed to pull that ish off undetected means we can conclude only one thing: #BitchBad! Yes, I said, […]
The Western Gaze: On Photography in the Two-Thirds World
A note on the title. [1] A young guy with a sandy brown mop of hair, t-shirt, khakis, and sneakers crouched about 10 feet from where I stood in Dilli Haat, an outdoor crafts market in New Delhi, and focused his telephoto lens. My eyes followed the direction he pointed his camera, where I saw it […]
Fuck Sears, or When Mall Cops Attack
Anyone that knows me, knows that I do not like the Internet. I just don’t trust it. Too much of our personal information is out there and it is completely out of our control. It took me years to get a smartphone because I thought that having a smartphone would jeopardize my already limited privacy. […]
(Black First) Ladies First
I’ve been reflecting, this week, on black first ladies. FLOTUS Michelle Obama seems like an anomaly but black first ladies are commonplace in black communities. While Obama is the first black lady of the White House there have always been black first ladies of black churches. The wives of preachers, these big hat wearing, first […]