Jenn M. Jackson

Columnist at Teen Vogue

Assistant Professor at Syracuse University

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Articles

The Revolution Will Not Be Commercialized

3 weeks ago | northendagents.com | Jenn M. Jackson

By Jenn M. Jackson, YES MagazineSomeone is going to read this and think I wrote it because I hate football. Another person will read this piece and think I have a deeply ingrained dislike for Black men and rap music. Others will see this article, skim a few lines, and believe I want only awful things for Black women entrepreneurs. But, truthfully, I want us to think more critically about what our liberation looks like and how we intend to get there.
No Kendrick Lamar, the Revolution Will Not Be Commercialized

4 weeks ago | yesmagazine.org | Jenn M. Jackson

Someone is going to read this and think I wrote it because I hate football. Another person will read this piece and think I have a deeply ingrained dislike for Black men and rap music. Others will see this article, skim a few lines, and believe I want only awful things for Black women entrepreneurs. But, truthfully, I want us to think more critically about what our liberation looks like and how we intend to get there.
Kamala Harris Doesn’t Need to Be America’s Momala

Oct 10, 2024 | yesmagazine.org | Jenn M. Jackson

In May 2019, Vice President Kamala Harris posted a photo of herself flanked by her husband, Douglas Emhoff, and her stepchildren, Ella and Cole. In the accompanying caption, Harris wrote, “Grateful every day to be Momala to Ella and Cole.” Harris, sans makeup and dressed down, offered a public moment of vulnerability and tenderness with her family while using a term her stepchildren created just for her.
How Black Women Can Protect Their Peace This Election Cycle

Sep 4, 2024 | northendagents.com | Jenn M. Jackson

By Jenn M. JacksonIn the months prior to Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination to the Democratic presidential ticket, I felt a lingering fear in my body about what it would mean for Black women and femmes if she ran for the highest office in the land. Harris is pro-Israel and pro-punishment. Recently, at a campaign event in Detroit, she showed attendees how she feels about pro-Palestinian protestors when she shut them down by saying, “If you want Donald Trump to win, say that.
How Black Women Can Protect Their Peace This Election Cycle

Aug 20, 2024 | yesmagazine.org | Jenn M. Jackson

In the months prior to Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination to the Democratic presidential ticket, I felt a lingering fear in my body about what it would mean for Black women and femmes if she ran for the highest office in the land. Harris is pro-Israel and pro-punishment. Recently, at a campaign event in Detroit, she showed attendees how she feels about pro-Palestinian protestors when she shut them down by saying, “If you want Donald Trump to win, say that.
Courage By Any Other Name

Jul 23, 2024 | yesmagazine.org | Jenn M. Jackson

I watched the first presidential debate of the 2024 election on June 27. Let me rephrase: I, along with so many other concerned people in the United States and around the globe, witnessed two elderly, extremely wealthy white men debate about who could carry a golf bag longer, whether they remembered the names of political leaders, and who could finish their sentences without a gaffe. Not only did it feel like a waste of time, it felt like a mockery of our collective intelligence.
Going Back Outside for Pride

Jun 18, 2024 | yesmagazine.org | Jenn M. Jackson

My first panic attack this Pride month happened at the front desk of an Embassy Suites. My booking had disappeared from every app, and, after calling my partner to confirm that I truly had no hotel accommodations during one of the busiest weekends in Washington, D.C., my anxiety was starting to get the best of me.
In Defense of Butch Bodies

May 30, 2024 | yesmagazine.org | Jenn M. Jackson

Let me start by saying: Watching Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, be eviscerated by Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-TX, brought me a certain kind of Black Feminist Joy that I didn’t know I needed. The knowledge that Greene will never un-live the moment when she realized she couldn’t comment on a Black woman’s “fake eyelashes” without getting a clapback continues to live in my mind rent-free since it occurred on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on May 16.
At Home in Exile

Mar 4, 2024 | yesmagazine.org | Jenn M. Jackson

“If I didn’t define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people’s fantasies for me and eaten alive.” —Audre LordeAs a person of trans experience, I think frequently about what it has meant to name myself. As a child, pink-frilled dresses, shiny patent-leather Mary Janes, and itchy white stockings signaled to the world that I was a girl.
BLACK WOMEN TAUGHT US

Jan 23, 2024 | kirkusreviews.com | Jenn M. Jackson |Matthew Desmond |Paul Kalanithi

A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular... A neurosurgeon with a passion for literature tragically finds his perfect subject after his diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former.