A Reader Survey, Trump Targets Stacey Abrams, HBCU's Beauty Biz Boom, Firearms in Memphis
Plus, the late Mia Love's complicated legacy, Doechii receives Billboard's Women of the Year, AI tools fail Black women patients, a nurse midwife creates the clinic her city needs & more.
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The Rundown
The Tightrope of Mia Love’s Political Legacy
Editor’s Note: This was the only piece I came across on Love’s passing that didn’t default to praising her for being a “first,” while glossing over the contradictions and complexities of her career and politics as a Black woman Republican leader.
Ludmya “Mia” Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, passed away at 49 from glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. In an essay for Good Authority, Georgetown professor Nadia E. Brown examines Love's complex political journey, highlighting the challenges she faced navigating identity within the GOP. Brown notes, “Love’s political life reminds us that we tend to conceptualize identity politics in a narrow way that leaves little room for Black women to fully enter the political arena as their full selves.”
Inside a New Exhibit on Police Trauma and Black Women’s Survival
Anjanette Young’s “I Am Her,” now open at Chicago’s DuSable Museum, uses visual art to process the trauma of police violence. Young, who survived a wrongful police raid in 2019, asked artists to watch bodycam footage and create from their emotional response. “This is me fighting back,” she told The TRiiBE. “I know that I am now the voice for [women like Breonna Taylor and Sandra Bland] because they no longer can speak for their experience.”
Why Black Women Are Still Being Ignored in Endometriosis Care
Black women are less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis and more likely to have their pain dismissed, a disparity we recently unpacked in a Wakeful Instagram Reel. In an Unbothered UK feature, Dr. Elizabeth Egbase points to structural racism and the “strong Black woman” trope: “Certain healthcare systems are set up to prioritize efficiency over equity.” She also advises Black women on using the ICE framework—Ideas, Concerns, Expectations—when advocating for care.
A Second Look at the H&M Breakup
Yes, we already covered Buy From A Black Woman ending its partnership with H&M in last week’s newsletter. But this deeper dive from The Grio is worth your time. In her own words, founder Nikki Porcher said she chose to “walk away on my terms” rather than continue being used as a “DEI placeholder.” She’s now calling for real consequences: “The era of feel-good diversity statements is over.”
Patrice’s Pick
Each week, I sift through dozens of stories about Black women, many from the U.S., but I’m always hunting for those from the broader Black Diaspora. They’re much harder to find. Western world news rarely centers Black women unless war or another brutal tragedy is involved. And even then, it’s filtered through a detached lens. Add language barriers, unfamiliar media landscapes, and editorial blind spots, and it’s no wonder so many powerful stories slip through.
Which is why this week’s pick—a moving feature from The Guardian—hit me hard in the very best way. “Manchester’s radical Black female activists: ‘We didn’t define ourselves as feminists,’” tells the story of the Abasindi Co-operative, a trailblazing, Black women-led organization founded in 1980 that helped transform Manchester’s Black communities. Journalist Chris Osuh captures not just what Abasindi did, but who they were, naming the women, their work, and the legacies they built across generations.
“With the uprisings, people’s eyes were opened … they began to see the value of organisations such as Abasindi,” said Diane Watt, who co-authored a book documenting Black women’s activism in the UK. “Those who were young people then… have not forgotten us because we didn’t close the door against them then.”
Whether it's arts collectives, housing associations, or NHS centers, if it was built for Manchester’s Black community in the ’80s, ’90s, or ’00s, there’s likely an Abasindi connection. Osuh’s reporting weaves in Caribbean and African identities, everyday testimony, and cultural memory: proof that Abasindi didn’t just build safe spaces, they shaped modern day Manchester as integrally as their enslaved predecessors who bolstered the cities historic industrial growth.
As a first gen American journalist with deep Jamaican and British roots, stories like these remind me why The Wakeful exists. Black women are not footnotes. We’ve always been the main story, even when the world fails to see it. Plus, we can learn a lot from the resourceful ways in which Abasindi—an all-volunteer initiative—sustained their efforts amid sociopolitical unrest and marginalization, relying on their own cultures and skillsets like hair braiding services to fund the co-operative.
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: As a Black woman journalist—one of many fighting to report truthfully in a country where the current administration and its puppeteers are trying to erase our progress and rewrite our histories—I’m deeply aware of what’s at stake in this moment. Journalist and professor Nicole Carr lays it out powerfully in a recent must-read issue of her newsletter Fortify (h/t What I’m Reading). Our stories, our voices, and our right to be documented as we are, not as revision, must be protected. That’s what makes “Cotton Capital,” the larger Guardian ongoing series this piece belongs to, so vital. It examines the UK’s legacy of slavery (including the Guardian’s own ties to it) with rare clarity and care. For me, it’s a model of what legacy outlets can—and should—be doing.
Cultural Reset
Black Women, Firearms, and Self-Defense in Memphis
In Tennessee, a chapter of the National African American Gun Association is reshaping who gets to be seen as a responsible gun owner. Retired police officer Bennie Cobb launched the Memphis chapter after noticing a gap in firearm education, especially among women. Today, most members are Black women learning how to protect themselves and their families. “If I’m not telling my grandbabies about safety, I don’t even bring [my firearm] out around them,” member Katina Davis told The Guardian US.
What Happens to Black Love Without a Village?
For Unbothered, Dontaira Terrell explores how the erosion of community networks is shifting the dating landscape for Black women. The piece reflects on how career-focused ambition is often misinterpreted as emotional unavailability, and how, despite the optics, many Black women still want, and deserve, both a thriving career and a fulfilling love life. “We shouldn’t have to choose,” Terrell insists.
Nannie Helen Burroughs: Labor Icon and Educator
A new book by Rutgers professor Dr. Danielle Phillips-Cunningham celebrates the legacy of Nannie Helen Burroughs, a pioneering Black labor activist and educator. Phillips-Cunningham speaks with WABE to discuss how the trailblazer fought for Black women’s economic advancement long before the civil rights movement, founding the National Training School for Women and the National Association of Wage Earners.
Shaniqwa Jarvis Taps Into Memory and Scent in New Exhibition
Acclaimed photographer Shaniqwa Jarvis’ latest Chicago exhibition, “If You Can See My Thoughts, You Would See Your Faces,” blends archival footage, fine art, and scent to explore memory, identity, and creative evolution. As Harper’s Bazaar reports, her new scent line, Whiffworld—co-created with Opening Ceremony founder and best friend Carol Lim—adds an immersive layer to the experience.
Power Moves
Stacey Abrams Calls for Policy Powered by Black Women
At Clark Atlanta’s second annual Black Women Public Policy in the South symposium, Stacey Abrams (who is currently being targeted by the current administration—see above) delivered a galvanizing 20-minute speech on the urgent need for policy that prioritizes Black women. Touching on everything from poverty to environmental justice, she reminded attendees of their frontline positioning.
“There is no pathology, there is no harm that does not visit us first and stay with us longer,” she said, Atlanta Voice reports. “And therefore, in this moment, we cannot be quelled into silence because we think we are insufficient for the moment.”
Doechii Accepts Billboard’s Woman of the Year Award
Receiving the Billboard Woman of the Year award was a full-circle moment for Doechii, who accepted her first Rising Star award on the same stage just two years prior. She called the annual event “a necessity,” pointing to how it created space for women in a business that often overlooks them. As she says in her acceptance speech: “We are the creators, we are the executives, we are the innovators…Clock it.”
Beauty Is Big Business at HBCUs
Across HBCU campuses, students are turning hair and makeup skills into thriving side hustles, Fallon Brannon reports for Essence GU. From viral braid pages to makeup appointments with Miss Spelman, Homecoming season brings both chaos and serious cash. One student stylist put it this way: “There’s like a thousand appointments.” Another said her income triples during peak season.
Under the Radar
Inside a Health Center Built for and by Black Women
When nurse midwife Dána Langford saw her hometown ranked near the bottom for Black women’s health outcomes, she founded Village of Healing. Since opening its first clinic in 2022, it’s expanded into two locations, offering mental health, primary care, pediatrics, and OB-GYN services. 90% of its patients are Black, and many say it’s the first time they’ve been treated by a Black provider. Despite surging demand—over 2,800 visits last year—the nonprofit struggles to stay afloat financially. We’re entering into an unpredictable time, and a lot of funding is being frozen, especially if you mention the word ‘Black,’” medical director Lanford told Healthcare Brew.
Scientist Finds AI Tools Fail Black Women Patients
A new analysis shows the AI model CheXzero missed half of all diagnoses for Black women in chest x-rays, despite being trained on nearly 400,000 scans, according to Science. Researchers say these blind spots in medical AI tools can perpetuate real harm. “There is so much variation in populations and their biology,” one expert noted. “It’s hard to believe we’ll ever have one model to rule them all.”
DC Landlord to Pay for Ignoring Black Women’s Safety
After tenants at a Southwest D.C. apartment reported repeated racial and sexual harassment, including threats, slurs, and physical attacks, from a white neighbor, property managers did nothing. Now, UDR, Inc. must pay $50,000 in penalties for maintaining a hostile housing environment, WUSA9 reports. The women “begged for help” multiple times,” officials said. The property managers “refused to take action.”
Missing Persons
Please visit Black and Missing Foundation on Instagram and their website to view more flyers. Email newsletters have a character limit, so we cannot include them all and there are, unfortunately, far too many missing Black girls and women.
Keimani Latigue, 13, has been missing from Toledo, OH since March 17, 2025
Save the Dates
You can now find the full Save the Dates calendar here. Please contact us if you have an item you’d like to share with The Wakeful audience.
Black Women Radicals Talk with Jana Smith
Thursday, April 3 at 6:30 p.m. EST/3:30 p.m. PST on Instagram Live (@blackwomenradicals)
Join writer and director Jana Smith (whom I interviewed for The Persistent) to discuss Red for Revolution, her star-studded audio drama centering intergenerational stories of Black women, queer love, and liberation.
Black Love is Black Wealth: A Celebration of the Life and Works of Nikki Giovanni
Sunday, June 8 at 2 p.m. at Moss Arts Center in Blacksburg, VA
Virginia Tech honors the legendary poet and professor with a celebration of her life, love, and literary legacy.
I’ve learned sooo much reading this!!!