March 10 was National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day, a nationwide observance that is used to help raise awareness about the peculiar impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls. One of the goals of the day is to help facilitate discussions and disseminate information about prevention, testing, and/or living with and coping with the […]
‘Dos and Don’ts
The summer of 2000 I went to my hairdresser and said, “I want you to cut all of this off,” pointing emphatically to my badly-damaged permed hair. She asked me if I was sure and I told her I was–and off went four or five inches of angst onto her linoleum floor. What was left […]
no strings
i thought that i could be brave enough to make love to you with no strings attached but your arms around me felt like strings your fingers, like strings when you used them to massage my neck and caress my back and my legs felt like strings when i held them around your neck & […]
Birthday Sex
Today is our second blogiversary! The journey of these last two years in community with each other and all of you, our beloved readers, has been exhilarating, soul-affirming, life-sustaining, sometimes challenging and frustrating, but totally completely worth it. Thank you for joining us on the journey! So on this day when we are celebrating our […]
Battle of the What?: A Brief Reflection on the Battle of the Complexions Controversy
I am sick and tired of the cultural story line that insists only one version (complexion) of black women can be “in style” (beautiful, popular, desirable) at any given time. There seems to […]
Feminist Care Packages: Healing Love for Hard Times
“Thrown away where? The world is round.” – Luciente This month we’d hoped to talk about love and relationships but a lot of terrible things have been happening in the world. Whitney died. Too Short gave some terrible advice. So did Not So Very Smart brothas. and there’s a thread in these narratives about black women and girls bringing things […]
Tu(r)ning to Black Love
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 […]
Queer Sisters Keep Saving Me: The Brilliantly Selfish Act of Being an Ally
Guest Post by Black Artemis Today is the first St. Valentine’s Day in three years in which I write a new blog about what this day means to me. In 2009 I wrote one wherein I recount why St. Valentine was a historical figure worthy of recognition especially in these times and reiterate my support for […]
Happy Galentine’s Day!: A Little Love (In Whatever Form) Is All We Need
Here at the CFC we like to spend February writing about love, sex, and relationships. But 2012 simply has not been cooperating. Three of our five posts this month have been tributes to people we’ve lost tragically: Don Cornelius, Stacey English, and Whitney Houston. To top that off, I started off Valentine’s Day in a […]
Love Overflow: A Red Reflection (and a Trigger Warning… SMH)
It’s early on Valentine’s Day, an invented holiday by U.S. greeting card companies (for real, look it up!). I just learned about Too Short’s “Fatherly Advice” to young boys about how to “turn girls out” in a video for XXL. While this is not shocking for Too Short, it also speaks to the culture we […]