Dope Ass Black Girl

You know what… I’m gonna say it again for the hell of it

1. Don't tell your family everything. it will backfire.

2. Don't tell your closest friends everything. it will backfire.

3. Never tell anyone about how much you have in your account. that's only for you and the bank to know.

4. Work hard in silence.

5. Don't chase men. Chase your goals.

6. Don't be too kind. not everyone has your heart.

7. There will never be anyone like you.

8. Read as many books as you can. Knowledge is power.

9. Wear sunscreen every single day. your skin will thank you later on.

10. Prioritize solitude time. your soul needs it.

11. Try to eat at home more often, the food is surrounded by your own energy.

12. Don't wake up to your phone screen. What are you going to get out of that?

13. Just like binge eating, binge watching is also not healthy. Go live!

14. Water is your best friend.

15. Education will never leave you.

16. Say how you feel once. and only once. if you find yourself repeating the same things, they don't care.

17. Everyday is a special occasion, because you're alive.

18. You know yourself better than anyone ever will. So who cares about those who judge you, their opinions aren't paying you.

19. Abusive men don't change. they just change their tactics.

20. It's better to say no than to feel uncomfortable.

21. Social media is a commercial.

22. If you lost yourself, you will find a way back.

23. Listen to your inner child. She needs you and you need her.

24. Love who you are no matter what state you are in.

Comic on having long-COVID as a young person. Sending love to others who may be similarly suffering.

Ko-Fi

(ID under the cut)

“Issa Knife🗡”

Storyville - Defying the Cutting Season

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been illegal in Tanzania since 1998. But every year thousands of families still plan to have their daughters cut, an ordeal that could cost them their lives. The ‘Cutting Season’ takes place during the December school holidays.

During this time hundreds of girls are saved from FGM by the police, the government and the work of the Safe House. It is run by Rhobi Samwelly, who was herself a victim of FGM, and now, not only does she valiantly run the safe house but she also works with the local police to rescue and protect girls at risk while arresting the parents and cutters.

But they have a tough and dangerous job and old customs die hard. Men believe that girls must be cut to reduce promiscuity and cut girls command twice the bride price in cows as uncut girls. Girls like Rosie, just 12 years old, have had to make the most difficult choices of their young lives - run away from home, not knowing if they will ever see their families again, or submit to female genital mutilation and child marriage.

These brave and courageous young girls are fighting against a tradition that goes back thousands of years. They are standing up for their human rights and fighting for change in their community.

Tens of thousands of Black girls and women go missing every year. Last year, that figure was nearly 100,000. Yet their cases hardly ever grab national headlines.

A journalist in California is doing what she can to try to change that, by telling as many of their stories as she can — and hopefully helping them get the justice they deserve.

Our Black Girls centers on the often-untold stories of Black girls and women who have gone missing or, in some cases, were found dead under mysterious circumstances. Launched by journalist and activist Erika Marie Rivers in 2018, the website is a one-woman show: Rivers spends her nights combing missing persons databases, archived news footage, old articles and whatever other information she can find to piece together these stories. And she does it all after her day job.

Rivers, 39, has worked in entertainment journalism for more than a decade. For her regular job at a music news website, she works an evening shift from 4 p.m. to midnight — but her nights don't end there. After she finishes her first job, she dives into her second, often working on stories for Our Black Girls well into the night.

Since the website's inception three years ago, Rivers has published an article roughly every other day. It's a grueling schedule, but she keeps it up because, as she explains, she could have easily been one of these missing girls and women. Anyone could.

In so many of the stories that Rivers writes about, the victims are "walking down the street or they're going to the store or 'they'll be right back,' and they just disappear," she says. "It could happen to me at any time."

"And I know that there are a lot of stories like that about girls and women who look like me, so why am I not seeing them as much as I'm seeing everything else? And then it became, why am I waiting for somebody else to pick up this banner when I'm the one who's passionate about it?"

There are other blogs and organizations that focus on missing Black people, but as Rivers says, "I can do it, that's the point."

Each post on Rivers' site chronicles the story of how a Black girl or woman went missing — and provides a fuller picture of who she is and how much she is loved, based on information from friends and family.

Sometimes, victims' loved ones will reach out to Rivers to express their gratitude after seeing the post; often, they're frustrated by their local police department's lack of action and are just grateful that someone somewhere has noticed and cares.

Other people reach out because they're surprised they've never heard of a case, even though it's something that happened right in their town.

On one occasion, Rivers wrote about a man who had murdered an entire family, and the daughter of a woman killed by the same man in a separate incident reached out to her, hoping to share her mother's story, too.

Rivers hopes that publicizing these stories will reignite interest, and authorities will be forced to take another look.

"I don't want to be just the latest person who writes about these girls and these women," she says. "I want there to be an end to their story or an end to this chapter, whether we find out what happened, whether somebody got justice, whatever it is."

The media ignores missing Black and Indigenous women

Black girls and women go missing at high rates, but that isn't reflected in news coverage of missing persons cases. In 2020, of the 268,884 girls and women who were reported missing, 90,333, or nearly 34% of them, were Black, according to the National Crime Information Center. Meanwhile, Black girls and women account for only about 15% of the U.S. female population, according to census data. In contrast, white girls and women — which includes those who identify as Hispanic — made up 59% of the missing, while accounting for 75% of the overall female population.

In light of these numbers, the disproportionate media attention on missing white girls and women is glaring. Often described as "missing white woman syndrome," the term most recently made headlines when MSNBC host Joy Reid discussed the Gabby Petito case. Petito was reported missing after her boyfriend returned from a cross-country trip without her; her case attracted nationwide coverage but put a spotlight on the harsh reality that people in other demographic groups don't receive the same attention when they vanish.

Authorities converged in Wyoming to search for Petito and found her remains at a national park. In the same state, more than 400 Indigenous girls and women went missing between 2011 and the fall of 2020, according to a state report. Indigenous people made up 21% of homicide victims in Wyoming between 2000 and 2020, despite being less than 3% of the state's population. The disparity can be seen in the media: Only 18% of Indigenous female victims received coverage. However, among white victims, 51% were in the news.

To be clear, Rivers explains, it's not about asking for more attention or being in "competition" with white people — it's about other groups getting the same attention as white victims and having their lives honored in the same ways.

"I'm talking about getting investigations up to par with what is already going on," she explains. "And I think when we bring that awareness, especially when it comes to Indigenous women and with Black women, and we're like, 'Hey, we exist as well.' It's not to say stop searching for that white woman. It's like, search for our women as much as you do anybody else and make sure that whatever energy that you place into one case is the same energy that you place into others."

You can help support efforts to find the missing

Rivers isn't the only one trying to highlight these cases. Two Black women founded the Black and Missing Foundation in 2008 to bring attention to the thousands of Black people who go missing every day in the U.S. And podcasts like Crime Noir, Black Girl Gone and Black Girl Missing are working tirelessly to honor these stories as well.

There is power in forming community. "We really are our sister's keeper," Rivers says.

For others who want to be a part of the solution, Rivers suggests staying informed of what's happening, especially in your own community, and sharing the information that you do see. That can mean retweeting a missing person's alert or sharing it on Facebook. Contact your local news organizations and investigative agencies and ask for updates.

You can also support those who are doing the work through blogs and podcasts, as well as via Instagram accounts and Facebook groups dedicated to keeping people informed on the cases of missing Black girls and women.

However, Rivers warns against sensationalizing someone's real-life tragedy — an ever-present risk in the true crime community.

Remember that "these were actual human beings with families and with hopes and dreams and purpose," she says. "These are real humans that laughed, cried, smiled and did not expect to not see tomorrow, did not expect to vanish off the face of the Earth. And I want to make sure that they are respected and honored."

Every post on Our Black Girls ends the same: "She is our sister and her life matters." And that is something that must be remembered.

I'm still overdrafted by $42 and need gas in my car to get to work the rest of the week (for my role as human resources to be so important you think i would get paid more)

I have a $389 car payment due in 5 days

My work insurance isn't that great and so that $124 out of pocket appt with my new trauma therapist last week rly set me back even more but i have to have the appointments or be hospitalized again therefore missing work and pay

My gal had another tooth break on the same side so now this is 3 that need to be removed and dental insurance at our job is also garbage and that will be a good chunk of change

Our $185 bill for our water bill payment plan will be coming up! To go more in depth, our apartment complex failed to fix a leak that we input 4 maintenance requests for to the point it caused us a $700+ water and sewage bill, the water board does not make adjustments for toilet leaks and our apartment complex won't pay the bill for us so our final option was a monthly $185 payment whereas a normal bill in this area would be no more than $70

also no money needed in this instance but any kind words, prayers, good vibes advice, etc would be appreciated as my abuser and her new partner are back in town and have come to my job and if it continues i'll have to partner with security on a plan to keep me safe and not harassed and it's triggering and embarrassing.

My paylinks are:

venmo: Serena-Manning

cashapp: $sailorsylvie

paypal: [email protected]

Everything with my car is handled now but it was a huge financial burden that has only gotten me deeper in the hole

My gal despite having been medically transitioning for over 3 years now is having issues with her doctor effectively communicating with her which has caused a lapse in her medications for a second time now. We'll be looking into the cost of an orchiectomy and will most likely be  setting up a gofundme for that. It will save her life.

Another no money needed but advice and encouragement appreciated, got some heavy new diagnoses yesterday and am reeling from having words to identify what's been plaguing me almost my whole life but also reeling from realizing just how severely ill i am. Any kind words would really really help me cope because im glad to have the words and now a treatment plan but im also so scared. I'll also be looking into taking a medical leave from work possibly if i keep having a breakdown everyday

Venmo: @liquidlipstick

At only 22, most know her as Joy Strong from Beast of the Southern Wild where she was a supporting actress for Quvenzhané Wallis when the younger girl played the lead Hushpuppy.

Jonshel also helped write and Inspire the dialogue and monologues of Hushpuppy.

Although she had step away from acting after childhood her family said she continued to be bright, creative, driven and sweet.

She only one of many cases in these last 2 months of senseless gun violence that has particularly be plagued agaisnt Black women. I have seen very little news outlets cover her story aside from post of grief from her former castmates and family.

More stuff concerning the Ainu.. Alot of old maps show Northern America & Asia still connected centuries ago.. This could be how they mixed cultures[checkout #naganinjanigga on Instagram]