And a lot of the people who wrote this - these pieces - weren't people who have to deal with someone coming up saying, hey girl, hey sister, how you doing? - in the kind of Shanequa voice. But I have a lot of issue with some of the pushback pieces that were basically, you know, saying because they don't like what Mannie had to say, that she is wrong or it doesn't happen to her. She kind of brought up some things about gay men not being - not having to disclose their sexuality in a way that black women, you know - you see we're black, you can't.I'm not really with that. Bridget Armstrong, why don't you start?ĪRMSTRONG: Well, I will say I had a few issues with Mannie's original piece. So I just wanted to ask each of you what you think about it. Now, the piece has gotten a lot of support and a lot of pushback.
You are not a black woman, and you do not get to claim either blackness or womanhood," unquote. And she says, quote, "Maybe, for some of you, itâs a presumed mutual appreciation for Beyonce and weaves that has you thinking that Iâm going to be amused by you approaching me in your best âShanequa from around the wayâ voice. Last week, Time published a piece by a young writer named Sierra Mannie called "Dear White Gays: Stop Stealing Black Female Culture." In the piece, Mannie argues that some gay, white men have appropriated black, female culture. MARTIN: So let's start with a topic that's getting a lot of traction. Thanks for joining us.īRIDGET ARMSTRONG, BYLINE: Thanks for having us. And Michael Arceneaux is a writer and contributor to and. Trey Graham is a former NPR arts editor and an award-winning theater critic. Bridget Armstrong is one of our TELL ME MORE producers and creator of the pop-culture blog. Sitting in the chairs for a fresh cut or a new do, as it were, are Sarah Ventre, senior producer with public radio station KJZZ in Arizona. That's our Beauty Shop-Barbershop hybrid where we mix things up and dig into some pop-culture stories with a diverse panel of men and women. I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News.