by Queen Muse

It’s been an amazing year for black women. From entertainment to politics to sports, black women have slashed records, made history, and stood up nobly for important causes, for themselves and for one another. These are the #BlackGirlMagic moments that made us laugh, cry tears of joy or shout a unified “Yaaasss!” in celebration of our fellow sisters.

Interview by Moiyattu Banya

As For Harriet is a digital media space and online community for Black women across the Diaspora, we seek to celebrate and shine light on other women doing similar work. Patricia Miswa is one of these women. Miswa is the founder and editor-in-chief of AfroElle Magazine, a digital publication that celebrates women of African heritage. She started the platform 5 years ago and has made tremendous strides in achieving the goals she set out to achieve. AfroElle magazine has featured over 500 stories of women in Africa and the Diaspora. They are business owners, change-makers, artists, non-profit directors, and more—including women like Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter Zoleka, Hollywood actress Lisa Raye and many more.

by Raina J. Johnson

I am getting ready to turn 30, and I'm in love. I have a beautiful son, a host of great friends, a wonderful man, and a growing career as a writer that I never would have dreamed of. As the day draws nearer, I have discovered for the first time in my life, I can unapologetically declare that I am in love with all of me.

by Ryane Nicole Granados


I typically don’t allow my young sons to amass large amounts of conventional media. Raising them in sunny California, surrounded by likeminded families while carpooling to our local constructivist charter school also helps in my efforts to protect their developing mental skies. As a result, it shocked my 7-year old when I told him to sit down and watch the news with me. The story I wanted him to see was the story of a heroic woman named Bree Newsome. I made it a point to let him soak up as many images as possible of a valiant Ms. Newsome scaling the flagpole at the South Carolina statehouse and taking down the confederate flag. “She looks like a soldier Mommy, but why is she taking it down? I responded, as I often do, with an eager, “Good question, son.” Usually this retort is met with slumped shoulders and a child sinking deeper into his seat. He knows an unsolicited educational lesson is about to commence. This time, however, my “Good question, son” was met with wide-eyed enthusiasm. While she is undoubtedly an icon for little black girls worldwide, below are five things my sons and other little boys can also learn from Bree Newsome!

by Tracey Michae’l

Every day last week, it was something. Before I could wipe the crust out my eyes good and let my feet hit the floor in the morning, news and social media smacked me in the face with another appalling event that would trigger my heart to racing and mind to spinning. First, there was the ridiculousness of Rachel Dolezal, then another brutal police attack on a 12-year-old girl in Ohio, and the so-called "ethnic cleansing" in the Dominican Republic, and finally the heart-wrenching massacre of nine members of Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. This rollercoaster we’ve been on as Black people lately (lately, as in at least the last 400 years, but I digress) has been more than exhausting. It’s been soul-sucking. Not only is self-care a must for those who are actively working in the movement against injustice, all of us must take time to speak life and love and uplifting words to ourselves and each other, even as we soberly navigate these emotional and psychological land mines.

by Bee Quammie

Dear J,

On June 21, 2014, life as we knew it shifted, ballooned, and took on new shape. Our daughter burst into the world accompanied by the summer solstice sunrise, bringing with her the gift of new identities for the two of us. Taking on the roles of mother and father, we were immediately thrust into on-the-job training with this beautiful brown baby as our only guide.

by Saaraa Bailey

While many see Father’s Day as just another token commercialized holiday, perhaps it’s true fault is that it lasts for only one day. So, in honor of this Father’s Day, I opt to celebrate the everyday influence of the men that made me.

by Amber Dorsey


Women of color are literally the personification of the phrase, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Since our ancestors touched foot onto American soil, we have successfully navigated our way among the many obstacles that rose up and were presented to us so that the next generations would have it better. Now it’s 2015 and it seems the world has finally begun to realize the amazingness of black women and its doing its damndest to try and keep up. But no matter what, there will always be some things that we just do better. Maybe it’s a black thing.