Black Girl in Maine https://blackgirlinmaine.com/ Anti-Racism Speaker for Education and Empowerment Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:12:08 +0000 en hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/cropped-BGIM-logo-1-32x32.jpg Shay Stewart-Bouley https://blackgirlinmaine.com/ 32 32 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/activism/critique-and-activism-people-getting-prickly-about-no-kings/ Critique and activism: People getting prickly about No Kings https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/951965312/0/blackgirlinmaine~Critique-and-activism-People-getting-prickly-about-No-Kings/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:12:07 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20284 As the United States prepares for another No Kings Rally on March 28, emotions online are running high as seasoned organizers—many of them Black and Brown folks—express hesitation that another national rally will do much to move the needle on our current conditions in the United States. In turn, many white-bodied people are feeling prickly ...

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]]> As the United States prepares for another No Kings Rally on March 28, emotions online are running high as seasoned organizers—many of them Black and Brown folks—express hesitation that another national rally will do much to move the needle on our current conditions in the United States. In turn, many white-bodied people are feeling prickly ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/commentary/ai-isnt-here-to-help-you/ AI isn’t here to help you https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/951964664/0/blackgirlinmaine~AI-isn%e2%80%99t-here-to-help-you/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:04:21 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20282 Yeah, AI is a tool, just not the tool you think it is—and what’s being peddled to you isn’t really for your benefit. This is something I’ve been learning and that I hope you will learn as well. So-called artificial intelligence (AI) is sometimes a confusing landscape, and really AI is a broad term that ...

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]]> Yeah, AI is a tool, just not the tool you think it is—and what’s being peddled to you isn’t really for your benefit. This is something I’ve been learning and that I hope you will learn as well. So-called artificial intelligence (AI) is sometimes a confusing landscape, and really AI is a broad term that ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/commentary/philanthropy-in-the-era-of-authoritarianismdo-better/ Philanthropy in the era of authoritarianism…do better https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/951964553/0/blackgirlinmaine~Philanthropy-in-the-era-of-authoritarianism%e2%80%a6do-better/ Fri, 27 Mar 2026 13:57:20 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20203 While I am known for my writing online (and sometimes for various publications) and for public speaking work as “Black Girl in Maine” (or BGIM) those things are not my job. They are the things I started doing over 20 years ago to keep me sane as a Black woman who had moved to a ...

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]]> While I am known for my writing online (and sometimes for various publications) and for public speaking work as “Black Girl in Maine” (or BGIM) those things are not my job. They are the things I started doing over 20 years ago to keep me sane as a Black woman who had moved to a ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/current-events/black-in-maine-during-an-ice-surge/ Black in Maine during an ICE surge https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/946506806/0/blackgirlinmaine~Black-in-Maine-during-an-ICE-surge/ Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:17:24 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20163 I have long considered myself a reluctant Mainer. I often refer to myself as a Chicagoan exiled in Maine. I never set out to be known for anti-racism work; I never set out to become someone known as a local leader, an activist, an organizer, or even a social justice writer. Rather, life dealt me ...

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]]> I have long considered myself a reluctant Mainer. I often refer to myself as a Chicagoan exiled in Maine. I never set out to be known for anti-racism work; I never set out to become someone known as a local leader, an activist, an organizer, or even a social justice writer. Rather, life dealt me ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/commentary/the-american-dream-was-never-real-they-lied/ The American Dream was never real; They lied https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/942514871/0/blackgirlinmaine~The-American-Dream-was-never-real-They-lied/ Mon, 26 Jan 2026 21:58:56 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20161 For generations—for most of its existence, in fact—the United States promoted itself as a beacon of light and hope, a place where all would be welcomed and all could achieve success if they worked hard. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The United States lifted itself up as ...

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]]> For generations—for most of its existence, in fact—the United States promoted itself as a beacon of light and hope, a place where all would be welcomed and all could achieve success if they worked hard. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” The United States lifted itself up as ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/commentary/whose-voice-you-listen-to-and-our-collective-survival/ Whose voice you listen to…and our collective survival https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/942514874/0/blackgirlinmaine~Whose-voice-you-listen-toand-our-collective-survival/ Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:07:21 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20125 Since day one of Trump’s second term, it has been a non-stop year of really bad things happening in the United States. Horrible and previously unimaginable things have become our new norm. To recap: The administration kicked off 2025 with rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts—and while the executive order Trump signed was initially ...

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]]> Since day one of Trump’s second term, it has been a non-stop year of really bad things happening in the United States. Horrible and previously unimaginable things have become our new norm. To recap: The administration kicked off 2025 with rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts—and while the executive order Trump signed was initially ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/commentary/ai-slop-got-me-lets-make-it-stop/ AI slop got me! Let’s make it stop https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/939739727/0/blackgirlinmaine~AI-slop-got-me-Let%e2%80%99s-make-it-stop/ Tue, 06 Jan 2026 14:08:12 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20098 On Christmas Day, after the holiday hijinks had settled down, I—like millions of others—got on social media to “check in” with the world. A cute and heartwarming story about a guy paying for groceries for others at one of the Maine grocery stores popped up in my feed. Given the holiday season, it was the ...

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]]> On Christmas Day, after the holiday hijinks had settled down, I—like millions of others—got on social media to “check in” with the world. A cute and heartwarming story about a guy paying for groceries for others at one of the Maine grocery stores popped up in my feed. Given the holiday season, it was the ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/current-events/musings-on-the-political-and-graham-platner-reflections-on-a-conversation-part-1/ Musings on the political and Graham Platner: Reflections on a conversation, Part 1 https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/939445775/0/blackgirlinmaine~Musings-on-the-political-and-Graham-Platner-Reflections-on-a-conversation-Part/ Sat, 13 Dec 2025 16:25:47 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20074 One of the greatest gifts of aging is that with each passing decade, you start to realize that the world and the people in it are a lot more complex than you initially assumed. It often means learning that things are not nearly as straightforward and black-and-white as we assume when we are younger—that life ...

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The post Musings on the political and Graham Platner: Reflections on a conversation, Part 1 appeared first on Shay Stewart-Bouley.

]]> One of the greatest gifts of aging is that with each passing decade, you start to realize that the world and the people in it are a lot more complex than you initially assumed. It often means learning that things are not nearly as straightforward and black-and-white as we assume when we are younger—that life ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/racial-and-cultural/its-already-happening-whites-only/ It’s already happening: Whites only https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/939445778/0/blackgirlinmaine~It%e2%80%99s-already-happening-Whites-only/ Fri, 14 Nov 2025 03:32:08 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=20019 The official end of Jim Crow in the United States happened between 1965 and 1968. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and in 1965, they passed the Voting Rights Act, and then in 1968, the Fair Housing Act. These efforts effectively ended Jim Crow in the United States, though the lingering racial animosity ...

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The post It’s already happening: Whites only appeared first on Shay Stewart-Bouley.

]]> The official end of Jim Crow in the United States happened between 1965 and 1968. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and in 1965, they passed the Voting Rights Act, and then in 1968, the Fair Housing Act. These efforts effectively ended Jim Crow in the United States, though the lingering racial animosity ...

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]]> https://blackgirlinmaine.com/activism/time-to-step-up-no-hungry-people-on-our-watch/ Time to step up: No hungry people on our watch https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/926594939/0/blackgirlinmaine~Time-to-step-up-No-hungry-people-on-our-watch/ Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:41:29 +0000 https://blackgirlinmaine.com/?p=19969 Most people who have read my writing in the last decade primarily know me for my political, cultural, and social justice writing and work. However, before I became the executive director of a grassroots anti-racism organization in 2014, I served as the executive director of a now-defunct youth development organization that offered free afterschool and ...

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The post Time to step up: No hungry people on our watch appeared first on Shay Stewart-Bouley.

]]> Most people who have read my writing in the last decade primarily know me for my political, cultural, and social justice writing and work. However, before I became the executive director of a grassroots anti-racism organization in 2014, I served as the executive director of a now-defunct youth development organization that offered free afterschool and ...

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