From the ‘Zola’ movie trailer to Lil Nas X’s controversial video, here’s what’s been going on in the world this week!
We’re ranking current events on a scale of 0 to 100! Who kept it 100 this week?
The poet and organizer reflects on writing, hoops, and relationships
Poet Mahogany L. Browne made her young adult novel debut in January with Chlorine Sky, a literary gift told in verse. Chock full of resonant Black girl childhood moments, Chlorine Sky is a coming-of-age story about the power and perils of a young friendship and the growing pains it takes to become self-aware and self-assured. We journey through it all with the book’s protagonist, Sky, a teen with mighty basketball skills trying to understand — and accept — who she is and who she is becoming as she experiences colorism and sexism. …
George Floyd deserves a different kind of justice
The Derek Chauvin trial will be one of the most consequential trials of our lifetime. The ex-police officer who casually drained George Floyd of his life while pressing his knee into his neck as (some of) the world watched in horror is a tragic sign of the times we live in. It was the ease in Chauvin’s face and the smug look of domination and cruelty that recalled the haunting truth about White America’s love affair with abusing Black people and publicly torturing Black bodies. …
April brings an Aries new moon, honesty in deal-making, and cleaning out the closets
As you’ve noticed, I took a bit of a break. This column began at the onset of the pandemic, and now that we’re a year in (whew!), I needed to switch it up by going from weekly to monthly. I hope you continue to enjoy the ’scopes!
Word for the month
Immerse yourself in the bounty and beauty of what currently exists.
Moons of the month
Don’t forget to record how you feel as the moon changes signs. In a month or two, you will see a pattern. Take note!
April 11: Aries new moon
April 26: Scorpio full moon
Summary of the month
As April begins, we’re on the edge of discovering what we’re really holding onto and why.
Stay alert on April 1, as people will…
Amerie isn’t afraid to follow her passions. While many know her for her beautiful voice, the Grammy-nominated singer is also making waves in the publishing world. She’s released a New York Times bestseller, Because You Love to Hate Me, and launched her own book club and popular YouTube channel. In 2018, she gave birth to her son, River, and she’s still in the studio getting ready to put out some new music!
Amerie can (and will!) do it all.
I’m unapologetic about being a woman who speaks her mind. And one who has never been willing to play someone else’s…
It’s okay if your edges aren’t laid.
When I was a small child, I spent every morning on the floor watching cartoons while my momma secured my hair in tight braids wound with hard plastic bobos and fastened with butterfly-shaped barrettes. All of my outfits were perfectly color-coordinated and pressed free of any wrinkles. I was explicitly told not to let anyone touch my hair and was repeatedly implored to stop picking up rocks and stuffing them in my pockets.
Presentability was instilled in me from an early age. All the women in my family know how to dress, and I was taught to take a lot…
From mint to rooibos to matcha, take the time to pour into yourself
I grew up on an island that remained a British colony until 1962, so of course tea was part of the ingrained routine of life. To break the fast in the morning? Tea. To calm your spirit after school or the workday? Tea. During the day as needed for a pick-me-up? You guessed it, tea! My mother is a born and raised tea fanatic, and she passed that energy along to me. There is no time of day that she won’t advise me to drink an “NCOT” as she calls it — a nice cup of tea.
“I don’t need…
Good advice for women from women
It’s been a bad week for Black love. Just a few days after learning that the love between rappers Saweetie and Quavo turned very icy (pun most definitely intended), car-seat relationship guru Derrick Jaxn revealed that he had been unfaithful to his wife, Da’Naia (and that he was selling a new book).
The internets immediately went into an uproar about everything from Jaxn’s audacity and betrayal of trust to his wife’s bonnet and checked-out demeanor in their confession video. It’s understandable why people are so outraged. This is a man who has built his entire career coaching women (Black women…
“The first time I picked up that camera, I thought, ‘Oh, okay. This is my tool. This is it.’” — Carrie Mae Weems
Carrie Mae Weems is widely considered to be one of the most influential contemporary artists of recent history. While she is best known for her photography, Weems also works in text, fabric, audio, digital images, and installation video. She’s a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship (or “Genius Grant”), the first Black woman to have a retrospective at the Guggenheim and has even been cited as an influence for Beyonce’s “Lemonade” visuals.
Weem’s work primarily features Black subjects…
The poet pens a book-length love letter to Black girls and women on our journey of discovery and healing
Spoken word artist and poet Jasmine Mans’ latest poetry collection, Black Girl, Call Home, is an invitation inside all the bitter and sweet moments that exist between the space of being a girl and being a woman. The crick in your neck after getting your hair washed in the kitchen sink. The sound of your colorful hair barrettes clacking against one another. The soggy feeling of your pillow after you’ve cried your eyes out after getting into it with your mother.
Some people might be familiar with the Newark, New Jersey, native’s work from her time as part of the…
