Black men Archives - Wear Your Voice

“Not all Black men,” They Insist. To That I Say, Prove It.

I witness Black folks of marginalized genders pleading with Black men to protect us, and I am completely devoid of any hope that they will. “Black men internalized the white man’s opinion of Black women." — ASSATA SHAKUR I would turn this world

Jun 18, 2020

Culture and Entertainment

‘Next In Fashion’ is a Lesson on Effective and Ineffective Allyship

Next in Fashion’s ‘streetwear’ episode is a master class of how Black men can be effective and ineffective allies to Black women. By Paige Robinson The fashion industry has a racism problem. Fashion trends come and go, but apparently racism never goes

Mar 16, 2020

Culture and Entertainment

25 Things That Are More Supportive of Black Women Than Terry Crews

Black women have been supportive of Terry Crews. We offer you this incomplete list of things that are more supportive of Black women than Terry Crews. It’s a tale as old as time. Black women, by virtue of our own very

Jan 24, 2020

Identities

From Black Men to White Women: Black Women Ain’t Real to You

Black women and femmes often represent perfect victims for what our abusers would say is not a crime. By Shannon Barber "If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive." — audre

May 31, 2018

Culture and Entertainment

Black Women Aren’t Boycotting “Black Panther” Because of Michael B. Jordan’s Alleged Girlfriend

Stop believing what other people have to say about Black women, and start believing what Black women have to say about ourselves.

This week, rumors about actor and heartthrob Michael B. Jordan's alleged new girlfriend — Latina Instagram model, Ashlyn Castro — began to take root. Almost immediately after, news of a boycott against "Black Panther" appeared, supposedly led by Black women (but we didn't get that memo). Not a boycott of Michael B. Jordan or any of his other upcoming projects. Just "Black Panther", which is currently everybody's favorite Black power emblem. In this narrative, Black women quickly became traitors to our race, thoughtless and trivial. Our imagined lack of support for "Black Panther" translated very easily into a lack of support for Black men altogether, and this was used as a justification for the misogynoir that ensued. First of all, the sheer ease and momentum with which this wildfire rumor spread is proof enough for me that some people simply cannot wait to talk shit about Black women. All they need is a reason to air their already long or deeply-held misogynoir, whether or not that reason is based in any truth. The "Black women are boycotting "Black Panther" because Michael B. Jordan is dating a non-Black woman" hoax of 2018 was a pathetic attempt to make Black women appear bitter and paint us as irrational and irresponsible, unfit to make decisions about the media we consume — an old song that also plays during conversations about Black women's love for "Scandal" and disdain for "Birth of a Nation". The beginnings of it rest on misogynoir as much as the public’s willingness to believe in it does. Created by a known troll account on Instagram, ground zero of the fake "Black Panther" boycott effortlessly built its narrative around a familiar stereotype: Black women become irrationally angry when Black men date people of other races, especially white and white-presenting women (I'm sorry this discussion is so cisnormative and heteronormative). This is a belief that continues to grow more and more, with less and less context in each evolution. Even Jordan Peele's "Get Out" dipped its toe in this flavor of misogynoir when Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) insisted to his girlfriend, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), that the most likely reason for Georgina’s (Betty Gabriel) apparent coldness towards him was because she did not like the fact that he was in a relationship with a white woman. He had no evidence to support this claim when Rose questioned it, except to flatly say, “It's a thing.”