Black Girl Times

Our blog, Black Girl Times, offers Black creatives a platform to discuss their experiences and those of southern Black girls, women (in particular but not exclusively) and gender non-conforming people 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. Additionally, we share information important to our community and those, likewise, disenfranchised. We proudly say our aim is not to break news–there are people doing that. We want to ensure people in our communities know how the news in traditional media impacts their everyday lives.

Editorial Team

Natalie A. Collier

Editor in chief

LaTanya Lane

Managing Editor

Imani Spencer

Digital and Online Editor

Alexis Hicks

Engagement  Editor

Joecephus Martin

Creative Director

Sirita Render

Lead Graphic Designer

Rose Parkman Marshall

Special Projects Copy Editor

Haile Cole

Contributing Editor

Vernadette Barnes

Sykina Butts

Danielle Buckingham

Jammie Garrett 

Jessiree Jenkins  

Ashlee Kelly

Tysianna Marino 

Perdita Patrice

Ste’Aira Thomas

Contributors

Jelisa Harvey

Editorial Assistant

Lighthouse Staff

Contributors

 

 

 

July 16, 2021

Keep Reading | July Book Releases

Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation by John Lewis It’s been almost a year since Representative John Lewis transitioned from this life, but thanks to this collection of his final reflections we can still lean on his wisdom to create a bit of good trouble. In these pages, Lewis offers advice and inspiration for...
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July 13, 2021

My Daddy is a Friend of Mine

One of my favorite memories with my daddy is going to the beach at Lake Michigan in Chicago. We would walk on what we called “the rocks” – huge rock-like structures you could sit on – and watch the sunset. Every time we were there, I remember asking a bunch of questions, picking little pebbles...
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July 6, 2021

Who All Going to Be There???

When I think about attending a cookout nothing but pure joy comes to mind. Dancing, loud laughing, wonderful food, and fitting in without thinking about it. The scene from Poetic Justice with Tupac crashing by exclaiming ‘Cousin!’ is my leading thought. Many times, a cookout is a place we can just show up and share...
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July 4, 2021

I Pledge Allegiance

It’s about our priorities—what we pledge our allegiances to. If we say we are committed to supporting Black girls and women, buoying marginalized communities writ large, and creating an equitable society, that, by proxy, means we are also committed to destroying the power systems that uphold that. … even if we must sacrifice some luxuries.
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July 2, 2021

Where Can a Black Girl Feel Safe? Who’s to Say?

People often say children aren’t born knowing how to hate; adults teach them. There’s even a Nelson Mandela quote from his book, “Long Walk to Freedom,” where he drones on—no disparage intended—about no one being born hating another person. “People,” he writes, “must learn to hate. And if they can learn to hate, they can...
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June 29, 2021

Courtroom Kiki and the Dream of Self-Determination

In this world, our current world, male dominated, white supremacist structures are working to return women to the bondage that legal powerlessness brings. Nowhere is this clearer than in the fight for reproductive justice...In the care of a whole womxn, the goal must be access to reproductive justice, which encompasses access to abortion as well...
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June 23, 2021

Keep Listening and Learning | June Podcasts

This month while we’re talking about all things Black Culture through the lens of Blackity Black, then a Little Blacker. We’re listening to Black podcasts that top some of the most popular lists of pop culture, gossip, comedy, and Black and queer identity. As our editor put it, “In June, whatever is happening—that’s not news—is...
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June 22, 2021

My Blackity-Black Mixtape

It’s June, which is when Black Music Month is celebrated. I never need a reason to listen to music, so I just use this month to delve deep into my crates and curate new playlists. I decided to create a short list of songs that make my Blackness shine from the inside out. I picked...
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June 21, 2021

Talking Reparations Also Means Talking Climate Preparedness

President Joe Biden recently met with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) to try to hash together a deal on financing a massive rebuild of the nation’s ailing infrastructure, but time is running out for Biden and Democrats to overcome Republican efforts to tank a bipartisan deal. Critics say the GOP is hoping to sink the...
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June 18, 2021

Black Artists, Black Art | June

For June when the theme is Blackity Black, Then a Little Blacker, we are looking at artists whose focus on Black subjects provokes thought and defies expectations.
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June 17, 2021

Keep Watchin’ | June: Blackity Black, then a Little Blacker

June is Black Music Month! Juneteenth! Pride! BBQs! Father’s Day! A celebration of Black businesses! Here is a list of movies celebrating those themes – enjoy!
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June 4, 2021

Tell A Black Girl’s (COVID) Story

“Tell A Black Girl’s (COVID) Story” is a photo essay that seeks to tell a COVID story through the eyes of Black girls. The essay is part of the Lighthouse’s Stories of Resistance Project. The images depict Black girls ranging from the ages of 7 to 22. I have taken over 100 portraits utilizing various approaches...
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June 2, 2021

Keep Reading | June Book Releases

Here’s a list of upcoming and newly released books by Black authors: Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress, Alicia D. Williams, April Harrison (June 1) (Picture Book) A new take on the life of the first Black woman Congresswoman and presidential candidate, Shirley Chisholm, this picture book illustrates her...
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June 1, 2021

Blackity Black, then a Little Blacker

One of my newest favorite things, accelerated by the pandemic, is novelty T-shirts. I’ve bought so many in the past 15 months, I dare say I have a little collection. They’re mostly Black women affirming shirts—ranging from those that hail fictional mavericks, like Maxine Shaw, attorney at law, to one with a woman wearing a...
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May 28, 2021

HBCUs: Why they deserve more

In the midst of the 2020 election, you may have heard many of the democratic presidential candidates speak on funding Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs). HBCUs were created in the 1800’s in order to provide an education to African Americans because private white institutions (PWIs) did not allow Black students to attend. Since their...
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