Whether we choose to twist it, press it, Afro it or lock it, few topics ignite friendships or frictions among Black women faster than how we choose to wear our hair. What’s usually a matter of preference or practicality for women of other ethnicities, the style choices of African-Americans are often a meld of the… Continue reading Rene Syler: Relating To & Moderating at 2012’s “Nappiology Inc.” Expo, DMN Version
Category: DMN Briefing Columns
Weekly published columns that appear in Friday’s paper version of Briefing and online @dallasnews.com/local voices, make sure you check for the new ones on Saturdays to add your .02 :)
The Right Woman + Good Man + Daughters = Former Playa
Several years ago, after we’d been dating for a few months, my boyfriend Calvin and I decided that our relationship had developed enough to reach the next milestone: Meeting the Folks. The fact that we were in our thirties and included my son on dates didn’t diminish the butterflies I felt in wanting to make… Continue reading The Right Woman + Good Man + Daughters = Former Playa
Sexist Or Supportive? Deborrah Cooper’s Book Examines The “Black Church”
It’s a social phenomenon and statistical reality that became a controversial catalyst for blog posts and news outlets across the nation: Why do most single women in the United States happen to be black? The subsequent scrutiny of the issue did little to dispel the facts: 2010’s U.S. Census found that African-American women represented the… Continue reading Sexist Or Supportive? Deborrah Cooper’s Book Examines The “Black Church”
Nina Simone: Biopic’s Tone-Deaf Casting Choice Belittles Her Blackness
Although she’s been gone now for nearly a decade, the legend and the legacy of entertainer Nina Simone remains alive and well, thanks to that hypnotic and velvety alto, her ability to transcend musical boundaries and the way she used her lyrics and celebrity status to denounce racism at the height of the Civil Rights… Continue reading Nina Simone: Biopic’s Tone-Deaf Casting Choice Belittles Her Blackness
Girls Will Be Women, But Should ALSO Become Ladies
She was tall, thin and matronly, with cat’s-eye glasses and a helmet of salt-and-pepper curls. Her name was Lola Garrison, and she was my sixth-grade teacher. A sweet, soft-spoken woman who rarely raised her voice, Mrs. Garrison once chastised a flip-at-the-lip female classmate of mine by uttering, in a sharp tone that she rarely… Continue reading Girls Will Be Women, But Should ALSO Become Ladies