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Saturday afternoon and a racist rally: A Portland story

By Shay | April 2, 2023 | 1 Comment

As a general rule, while I primarily use this space to share my thoughts on all things anti-racism related, for a myriad of reasons I rarely talk about my actual work. So much so that a local community member recently expressed surprise to learn that my actual job is serving as an executive director of an anti-racism organization and that …

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Crumbling Black woman: A real-life tale

By Shay | March 26, 2023 | Comments Off on Crumbling Black woman: A real-life tale

On Sunday, March 19, I sat down to write my weekly blog post. I didn’t get very far. Instead of writing the piece, I ended up having a panic attack that lasted for well over an hour. Despite using all the tools in my panic attack toolkit to make the attack end, nothing helped. In fact, things actually worsened to …

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Y’all ain’t ready for realness—Feeling while Black

By Shay | March 17, 2023 | 1 Comment

There is a certain irony in starting a blog as a way to express my feelings but also having the blog become so well-known that I start to censor myself (so as to not create undue tensions in other parts of my life). No longer are my thoughts anonymous and, well, that has its ups and downs.  As a result, …

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The dehumanizing effect of dominant culture

By Shay | March 8, 2023 | Comments Off on The dehumanizing effect of dominant culture

In the years since the Great Racial Awakening of 2020, the number of white-bodied folks who can spot dog whistles and give a general overview of white supremacist culture has grown. Recently, I saw this in action when a rabid racist or two showed up on an Instagram post I made, where I lamented the troubling nature of this most …

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Calling All White People, Part 61: Hey, Dickbert! I see you…

By Average White Guy | March 5, 2023 | Comments Off on Calling All White People, Part 61: Hey, Dickbert! I see you…

TODAY’S EPISODE: That poor, poor, oppressed comic strip creator Like most of Gen X—and probably a large chunk of the Millennial generation as well—I spent my formative teen and young adult years consuming comic strips. Whether in the newspaper or in bound collections or photocopies taped or pinned to walls or…eventually…on the internet. Some were just fun humor. Some were …

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Living my values—a change of heart

By Shay | February 27, 2023 | 1 Comment

Last year, I made an announcement that changes were in the works for Black Girl in Maine Media. Namely, that after offering my writing free of charge since 2008, I was planning on putting the bulk of my work behind a paywall on Patreon. It is the direction that most writers and bloggers have taken, given that it’s virtually impossible …

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Why Black folks die so young: Sometimes it’s all about the cash

By Shay | February 25, 2023 | Comments Off on Why Black folks die so young: Sometimes it’s all about the cash

My critics—and those who just plain dislike me—often accuse me of being “obsessed with race.” The truth is that they are both right and wrong. You see, racism factors into our lives on a daily level, in both macro and micro ways. Also, most people confuse personal prejudice for racism and don’t know the difference. I wish race didn’t matter …

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My problem with Black History Month

By Samuel James | February 22, 2023 | Comments Off on My problem with Black History Month

I’ve always wanted to like Black History Month. I really have. I still want to. I really do. Really. But all it does is remind me of whiteness. I know it’s supposed to do the other thing, but for me it can’t. The reason is not because my history is somehow supposed to be relegated to a single month, though …

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Where did the allies go? Or, the DEI rollback

By Shay | February 17, 2023 | Comments Off on Where did the allies go? Or, the DEI rollback

Back to the not-so-good old days… For over a year now, I have taken notice of the gradually shifting anti-racism and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) landscape. I don’t know exactly when things shifted but it was subtle—well, at least until it wasn’t anymore. I occupy a rather unique space in this landscape. I am an anti-racist writer and speaker, …

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Calling All White People, Part 60: Misunderstood white men

By Average White Guy | February 11, 2023 | Comments Off on Calling All White People, Part 60: Misunderstood white men

TODAY’S EPISODE: The challenge of being a modern white man One of the great burdens of the 21st century is carrying the massive weight of being a white man. The strain of carrying all that responsibility and enduring so much misunderstanding and ridicule. The huge…um…crushing…uh… Bwah ha hah ha ha ha. Sorry, I tried. I really tried to keep a …

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It’s already happening: Whites only

By Shay | November 13, 2025

The official end of Jim Crow in the United States happened between 1965 and 1968. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and in 1965, they passed the Voting Rights Act, and then in 1968, the Fair Housing Act. These efforts effectively ended Jim Crow in the United States, though the lingering racial animosity …

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It’s already happening: Whites only

By Shay | November 13, 2025

The official end of Jim Crow in the United States happened between 1965 and 1968. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and in 1965, they passed the Voting Rights Act, and then in 1968, the Fair Housing Act. These efforts effectively ended Jim Crow in the United States, though the lingering racial animosity …

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Round Up

A curated list of relevant articles & a peek into what Shay's reading

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Sample Round Up

By Shay | May 29, 2022

Happy Friday! It’s a gorgeous day up in my corner of the world and way too beautiful to be writing a blog post today. So I present you with the Friday Round-Up a list of blog posts this week from other bloggers that blew my mind. Perhaps if you need to kill some time or have a quiet moment you can check them out. http://ravingblacklunatic.blogspot.com/ Check out this cat, I have been a fan of his work forever. http://www.whataboutourdaughters.com/ Good stuff here as well http://sweetersalt.com/ A Maine blogger who talks fashion and food…the best of both worlds http://paganchild-starmommy.blogspot.com/2011/03/keeping-focused.html A new blog that offers words of wisdom for all of us. http://mscleaver.com/ Another Mainer who for Lent is giving up pants, she is also a crafty gal If you have any links to good blogs, feel free to leave em. It’s my hope to make the Friday Round Up a regular feature at my new home specifically I would live to shine some light and love on smaller bloggers. It’s hard out here in this blogosphere with so many good blogs to choose from and so little time so let’s help everyone get a slice of the pie. I will be back on Monday, at that time I will unveil some ideas I have around monetizing things but You May Also Like: No related posts.

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