DJ Khaled and John Legend paid tribute to Nipsey Hussle when they performed on Saturday Night Live this weekend. The duo, who were guest hosts on the variety show, performed […]

The post DJ Khaled And John Legend Pay Tribute to Nipsey Hussle on ‘Saturday Night Live’ appeared first on Essence.

As President Trump promised during the 2016 campaign, he would make overturning Roe v. Wade—the landmark court case giving women the constitutional right to have an abortion—part of his mission. Six states thus far, have passed or are trying to pass draconian laws banning abortions. Abortion ban is bad for all women and a crisis for black women.

It’s well-established that there is inequity in healthcare. “The sexual and reproductive health of African American women has been compromised due to multiple experiences of racism, including discriminatory healthcare practices from slavery through the post-Civil Rights era,” writes researchers in the report Racism, African American Women, and Their Sexual and Reproductive Health: A Review of Historical and Contemporary Evidence and Implications for Health Equity.

Those discriminatory practices exist today. Black women, many with limited resources, often have unequal access to quality healthcare. For example, the above study found that black women often are subjected to unnecessary hysterectomies. Infant mortality, pregnancy complications, and access to vital prenatal care are all issues affecting black women’s reproductive health.

And it doesn’t matter if you are a rich and famous black woman as we discovered when Serena Williams opened up about her life-threatening pregnancy complications. In fact, black woman’s reproductive health status is at such a red alert that Sen. Kamala Harris introduced legislation to address the black maternal mortality crisis.

What the anti-choice advocates conveniently leave out of their hateful, misogynistic narrative is that the same facilities that provide abortions are also safe havens for women to receive prenatal care, sexual education, and pregnancy care. These facilities are particularly crucial to low-income black women and those in rural areas.

Yet, the states with high populations of black women—and some with the worst records on black women’s healthcare—are the ones pushing hardest for abortion bans: Alabama, Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, and Georgia. As a result, many of these states are closing facilities that not only provide abortions but other critical women’s health services. Currently, only one abortion clinic remains in Missouri; three in Alabama; and one in Mississippi.

Missouri, Alabama, Ohio are ranked among the worst states for black infant mortality rates in the aforementioned study. From that report, “Mississippi has the largest proportion of babies born with low birth weight among Black women as well as all women (16.1% and 11.5%,  respectively). The states with the next largest proportions of babies born with low birth weight to Black women are Louisiana, West Virginia, Colorado, and Alabama.”

What is the impetus to place women’s reproductive freedom back 50 years? Anti-choicers cite their religious beliefs as justification—bestowing personhood onto fetuses.

But perhaps the underlying reasons are even more sinister. America is becoming browner. With the influx of immigrants from Latin America, and more people open to the idea of interracial relationships, millennials and Gen Z are the most diverse generations ever.

It stands to reason that the powers that be, the network of old white boys, are panicking over the darkened hue of the American populace; and over the demands for economic and political diversity and equity. And there is power in numbers. Force more white women to have white babies and make America white again…perhaps?

Of course, that is speculation. What isn’t: Abortion bans do not stop women from having abortions. These bans only make it more dangerous and expensive for women to terminate pregnancies. These bans shut down healthcare facilities that provide reproductive services and support that extends far beyond abortions. These bans, while detrimental to all women, will be devastating to the well-being of black women, as we still struggle to gain equal footing in a world that is so quick to hate us.

The ideas and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s and not necessarily the opinion of Black Enterprise.

It’s been 30 years of Teen Witch, a film so terribly and unironically campy it has only gained in cult status over the years.

“You will receive these powers on your sixteenth birthday,” Madame Serena (Zelda Rubinstein) intones to Louise Miller (Robyn Lively) during a psychic reading where dorky Louise finds out that it’s her destiny to be a real-life witch. At first, Louise dismisses Madame Serena as a crackpot and thinks nothing of it. That is, until after her birthday and the strange things that Serena predicted start happening. Including finding a magical amulet that boosts her new powers. Louise discovers that she can suddenly control people with just her wishes and words, and finds herself back at Madame Serena’s to learn more about this new gift. 

After Randa (Lisa Fuller), the most popular girl at school, sabotages Louise’s birthday party with a party of her own, Louise decides her first attempt at casting will be revenge on her classmate bullies. A truth spell may not sound like much, but when wielded against the most popular girl and her minions it becomes powerful indeed, undermining Randa’s position as Queen Bee.

It’s not just the popular kids who bully Louise, it’s also her teachers. Because she skipped a grade, her sadistic English teacher Mr. Weaver (Shelley Berman) torments her publicly in class and on the regular. After one particularly heinous bout of verbal lashing in which he showed the class the entire contents of Louise’s purse — including mocking her birth control pills — Louise casts once again for revenge. She makes a representative doll of Mr. Weaver and puppeteers him into an unwilling striptease in class. And then some.

But really, what Louise wants is not just to date the hunky captain of the football team Brad Powell (Dan Gauthier), but also to be the most popular girl. At school, and in the world. With her literal soul-sister Madame Serena’s help, Louise casts the mother of all spells and gets her wishes. Both of them. As Louise solidifies her status as the most popular girl with the affection of dreamboat Brad, she begins to have second thoughts. Are all these people actually liking her for her even in spite of her spells? Or is it all just a lie? For young wannabe witches like me in 1989, Teen Witch was a positive gateway drug into the craft. At the same time, Louise’s regrets made me actively think twice before wishing for huge things that seemed out of my grasp, including power. Even 30 years later these considerations continue to resonate with me.

“What’s the matter? Glass slipper doesn’t fit?” Louise’s dad (played by Bewitched alum Dick Sargent) asks her as she considers the actual consequences of the kind of life she wanted and now has.

While Teen Witch is firmly a comedy, it tackles many of the issues we see in coming-of-age-horror movies. A young character’s body changes through puberty and their transformation is often complicated and monstrous. If Louise got sorted into a Harry Potter house she would go straight into Slytherin. She’s messy, shrewd, and has a deep cruel streak that magic only compounds. She abandons her best friend Polly (Amanda Ingber) the moment she metamorphoses into Ms. Popular. Louise makes what seems to be a benevolent move in helping her favorite teacher Miss Malloy (Marcia Wallace) win the lottery, but really she did this so that Miss Malloy would put her in charge of the school play. The school play that bodacious Brad happens to be starring in. This is aside from the intricate and manipulative spell that she cast on her entire town to make them love and worship her. All of this is presented through comedy, and song and dance, but the sinister undertones are obvious.

But arguably my favorite thing about Teen Witch after all these years, besides Polly and Rhett’s (Noah Blake) absurd rap battle between who is better at cultural appropriation, is how multilayered the main female characters really are. Both Louise and Madame Serena embody the entire Judeo-Christian trifecta of Virgin, Whore, and Crone. They both appear and behave in a childlike manner, yet their sexual appetites are healthy for women of both their ages. And of course, seeing that they are both witches closes out their character development.

Taking these archetypes into Jungian territory, both Louise and Madame Serena embody 10 of Jung’s 12 archetypes. We can see The Ruler, Creator/Artist, Sage, Innocent, Explorer, Rebel, Hero, Wizard, Lover, and Caregiver as they take turns stepping forward in Serena and Louise’s journeys, both separately and together. And the remaining two, The Jester and Everyman, are salt and peppered through the rest of the film in other characters such as Louise’s bug of a little brother Richie (Joshua Miller), Mr. Weaver, Rhett, Louise’s dad, and even Louise’s terrible date David (Jared Chandler). It’s really fun to watch Teen Witch as these various archetypes pop up one by one and around again as the story unfolds.

This isn’t to say that Teen Witch is not without some problems, though. The plot holes are strangely gaping. Like, what happened to David after Louise made him disappear? Why was the tub already filled with water after Louise accidentally turns Richie into a dog? Why are the play auditions, unlike any play auditions that have ever taken place, including announcing casting on the spot? How does everyone know the steps to the dance at the end? Oh, 80s movies and your sexy, sexy saxophones. Y’all were a singular kind of beast.  

I also couldn’t help but be disturbed by the performative heterosexuality in the popular girls’ new cheerleading song, “I Like Boys”, sung by girls to other girls in their own locker room. Methinks the ladies doth protest too much. And it’s irkworthy how Louise goes to all this trouble, and the last of Serena’s powers to boot, for a spell she then debates undoing. Privileged much, Lil’ Miss Teen Witch? But still, I can’t help but love this film.  

Teen Witch continues to be a fun journey through archetypes and the 80s camp that’s singular to romantic comedies of that era. It’s also a powerful reminder that being ourselves and accepting who we are can be a powerful magic of its own. “The real magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can make anything happen,” Madame Serena says to Louise as she considers reversing her enormous spell.

Louise’s dad’s advice is also evergreen: “…It doesn’t really matter how other people see you. It’s how you see yourself.” The message of using our personal power to be the best version of ourselves is vital. So is accepting who we are after we make huge personal transformations. Teen Witch also complicates what feels like straightforward notions of love and happiness and the lengths people go to in order to get them. In these regards, as dated as Teen Witch may be, its core lessons remain timeless. Top that.  

The post On its 30th Birthday ‘Teen Witch’ Remains a Fun Journey Through Archetypes. Top that. appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is the frightening tale of the Blackwood family, who inhabit that eponymous castle. When we meet them, they are secluded from townsfolk and lost to the past and the views of their father. Problems arise, however, when cousin Charles Blackwood (Sebastian Stan) comes to town and wants to change their way of life.

Based on the 1962 novel by Shirley Jackson and directed by Stacie Passon, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is considered a “mystery-thriller,” never quite crossing the line into full-blown horror. Merricat Blackwood (Taissa Farmiga) wants only to protect her older, more naive sister, Constance (Alexandra Daddario), at whatever cost. Whether that be by going into the town that despises them so Constance doesn’t have to, or adopting the ideas of witchcraft to protect them both, Merricat is weighed down by intense anxieties and doesn’t have anyone to help her; five years ago, the young women were orphaned after their parents’ mysterious death by poisoning.

With just their ailing Uncle Julian (Crispin Glover) at the secluded estate with them, both the women could live their lives without being questioned. That is, until, cousin Charles arrives with his eye on the family’s fortune.

I found myself agreeing with Charles’s perspective sometimes, which is maybe a fault of mine. Sure, he’s greedy and wants to be a part of the family for the money, but he has a point in that Merricat is wasting their assets by obsessively burying them in the yard, and Charles has rightful concerns about her not being able to find their belongings. Because he is a threat to their strange way of life, Charles soon finds himself attacked and a villain inside the home. To be fair to all parties, I understand where they are all coming from, but it’s new for me to feel more sympathy with the seeming interloper than with the protagonist.

This is a movie filled with strange characters, set in a town possessed by rage that doesn’t make that much sense against the Blackwood family. They have a family history in the town and the people there don’t like them for their money, but that intense villager hatred seems to be more deeply rooted in something we never see. This is an area that could be better developed. Still, that hatred runs throughout the entire movie and certainly makes life “interesting” for both Merricat and Constance. Much more richly drawn is that all-too-atmospheric castle, a credit to Jackson’s mind, Passon’s vision, and her team’s execution.

At its heart, the most frightening parts of this movie are elements that are as everyday today as they are gothic: abuse, repression, greed, family secrets, and innate misunderstanding of who people really are.

We Have Always Lived In The Castle is visually stunning, a fresh look at the Shirley Jackson story, and has a slow-building dread that will stay with you. It’s spooky, but not savagely scary. Also Sebastian Stan shirtless in a bathtub? Yes, please!

(image: Brainstorm Media)

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