By Veronica Agard

While living in this heteropatriarchal society, examples of male ego tripping can run the gamut from asinine comments to full-blown violence. As someone who facilitates free safe spaces for women of color, I’ve witnessed the pushback to this firsthand and have often been asked about male participation – “why can’t men be attend?” “that’s sexist!” or something to that effect. In direct response to this, many sister circles and healing cyphers become very intentional when it comes to who can enter their spaces and with whom they engage in conversations on checking male privilege and patriarchy. There is hope in conversations on healthy masculinities and allyship, but the return of #MasculintySoFragile and the backlash that followed serves as a painful reminder of the work that remains to be done.

By Freda Grant

In mid-September, a 24-year-old woman and her one-month old-infant along with one other person was shot in an Alabama church. The victim and her assailant were in the middle of custody dispute over the baby. It has also been reported that the couple had a history of domestic violence. Earlier last week, director Lee Daniels tried to use the race card to defend Terrence Howard from media backlash concerning Howard’s repeatedly beating his wives. Less than a month ago, Dr. Dre publically apologized to the “women he hurt” and blamed his abusive actions on being in his 20’s and drinking although his recent album is jampacked with misogyny and references to violence against women.