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At the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum, Black Charlotte Tells Its Own Story

This Black History Month, the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum wasn’t interested in polished tributes. It offered something rarer: candor. From the dismantling of Black educational institutions after integration to Soul City’s bold economic vision and Charlotte’s fragmented music scene, elders and professionals confronted what was built, what was lost, and what must be rebuilt. If you want to understand Black Charlotte beyond celebration, start here.

Charlotte, NC

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A Living Archive of Black Women’s Power

The March 2026 edition of SISTAH Magazine is a bold editorial tribute to the women, thinkers, builders, and communities who were pushed to the margins—yet shaped the foundation. The Last Shall Be First centers untold stories, reframes misunderstood legacies, and challenges readers to reconsider who we call “great.” Because what was dismissed yesterday may define tomorrow.

IDENTITY&VOICE

I Know Who I Am

This piece is a declaration, not a whisper—an unapologetic return to self in a world that benefits from Black women shrinking. What follows is self-love as truth, resistance, and inheritance, spoken without permission.

The Sister Circle

A love letter to the importance of sisterhood love, often overshadowed by the culture of comparison and exhaustion.

Her Smile: A Reawakening

This poem chronicles a profound internal shift: from shielding oneself for mere "survival" to embracing authentic, self-designed happiness. The simple act of her smile transforms from a source of discomfort into a declaration of the inherent power she always possessed. It serves as a potent reminder that true strength lies not in enduring, but in choosing to fully live and breathe, starting with self-acceptance and love. The smile is the first, essential step toward a reawake

LaVianca Ledbetter

Reverence for
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Begins with Us.

Every movement begins with the woman who nurtures it. Every legacy begins with the woman who remembers. When Black women are seen, supported, protected, and poured into — the entire community shifts. The children stand taller. The men lead with integrity. The home becomes a sanctuary again.

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CULTURE&EXPRESSION

The Sister Circle

A love letter to the importance of sisterhood love, often overshadowed by the culture of comparison and exhaustion.

Perfect Alignment

Discover a poem celebrating perfect alignment, divine timing, and the gravitational pull of two souls committed to growth, healing and thriving together. A beautiful tribute to enduring, evolving love.

LaVianca Ledbetter

Honor Our Elders

The elders in our families carry generations of memory, love, and survival in their voices. When we honor them, we strengthen the foundation that steadies us and keeps our legacy alive.

2

FREEDOM&JUSTICE

Colorism & Reverse-Colorism: The Fued Between the House and Field Nigga

Centuries after slavery, the feud between the “house” and “field” still lingers in our DNA. Colorism and “reverse” colorism are not natural—they’re the offspring of a system built to divide. From the Willie Lynch blueprint to modern media, Black women of every shade have been pitted against one another. But healing begins when we see each other not as rivals, but as reflections under the same moon.

7 min read

Two Shades of Sorrow Under the Same Moon

The sun burned through Nahlia’s back as she dreamed of the cool air inside the white house. Inside, Ailhan balanced a tray beneath the mistress’s stare, longing for the laughter drifting from the fields. Each envied the other’s world, blind to how both were prisons built from different bricks. But under the same moon, they would learn that freedom was never found alone.

5 min read

The Cost of Giving Until Empty: Why Abundance Must Begin at Home

America’s progress is measured like coming from -98 to 0 — still far from the abundance we deserve. We keep pouring from our gourds until nothing is left for our own households, and then wonder why the village is starving. The truth is, scarcity was never meant to be our economic model. What happens when we flip the script — when we plant beside the well, refill our gourd, and teach the next generation to draw?

Our True Colors

3 min read

SPIRITUAL&NATURAL

She met a man who loved her like God does.

When Black Love Becomes Ministry

When Black Love Becomes Ministry isn’t about perfection—it’s about covering. After years of mistaking chemistry for commitment, she discovered a love rooted in patience, prayer, and protection. This is the story of a man who didn’t just pursue her heart, but stewarded it—proving that when Black love is aligned with God, it becomes ministry.

JAZZY JOHNSON

Facing Myself

There comes a moment in our lives where we are required to look within. We are able to see who we are in efforts to acknowledge, address, and adjust how we show up for ourselves and the people closest to us.

Britty J

Polygyny: God’s Order or Patriarchal Greed?

Men claim polygyny is “in their DNA,” but is it God’s order or patriarchal greed? From lion prides to Yoruba legends, from Jacob’s rivalry-filled house to David’s lust for Bathsheba, history shows polygyny can bless or break a family. Before you choose this path, ask: is it divine calling, mutual uplift, and provision — or just desire dressed as heritage?

MONEY&POWER

West Charlotte High and the Price of Desegregation

At a Black History Month panel, former students and teachers of West Charlotte High reflected on a time when the school symbolized Black academic excellence and community pride. Their stories revealed both the power of segregated Black educational spaces and the cultural cost of desegregation — raising a pressing question: how do we restore the rigor, presentation, and excellence that once defined West Charlotte?

📣 The First Black Women’s Business Directory Is Dropping in Charlotte — in Print!

The first-ever Charlotte Black Women’s Business Directory is dropping this January—bringing 500+ Black women-owned brands into 100+ hotspot locations across the city. In a year where Black women faced record unemployment, this print edition is more than visibility—it’s a lifeline.

SISTAH NEWS

The Cost of Giving Until Empty: Why Abundance Must Begin at Home

America’s progress is measured like coming from -98 to 0 — still far from the abundance we deserve. We keep pouring from our gourds until nothing is left for our own households, and then wonder why the village is starving. The truth is, scarcity was never meant to be our economic model. What happens when we flip the script — when we plant beside the well, refill our gourd, and teach the next generation to draw?

Our True Colors

LIFESTYLE&HOME

What's This Word... REST?

A "How To" guide to incorporate rest into our hectic lives, without impacting too much of your everyday life and responsibilities.

Featured

LaVianca Asante'

A black woman exhausted with a large Velvet spider on the lamp shade

Matriphagy: When Motherhood Feeds Everyone but You

In nature, the Velvet Spider feeds her children with her own body—a haunting mirror of mothers who give until they vanish. Many women live this quietly, mistaking depletion for devotion. But love was never meant to consume you. Healing begins when you stop feeding others from your wounds and start nurturing from your wholeness. You are not food—you are the source.

From Hot to Wholesome

Rest is Revolutionary by Ash Authoress

We grew up watching Black women move without pause. Mothers, aunties, and church ladies who carried the world on their backs, always in motion, rarely at rest. Their hustle shaped us, but it also taught us something they were never given space to learn: rest is not laziness. Rest is survival. Rest is power.

Lifestyle

Ash Authoress

BLACKHERSTORY

VIEW CALENDAR

Charlotte’s Power Trio: How Black Women Now Steer the Queen City’s Future

Charlotte is entering a historic era led by a powerful trinity of Black women—Mayor Vi Lyles, Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill, and Police Chief Estella Patterson. Together, they are shaping the Queen City’s future through equity, education, and public safety. Their leadership marks a new chapter where Black women aren’t just influencing Charlotte—they’re defining it.

Herstory

SISTAH NEWS

El Shaddai: Creator Feminine Hidden in the Name

For centuries, patriarchal society has shaped how we see God—often through a lens that suppresses womanhood and erases Divine Womanhood itself. This imbalance has fueled mistranslations, misinterpretations, and theological silencing of the feminine dimensions within Scripture. One of the most striking examples of this distortion is the Hebrew title El Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדַּי), commonly rendered "God Almighty." Yet beneath this narrow translation lies a far more intimate and femi

Spirituality

The Saga Continues: Our Identity As A Discussion for the World

Introduction Black women’s bodies have never simply existed in America—they’ve always been dissected, debated, labeled, and controlled. From the moment Saartjie Baartman was paraded through 19th-century Europe as a spectacle of anatomy rather than a human being, the world began its long obsession with turning Black femininity into public discourse. What should have been sacred and sovereign became public property. Our curves, our hair, our skin, our style—nothing was exempt

Arts & Culture

Amber Epting

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01:12

Where should organizations draw the line between professional standards and cultural discrimination?

00:42

Are wigs, weaves, and filters quietly erasing Black beauty?

00:58

Why do you think Black features are only celebrated once they’re separated from Black bodies?

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How much influence does social media truly have on body image and self-perception?

THEFEED

At the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum, Black Charlotte Tells Its Own Story

This Black History Month, the Sarah Stevenson Tuesday Forum wasn’t interested in polished tributes. It offered something rarer: candor. From the dismantling of Black educational institutions after integration to Soul City’s bold economic vision and Charlotte’s fragmented music scene, elders and professionals confronted what was built, what was lost, and what must be rebuilt. If you want to understand Black Charlotte beyond celebration, start here.

2 days ago

I Know Who I Am

This piece is a declaration, not a whisper—an unapologetic return to self in a world that benefits from Black women shrinking. What follows is self-love as truth, resistance, and inheritance, spoken without permission.

4 days ago

West Charlotte High and the Price of Desegregation

At a Black History Month panel, former students and teachers of West Charlotte High reflected on a time when the school symbolized Black academic excellence and community pride. Their stories revealed both the power of segregated Black educational spaces and the cultural cost of desegregation — raising a pressing question: how do we restore the rigor, presentation, and excellence that once defined West Charlotte?

5 days ago

The Sister Circle

A love letter to the importance of sisterhood love, often overshadowed by the culture of comparison and exhaustion.