We are more convinced than ever that the fiercest and most progressive communities for women of color have migrated online. We have collectively compiled a top 10 list of folks whose music, webshows, web communities, magazines and causes you should know about and support. We think they will inspire your spirit, make you laugh, and […]
Musings on (the day after) Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to CF’s Asha, Sheri, Rachel, Whitney & Chanel! Happy Mother’s Day to all Mamas! As a graduate student, with a penchant for procrastination, I watch a lot of reality TV. In particular, I watch a lot of shows on Bravo that point out the hardships of being rich, white, and woman in […]
Nene vs. Star: Black Women & The Vulnerability of Anger
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 […]
We Need Each Other to Survive: On Recovery and Reclamation
Last Wednesday, I literally felt like I raced time leaving the city of Tuscaloosa, AL about 45 minutes before the deadly tornado that ripped my neighborhood to shreds, destroying lives, and schools, and property along the way. I was on my way to the Birmingham airport to catch a flight out to the Black Women’s […]
Dancing in the Streets
As I type this post, thousands of Americans have taken to the streets to celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden. Folks are singing, dancing, waving flags, and generally applauding what they see as American badassery. All across Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and various other forms of social media, folks are weighing on the recent events. […]
Dispatches from the Black Women’s Intellectual History Conference
Hi all: I am blessed to be spending my weekend among a number of wonderful junior and senior scholars who engage in the work of Black women’s intellectual history. “Towards An Intellectual History of Black Women: An International Conference,” happening this weekend at Columbia, is one of the premier events highlighting the work of the […]
Shayne Lee, Your Revolution Will Not Happen Between These Thighs: An Open Letter
Dear Shayne Lee, In light of the recent publication of your book Erotic Revolutionaries and the venomous, malevolent, and vitriolic campaign that you have undertaken against our colleague and ally Tamura Lomax of The Feminist Wire in response to her forthcoming review of your work in the journal Palimpsest, we want to unequivocally affirm our support […]
The Joy(s) of Being A (Black) Woman
I taught a class of Black Women’s Stories this semester and it culminated in a moment of clarity and a recognition of joy. When speaking with a black woman scholar whom I both admire and respect, I shared some of my concerns about the course and how while the stories are certainly powerful, many narratives […]
Crunk Mic Check (Elle Vie)
We’ve been focusing on self-care a lot over here at the Crunk Feminst Collective and one of the ways I practice self-care is by listening to music that makes me feel good. One of my favorite new artists to bump is Elle Vie. She’s coming out of Canada and she is spitting hot fire! Her […]
On Ashley Judd and the Politics of Citation
A couple of folks were asking for a crunk response to Ashley Judd’s memoir passages and the resulting controversy. Judd is being called to task for singling out rap music as the “contemporary soundtrack of misogyny.” You can read her words here. There are lots of responses that you can check out but I want […]