black women

  • Shedding Light on Reproductive Health: Understanding Adenomyosis

    U.K. native Kat François, 44, is a reputable performance artist, writer and playwright, best known for her televised appearances on the BBC3 Poetry Slam Championships in 2004 and the World Poetry Slam Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 2005. But despite her accolades and extensive global résumé, we initially found ourselves bonding over our reproductive-health…

  • Celebrating Ourselves: A Toast to #TeamNatural

    The year 2017 was a good year for black hair. Solange did the absolute most, impressing us with African-inspired avant-garde hairstyles. Then there was Erykah Badu—aka “Sara Bellum,” aka “Fat Belly Bella,” aka “Medulla Oblongata,” aka “Low Down Loretta Brown,” aka “Analogue Girl in a Digital World”—who pushed all the way through in what she…

  • If Mark Ruffalo’s ‘God Is a Black Woman’ Tweet Were a Marvel Movie

    In “America must be in sweeps season” news, Doug Jones won the Alabama Senate seat in a special election over a homophobic alleged pedophile. Woop-woop, decency for the win! It was readily apparent that, similar to what happened in the election that brought the circus peanut in chief to the presidential seat, black women did…

  • Black Women and Sexuality: Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t

    On Thursday night, I was looking at the Facebook post that linked to my column on raunchy twerk anthems. As I do on our main site, I like to engage with the readers in the comments. As I read through what people were saying, I noticed a disturbing pattern: A great number of men were…

  • Judge of Characters: Black Women Make the World a Better Place

    I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Trust black women—well, except Omarosa Manigault Newman and Stacey Dash. But in general, black women will not steer you wrong. Ninety-eight percent of black women voted for Doug Jones in Alabama, and yes, black men showed up at the polls, too, against Roy Moore, with 93…

  • Washington, DC’s Only Public Hospital Just Decided to Close Its Maternity Ward

    In a closed-session vote Wednesday, the board of Washington, D.C.’s only public hospital decided to close its nursery and delivery rooms. As the Washington Post reports, now the women of Southeast D.C. (which is predominantly black and low-income) have even fewer maternal-health options. Not only is the decision potentially devastating to pregnant women in Southeast,…

  • For Colored Girls Who Have Considered the Barbershop When the Beauty Salon Was Tew Much

    With the rise of the natural-hair movement, women choosing to wear their hair closely cropped and the growing variety of natural hairstyles, black women are beginning to consider the neighborhood barbershop a viable option. Along with the black church, the lady who sells “plates” out of her kitchen and the neighborhood Food and Drug Administration-unapproved…

  • Feeling Good, Finally? Nina Simone’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Is a Bittersweet Victory

    In the world of women in music, there are queens, princesses, first ladies and even a duchess—but there has only ever been one high priestess of soul: Nina Simone. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced today that Nina Simone will be among 2018’s group of inductees—which includes rock bands Bon Jovi, Dire Straits,…

  • Y’all Don’t Deserve Black Women

    One thing is certain. Y’all don’t deserve black women. On Tuesday the Alabama Senate race took place. Roy Moore, a repugnant alleged serial child molester who believes that women should not have the right to vote, civil rights should be scrapped and slavery was lit, lost by a hair. Doug Jones, Moore’s opponent, was carried…

  • I Am Not Your Token: What Rihanna Taught Us This Week About ‘Diversity’ Casting 

    This week, one lucky Rihanna fan got an impromptu lesson in tokenism—from the star herself—after they suggested that she include transgender women in her next Fenty Beauty campaign. The new beauty mogul, who rocked the cosmetics industry this past September with her full-spectrum beauty launch, responded kindly and clearly on why even the question was…