Our New Podcast, ICE Detains Guyanese Activist, A Major Costco "Buycott"
Plus, Hailey Bieber company's A+ response to backlash, Buy From a Black Woman splits from H&M partnership, a health story about Black woman that *won't* make you feel hopeless, and more.
Special Announcement
The very first episode of The Wakeful podcast is here, and I’m so proud to share this preview clip with you. This debut conversation is available exclusively to paid subscribers, who make this work possible and sustainable. (And if you’re not one yet, no pressure, but I’d love to have you join.)
In this episode, I sit down with supernova food journalist Korsha Wilson to go behind the story of her recent New York Times feature “4 Black Women Who Mixed Fine Dining, Fashion and Art in New York.” It’s smart, moving, and full of gems for anyone curious about the craft of storytelling and the power of Black women in food and hospitality.
The Wakeful is one of my jobs (aside from freelance writing), and I put a lot into this multi-hyphenate role. As a Black woman journalist navigating an increasingly precarious media industry, I believe deeply in being paid for our labor, especially when it centers, uplifts, and informs our communities. If The Wakeful brings you value, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
P.S. I reserve 5 annual comped spots each quarter for anyone who wants one—just reply to this email. And if you’re able to gift a subscription to someone else, that support is always welcome.
Thank you for being here 💜
Wakeful Voices
“Your coverage is searing and much-needed.” — Lisa D., subscriber and fellow Substacker writing about tech, race, and gender
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The Rundown
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ICE Detains Guyanese Activist Amid Mass Deportation Crackdown
Amid President Trump’s renewed mass deportation push, activist Melissa “Melly Mel” Atwell Holder has reportedly been detained by ICE, according to Caribbean National Weekly. The 31-year-old social media activist and vocal critic of the Guyanese government is being held in ICE custody in Louisiana. While she reportedly traveled to the U.S. on a visitor visa, details about her immigration status remain unclear. No deportation ruling has been issued yet, but a master hearing is scheduled for March 28. Holder’s detainment sends an unmistakable message amid the administration’s sweeping efforts to silence dissent and displace activists.
[Editor’s note: Since publication, I’ve updated the news source to a more detailed source, Caribbean National Weekly. This item previously sourced and linked to a Black Information News article. I also wanted to highlight an opinion essay I recently came across by Guyanese journalist Verian Mentis-Barker, who raises sharp questions about whether ICE is being used as a tool for politically motivated targeting, especially when foreign governments are involved in this case. She also calls out the troubling silence from both U.S. and Guyanese officials, while unpacking the layered misogynoir fueling the public takedown of a Black woman who dared to speak out.]
Over 100 Black Women Lead Costco ‘Buycott’ & Buy From a Black Woman Ends H&M Partnership
In Arlington, Virginia, over 100 members of the Black Women’s Roundtable staged a “buycott” at Costco to reward the retailer’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, an act of resistance against DEI rollbacks sweeping the nation. “Corporations and businesses should not ask for Black patrons while failing to support employees of color,” said Melanie L. Campbell, president of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, told AFRO News.
Meanwhile, Buy From a Black Woman has ended its years-long partnership with H&M. The collaboration, once a robust model for corporate-activist partnership, began to fray after the company scaled down a key summer event. Founder Nikki Porcher told WWD the decision reflects a broader trend. “There will be a lot more Black-owned business owners who will have this [type of thing] happen to them, but maybe not on such a grand scale,” Porcher said. “I want them to know that they are not by themselves.”
Rhode Beauty Praised for Inclusive Response to Product Backlash
And after backlash over Rhode Beauty’s blushes not working on darker skin tones, the brand brought in TikTok creator Golloria and chemist Ron Robinson to help reformulate the line. “This is why you advocate for yourself,” Golloria said, praising the revamped products now inclusive of Black skin tones. The updated blushes mark a rare example of beauty accountability actually followed by change.
Patrice’s Pick
Every week, there’s one piece that lingers—whether it’s groundbreaking, heartfelt, or just too good to miss. This is the one I’d hand-deliver to you.
[Editor's note: I didn’t realize until after reading this that it was published in 2022. While this won’t be the norm, I’ll occasionally make space for older pieces that still feel deeply timely, because unfortunately, our stories are often missed the first time around.]
Week after week, I’m reading and curating stories about Black women’s lives, from historic wins to devastating disparities. Health reporting in particular can weigh heavy. The statistics are often bleak, the stories far too familiar: medical racism, delayed diagnoses, trauma—or even death—during childbirth. And yet, we keep going. We keep finding ways to heal each other, to build something better.
That’s why this multimedia piece from Good Morning America really struck me: “Black women find solutions to end racial health care disparity.” Not because it rehashed what we already know, but because it honored what too often goes unseen: Black women creating the solutions we’ve been waiting for.
The story spotlights platforms like Health In Her HUE, Culture Care, and (the seemingly defunct) Black Doctors of South Florida—all founded by Black women who turned personal pain into collective empowerment. Their stories are compelling on their own, but what struck me most was how thoughtfully this piece was put together. The art direction and design? Perfection. (Please check out the full story to see for yourself.) Nothing about this package felt rushed or like a diversity checkbox. It felt like care. And when’s the last time you felt that from a health system?
As Eddwina Bright of Health In Her HUE put it, "The demand we've been seeing has been really reassuring. Users are saying, 'This is a solution that we want. It's something we've been looking for.'" These women aren’t just responding to disparities. They’re reimagining the system from the inside out. That’s the kind of health care and storytelling we need more of.
Too often, mainstream media leaves us with the trauma and none of the tools. But this story reminds us that we’ve always been architects of our own care. That the fight for health equity isn’t only about confronting what’s wrong. It’s about spotlighting and amplifying what’s already working.
Cultural Reset
Black Women Deserve Luxury Travel, Too
In The White Lotus, Natasha Rothwell’s character locks eyes with another Black woman at a luxury Thai resort and no words are needed. It’s a subtle reminder of how rare it is to see Black women traveling in luxury, on-screen or IRL. “If anyone needs deep restoration, it’s us,” writes Shelli Nicole for Pop Sugar.
Green Velvet Couches Are the New Soft Life Signal
Far from a simple design choice, a green velvet couch has become a quiet declaration of joy, grounding, and luxury among many Black women. “Green is representative of nature” and a sense of feeling grounded, said artist Stephanie C. Nnamani, explaining why the color hits so deeply. Apartment Therapy explores how one furniture piece sparked a movement and a global sisterhood.
Kerry Washington Is Walking in Her Purpose
“I felt like I was sprinting toward a finish line we never got to,” Washington said of Kamala Harris’s loss. Now, she’s focused on creating space for other Black women on-screen, in politics, and in venture funding through her company Simpson Street. In a cover story by Sylvia Obell, Ebony calls it “The Power of Purpose.”
The Black Women Preserving Miami’s Diasporic Legacy
Across generations, archivists Dr. Dorothy Fields and Nadege Green are documenting Black Miami’s untold stories, from restoring the 112-year-old Lyric Theater to launching the Black Miami Dade archive. “She introduced me to real Black history,” Green says of Fields, her longtime mentor.
Why Black Women’s Disordered Eating Often Goes Unseen
Despite suffering for years, therapist Alishia McCullough didn’t realize she had an eating disorder. “I was praised for being thin,” she told WUNC’s Embodied podcast. Now with her book “Reclaiming the Black Body: Nourishing the Home Within” and her counseling and consulting company Black and Embodied, McCullough’s helping Black women unlearn food shame and heal their relationships with their bodies.
The Case for Professionalism in Black Hair Salons
What happened to the safe haven of the Black hair salon? Late appointments, unclear policies, and poor communication are driving some clients like away. In a Refinery29 reported essay, Mitti Hicks argues it’s time to restore respect—for stylists and clients alike—with real accountability on both sides.
In “The Residence,” Black Women Are the Smartest Ones in the Room
According to EBONY, in Netflix’s new White House murder mystery “The Residence,” Uzo Aduba plays Detective Cordelia Cupp, a stylish, quick-witter lead who, as she puts it, “is not intimidated by anything or any person.” Finally, a whodunit where the sharpest mind is a Black woman.
Power Moves
Michigan’s Most Powerful Recognized for Leading with Purpose
From financial execs to environmental justice leaders, 50 Black women were honored at the Michigan Chronicle’s 2025 Women of Excellence Awards. Two honorees—Bank of America VP Meaghan Madison and Michigan’s environmental justice lead Regina Strong—spoke with Stephen Henderson on “American Black Journal” about the impact of their work and what the recognition means to them.
Center 1968 Is Training the Next Wave of Black Policy Leaders
After helping elect Philadelphia’s first woman mayor, Jasmine Sessoms launched Center 1968 to train Black women not just to run for office, but to also shape policy behind the scenes, she tells The Grio. Named for the year Shirley Chisholm made history, the program places grads in roles from legislative staffers to political strategists, with fellowships honoring political icons like Barbara Jordan and Valerie Jarrett.
Inside the Fight to Protect Voting Rights
From Texas to Michigan to D.C., the 15 women recognized by ESSENCE and the Lawyers’ Committee’s Ojo Asé campaign are fighting voter suppression where it hits hardest. Whether staffing election hotlines, mobilizing first-time voters, or crafting new policy, they’re protecting democracy from the ground up and pushing for a system that truly represents us.
A Growing Wave of Black Women College Coaches
This year’s NCAA women’s tournament features a record 16 Black women head coaches, up from just nine in 2019. One of them, Arkansas State’s Destinee Rogers, still carries a piece of net from South Carolina’s 2017 championship, sent to her by Dawn Staley as a symbol of solidarity and legacy. “We’re opening the doors,” Rogers tells Andscape.
Radically Redefining Politics Beyond the Ballot
A new episode of “Undisciplined” explores how the radical imagination shaping Black women’s political power has made a lasting impact, not just by holding office, but through community organizing, cultural leadership, and collective action. From historic campaigns to viral grassroots fundraisers—like the 45,000-member Zoom call that raised over $1.5 million for Kamala Harris—our political power is rooted in vision, connection, and care.
Haircare Heir Calls for Industry Accountability
The granddaughter of Pro-Line’s founder and daughter of the woman behind Just For Me relaxers, Autumn Yarbrough is confronting the harms linked to her family’s legacy—products now under scrutiny for health risks—and paving a new path with Nu Standard, a science-backed, transparent beauty brand rooted in accountability and holistic care.
Reclaiming Black History in Bronze
The Rhode Island Slave History Medallions project just tapped sculptor Vinnie Bagwell to create a statue of 19th-century Black entrepreneur, abolitionist and activist abolitionist George T. Downing, which will be the first-ever statue of a person of color in Newport, Rhode Island’s history.
Under the Radar
Headwear Takes Center Stage in New Jersey Exhibit
At the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, “The Head That Wears the Crown” celebrates the cultural power of Black women’s church hats. Curator Kyra March calls it an “adornment practice” rooted in both resistance and reverence, The Montgomery News reports: “Women have used headwear to express their sense of style, a sense of freedom, and also as an expression of their faith.”
Nona Faustine Remembered for Making the Unseen Visible
The pioneering photographer widely known for her provocative "White Shoes" series, which spotlighted sites of enslavement and the legacy of Black women’s strength, has died at 48. “We are very special,” she once said. “Not just because of our suffering but because of our beauty and strength.”
Fanny Barrier Williams’ Legacy Reemerges
A force in Chicago’s Black civics movement, Fanny Barrier Williams called out racism at the 1893 World’s Fair, helped shape the founding of the NAACP, co-ghostwrote Booker T. Washington's biography of Frederick Douglass, and became the first Black woman in the Chicago Woman’s Club. Yet her name is rarely remembered. A new WBEZ segment on the Black women’s club movement is helping change that.
Cheerleading Coach Says She Was Fired for Being an Advocate
Siobhan St. John, former assistant cheerleading coach at Ohio State, is suing the university for racial and gender discrimination, alleging retaliation for her advocacy and a biased internal investigation. St. John says she was pushed out for speaking up about inequities and that her efforts to support Black women athletes were met with hostility, not support.
Who Gets a Landmark? In Boston, Black Women Fight to Be Seen
As city streets and parks largely honor white men, a new Boston Herald piece by Ed Gaskin highlights the Black women whose names and legacies are hidden in plain sight across Boston’s public spaces. “When something is named after a woman, especially a Black woman, you’d expect the city would keep an official list,” writes Gaskin. “But they don’t.” [Editor’s note: I’d love to see a national version of this with some sort of virtual visual/map component!]
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.
Save the Dates
Black Women and Climate Change with Dr. Monica White
Join Bennett College’s Green Team on March 28 at 11 a.m. for a free talk on race, gender, and environmental justice featuring Dr. Monica White, author of Freedom Farmers. Held at Annie Merner Pfeiffer Chapel in Greensboro, NC.
Learn more »
$5,000 Grant from Flickr x Black Women Photographers
Flickr and SmugMug are teaming up with BWP to offer a $5,000 grant, pro subscriptions, and more to support emerging talent. Apply by April 14.
Learn more »
Queens March Celebrates Black Women in the Arts
On March 26 at 5 p.m., the Bechtler Museum in Charlotte hosts Queens March, an immersive Women’s History Month celebration spotlighting Black women artists, with live performances and a silent auction.
Learn more »
We See You! Black Women Writers Workshop
On April 28 at 6 p.m., join poet and educator Michelle Rankins for a free, hands-on literary workshop at the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Berea, OH. Registration required.
Learn more »
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.
Thank you for all the recs. Sharing the Health in her HUE with my sis.