Almost everyone has an Anita Hill story. Some of us remember exactly where we were when that theater of sex, race and gender called a “hearing” was broadcast in primetime. […]
Author: Jennifer Williams
Melissa Harris-Perry on Shame-Inducing Stereotypes of Black Women
At a time when far too much of the public discourse about black women is either dooming us to eternal spinsterhood or “proving” our unattractiveness through racist pseudoscience, Melissa Harris-Perry’s […]
Why I’m Not Looking Forward To The Help
I picked up a copy of Kathryn Stockett’s bestselling novel The Help at an airport bookstore. I figured the four-hour flight to Texas would be enough time to absorb 544 […]
Rape Is Still Rape, And No Still Means NO!
It took filmmaker and activist Aishah Shahidah Simmons 13 years to fund, produce, direct and release her inspirational and defiant NO! The Rape Documentary. NO! brings together archival footage, testimonies […]
bell hooks speaks!
Last fall, after blogger Gina Ulysse lamented the public silence of acclaimed scholar and feminist icon bell hooks, the Ms. Blog hosted “bell hooks week,” inviting writers to reflect on […]
Will Gay Ugandan’s Death Save Lesbian Ugandan’s Life?
On January 28, just two days after the brutal murder of Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato, the United Kingdom’s high court granted another Ugandan, lesbian asylum seeker Brenda Namigadde, […]
Remembering the Black Panther Party, This Time with Women
“What we remember about the [Black Panther Party] is sort of like ‘sexy black men with guns,’” Tanya Hamilton (left), writer and director of the Indie Spirit Award-nominated new film […]
For Colored Boys Who Have Survived Sexual Abuse, Is “For Colored Girls” Enuf?
On November 5, Oprah Winfrey aired the first of a two-part episode on male survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Two hundred men stood in the audience, each holding a photograph […]