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Black Women are amazing, FYI

Travel Blogs/Vlogs by black women?

Recommend any travel blogs/vlogs by black women? looking to get my travel on, but want to see some experiences other black women have had abroad.

follow, share, read and enjoy!

Can we kill the narrative that bisexual black men, or "down low", are the ones giving black women HIV/AIDS. how about a large part comes from straight men having multiple sexual partners, disregard their sexual orientation. 

Waiting...

waiting has become the problem for many black women. waiting for a black man, now that can be a lifetime. growing up i was taught, through my parents and relatives, that i as a black woman was to wait for a black woman. i was taught, whether my parents did it on purpose or it is something subconscious, that as a black woman i was not to abandon black men in any shape, form, or fashion. i was also to wait for a black man to show up and "settle down" with. but what if i don't want to wait. looking back, and in discussions with other black women, i do believe that is detrimental to many black women. through my eyes it made it seem as if black men were the only options for black women, and that we were to wait for our only opportunity at a shot at "mariage". why should we have to wait? why can't we be the leader of our own search for partnership? 

idk this was really random, an di had to get it off my chest. 

Beyoncé's handwritten letter to First Lady Obama!

i'm proud to have 2 positive black women disproving all the negative stereotypes about black women, while being successful at the same time. 

An observation...

So today in my Caribbean Women's Studies class we discussed African descended women's hair. The professor tapped a white female student in our class to present and discuss black women's hair, professionalism, the child's perspective, and history. I was a bit confused. The class was filled with black women who would have been better to discuss and analyze the topic, not only bring in research but actual experience. (Not to mention the presenter used Tyra's episode about black hair, which was a hot mess that did not get to the roots of the issues.) I give her credit for trying to discuss the topic, but it was wrong from the get go (besides the fact she was misinformed on a few things). I just don't know...

found this floating on twitter, enjoy. 

Wendy Williams, Natural Hair, and knowing when to STFU.

Wendy, Wendy, Wendy. i try to give you the benefit of the doubt every time i hear you said something reckless, being that you are the only black woman in daytime television since Auntie Oprah chucked the deuces. You continually attack other black women from Beyoncé to Janet Jackson, and Whitney Houston (which you have backpedalled since her passing). You are always attacking people on your show, but this time YOU DONE MESSED UP. Viola Davis, looked amazing! You hear me? AMAZING. FYI, You could never. Back to the topic at hand, you openly bashed her coice to wear her natural hair. i understand that black women have options, and are not obligated to wear their hair in its natural state but must we bash one another for making a choice about our own hair? no one says anything about that dog that sits 3 inches off of your hair, you know why? because it makes you happy and you enjoy. now why can't you do the same with Viola and let her cherish the moment that black damn near never get to have. everyone else policies our damn hair, but do we need to do it one another as black women?

Next time just cross your legs and keep it and on mute. 

New documentary on black women's hair. 

Black Women and the Black Women We Don't Get.

I came across an article recently that described the various reasons why a lot of sistas do not like Solange. The main focus of the article was the fact that Solange is the epitome of the anti-Black girl. In other words she is the essence of what a lot of Black females are not. She does not try to fit in and wear the same fashion, she walks around with colorful feathers and platform shoes, shaves her head damn near bald when hair is an important key to beauty in the African American community. I am an African American women who has also been ostracized during different periods in my lifetime for my being different so I am aware that uniqueness is something that is not always embraced by other African American women. Why is that? Why do we as Black women attack each other for not fitting into the boxes with limits that we often times create for ourselves? It is as if a sista being different from you is cause for anger. “She is always TRYING to be weird. She makes me sick!”. How does someone try to be weird? Why is it not possible that she is being herself, and that self is something different from what you are accustomed to from a peer? Especially when, in all actuality, her life would be much easier if she assimilated in with her peers. She would more than likely be accepted and free from judgment or ridicule.

There are a few reasons why a unique sister could be considered villainous. One being is what I previously mentioned earlier. Other sistas feel that she is being “weird” on purpose in order to draw attention to herself. Women hate to see other women purposely acting out to garner more attention their way. Since some women compete over attention. This seems to be natural to them and is a concept that is not new and is one that will go on until the end of time. Another reason is that people in general hate things that they cannot figure out. People like to place things and people into categories. By itemizing things/people it helps us to understand them. If something or someone does not fit into the box you prepare for them or what you perceive to be “normal” then that causes confusion for us. Think about how the first Europeans viewed the Africans when they first encountered them. They were confused by their differences in features, complexion, and language. They were something they had never experienced before. Immediately they saw them as a threat. Why is this person acting this way? I cannot figure them out. Now I’m mad and annoyed with them. Lastly, when a sista is being different from the majority then somehow it is assumed that she thinks she is better or more “special” than others. She obviously must think that she is special in some way if she insists on dressing differently from us, acting differently, wearing her hair differently from the majority.

I personally have spent years of my younger life, crying, trying to completely fit in. Feeling lonely and misunderstood by the same people that I yearned for acceptance from. My fellow sistas. Wondering what I was doing that made me be ostracized by my peers/family members. Why was I being called a weirdo by my own cousins? For years I have tried to alter my clothes, feelings, and artistic behavior in the hopes of fitting in with the majority to no avail. I grew up in an urban environment and being unique and artistic was not cool. Whatever complexities I had within my personality needed to be concealed. Even when I tried to alter my behavior I never completely fit in. When I finally did start to feel as though I belonged, something inside me never allowed me to be settled. I could be myself, but only to an extent. I had to hold back many of my likes and or dislikes to assure that I kept my place within my peers. I had to assimilate. I could not say certain things because for sure they would laugh at some of my thoughts. Would they get my off kilter sense of humor? My sarcasm? My artistic behavior? Would they “get” me? When I did allow parts of my true self to squeeze out, it immediately was criticized and picked apart and never fully understood, which made me shut down even more. God forbid I expressed that I liked something that wasn’t the norm for a inner city Black female. Suddenly, I was acting “white” or being “crazy”. I spent the majority of my highschool years and early 20’s, fitting in to an extent but never completely being myself. Sadly, my female peers were my primary jurors. To this day It seems as if sista’s more so than brothas have a problem with other sistas expressing themselves uniquely. Women are harder on other women and quicker to judge and pick apart each other.

This brings me to my adult life, where I try my damnedest to be myself in every capacity. To not give a damn about the opinions of others. To do what makes me happy as long as I am not hurting those around me. Even if it sometimes ostracizes me from my present peers. Those sistas who get me, I appreciate them and in return try to understand them as well. Those sistas who do not get me and rather refer to me as weird or being too different or artistic for their tastes, I accept them as well. I also keep it moving with a smile on my face. I say all this to bring my point back to Solange. I wonder did she too try to assimilate with her peers and ultimately give up? I could only imagine that being the younger sister of a icon did not help her case. Solange and sistas like her have learned for themselves to be happy with oneself. Even if no one else is. The next time you come across a sista with Solange-esque qualities and you feel that she is too different for words, reserve your judgment and hostility. Different does not always equal bad.

from clutch magazine

The Ladies of The View discuss the NYC ad that states that the Most Dangerous place for an African American Child is in the Womb.