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What is Featurism?
Many black girls have personally heard the classic backhanded compliment- “You’re pretty for a black girl, are you mixed?” Though often heard from people outside of the black community, it’s increasingly heard just as often within it. Right off the bat, that initial statement is racist because it essentially suggests that all other black women […]
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Where is the Natural Hair Movement for 4C hair?
Picture this: you have coily hair and you’re trying to find a new style to put your hair in, so you go to YouTube and search “easy natural hairstyles.” After clicking on the most viewed one, you immediately notice: this girl’s hair is nothing like yours. Most of the other top videos are the same, girls with […]
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The Inequalities in Medical Care Seen During the COVID-19 Pandemic Aren’t New
Over the past few weeks, Americans in every corner of the country have seen their lives upended. What was once, naively, considered a far-off threat has caused school cancellations and layoffs. News of a looming economic recession, rising case counts, and a growing death toll have had become the focus of every media outlet. Though […]
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If You’ve Never Watched Insecure, Here’s 3 Reasons You Should Start Now
The first episode in the fourth season of HBO’s Insecure premiered last week on April 12th. Over the last two weeks, this show has quickly become one of my favorites. It’s funny, it’s dramatic, and it’s relatable, even though I am far from the age of the main characters. Insecure had been on my mental “need to watch” […]
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3 Steps You Can Take to Combat Colorism
When you learn about the systematic inequalities we see in society, such as skin color discrimination, it almost feels like any actions done on your part would be negligible. This is merely how things have always been, what change could my possibly actions make? Well, there is always something that could be done, even if […]
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I’m Tired of Becoming the Teacher In Predominantly White Classrooms
Have you ever been in a classroom, minding your business, and suddenly it feels like all eyes are on you? You look up to realize that the teacher is talking about slavery, or the civil rights movement, or maybe even black lives matter? Suddenly, being the only black student in the class holds more weight. […]
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It’s 2020, And White Influencers Are Still Getting Away With Blackfishing
You know that feeling when you open Twitter and you see someone known as problematic trending #1? Then comes the inevitable sigh and all you can wonder is, “what now?” Yup, that’s how I felt a few days ago when Bhad Bhabie’s name was all over the timeline because she had been accused of blackfishing. […]
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Let’s Talk About TikTok’s Preference Problem
Video-sharing app TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media apps and has created another way for teenagers to gain massive amounts of followers. TikTok benefits off the concept that seemingly anyone can go viral for the most random videos, inspiring everyone to try to make their own. The app is undeniably […]
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Challenging Myself to Love My Locs
A little bit of a different post this week, but natural hair, or hair care in general, is a topic I want to bring to this blog more in the next few weeks. Social distancing has brought an unexpected side effect for me– a chance to fully embrace my natural hair. I’m used to keeping […]
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The Problem With the Light-Skinned vs. Dark-Skinned Debate
Another casting announcement for a popular movie series or TV show about a black character is released, and there is a debate about the character’s skin tone. It happened to Alexandra Shipp with the Storm casting for the X-Men movies, and it happened again to Amandla Stenberg with The Hate U Give. I remember the […]
Dear Dark Skinned Girl 