culture
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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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Ebony Responds to #EbonyOwes as Writers Reveal Their Stories
Ebony has responded to the growing criticism that it doesn’t pay the mostly black freelance writers whose works actually make the magazine. On Wednesday, Jagger Blaec penned an article for The Root that followed up on a piece she’d written for The Establishment. A number of writers have since stepped out of the shadows and…
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Layoffs Weren’t Invented Yesterday
ESPN laid off about 100 people Wednesday, in what seemed like the end of the world, if you followed the news unfolding on social media. These 100 people, who probably had over-six-figure salaries, were on-air commentators with huge followings and probably even bigger severances. Sure, it’s horrible when one loses a job he or she…
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From A Different World to Dear White People: Meet the Black-TV-Series Whisperer, Yvette Lee Bowser
“We’re all storytellers,” Yvette Lee Bowser said to me during our chat after I asked her how she battles creative blockages. She went on: “Writer’s block only exists when trying to figure out specifically how you’re going to tell the story. I never feel a dearth of stories to tell or characters of whom to…
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Meet the Supernova Women, Trailblazers for Equity in the Cannabis Industry
Although diverse communities in cannabis are growing, for black and brown women, the old adage rings true: “All the women are white, all the blacks are men, but some of us are brave.” Supernova Women is turning that reality on its head. Founded in 2015 by three black and one multiracial woman, the Oakland, Calif.-based…
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6-Year-Old Creates Coloring Book Series to Teach About Black Indigenous Cultures Around the World
A 6-year-old girl and her mother have created a coloring book that educates young children about black indigenous cultures around the world while exploring the histories of native-born black people in Africa and America. Vanae James-Bey and her mother, Veronica Bey, are originally from Florida but now live in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. They told…
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TV One Announces Future Bobbi Kristina Documentary, Other Standouts
It’s been almost two years since the tragic death of Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of two R&B titans, and TV One is planning a made-for-TV movie about her brief, 22 years of life in the spotlight. The teaser clip from the film Bobbi Kristina, set to debut this summer, was one of the many…
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All of Us or None: Historic Drug-Reform Gathering Centers Community and Healing [Retracted]
RETRACTED (6/12/18): This story has been removed because we have discovered it was in breach of our editorial standards. If you’d like to know more, you can read an editor’s note here. A cached version of the story is available here for transparency.
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As #EbonyOwes Trends, Writers Wonder if Ebony Magazine Will Ever Pay Up
Ebony magazine is a legend, a legacy brand that many grew up reading. It’s respected, it’s loved. But unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be paying its writers, and Ebony’s current owners appear to have one view (that everyone will be paid) that goes contrary to reality (people waiting months, even years, for payment). When the…