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5 Reasons Jesse Williams Is a Black Girl’s Best Friend
The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman. Malcolm X spoke these words over 50 years ago; Beyoncé brought them back into current consciousness a mere two months ago. On Sunday night, with…
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Why Are People Hating on Birdman and Toni Braxton’s Relationship?
Whitney and Bobby. Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri. Flava Flav and Brigitte Nielsen. Lauren London and Lil Wayne. Ciara and Future. Eve and Maximillion Cooper. The list goes on and on, but the fact is that celebrity culture has long been rife with unlikely pairings—some seemingly out of nowhere, others seemingly out of convenience and…
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Is Orange the New Black Lives Matter? 6 Moments When OITNB Kept It Too Real on Race
“Can’t we have a race war? It’ll be fun!” Cindy—everyone’s favorite Afro-puff enthusiast—exclaims in the premiere of season 4 of Orange Is the New Black. Be careful what you wish for; this entire season is a study in what happens when microaggressions go macro. Frankly, I wasn’t ready. If you’ve yet to watch the new…
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Are You Smarter Than an 8th-Grader When It Comes to Love?
Apparently, all I needed to know, I learned in eighth grade … Admittedly, this was my first thought upon seeing a tweet depicting a purported “relationship contract” between two eighth-graders. Presumably written by a young lady to her same-age beau, the agreement is both hilarious and unapologetically direct in its demands. The image has unsurprisingly…
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Letting It Burn, and 9 Other Lessons Learned From Reading Terry McMillan
To say that the 1992 debut of Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan’s first best-seller, was a watershed moment in contemporary American fiction would be an understatement. For legions of black women, seeing characters like themselves placed front and center was a revolution unto itself. McMillan was 40 years old at the time, and like her…
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Career, Husband and Baby, Too: Janet Jackson Can ‘Have It All’ at 49, but Can You?
“I promise, I’ll be worth the wait,” a then-20-year-old Janet Jackson cooed to ’80s heartthrob Taimak as they nuzzled on a city rooftop, contemplating the next move in their fictional black-and-white video romance. The year was 1986. “Let’s Wait Awhile” was the fifth hit single from Jackson’s breakthrough solo album, Control, which would confirm her…
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Beyoncé’s Lemonade Highlights the Pain of Infidelity and the Power of Forgiveness
Please let us survive this. Please let me survive this … I was on my knees, hands clasped, tears pooling in my palms as I tried to pray the truth away. I could barely breathe. The newfound fact of his infidelity was crushing. How could he do this—to me? I wasn’t sure what hurt more:…
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The Problem With ‘Respectability Memes’
Recently, I stumbled across an online poll cataloging the age at which women first noticed sexual attention from men. Actually, “women” might be inaccurate; the median age was 12. For me, I vividly remember my first awareness at age 10. I was walking home on the last day of school, eating a celebratory ice cream…
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7 Reasons Why We Can’t Date if You Don’t Vote
“Vote your heart … unless it’s evil,” my homegirl laughs, taking a sip of her drink. I can’t help but laugh, too, despite the loaded conversation. After all, my friend, a steadfast supporter of the “other blue meat,” is right: This election cycle—more than most in recent history—has the potential to move our country forward…
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If ‘Thick Thighs Save Lives,’ Why Are You Fat-Shaming Women? 5 Reasons You Should Stop
“You probably shouldn’t call yourself ‘an amazon’ in your profile,” he messages me. “Oh, really? And why is that?” I respond. After all, at a smooth and stacked 5 feet 10 inches—with a penchant for heels—I find that most men I match with online aren’t even at my eye level, let alone taller. I figure…
