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SISTAHMAGAZINE x OUR TRUE COLORS
Who decided what Black Beauty should look like?
Explore how beauty standards, social media, and industry influence shape how Black women see ourselves… and how we see each other.
2026 CLT BWO BUSINESS DIRECTORY
A Living Archive of Black Women’s Power
The Charlotte Black Women’s Business Directory is a living record of the women building, leading, and sustaining the Queen City. Inside, you’ll discover Black women–owned businesses, legacy makers, and power players across industries — from culture and commerce to government and education. This directory exists to restore visibility, circulate resources, and put respect back where it belongs.
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TRENDINGSTORIES
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.
Zakiya Hakizimana
3 min read
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IDENTITY&VOICE
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.
Word To My Brother
One brother speaks from exhaustion and frustration, the other from lived understanding. What passes between them is simple but heavy: unity is not optional—it’s necessary.
Before the Ring: The Foundation Before Forever
He traveled two and a half hours to take me on our first date. I was having a terrible hair day and felt anxious, unsure of what to expect. Yet somehow, in his presence, there was calm. An innocence. No pressure. No expectations. Just two people with genuine hearts, desiring to be seen.
Reverence for
BlackWomen
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.
SISTAH Magazine exists to restore what was lost: the dignity, beauty, softness, and leadership of the Black Woman at the center of the family and the culture.
Your giving makes this restoration possible.
CULTURE&EXPRESSION
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.
What Your Favorite Black Celebrity Says About You (Psychologically Speaking)
L et’s be honest: the celebs we admire aren’t just about the glam, the Grammy, or the genius. They reflect a piece of us — the dreamer, the survivor, the rebel, the romantic. So what does your favorite Black woman celebrity say about you? Here are 8 icons and what your love for them reveals about your character, drive, and cultural vibe — including their shadow sides. (Psychologist not required. Just vibes + emotional depth.) Beyonce If you stan Queen Bey, you are strategic
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.
Zakiya Hakizimana
3 min read
Word To My Brother
One brother speaks from exhaustion and frustration, the other from lived understanding. What passes between them is simple but heavy: unity is not optional—it’s necessary.
Zakiya Hakizimana
3 min read
When We Remember Ourselves
Somewhere between expectation and survival, we forget we belong to ourselves. In remembering our essence, we reclaim the power that was never lost, only waiting to be seen again
LaVianca Asante'
2 min read
FREEDOM&JUSTICE
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
Two Wings of the Same Bird: Why This System Still Reeks of Captivity
America may wear the eagle proudly, but Scripture warned of a fierce nation that shows no mercy — and history proves it. From Egypt’s first captivity to America’s two wings of the same bird, the system still reeks of captivity. Yet hope remains: like Moses and Esther, a deliverer will rise — perhaps this time, a Black woman.
Zhateyah YisraEl
3 min read
Coretta Scott King: A Legacy of Grace, Activism, and Determination
Coretta Scott King, born on April 27, 1927, in Heiberger, Alabama, emerged as one of the most influential civil rights leaders of the 20th c
Zhateyah YisraEl
3 min read
SPIRITUAL&NATURAL
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.
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.
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
📣 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.
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?
Why Every Black Woman Should Read The Richest Man in Babylon
“I Know We Hate Babylon…and valid!” Let me start here, sis: I know we hate Babylon. Believe me, I’m the first one side-eyeing every time...
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.
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.
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.
BLACKHERSTORY
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.
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
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
AUDIOBOOK
FROM HOT TO WHOLESOME
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Table of Contents | SRYI2: From Hot to Wholesome (Audiobook)
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Chapter 1: Refinding My Light | SRYI2: From Hot to Wholesome (Audiobook)
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.
Zakiya Hakizimana
1 day ago
The Curriculum of Commitment: Learning Before and Within Marriage
I swear my college years of thick textbooks, hours of lectures, and long study halls once had me believing that learning was boring—more of a burden than a benefit. It wasn’t until after graduating that true education began, and my love of learning returned. Even more so as I developed a relationship with my now husband. I had a revelation years ago: what if we prepared for the roles we play in life the same way we prepare for our careers? Years of schooling. Internships. On-
LaVianca Ledbetter
3 days ago
Word To My Brother
One brother speaks from exhaustion and frustration, the other from lived understanding. What passes between them is simple but heavy: unity is not optional—it’s necessary.
Zakiya Hakizimana
4 days ago
Before the Ring: The Foundation Before Forever
He traveled two and a half hours to take me on our first date. I was having a terrible hair day and felt anxious, unsure of what to expect. Yet somehow, in his presence, there was calm. An innocence. No pressure. No expectations. Just two people with genuine hearts, desiring to be seen.
LaVianca Ledbetter
6 days ago
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
Feb 1
The Marriage Looks Perfect — So Why Do I Feel Alone? #AsktheAunties
The Aunties brought the truth—soft, spicy, prayerful, and free-spirited. Take what speaks to you and leave the rest. If this sounds like your life, you’re not alone. Share your advice in the comments, and keep sending your questions. The circle is open; the Aunties are listening.
Ask the Aunties
Jan 15
When We Remember Ourselves
Somewhere between expectation and survival, we forget we belong to ourselves. In remembering our essence, we reclaim the power that was never lost, only waiting to be seen again
LaVianca Asante'
Dec 26, 2025
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.
LaVianca Asante'
Dec 23, 2025
Who I Already Am
Each season shapes me quietly, turning reflection into becoming.
With every breath, I remember—I already am everything I need to become.
LaVianca Asante'
Dec 17, 2025
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.
SISTAH NEWS
Dec 16, 2025
Zahra's New Power
Zahra thought regret had anchored her, until Aunt Luna reminded her it was only a lesson—not a life sentence.
With every mistake turned into fuel, she realized she wasn’t falling behind at all… she was finally rising toward a season she could shape for herself.
Kiyaza
Dec 15, 2025
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
Dec 10, 2025
The Reclamation Ritual
When you realign, you don’t start over—you return to yourself with greater clarity.
LaVianca Asante'
Dec 7, 2025
Relax, Relate, Release
We often overwhelm ourselves with the things that life throws our way. Using the phrase from the show A Different Word, this is a guide to inspire all of us to be at peace, find comfort, and re-align as many times as life asks you to—your path can bend without breaking your dreams. Happiness has no deadline, and neither do you.
Ash Authoress
Dec 4, 2025
It's Time
Doubt may whisper, but my vision is louder—clear, steady, and calling me forward. I’m done shrinking; it’s time to rise into the destiny that’s been waiting on me.
Tee Kay Poetic
Dec 1, 2025
Rest in Power
“Black woman, allow yourself to breathe, to rest, and to reclaim your strength.
Kiyaza
Nov 30, 2025
Aunt Sandy with the Candy
Every December, Aunt Sandy gave everything to keep her family’s traditions alive. When exhaustion finally took over, her husband reminded her that even love needs rest. The family stepped in, sharing the work and the warmth. That year, Sandy learned the sweetest gift was letting others give, too.
Kiyaza
Nov 27, 2025
True Selves
True wellness often begins here: in the heat of stillness, where we return to ourselves and awaken to who we were always meant to be.
LaVianca Asante'
Nov 25, 2025
📣 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
Nov 21, 2025
Rest is Revolution by Briana Parlor
This year, the official first day of fall was September 22nd. This time of year always feels like a gentle reminder to slow down and turn inward. The intentionality of fall is reflected in how the trees release their leaves. In the Northern Hemisphere, the autumn equinox invites shorter days and colder weather. As a means of survival, our tree friends shed their leaves to conserve energy, protect themselves from the harshness of winter, and prepare for the next growing season
Briana Parlor
Nov 20, 2025
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.
Zhateyah YisraEl
Nov 19, 2025
The Weight of a Holiday Smile
Sheena was the glue. Everyone said it, and most days she wore that title like a crown. But as December settled over Brooklyn with its flashing lights, long grocery lines, and endless WhatsApp messages from family, the crown began to feel more like a chain.
Kiyaza
Nov 13, 2025
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.
Zhateyah YisraEl
Nov 12, 2025
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.
Ash Authoress
Nov 11, 2025
Silence Seasons the Soul
She gives endlessly, worn by love and duty. Expectations pull, but her spirit whispers for peace. She lets go—the meal, the noise, the weight. Tonight, she chooses herself and rests in the quiet.
Kiyaza
Nov 11, 2025
Rest is Revolutionary
I was conflicted between the two, should I rest or continue on?
I knew I should slow down but it felt so wrong.
Tee Kay Poetic
Nov 10, 2025
When Rest Became my Revolution
There comes a moment when your body refuses to carry what your heart won’t release. I learned that peace isn’t passive; it’s protection. Healing began when I stopped pretending to be unbreakable and started choosing myself. My rest became rebellion. My boundaries became redemption. My peace became non-negotiable. For the first time, I understood—true strength isn’t enduring pain; it’s having the courage to release it.
Jazzy A. Johnson
Nov 8, 2025
Close Your Eyes and Rise
Before the world demands your strength again, this is a reminder to choose yourself. To rest without guilt. To remember that you were never meant to hold everything together alone.
Kiyaza
Nov 6, 2025
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.
Zhateyah YisraEl
Nov 5, 2025
Holiday Revelation
In a bustling Thanksgiving kitchen, Sue feels her late mother’s spirit guiding her through laughter and memory. She realizes legacy isn’t just food or tradition—it’s love, care, and the passing of responsibility from one generation to the next. What once felt like duty now feels sacred.
Britty J
Oct 28, 2025
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?
Zhateyah YisraEl
Oct 11, 2025
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
Oct 7, 2025
A Ouija Board in the Bible? Exploring the Uriym & Puuryim of the Israelite Priests
The Bible is full of rituals modern Christians might call “witchcraft” — from sprinkling blood to using stones for divine guidance. The Uriym & Puuryim were sacred tools the priests used to hear from God, proving that spiritual practice was always part of Israel’s faith. Seek Him, as Jeremiah 29:13 says, with all your heart — the access has always been yours.
Zhateyah YisraEl
Oct 1, 2025
Exploiting the Talents of the Damned: Gays, Blacks, and Women
We condemn the very people we depend on — Black people, women, and the LGBTQ community — damning them while building entire empires from their labor, talent, and ingenuity. Exploitation is just slavery under a new name, and until we act from love instead of hypocrisy, we’ll stay trapped in the same cycle.
Zhateyah YisraEl
Sep 27, 2025
If Your Man Thinks He’s the Prize, He’s Probably Feminine… and That’s Okay!
Since the rise of incel rhetoric, red-pill and blue-pill podcasting, and the sudden normalization of men in skirts in pop culture, we have watched the slow but steady emasculation of Black manhood. Men are throwing down hard hats and briefcases for podcasting equipment, stepping away from leading families to become stay-at-home dads (with no plan for leadership), and trading in loose pants for “man bags.” Riley from the Boondocks dressing like a "thug" But let’s be clear: thi
Zhateyah YisraEl
Sep 26, 2025
The Last Press: How One Salon Captured 40 Years of Black Womanhood
Don't want to read? Listen to the story narrated by Natasha. By nine a.m., the air in Gloria’s House of Beauty was already sweet with pressing oil and grape soda. The door chime, that old brass bell that had dinged for forty years, sang its little two-note hello every time someone stepped in with a head scarf and a story. The gospel station played low, a choir holding a note like morning sunlight, and the curling irons clicked gently across the countertops like metronomes kee
SRYI
Sep 24, 2025
Wellness as Rebellion: The Radical Act of Choosing Peace
Black women face relentless scrutiny — from slavery’s legacy to today’s media. Choosing rest, joy, and wellness isn’t indulgence; it’s rebellion. Every boundary set and every moment of peace is a refusal to let society define our worth.
Shedera Monique
Sep 18, 2025
Two Wings of the Same Bird: Why This System Still Reeks of Captivity
America may wear the eagle proudly, but Scripture warned of a fierce nation that shows no mercy — and history proves it. From Egypt’s first captivity to America’s two wings of the same bird, the system still reeks of captivity. Yet hope remains: like Moses and Esther, a deliverer will rise — perhaps this time, a Black woman.
Zhateyah YisraEl
Sep 17, 2025
Why Every Black Woman Should Read The Richest Man in Babylon
“I Know We Hate Babylon…and valid!” Let me start here, sis: I know we hate Babylon. Believe me, I’m the first one side-eyeing every time...
SRYI
Sep 17, 2025
The Ritual of the Free Man: From Carlee Russel, Charlie Kirk to Decarlos Brown Jr.
Major events often feel random, but what if they’re part of something deeper? This article explores the Ritual of the Free Man — a recurring pattern tied to names like Charlie, Carlos, and Carlee — and its eerie presence in the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the stabbing case of Decarlos Brown. Through symbolism, Christian prophecy, and the archetype of the “Free Man,” we uncover how media events may act as modern rituals, guiding us through cycles of freedom, chaos, and s
AnonymousTips
Sep 14, 2025
The God Complex: Power, Perspective, and the Fine Line Between Mercy and Destruction
From the window of a plane, humanity looks almost invisible. Cities shrink into grids of light, highways into thin veins, and people into...
Zhateyah YisraEl
Sep 12, 2025
The Reputation of Red: How a Color Defined Women as ‘Fast’ or Sacred Across Cultures
When you were a kid, did your mom ever forbid you from wearing red nail polish? Maybe she said something like, “That color is a bit too grown.” Perhaps she warned that red lipstick was for “fast” girls, or that a red dress would send the “wrong message.” These warnings didn’t emerge out of thin air. Generations of women were taught that red was dangerous — a color that could draw the wrong kind of attention, one that marked you as unruly, provocative, or “loose.” But why doe
Zhateyah YisraEl
Sep 9, 2025
The Injustice of Pretty Privilege: An Analysis Through The Color Purple
Warner Bros. Pictures On a long flight to Lihue, Hawaii, I re-watched The Color Purple: The Musical . I had seen the original film as a child, but this time, the themes felt heavier, sharper. Scenes of parental abuse, incest, and servitude under unbearable strain were devastating. Yet one theme wouldn’t leave me: pretty privilege. It’s the unspoken currency of desirability, a force that shapes who gets love, who gets dismissed, and who gets discarded. In The Color Purple , w
Zhateyah YisraEl
Sep 5, 2025
At this Point, Jubilee might be an enemy to Black People.
Credit: The Root "Screenshot from Youtube" I used to want to trust media. To believe the stories presented as truth, the documentaries as honest depictions, and the conversations as authentic dialogue. But thanks to my African American Studies class at the greatest HBCU in the World (#AggiePride) I learned about COINTELPRO. The FBI’s covert program didn’t just spy on and sabotage Black leaders—it mastered the art of manipulating narrative. And if they had those kinds of psych
Zhateyah YisraEl
Aug 22, 2025
Bloodlines, Behavior, and the Gods: Tracing Ancestry through DNA, Destiny, and Scripture
Bloodlines are more than strands of DNA—they are sacred codes written into flesh, memory, and spirit. They carry instructions not only for physical traits but also for tendencies of mind, vocation, culture, and spiritual alignment. Both science and scripture reveal that who we are is not merely an accident of individuality, but an unfolding of inheritance—shaped by the replication of DNA across generations, the imprint of ancestral experiences, and the covenantal ties of bloo
Zhateyah YisraEl
Aug 20, 2025
The Season of Pruning: When the Most High Cuts So You Can Grow
There is an ancient rhythm to the way women lose things—quietly, instinctively, as if some part of us has always known that sacrifice comes before birth, shedding before song. In the ancient scrolls and sacred songs, the righteous woman walks humbly through the ruins of what once was—not because she is frail, but because she understands that even ashes are holy when they come from the hand of the Most High. She loses the child she once was. She loses the lover who could not s
SRYI
Aug 20, 2025
The Boycott Heard Around the Aisles: How Target’s DEI Rollback Sparked a Movement
In early 2025, Target—the big-box giant once praised for its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commitments—made a stunning pivot....
Our True Colors
Aug 19, 2025
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