About BGD

Today, Vanessa told me, “Yell it, scream it, shout it from the rooftops. Beat your chest. Tear your hair. Bite. Scratch. Be theatrical. Go wild. The more you mourn, the less you carry.”

I started to cry when she said that.

That’s really what this thing is about.

--December, 2011

                                    ****

Black Girl Dangerous is the brainchild of writer Mia McKenzie. What started out as a scream of anguish has evolved into a multi-faceted forum for expression. Black Girl Dangerous seeks to, in as many ways possible, amplify the voices, experiences and expressions of queer and trans* people of color.

Black Girl Dangerous is a place where we can make our voices heard on the issues that interest us and affect us, where we can showcase our literary and artistic talents, where we can cry it out, and where we can explore and express our “dangerous” sides: our biggest, boldest, craziest, weirdest, wildest selves.

*

*

Founding Editor/Editor-In-Chief

Mia McKenzie is a writer and a smart, scrappy Philadelphian with a deep love of vegan pomegranate ice cream and fake fur collars. She studied writing at the University of Pittsburgh. She is a black feminist and a freaking queer, facts that are often reflected in her stories, which are literary and lyrical and hella quirky, and which have won her some awards and grants, such as the Astraea Foundation’s Writers Fund Award (‘09) and the Leeway Foundation’s Transformation Award (‘11). Her debut novel, The Summer We Got Free is a finalist for the 2013 Lambda Literary Award and has been described by author and critic Jewelle Gomez as "a brilliant tapestry filled with exuberance and anxiety". You can read her short stories in The Kenyon Review  and make/shift. Her recent live performances include Queer Rebels of the Harlem Renaissance, Mangos With Chili Presents: WHIPPED! QTPOC Recipes For Love, Sex & Disaster, and Black Girl Dangerous: Mia McKenzie on Being A Queer Black Femme Nerd In A Ridiculous World, the last of those being a signature reading of her diverse works, performed at universities across the country. Her work has been published in The Guardian, quoted on the Melissa Harris Perry Show, and recommended by The Root, Colorlines, Feministing, Angry Asian Man, and Crunk Feminist Collective. She is a nerd and the creator of Black Girl Dangerous. Read more about Mia at www.miamckenzie.net

(To book Mia or other BGD writers for an event at your university or other venue, contact Malc Smith at malc.booking@gmail.com)

*

Assistant Editor

Janani recently joined BGD as Assistant Editor. They are a South Asian electron spinning around the Bay Area making art and scholarship.  They like thinking about apocalypse, decolonizing the food system, and making space for quantum queers everywhere.  You can read some of their work at queerdarkenergy.sqsp.com.

*

*

*

MAKING A DONATION TO BGD

Black Girl Dangerous is a grassroots literary project that is fiscally sponsored by Queer Cultural Center.  Donations made to BGD through QCC are tax-deductible.

Donations to BGD go directly to workshops for queer and trans* writers of color and to honorariums for writers and artists who contribute to the blog.

If you'd like to make a donation through QCC, please mail your check to:

Queer Cultural Center (Qcc)

c/o African American Art and Culture Complex

762 Fulton St

San Francisco, CA 94102

Please make checks payable to Qcc and specify in the memo line that your donation is for Black Girl Dangerous.

If you'd like to make a donation and a tax deduction isn't a big concern, you can donate directly to BGD by clicking the DONATE button.