black writers
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A Read on Our Style: Constance C.R. White Presents How to Slay
Constance C.R. White’s new book, How to Slay: Inspiration From the Kings & Queens of Black Style, is well worth the read. White, an award-winning journalist who has served as editor of the New York Times Style section, Elle, Essence and, most recently, Zinc magazine, has now set her sights on documenting something unquantifiable and…
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The Best Book Club You’ll Ever Join: The Free Black Women’s Library Places Us Front and Center
It’s the weekend, and all I want to do is curl up with a good book and be transported to another realm. Instead, I’m curled up with my laptop this fine Saturday afternoon, editing and writing blogs for The Glow Up. But there’s definite gratification in writing about an amazing project like the Free Black…
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Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart Is a Loving Look at the Legacy of Lorraine Hansberry
I wanted to be able to come here and speak with you on this occasion because you are young, gifted and black. … I, for one, can think of no more dynamic combination that a person might be. … And that is why I say to you that, though it be a thrilling and marvelous…
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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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Dear White People Who Write Things: Here's How To Write About Beyonce's Lemonade
Yesterday, to culminate one of the two or three Blackest weeks of my lifetime, Beyonce debuted Lemonade, a beautiful, haunting, brilliant, and Black as all the fucks hour-long visual rendering of her new album. The album, also titled Lemonade, was made available on Tidal (sigh) when the film concluded. Naturally, this film and the album dominated pop culture last…
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Why Would NY Mag Hire A White Writer To Write On The President's Relationship With Black People?
Before I read the first sentence of a new story published by New York Magazine entitled “The Paradox of the First Black President,” I ran a Google search of the author’s name, Jennifer Senior. I’ve seen her byline before, as I am a regular reader of the publication, so I didn’t doubt her credentials, and…