by Tracey Michae’l


I remember when I first encountered the side-eye. I was probably about six or seven and watching a "conversation" between my mother and a cashier at the A&P who tried it with her about a coupon. It was a thing of beauty, this way of cutting without knives. This way of making a point and putting folks in their place with only a brief, chastising look. And my mother, well, she is the Master Po of the art: a chief side-eye slinger who spent many years teaching her little grasshopper the ways of the craft.

Dear Phylicia Rashad,

I am disappointed in you.

Any Black woman can tell you that her womanhood and her Blackness are inextricably linked. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that many of the people leading #BlackLivesMatter actions are Black women. We know that our communities are subject to racist justice systems. And so we also know it can be hard to accept the truth that some Black men—like your beloved Bill—are capable of horrible acts, especially when it comes to violence against women.

Phylicia Rashad is a celebrated actress perhaps best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on "The Cosby Show." Since the reemergence of decades old sexual assault claims against her former TV husband, Ms. Rashad has remained mum.