Published in ZORA·Dec 11, 2020Member-onlyHollywood Wasn’t Ready for Natalie DesselleThe late actress was relegated to roles as the fat and funny sidekick, but she could’ve been so much more — Robert Townsend’s 1997 film, B.A.P.S., is one of the most beloved films in the canon of Black comedies for good reason: It follows Nisi (Halle Berry) and Mickey (Natalie Desselle), two waitresses working in a Georgia restaurant who spend their entire life savings to travel to California and land Nisi…Natalie Desselle5 min readNatalie Desselle5 min read
Published in ZORA·May 19, 2020Member-onlyWhat No One Tells Black Women About Heart DiseaseThe signs and symptoms show up differently in our bodies — I thought I was having an asthma attack when I visited my primary care physician in May 2019. By the time I left that appointment, I’d been referred to a cardiologist to have an echocardiogram (or heart ultrasound) to figure out exactly what was happening. Within two weeks, I’d been…Health7 min readHealth7 min read
Published in ZORA·Jan 31, 2020Member-onlyWhat No One Tells Black Women About FibroidsOur tumors are usually larger and we’re more likely to be hospitalized. This is a crisis. — I was lying in a white-sheeted hotel bed in Chicago when I realized my fibroids had returned. It had been nearly three years since I’d first experienced these symptoms, but they were unmistakable: an incredibly heavy menstrual cycle that had lasted longer than seven days? Check. Passing clots of blood…Health7 min readHealth7 min read
