This article first appeared on AlterNet and is reprinted by permission. In it's republishing we hope to empower and discuss many valid emotions in the aftermath regarding the latest news on the "mistrial" of the police murder of Walter Scott. While Scott's specific case is not discussed, the anger, upset and processing is a place we find ourselves. At the Socialism 2015 … [Read more...]
10 Defensive Reactions to White Privilege That Make No Damn Sense – But Are Super Common
This article originally appeared in EverydayFeminism.com and is reprinted by permission. I know it probably makes me a weirdo to want to talk about white privilege so much, but I actually enjoy conversations on this topic – even with people who disagree with me. Sure, these conversations can get heated, uncomfortable, and downright aggravating. But they’re also … [Read more...]
Asian Eyes: Westernized Beauty Standards and Asian Identity
When I set forth to write something on Westernized beauty standards and Asian identity, my ideas kept circling back to the one topic I was the most hesitant to write about. For myriads of reasons, that topic is a complex issue. It has defined my life in deep-rooted ways. It has a multifaceted history in the world, as well as in my own life. It has always been my greatest source … [Read more...]
Maybe There Are No Good Cops?
This article was originally published on TheRoot.com and is republished with permission. In the wake of the police-shooting deaths of Terence Crutcher, Tyre King, Keith Lamont Scott and (insert the name of the next victim here), there will undoubtedly be quickly assembled news panels with ex-cops and former police officials regurgitating the same stale arguments. As they … [Read more...]
7 Things History Class Should Have Taught Every US American About Indigenous History
The history of people indigenous to the North American continent is often glossed over in education. We are badgered with the legend of Native benevolence to the pilgrims who landed on the east coast on Thanksgiving. If Indigenous history is covered, students are likely to hear a tragic but vague narrative of massacre, disease, and death, a narrative devoid of the … [Read more...]
In Solidarity: How Non-Black Women of Color Stand Upon the Shoulders of Black Women
I am a woman of color, and I am an intersectional feminist. These terms of identity were both coined by black women. “Intersectionality theory” is a concept named by scholar and professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, first discussed in her 1989 treatise “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and … [Read more...]
7 Things My Unruly, Curly Hair Taught Me About Being Unapologetically Latinx
Take up space, in all of the loud ways. Growing up, people would always asked me about my hair, about my skin, about my eyes, about my mother, about my grandmother. Anti-blackness would prompt these questions to become inquiries, attempting to trace back lineage beyond dialogue, and into imaginary stories that may have been true or may have not. In their eyes, my hair … [Read more...]
5 Ways You Can Respond to Racism While Online Dating
Online dating has become less of a taboo over the past few years. With society’s rising dependence on technology and social media, it was only a matter of time before we collectively became more comfortable with the idea of meeting our potential soulmates and friends with benefits’ online and/or on our phones. For some of us, it’s even become fun. There are bars that … [Read more...]
Afro-Latino: 6 Women Open Up About Being Black And Latina
This article was originally published by Vibe.com and is republished with permission. “We got a little bit of black in us!” is what the Puerto Ricans that I grew up around in the South Bronx used to joke. The idea that blackness was something beyond skin color never made much sense back then. But the older I got, the more I realized how prevalent those African roots were in my … [Read more...]
Being Biracial: Figuring Out Where is Home
My ancestry manifests in me as the aftermath of an ongoing battle. My body is the convergence of bloodlines that span continents, my heritage is layered and not cleanly, textured with palimpsest and patina. I am dual, simultaneous. I encompass the oppressor and oppressed, the privileged and the disenfranchised. I am mixed. Specifically, I am mixed POC and white. This … [Read more...]
5 Things I Learned as a White Person After Visiting a Southern Plantation Dedicated to Slavery
Content warning: description of life under enslavement In February, my partner and I took our first-ever trip to New Orleans, Louisiana during the city’s festive Mardi Gras season. It was an incredible experience, but the most impactful part of our visit by far was our day trip to the Whitney Plantation. Located about an hour’s drive outside New Orleans in the … [Read more...]
When is it #TimesUp for White Women Who Don’t Recognize Black Women’s Boundaries?
This article was originally published on BlackYouthProject.com and is reposted with permission. I’m not a touchy-feely person. Like most humans, I appreciate having a say in whose fingers touch me, if I can help it. On New York City subways this seems almost impossible. But even when subways are crowded, it’s easy to notice people moving their bodies awkwardly to make sure … [Read more...]
Black And Undocumented: 5 Ways We Can Stop Erasing Black Folk from Conversations Around Immigration
“Stay away from Bobby’s Department store over in Brooklyn. There are ICE agents over there rounding Caribbean people up.” Messages like this began circulating in my social media sphere around February. Since then, legislators and law enforcement have disproved these reports. There have been no official ICE sweeps in the area. However, the fear and anxiety that enabled these … [Read more...]
10 Depictions of Asian Culture That Uphold Racist Sexual Violence
Last week, I published an article, Not Your ‘Geisha Doll:’ We Need to Talk About & Not Around Racist Sexual Violence, describing my experience with racist sexual violence. Today, I'd like to explain how stereotypes we commonly see of Asian cultures and people perpetuate this type of violence and uphold white supremacy. By the time I was twenty years old, I lost count of … [Read more...]
