Black Girl Times

Our blog offers Black creatives a platform to discuss their experiences and those of southern Black girls and young women (in particular but not exclusively) on The Lighthouse’s website. Through this project, creatives use writing, photography and other mediums to underscore the organization’s mission, further elevating those voices on matters ranging from reproductive justice to music, economic justice to pop culture.

Editorial Team

Natalie A. Collier

Editor in chief

Maya Miller 

Senior Editor

Mabel Neal

Deputy Editor

Joecephus Martin

Creative Director

Rose Parkman Marshall

Copy Editor

Jelisa Harvey

Editorial Assistant

Margaree Jackson

Social Media Specialist

Ashlee Kelly

Contributor

Perdita Patrice

Contributor

July 1, 2020

Power and Liberation in Creativity

What if we gave ourselves permission to be creative? To dream big and find innovative ways to deliver on those dreams in support of young Black women and girls in the Deep South?In an effort to provide time and space to young Black women and girls in ways that empower them to grow into their...
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June 30, 2020

Five Year Anniversary of Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly”

On those silent nights I’ve spent vamping until 2 a.m. during the frightening times of COVID-19, there’s a certain 90s classic by acclaimed southern rap duo OutKast titled “Spottieottiedopalicious” that remains in my Youtube search history for a quick and satisfying calm. Its ornamented production switching between subtle horn lines to psychedelic guitars delivers a...
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June 27, 2020

Pa’ la cultura: Cuban Cultural Promoter Creates Cuban Rap Festival

Havana, Cuba: June 27, 1995 – Rodolfo Rensoli, hip-hop artist, and cultural promoter, nervously prepared for the first–ever Cuban Rap Festival. There had never been a collective space for Cuban hip-hop artists to share their messages to the masses due to earlier government restrictions on the genre. Once the event began, Rensoli was filled with hope. The turnout exceeded his expectations.  Hailing from a family of educators, Rensoli is a firm believer that every human being...
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June 18, 2020

Georgia Democracy Buckles, but Likely Stronger Than Ever 

Democracy was underway in the few states that held primaries this month. In one state, however, it nearly sputtered to a halt.   “We are deeply disturbed by widespread reports of malfunctioning machines, long lines, polling sites that opened late and insufficient numbers of back up paper ballots in Georgia,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director...
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June 17, 2020

COVID-19’s Impact on Young Black College-Age Women in the Americas

No one imagined this year we would be experiencing a global pandemic. No one guessed the toll COVID-19 would take on Black girls and women. No one imagined that colleges would be virtual for the rest of the semester and graduations would be celebrated virtually. Yet, it happened. There are many stories about how COVID-19...
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June 9, 2020

Questions of Comfort, Perfection and Wellness

I heard about Natalie Collier and The Lighthouse | Black Girl Projects several months prior to actually sitting with her in her office in downtown Jackson. I remember the nervousness I felt as I walked into one of the few safe places I knew of curated unambiguously for Black girls and women. How could I...
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June 3, 2020

Saying Something

It seemed irresponsible not to say anything on our next staff call, but I didn’t know what to say, so I’d been vacillating. Then our senior staff reporter sent a text and asked if we—he wouldn’t write it, he noted—should have an editorial response to the most recent murders of Black folks. Here again, we probably should...
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June 2, 2020

Plugged In and Connected

Like many of you, near the end of Spring Break, I received the first of many emails from the school district regarding its decision to remain closed for an additional week in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Within a matter of days, the precautionary closure turned into a statewide mandate for all...
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May 29, 2020

Impoverished K-12 Students Head into Next Year Missing Pivotal Building Blocks

Young students all over Mississippi and the South are celebrating their high school graduation under the shadow of COVID-19. Schools have taken to breaking up graduation ceremonies into multi-day events in order to keep participation low and reduce the risk of spreading the deadly disease. Clinton High School, for example, broke their celebration into 19...
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May 29, 2020

Resting While Black

I am coming to accept that the Hot Girl Summer I was looking forward to might become an extended season of self-isolation, or maybe some parody of The Purge where people fight over packages of toilet paper, while neglecting the soap and disinfectant aisles altogether (as if that isn’t part of the reason we’re in...
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May 26, 2020

The Girls Are Not Alright

If your life is anything like many of us who work at The Lighthouse, whenever your phone buzzes lately, it’s one of a few things: someone looking to start a conversation with “WYD?,” a question about work, (despite the fact you have some intra-office communication medium, like Microsoft Teams), or the “Do you have time...
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May 15, 2020

Black Businesses in the Red | When Equity Meets History

It doesn’t take any real level of scholarship to understand Mississippi has struggled with equity since it was granted statehood more than two centuries ago. That trend has continued with the state’s latest—and honestly feeble—attempt to address the disproportionate economic and social toll the COVID-19 pandemic is exacting on Black Mississippians, who represent nearly 40...
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May 15, 2020

Quarantine, Eat Fruit Snacks and Chill

When the COVID-19 quarantine started, I thought “How hard could this be?” This time last year, I was concerned about the lack of time I was spending with Alex, my 2-year-old daughter. I was trapped in a cycle of work, sleep, repeat. Although at the beginning of sheltering in place, I would be home with...
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May 11, 2020

Federal Government Pulling Protection from School Campus Sexual Assault Victims

The U.S. Department of Education, under Education Secretary Betsy Devos, is rolling back Obama-era rules to the nationwide Title IX program that will make it even harder for women to report incidents of rape and sexual assault to campus supervisors. “Title IX” is a federal civil rights law passed as a component of several amendments in...
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April 25, 2020

GOP Governors Charge Ahead with Reopening States Despite Health Warnings

Two years after barely defeating his Black Democratic opponent, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is opening his state for business amid a deadly pandemic. Atlanta residents, frankly, are not amused. “I can’t understand where this (eagerness) is coming from considering we’re unable to properly distance ourselves from our clients,” said Linda Sharp, owner of Lark &...
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