Meet Nicole Knight-Justice of Black Girl Musings

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Knight-Justice.

Nicole, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Black Girl Musings was started about a year ago as a result of a nervous breakdown I had. We don’t need to get into the particulars, but between natural disasters, a death in my family, and scary medical news I was trying to hold it all together. I was trying to maintain this persona of someone who always had it together.

Welp, that was a lie.

A lie that was getting a little too heavy to carry.

Through therapy, prayer, and conversations with the friends (because those things never have to be mutually exclusive), I realized that while some parts of my life weren’t pretty…they also weren’t uncommon to what so many women approaching their 30’s were experiencing.

I realized in a world of perfect Instagram photos and Snapchat highlights, it seemed like there weren’t many online platforms to talk about the things women of color my age didn’t know grievances we couldn’t always share, or celebrations we didn’t always have space to have. It felt like the right time to work to create space for that.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No road worth traveling is always smooth. As a full-time educator, I feel like I’m always fighting against time and myself. Writing is mentally taxing and hard after giving all of my brain space to my students. Also, writing from my own victories and challenges means sometimes having to work through what’s happening in my own life before I can share it with readers. It has also pushed me to sometimes write while I’m still stuck in the middle of whatever is happening. Being okay with sharing lessons learned while still in the middle of the trial–it has forced me to truly remove the facade of perfection in order for someone else to say, “Girl! I thought I was the only one!”

Please tell us about Black Girl Musings.
It’s what Black Girl Musings isn’t that most sets up apart.

We are not a lifestyle blog. We are a doing life blog.

A place where women of color can come to vent, cry, and laugh. A place where “Girl.” is a complete sentence. A place to celebrate all that makes us beautiful and complex even when the world tries to tell us otherwise.

I am a Black woman who started Black Girl Musings to write for other Black women and women of color.

As I’ve continued to write, I realize some things can only be understood by the women of color for whom I write and some topics transcend race and gender and it has made this community even larger than I thought it would be.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Any memory that involves time spent with family if my favorite childhood memory. My dad is West Indian and I spent my summers in St. Martin with my cousins who are almost all girls and all about a year apart in age. They were like my sisters and we had the best times spending our days outside, at the beach, and with friends only coming in for meals and when the sun finally went down. We had sunshine, ocean breeze, heartbreaks, and our imaginations. To this day, I feel most at home when I’m closest to water, laughter, and family.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blackgirlmusings.com
• Email: nicole@blackgirlmusings.com
• Instagram: @nicoleknightjustice
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackGirlMusings/

Image Credit:
Debbie Neff Photography

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