Black women are supposed to relate to and admire these two-dimensional characters, but in reality their lives are multi-dimensional: they’re real people who face obstacles outside of combating racism. Most black girls have gained enough life experience by adolescence to understand that “black girls are pretty, too” and “racism is wrong.” What we’re still grappling with is that being a black girl is still really hard because while we may believe those messages, the people we interact with on a daily basis don’t necessarily understand or believe those messages. And, of course, we are dealing with that racism at the same time that we deal with the everyday problems any other complicated person does.
Detroit, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, takes place in the midst of the infamous 12th Street riot, which was sparked after the police raided an unlicensed club for African-American veterans in 1967....
Ava DuVernay has never been afraid to bring issues like race, the unjust U.S. “justice” system, mass incarceration, and the criminalization of African-Americans and other PoC to the forefront of her films. From the Oscar-winning film Selma to the highly acclaimed 2016 Netflix documentary 13th, DuVernay has examined how the criminal justice system is actively used as an oppressive tactic to repress and discriminate against the Black population....
In July of this year, Columbia University settled alleged rapist Paul Nungesser’s lawsuit against the school for gender-based discrimination. Nungesser was accused of raping then-fellow Columbia student Emma Sulkowicz, who gained attention for her 2014 performance-art piece Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight).
The wait for this female superhero movie has been long and the expectations are high. Can one film be all things to all women?
After decades of making art, feminist artist Lynn Hershman Leeson is finally finding her audience in the United States at age 75.
A new initiative, led by Hollywood heavy hitters, aims to make real progress in giving a fair shot to women.
For four days in February, the Athena Film Festival shone a spotlight on women in front of and behind the camera.
People with disabilities represent 20 percent of the population but are by far the most underrepresented in media. When it comes to opportunities for actors with disabilities, Hollywood has a long way to go.
Maysoon Zayid has fearlessly performed truth-telling comedy all over the world. With the threats to free speech in the current climate in the U.S., she argues, such courage is more important than ever.
When Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie said that Beyoncé’s feminism is not her feminism, some interpreted it as a beef. In fact, Adichie facing Beyoncé is a model of feminist dialogue.