Black liberation, covid diaries, Dance, In the News, Resilience, self-love, Social Justice, What is the work
I spent more than a year developing the Black Womanhood (Re-)Affirmation Project. Writing down what I wanted it to be, conducting interviews and surveys to find out if anyone else wanted the same thing, testing out an online course, and finally reconciling what I...
Feminism, Gender, In the News, Pop Culture, Race, Rape culture, Trigger warning
More specifically, these are questions I thought of after talking about the Lifetime documentary series “Surviving R. Kelly,” to a Black man who thinks protecting his 3 daughters is enough to stop a system of predatory behavior against Black girls and to counter his...
Black Lives Matter, Feminism, Gender, History, In the News, Race, Reproductive Justice, Social Justice, Tyranny
Upon the news of Justice Kennedy’s retirement, I, like most other freedom-loving people I know, fell into despair. Others were quick to remind those of us falling into the abyss that Black folks have endured and survived circumstances infinitely worse than what...
![Cause of [Erica’s] Death](https://www.mariamwilliams.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Screen-Shot-2017-12-30-at-11.07.57-PM-930x675.png)
Black Lives Matter, In the News, Race, Social Justice, Trigger warning, Tyranny
Update, Dec. 30, 2017: Erica Garner died early Saturday, Dec. 30. A family spokesperson announced news of her passing via her official Twitter account. Erica Garner, 27, a well-known activist and daughter of the late Eric Garner, suffered brain damage following a...
Best Of, Black Love, Feminism, History, In the News, Pleasure, Race, Religion Faith and Spirituality, Sex, Social Justice, Tyranny, Writing Intimacy
For two weeks after the election, I wrote nothing. I was enrolled in two writing workshops for my MFA, and I wrote nothing. I submitted a poem I had written over the summer and didn’t bother to revise for my poetry workshop that week. The following week, I skipped my...
Best Of, Feminism, In the News, Pleasure, Rape culture, Trigger warning, Yes Means Yes
In a recent interview on All Things Considered, Vanessa Grigoriadis, author of Blurred Lines: Rethinking Sex, Power, and Consent on Campus, talked with NPR about Betsy DeVos’s recent decision to roll back the Obama Administration’s Title IX guidelines on how colleges...
Best Of, Black Love, In the News, Pleasure, Race, Sex, Tyranny
Like many people, I spent most of Saturday at my computer and on my phone reading and re-tweeting updates about the white supremacists who had descended upon Charlottesville, Virginia. My emotions ranged from anger to sadness to disgust. And try as I do to promote...
Best Of, In the News, Pop Culture, Rape culture, Trigger warning
*Trigger warning* The week of August of 15, my news feed was filled with damning articles and opinions about Nate Parker and support of his acclaimed film Birth of a Nation, now that news has resurfaced of a rape he was acquitted of 15 years ago. As I interrogated my...
Best Of, Black Lives Matter, In the News, Race, Social Justice, Trigger warning
Originally published June 20, 2015 I’m willing to let this one go. Earlier this month, Louisville Metro Police Officer Nathan Blanford shot Deng Manyoun, a Sudanese refugee, after Manyoun attacked him with a flag pole. Though I do believe, can envision, can imagine,...
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