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  • SheaMoisture and Being Black-Owned: Is That Enough?

    SheaMoisture had a serious mea culpa this week after it released an ad campaign featuring women talking about learning to love their natural hair—except none of those women were black. Black women are the core audience of SheaMoisture and the brands that exist under its parent company, Sundial Brands. And not just the silky-hair-textured, “They…

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  • Greenleaf Returns, Self-Righteous but as Necessary as Ever

    Last season, OWN premiered the church-family drama Greenleaf. I caught the previews between commercials for Tyler Perry’s soap opera, If Loving You Is Wrong, and made a mental note that it might be worth checking out, if only to see whether it veered left into Perry melodramatic land. Then I promptly forgot about it. Thankfully, Netflix’s…

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  • Being Mary Jane Recap: This Isn’t Going to End Well

    I’ll give it to Mary Jane—Justin certainly is a lot more attractive now that he’s dropped the icebox where his heart used to be, but that still doesn’t make up for why Mary Jane and Justin are on the pathway to a hookup. With the midseason finale next week, there will soon be an end…

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  • Being Mary Jane Recap: The Ex Marks the Spot

    When cold-as-freezer-burn Justin becomes the supporter and Lee, the suave, endearing boyfriend, becomes the overly aloof one in one breath while we are being set up for a very obvious and cliché storyline in another, this was one of the more entertaining episodes of this season. I’ll put my dismay at the prospect of Justin…

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  • Being Mary Jane Recap: Lee Meets the Parents

    Tonight, Being Mary Jane was an ode to Black History Month. You could bullet-point all the nods to black history and civil rights leaders that were featured in this episode, because that is how many of the scenes in this episode seemed to be introduced. It was as though the show had a list of…

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  • Being Mary Jane Recap: Niecy, It’s Time to Grow Up

    Mary Jane still isn’t settled into New York City, and we’re still not settled with the splitting between Mary Jane’s and her Atlanta family’s storylines, which added some of the best moments in the past season. It is great to see the family back in this episode of Being Mary Jane, even if Niecy hasn’t…

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  • Being Mary Jane Recap: Are You Man Enough?

    Something about this season of Being Mary Jane is different. I’ve been hoping for it to pick up like past seasons, when complex subjects that black women deal with every day were subtly woven through the storyline. Mary Jane was always over-the-top extra, making her hard to like. But every time you screwed your nose…

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  • Being Mary Jane Recap: The Big Bad Wolf

    Last week’s season premiere of Being Mary Jane was titled “Getting Nekkid,” This week’s episode is “Getting Naked,” and as Mary Jane (Gabrielle Union) explained to Lee (Chiké Okonkwo), the difference is in your intentions and the ever-running theme of vulnerability. “Nekkid” implies that you are naked but “up to no good.” “Naked” is to…

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  • Being Mary Jane Recap: Sex in the City

    Being Mary Jane is back for a fourth season, and Mary Jane Paul is still pompously lacking in self-awareness. While we open to M.J.’s 6-inch heels sauntering down the hallway to a sexy song, it doesn’t take long for M.J. to almost completely unravel in her most vulnerable space: her sexuality and pursuit of love.…

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  • Should Black People Meet With Donald Trump?

    If President-elect Donald J. Trump contacted you for a meeting, would you take it? Is any and every black person who acquiesces to meeting with Trump a sellout? Would you be a coon, would I be an Uncle Tom, for giving Trump my time? These questions have been floating around since a few of “the…

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YouTuber, author and feminist, a #SmartBrownGirl who loves tacos, culture and critical thought. You can find Jouelzy on YouTube at the intersection of pop culture, history and politics.


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