Watch This. Poets Crystal Valentine and Aaliyah Jihad Call Out the Black Men Who Hate Black Women.

Crystal Valentine, Aaliyah Jihad

“To be woman, and black is to be born knowing your beauty does not belong to you. It’s to be the first and last person to love yourself. It’s to know you’re not desirable to your own kind.”

In “To Be Black and Woman and Alive,” poets Crystal Valentine and Aaliyah Jihad speak of the deep emotional scars left by black men who hate black women. They also confront colorism, misogynoir, and stereotypes of black women perpetuated by self-hating black men.