I’m not good at introducing myself.

I’m loud, funny, damaged, and sometimes aggressive. I was a nerd in grammar school, fast-tailed in high school, and incredibly naive about politics before I joined the U.S. Army. I can’t say I was naive about much else, my childhood saw to the end of my innocence before I even grasped what that word meant. And whatever was left, well…Uncle Sam took the rest of it. I’ve blundered a lot over the years, trying to find my way from what I was to what I think I might want to be. I’m not there yet, but I have come far enough to understand that my roots are nothing to be ashamed of and to see that the hood gave me some good with the bad.

This site is a place for the other hood chicks, for the ones living in the inner city and navigating poverty, as well as the ones in the country making a dollar stretch. Some of us are middle class now, some of us are skating the poverty line. Either way, we’re on the margins and we’re loud enough, proud enough that we won’t be talked about, run over, or silenced any more. This is a place to broadcast, signal boost, and make sure that we’re experts on our own experiences. I’m Mikki Kendall, and I’d like to welcome you to Hood Feminism.