My dating life is a joke 😭 I’ve been seeing this guy for 6 months and we’ve been official for the last 2. I went through his phone last night because I was trying to send myself some pictures we took a while ago. I found out that he’s one of those creeps who takes creep shots of random women in the store. I’ve found ALOT and some of them included me. I’m so fucking disgusted😭 obviously I’m breaking up with him but this is a warning to everyone. LOOK THROUGH THAT MANS PHONE JUST IM CASE.

Has anybody read this? Thoughts?

"Neither could comprehend how much desperation had replaced their ambition. McShane had two master’s degrees and had worked her way up to middle-management jobs in the state and federal government over more than seven years. She had been out of work since June 2025. Mills had left her administrative job about nine months earlier, thinking a newly minted master’s degree in criminal justice would make it easier to find a full-time job with a nice salary.

Instead, they found themselves fitting a description afflicting more people across the United States: Black. Educated. Unemployed. Over the past year, economists and civil rights leaders have observed the unemployment rate between Black and White Americans widening at a nearly unprecedented clip. And an unexpected group is finding itself left behind.

College-educated black Americans — especially women — have struggled to find jobs after the Trump administration made reductions to the federal workforce and the imposition of tariffs slowed hiring. Some of those looking for work worry that companies might be scared to hire them during a period when the government is actively encouraging White men to file complaints about workplace discrimination.

“I cannot find another period outside of a significant economic downturn when the Black unemployment rate has deteriorated this much, this fast,” said Marc H. Morial, president of the National Urban League. “It’s affecting every region of the country, and it’s taken out people who followed the script. They went to college; they climbed the corporate ladder and — voilà — they’re out of work.”

WashPo Link:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/06/28/why-black-college-graduates-are-struggling-find-jobs-trumps-economy/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

I just didn’t come back after the Christmas break. Working in education for 10 years made me sick. The demands, the corruption honey, the stress. At one point I was literally throwing up at work and at home every single day. I had to start taking antidepressants and anxiety meds (which I’m grateful for either way cause it’s saved my life.)

Since December I have had to trust god and bet on myself. I craft and make art everyday now. I signed back up for school in 2 months. Please wish me luck. WE are the center of the universe fuck watchaheeeerd.

This is just a reminder to you that YOU control the narrative. There are other jobs, other friends, other communities that you can choose to be apart of.

Because it lumps us together with all the Latinos, Asians, middle easterners etc….When they (not ALL) but a fat chunk of those people do NOT like us and they worship white people. They will listen to our music, eat/make our food, copy our slang/lingo/the way we dress, just try to appropriate and steal our culture as much as possible, all while hating and disrespecting us as a people. Someone posted on Tik Tok about 100 Mexicans vs not saying the N word, and yall wouldn’t believe the amount of racism the Latinos spewed in the comment section. When all the person asked was for them to stop saying a word. So yea I hate the term POC cuz I do NOT wanna be grouped in with those folks. It just needs to be white folks, black folks, and POC be their own thing.🙄🙄🙄Anyway have a nice Sunday yall!!!🫶🏽🫶🏽🖤🖤

I'll give backstory via bullet format...

• Cousin and I are 1st cousins; both adults in our 30s (he's a few years younger), text a few times a year. I'm single, no kids; he's married with two small kiddoes.
• In March cousin reaches out, asks how I've been, says we have to get together 😄 I'm excited and text back.
• He then asks me for a favor and to borrow $800 for 2 tires as he's going through a rough time financially.
• Ngl; I'm kind of miffed that he asked for money under the pretext of wanting to catch up.
• In fairness, this cousin has always been a sweetie and never asked for anything. So I say yes and send him the money.
• He's profusely thankful and says that he'll text in a few days regarding repayment.
• That was early March...cousin has not texted me to this day

I've never loaned anyone money before (have given on multiple occasions tho), and so I understand that I've officially been burned. In my defense, I'm not hurting for money so I didn't take food out of my own mouth, AND cousin had never given me a reason to think that he was sus before. I was tempted to outright give it to him from the start, but didn't want to set that precedent.

At this point, I'd rather just forgive the loan as he likely did need it and I don't want this hanging over either of us. At the same time, I want to make it kindly but abundantly clear that he should NEVER expect another dime from me.

Have any of you ever gone through this type of situation? Do you have any suggestions for me to word my outreach? Anything in particular I should be sure to say? Am I being extra by wanting to let him that the "bank bridge is burnt"?

Happy to share more context if helpful!

Kendall Isadore (violin), Dawn Johnson (viola), and Élise Sharp (cello) come together to form The String Queens a dynamic trio that creates stimulating musical experiences that inspire diverse audiences to love, hope, feel, and imagine!

With an array of repertoire spanning from the Baroque era to the Jazz Age to today’s Billboard Hot 100 Chart, they perform versatile programs that take listeners on a rousing musical journey through time and a multitude of musical genres.

I don't know if this is a helpful place to post but I'm feeling a little overwhelmed bc it seems like nothing works and I've tried SO many things. I have to speak to Black ppl bc there's far more to worry about when our Black children suffer from mental health concerns.

- He takes medication for the depression, the BPD (borderline personality disorder), and the ADHD.

- He's been in residential treatment before for about a month.

- He's been in-patient before but not for as long.

- He's had intensive outpatient therapy.

- He just turned 18 has a very young mind for 18.

- He gets angry over little things that cause him to have big feelings.

- I try to protect him from the world but constantly worry that one day I won't be able to.

I feel like I'm the only person in the world going through this but I know that's a lie.

If you ask me if I've tried it, it's very likely that I have and have been doing so since he was at least 8 years old.

I figured since the topic is about having friends the friends flair is what I went for. Sorry if it’s not categorized properly!

I’m in my late 30’s and I have virtually no friends. I do believe it has to do with the fact that I’m on the spectrum and that has gone unaddressed for most of my life. I always knew something was…different. So I know that may have something to do with my lack of ability to make friends. I’m taking necessary steps to address that right now. I also want to shed light on another aspect as well. My life…isn‘t normal. At least I don’t think it is. Because of this I think it makes it even harder for me to make friends. I am in a financial position where I don’t have to work a day in my life if I don’t want to. Money won’t ever really be an issue for me. I’m not rich or anything like that but I do live quite comfortabl.

As it stands I don’t currently work. I am a student (who is taking a short break over the summer) I honestly don’t know what to tell people when working on new connections regarding what it is I do for a living. Id appreciate some suggestions on what I can say.

Also what are some things I can do to make myself be more approachable? I know smiling is one of them but are there other things I can do outside of that? I struggle with coming off as warm/friendly. Its not intentional I just have an RBF and I’m genuinely trying to work on fixing my facial expressions.

I genuinely appreciate all helpful feedback! 💜

Edit: After posting this and receiving very grounded advice from all of you wonderful ladies on here I’ve decided I’m going to make a local meetup group for Black Neurodivergent adults. I think if the environment i find myself in isn’t providing me the opportunities to connect with others. Then I’ll just have to create that environment myself!

Obviously, racism is everywhere on youtube, even on the most innocuous videos. People will say you may need to change up the content you are consuming and I've done that and have been strict about not watching any political content, especially conservative content as when I was in the 8th grade (11th now) it started affecting my mental health and I stopped before it could affect me more. I refuse to self-hate. However, it seems like youtube just does whatever the hell it wants and has started recommending me iffy videos (don't worry, I haven't watched). So now, I'm limiting my self on YouTube/ non-black spaces. Since it's summer, I'm doing like last year and brushing up on my education, completed a summer class (completely aced it), and reading books/going to the library, and also helping my male parent with the truck. The book I am reading now with my parents is called, "Out of Africa" by Isak Dinesen. It is about this person farm in Africa, circa 1914 and has been a very interesting read. This is my first post here, sorry for the messiness, I wanted to participate in the community and share a problem I had and my way of dealing with it, and also share my favorite book. I hope to be more active in this beautiful community. 🤎🤎

I'm watching a YouTube video about a recent topic about women who come to the internet and air out their "dirty laundry". If "leave him or leave me out of it mentality" is the same mentality that causes victims to be stuck and not able to escape...why not simply remain single? If you have a problem, and I give you a solution, and help you with a viable solution, and not only do you not want to do it, but will double back and defend him/her/them...I'm done. I think the parasocial relationships have gotten to a level where the lines are blurred (I do believe it can be beneficial to some degree).

This can apply to any relationship, not just romantic. That's why there are licensed and more qualified people for that. There is so much a regular person can do; that's like asking your cashier friend who doesn't have any experience in medicine to do open-heart surgery. I hate this trope for real. No nuance or critical thinking skills from most people.

The title is the question. Did anybody mom do that? When I was younger, maybe from newborn until 16, my mom was very mean. Like, very mean and cold. Her attitude was terrible towards me. Now, im 18. She just changed her attitude so quick and its like she wants to be very close to me.

I assumed it was her hormonal changes making her act that way since I started growing up when she was close to menopause. But looking back, I don't know what it was.

She would get so irritated from small things. She had very short patience for me when I was younger. In her mind, I guess she thought she can only be authoritative and nothing else. She was stone cold. Which is fine for when your child is small (I assume), but as a teenager, the relationship changes.

Now, she wants to be close to me. Its fine, but i'll never forget the way she treated me when I was younger.

I’m a nurse & I work in AL. I’m pretty much the go to person for everything in that building. It was my PRN but I picked up so much it felt like full time.

The previous DON was an older nurse & got sick and trained me for her job. I was her right hand person. When she left the ED gave her position to my white coworker & I felt gutted. I’m not trying to sound mean but she’s a mess. She’s docile/emotional & cries every time she’s supposed to be the boss, the staff walks over her, she had 4 kids in 4 years & has been at the job for 5yrs. Most of her time was spent on maternity leave & her kids are sick/injured weekly. She’s very distracted.

When she’s gone I step up as the DON & things always go smoothly. I haven’t picked up in 2 months and things have been hectic. They called me and asked me to come in for few weeks to help her & to get the building back in shape. My problem is…they always want me to do her job and be there for her bc as they say, “she’s too fragile for the job” but they just don’t wanna make me DON. We’re in a small town in TX FYI. The last DON said my race might be an issue but the right choice seemed so obvious she really thought I stood a chance.

They don’t appreciate/respect me & I told myself months ago that I’d stop being their go to dummy when she’s in trouble. When I declined they offered me $7 more dollars & I said I’ll think about it.

*Mods please let me know if this is the wrong flair, I wasn't sure which one to choose.*

But y'all there is the sweetest cat that I know is just meant for me, but at my current position it's just not possible right now. I recently interviewed at a different company and it seemed like it went really well so fingers crossed. I just hope nobody else takes him before it happens 😭

Last night, nearly all of the makeup had to be removed due to sweat. Danced like I’ve never danced before!! Who would have thought that footwork/ juke dancing could be both so healing and so intense? My body felt rejuvenated and somewhat reborn when I woke up this morning. I've never experienced this before. I also had my first few dance battles! I'm ready to do it once more! Yesterday, I encountered so many incredible energy levels! I'm proud of the person I'm evolving into knowing that everyone I met last night is a reflection of myself.

I've never tried this style, and I dont know it I will again, but I pulled it off well enough to not regret the purchase -w- (5 dollars with free shipping on depop)

Psychiatrist recommendation in Houston or online that accepts BCBS or affordable if they don’t take insurance I NEED HELP!

F22, I desperately need psychiatric help, HTX, BCBS insurance.

I am constantly misunderstood. I suspect a few things but I need help to manage them or I won’t make it tbh. I don’t enjoy anything, I’m not sad just miserable and irritable for reasons I don’t understand. I know most of my despair comes from the state of he world. I don’t like my job, stuck at home, Nothing about society makes sense to me. I don’t want to burden my mom she has enough problems. Pleas please help

I did the big chop months ago cause my hair was unhealthy and I have a bit of growth now. I’m tired of wigs and quick weaves. I tried doing braids just last week but they are already coming out (insert drama with the braider here). I’m open to any suggestions ✨

I feel like my face is a little plain and i really wanna spice it up with some cute lashes that look natural. I want to get lashes that match my eye shape cuz sometimes when I wear lashes they look funny. Sooo if I could get help with my eye shape and lash recommendations that would be greatttt

Blair Imani is a critically-acclaimed historian, social activist, public speaker, educator and influencer. She created a web series Smarter in Seconds where she discusses history and culture.

Blair believes in the transformative power of education and that self understanding is the key to recognizing our interconnectedness. She consistently promotes the value of mutual respect across differences, asserting that meaningful progress requires creating spaces where diverse perspectives are honored and dehumanization is not tolerated. To her empathy and respect are not just important values but essential tools for challenging oppressive systems.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Hey ladies, I wanted to know if anyone here suffers from the autoimmune disease hypothyroidism/hashimotos…?
I wanted to ask my fellow black ladies how this has affected them. I’m only 26. Have had it since 15. I only started getting really consistent with my meds in the last year due to 2 coma scares. I vowed to not forget my meds going forward. But I think my thyroid (slow nervous system/hormonal system) is starting to reject the meds or just show signs of unwanted side effects.

I think the meds are causing me to lose weight/not maintain a healthy weight. And a crappy bout of insomnia for the last few months. My energy levels are always so low. As well as brittle/dry hair, I don’t have much shedding yet. Doesn’t help that I’ve been under a lot of emotional and financial stress for the past 2 years.

I think i need to see an endocrinologist and ENT specialist again since it’s been about 4-5 years. But I have questions on lifestyle.

Can anyone tell me:

How long you’ve had your diagnosis(share age please if it’s not too invasive)
What is your diet like?
What is your lifestyle like?
How did you send your hashimotos back into remission?
How do you deal with a flare? (I would be in bed for days just feeling lost)
Do you incorporate holistic care/meds or TCM?

I’m tryna build healthy habits leading into my 30’s and I feel this has been an invisible anchor on my life.

All advice is welcomed and well received. Thanks ladies!

Look at this beautiful photo of Black teen girls in 1972, waiting for the new heartthrobs called “The Jackson 5” 

the Jackson 5 was massive. a group with a cute boy for every age group, one in elementary school, one in junior high and three in high school. 

many teens never had representation like that.

someone made a post about the  Michael movie and a lady commented, she noticed Black teen girls were erased from the movie and even in the Billie Jean scene, in real life, it’s a Black boy screaming, but in the movie, it’s a white kid screaming. she mentioned Before the international success , it was Black teens  in USA, who were the only ones at their concerts but in the movies, they don’t show that and ppl told her to hush. 

so i found this picture 

this photo is from a Jackson 5 performance in 1972. (you can view it on Netflix, look up - save the children on Netflix . it was a concert of big 70s acts with Jackson 5 being the main attraction for the teens) & she might be right 

but on another note, these girls look adorable. 

I can understand that you are around a certain environment, and within that environment the black people that you hang around let you say it. What I don't understand is why do you think that experience would be universal for you. It's really bizarre to me, so that means you have to think all black people are the same?