This is a word, a podcast from Slate. I'm your host, Jason Johnson. The conversation

about pop culture is often dominated by white male critics, and that means that black

people, particularly black women, are relegated to stereotypes. But culture critic Zeba

Blay, since it's time to rewrite the script.

We're not saying do not have depictions or representations of strong black women, but

also recognize that strengths and weakness can exist in the same body.

The author of Carefree Black Girls coming up on a word with me, Jason Johnson. Stay with

us.

Welcome to a word, a podcast about race, impolitics, and everything else. I'm your host, Jason

Johnson. Black artists shape so much of American popular culture from music to television

to filmmaking, but for too long, the people who write about it have been disproportionately

white, male, and pretty much clueless about race. That means that a lot of the cultural

discussion about everything from the rise of Cardi B to the legacy of the Cosby Show,

the controversy of Dave Chappelle has left out important contexts, black contexts.

One person who's been working to get it right is Zeba Blay. She's a culture and film critic

who was written for Jezebel Essence and The New York Times. Zeba Blay was one of the first

to popularize the hashtag Carefree Black Girls, and that helped inspire her new book Carefree

Black Girls, a celebration of black women in popular culture. And Zeba Blay joins us

now. Welcome to a word. Thank you for having me. I'm so delighted to be talking to you.

What was the idea behind Carefree Black Girls? Where did that hashtag come from? What was

the impetus for it? And what were you all trying to say with that hashtag?

For me, the tweet that kind of started it all came from a place of me trying to make sense

...