I thought Crohn’s was why I hated my body. Instead, it showed me how liberating loving Black bodies can be
Escape is little more than retreat, but Liberation is the creation of something you don’t need to escape from.
Why Black people need to explore intimacy within our friendships & non-sexual relationships
White supremacy and cis-heteropatriarchy encourage us to have selective distributions of intimacy, touch and care that are reserved specifically for our sexual partners and family members.
If “interracial dating” isn’t influenced by white supremacy, why does it imply a white partner?
For many POC, “interracial” dating is more often than not about scoring a white partner, in an attempt to liken oneself toward a more legible humanity
“He didn’t have to hit her tho”: The ‘Beale Street’ slap scene & loving Black women who hurt us
How do so many Black women love violent Black men without reciprocating violence themselves, but can't get that love in return? How do we normalize care strategies for Black women who hurt us?
Misogynoir wants me to feel ashamed for being single today. Here’s how I’m refusing
I refuse to blame myself for the inability of others to see the many gifts I have to offer.
No one is obligated to remain: Consent, agency & supporting loved ones who want to let go
Are the ones we “love†able to choose death, or is our relationship with them about ownership, possession and obligation? If it is, we are not allowed living or dying as our full selves.
“We’ve never been this close”: Why I needed to capture Black brotherly intimacy in these photos
Filmmaker Emir Fils-Aime and Music Producer Anthony Avery photographed by Gioncarlo Valentine. “Black men loving Black men is THE revolutionary act.” - Marlon Riggs Gioncarlo A few months ago I asked two friends to sit for a series of portraits so…
On suicide, depression and loving Black children
By Gioncarlo Valentine “Where do you go when the pain of staying is stronger than that of leaving?”- Joel Leon I recently happened across a story that shook me into a state of genuine despair. A woman named Marisa Harris,…
‘The Big Sick’s disgusting treatment of women of color illuminates the violence of “colorblind” love
By Aisha Mirza To be clear, I am not a fool, and therefore my expectations were not sky-high for a movie about heteronormative interracial love written by Kumail Nanjiani, a Pakistani comedian, and his white wife Emily Gordon. There were…
My body is a Black only space: choosing Black Love as resistance
By Arielle Iniko Newton Editor’s Note: This piece is specifically about interracial relationships and marriages between Black people and white partners for reasons that are the author’s own. When I was younger, I was determined to marry a white man…
