Gloria Oladipo

Black film in 2019 has been a rollercoaster ride: We’ve been treated to an array of films that aim to capture Black experiences, from Jordan Peele’s horror film Us to Lena Waithe and Melina Matsoukas’s ride-and-die romance film Queen & Slim. We’ve revisited the Rudy Gay’s complex life in the Eddie Murphy-led My Name Is Dolemite; followed Black women on journeys to find themselves in What Men Want, Little, and Juanita; and were treated to haunting films, like See You Yesterday and Atlantics, t...

In the United States, Black people, both perpetrators and victims, are rarely depicted without bias in the news media: No matter the circumstance, we’re portrayed as menacing and criminal; our personal information, including our names, our professions, and our family histories are openly shared, encouraging others to pass judgement. Personal photos—usually highlighting what’s perceived as “criminal” behavior—are publicized, and we’re still more likely to have our mugshots and arrest records p...

Ari Lennox, Teyana Taylor, and Blue Ivy Carter (yes, Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s 8-year-old child) have been the recent targets of online bullies: All three have faced misogynoir-fueled harassment, largely driven by people on social media, that specifically focuses on their looks. Earlier this month, a viral tweet compared Lennox and Taylor to rottweilers, while two journalists tweeted disparaging comments about Carter’s appearance, implying that she’ll soon need plastic surgery to correct the genes ...

These 5 TV shows are significant for Gen Zers for a multitude of reasons, but each of these productions has honesty in common.
By Gloria Oladipo
This decade has brought an avalanche of pop culture moments and phenomena that only TV could capture. So many TV shows gave me a new perspective on the world and collectively provided us with a language by which we can talk about community ills. That being the case, here are five TV shows I have chosen as having the most impact on me, a Gen Zer, over...

Wearing a problematic costume is a refusal to recognize the pain of someone else’s experience, and a refusal to acknowledge the harm people can do.
By Gloria Oladipo
Some people just don’t want to learn. Some people don’t care. Despite it being the year of 2019, hoards of problematic individuals are still dressing in costumes they know they shouldn’t be wearing. From Black or brown-face to dressing as an incarcerated person, we’re subjected to people’s complicity in the dehumanization of othe...

Kamala’s history demonstrates her priorities: sponsoring the corporate elite, locking up BIPOC, endangering trans folx and persecuting sex workers.
By Gloria Oladipo
Oh happy day, oh happy day, Kamala “Cop” Harris has gone away! On Tuesday, news broke that Kamala Harris was dropping out of the 2020 presidential race, officially ending her campaign a day ahead of a large fundraiser she had planned with some of her biggest donors. With that news my sinuses cleared, my skin glowed, and I felt a ...

Amy Klobuchar is a white woman who will always have an active stake in white supremacy, as all white women do.
By Gloria Oladipo
In typical white women fashion, presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar is profiting off of Black oppression for her own personal gain. News broke earlier this month that Klobuchar had accepted donations from Linda Fairstein, the prosecutor in the “Central Park Five” case. Despite very public records of Fairstein’s crimes and her unwillingness to accept accountability,...

Give people of color space to care for themselves, deal with the hurdles life provides, and to generally live their goddamn lives compared to exerting the constant pressure of joining a movement that, so far, doesn’t seem to care about them.
By Gloria Oladipo
Brace yourself: I am proud vegan. But, not that proud. While I recognize and appreciate the value of veganism in a world rampant with increased health ailments and environmental crises, veganism remains a fairly inaccessible and ‘white’ ...

BoJack could easily be replaced with a number of men who are continually allowed to be violent as a mechanism for “healing” regardless of who they hurt.
TW/CW: This essay contains discussions of drug and alcohol addiction
By Gloria Oladipo
The T.V. show, BoJack Horseman, is the slapstick, anthropomorphism version of how trauma and mental illness map themselves onto relationships. The show centers BoJack Horseman, a former sitcom star, and his various experiences navigating life in Los Angeles...

When Black and brown people are marked as dirty, we pay for it in ways that white people sulking on Twitter will never understand.
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The amount of shit white people can get away with is amazing, like being unwashed and unapologetic about their stink. Despite having sufficient resources and abilities to clean themselves properly, there is a number of white people defending their subpar cleanliness. Twitter is inundated with white people claiming they have no need to wash their ...

Justin Trudeau wore brown and Blackface, not because he doesn’t understand the implications of it, but because he thought it was amusing.

New coal standards proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are threatening to permanently undermine the federal government’s power to control power plant pollution.
The new rule — which would empower states to decide how much they want to reduce their emissions, if at all — will be devastating for all Americans. Especially vulnerable are people of color and rural populations.
Several states — California, Washington, and Iowa to name a few — have already challenged the new rule. ...

Eating disorders continue to be misunderstood and stigmatized within the Black community. For years, there have been myths about eating disorders affecting only white, affluent, young women. With increasing education and discussion on the subject, it’s becoming more apparent how universal eating disorders are.
Eating disorders impact people of all genders, races, ethnicities, sexualities, religions, socioeconomic statuses, and other identifiers.
Eating disorders are equally devastating for ev...

As our culture has begun shifting toward an increasingly body-positive landscape, companies and brands have also pivoted, targeting a new demographic who are struggling with disordered eating and body dysmorphia: children. Last week, WW, the weight-loss company formerly known as Weight Watchers, launched Kurbo, a new app aimed specifically at children. In the face of backlash from parents, eating-disorder survivors, and the general public, WW was quick to defend the app, saying on its website...

How we see the world shapes who we choose to be — and sharing compelling experiences can frame the way we treat each other, for the better. This is a powerful perspective.

I remember first walking into my psychiatrist’s sterile office during my freshman year of college, ready to open up about my secret years-long battle with symptoms of a serious eating disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

I felt like I was choking in the waiting room, still so anxious about being vulnerable and ...