by: Toni A. Wilson, Director of Culture & Narrative Shift This past weekend, Simone Biles, Olympic medalist and one of the greatest gymnasts in history, married the love of her life, NFL player Justin Owens, and quickly changed all of her social media handles to “Simone Biles Owens.”…

by: Nia Oden McCann, Social Work Manager The WNBA kicked off their 27th season this month. As a little girl, I remember watching the NY Liberty play at Madison Square Garden and dreaming of what it would be like to play in the WNBA one day! At the time, unbeknownst…

What Adults Don’t Understand About Our Mental Health By: Zeltzin (she/her), YWAC youth organizer A voice rang out above the noise, “Did everyone get a chance to review the packet?” Huddled around tables in small groups, organizers were speaking in nervous whispers, deciding who would speak and when and what…

by Toni A. Wilson, Director of Culture & Narrative Shift Society believes Black girls can just disappear. People believe no one is coming to look for the Black girl. They believe Black girls are invisible. So when I tell you 300,000 women and girls are reportedly missing in America, and…

by: Momy S., YWAC Organizer Would you like me to speak softer? Be less angry? Less violent? Would you like me to stand in the shadow of men to be culturally accepted? Would that make you feel better? You think I look better when I straighten my hair. When I…

by: Heaven Peoples & Damala Denny, Manager of Youth & Alumni Organizing (GGE) Last week, organizers across the country collaborated on the fight to stop “Cop City” — a project in Atlanta, supported by influential corporations and the Atlanta Police Foundation to build a mock city in the Weelaunee forest…

by: Toni A. Wilson, Director of Culture & Narrative Shift (GGE) Angela Bassett didn’t smile. Nor did she clap. She didn’t fake it. She instead sat in her disappointment, and presumably, in her exhaustion. She didn’t give white Oscar viewers her well wishes but instead chose to recognize the injustice…

On July 3rd, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the CROWN Act into state law. The CROWN Act, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, prohibits discrimination based on hair style and texture for the first time in California, making it the first state in…

by: Naomi Lilly, Director of Marketing & Storytelling for Girls for Gender Equity (GGE) The late Claudia Tate was known for her profound literary criticism and her ability to exceed “the normative “protocols,” as she termed them, of literature, scholarship, and race”. In her novel, “Black Women Writers at Work,”…