Hannah L Drake is a blogger, activist, public speaker, poet, and author of 11 books. She writes commentary on politics, feminism, and race and her work has been featured online at Cosmopolitan, The Bitter Southerner, Harper’s Bazaar and Revolt TV. In 2019 during Super Bowl Sunday, Hannah’s poem, "All You Had To Do Was Play The Game, Boy," which addresses the protest by Colin Kaepernick, was shared by film writer, producer and director Ava DuVernay, and then shared by Kaepernick. The poem has been viewed more than two million times.
Hannah’s commentary on life and challenging others to dream bigger have been recognized by First Lady Michelle Obama. Hannah Drake was featured on the Tom Joyner Morning Show with Jacque Reid to discuss her international movement, Do Not Move Off the Sidewalk, which addresses the power of holding your space. Hannah was selected by the Muhammad Ali Center to be a Daughter of Greatness which features prominent women engaged in social philanthropy, activism, and pursuits of justice. Hannah was selected as one of the Best of the Best in Louisville, Kentucky for her poem Spaces and recently was honored as a Kentucky Colonel, the highest title of honor bestowed by the Kentucky Governor recognizing an individual’s noteworthy accomplishments and outstanding service to community, state, and nation. Labeled as a change agent, Hannah’s message is thought-provoking and at times challenging, but Hannah believes that it is in the uncomfortable spaces that change can take place. “My sole purpose in writing and speaking is not that I entertain you. I am trying to shake a nation.”
In thinking about racism, I was reminded of the Five Stages of Grief (Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance) developed by David Kessler and Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. I realized that facing racism has a similar process. There are stages of facing the reality of racism.
White Feminism always needs a participation trophy. Take yourself OUT OF THE CENTER WHITE WOMEN! It is okay to stand with Black people, to understand injustice and NOT MAKE IT ABOUT YOU! It isn’t about your “sadness” because you are White and privileged.
How long are you going to remain lukewarm, Amy? How long are you going to flip flop on issues that impact this state and this nation? PICK A SIDE and show this state WHY you are the BETTER PERSON TO LEAD THIS STATE! If not STEP ASIDE so that someone can stand in their TRUTH and COURAGE to show the people of this state just how much we can rise when we stand together!
Trusting Black Women is more than a catchy hashtag. It is more than a talking point on the campaign trail. Trusting Black Women is more than inviting a Black woman to the table without any leadership or decision-making authority. Do not invite me to the table if I am expected to sit pretty and poised with no power. Making a hashtag does absolutely nothing without clear motives and actions behind it.
Let’s just get right into it – Beyoncé is THAT BITCH! PERIODTTTT!! ALL THE T’s!! There is no greater living entertainer on the planet. Period. Before I take it back, I will add more to it. Argue with your aunties and grandmas don’t argue with me.Beyoncé came to Coachella to snatch all the vanilla, #FFFFFF, flower crowns and snatch them she did!
What y’all don’t understand is before we even leave the house we have already decided what’s gonna happen that day. We have already decided just how much bullshit we are going to deal with. We shower, get dressed and put on our “I wish a muthfucka would” lipstick, “Ain’t no one Fenty bother me” foundation, spray a little bit of “I don’t give a damn” perfume on our wrists, slip on our “Try me if you want to” stilettoes and grab our, “I will turn into Annalise Keating up in here,” handbag and head out the door, singing Take Me To The King the entire drive to work.
*(Before I get into this blog, please do not comment on this blog about people needing to be grateful that they have a job. I believe that anyone working is thankful for their job and happy they can pay their bills, put food on the table and have […]
This week Stacey Abrams appeared on The View and was asked about the rumors that she was being tapped to run alongside (behind) Joe Biden as the 2020 Vice President candidate. With no hesitation, Abrams stated, “I think you don’t run for second place.”In one sentence, Abrams spoke an entire sermon, and it resonated deeply with me. While Abrams was talking about the primary, I took her comments as a lesson for my life to stop running for second place. Who stands at the starting line of a race and says, “I want to be second?” Your mentality should always be, “I want to be first!” The goal should always be to run to win!
My daughter told me, “You should have left Us feeling afraid to look at your reflection in the mirror.” I didn’t. As I walked into the bathroom after the movie, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and washed my hands. I was not afraid. I was not spooked. I didn’t have that feeling that my reflection would turn its back on me or reach out and grab me. There was no lingering fear like I felt watching Nightmare on Elm Street of Halloween years ago. I left the theater thinking, “Perhaps I missed the message. Perhaps I missed the fear.”
In her quick rise in social justice circles, her continuous missteps show me that Alyssa has no foundation on which to stand when it comes to being an ally. Her activism is a house of cards built on sand. It is easy to commandeer someone else’s movement as your own. It is easy to go online when you have a vast platform and post something that “sounds” progressive and get thousands of likes and retweets. It is easy to comb through poems and pick a line or two that may help undergird your tweets. It’s easy to dress up in a handmaid’s costume and not see how your real life actions are not indicative of supporting all women. It’s convenient to post a Martin Luther King quote that makes you feel good. It is easy to do all of those things without doing any of the real work. Moreover, the real work doesn’t start on Twitter. It doesn’t start with a pink pussy cat hat. It doesn’t start with some catchy sign held up at a protest. I dare say it doesn’t even start with a hashtag. The real work begins when you first look inside yourself and challenge yourself to be better and to do better.
