What Kehinde Thinking? Archives

Not Nan Damn Thing

February 9, 2021

He slid into my inbox with compliments I’m sure he expected me to be grateful for or at the very least to be polite about receiving. Said I was an example of how a Black woman should be. I explained that first of all, the notion that a Black woman should be any one way was exactly what my work pushes against. And third of all, he could keep his compliments since from experience I knew they came with the expectation that I’d also accept the critique that was sure to come the minute I did anyt[...]

Six Words

February 8, 2021

I sat down to write something longer. But ultimately what I wanted to express didn’t need a thousand words. It really just needed six. Folks hate Black girls and women. Last week it was Chloe Bailey and the way folks treated a young woman coming into her own, expressing her sexuality and loving her body for the first time. People weren’t happy until they made that baby cry. Yes, I call her a baby and a grown woman at the same time because I got kids older than her and they both at the[...]

Almost Risked It All For a Hug: Intimacy in a Pandemic

January 30, 2021

Picked up the phone for the twelfth time in eleven minutes and reminded myself of the risk. I knew sending my version of “hey big head” would get a response and then seamlessly transition to a “you pulling up or nah?” But I also knew that as soon as it was over, I’d be in the same space trying to fill the same void that Chanel packages couldn’t fill a week ago. At least the makeup would last longer. And a new blush doesn’t mean freaking out for the next 14 days wondering if being c[...]