Sesali Bowen
AUTHOR

Sesali Bowen

Politics & Social Sciences
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Sesali was a city girl way before Yung Miami and JT hit the scene. Born and raised in Chicago, she learned how to hustle, stay on her toes, build meaningful connections, pull off a full glam transformation with just $30 and a trip to the beauty supply store, and to always bet on Black women. These sensibilities have driven her work in political organizing, sex education, grad school, and women’s media. She wrote about her beginnings and how she developed a contemporary Black feminist framework thanks to female rap and trap music in her forthcoming book, Bad Fat Black Girl: Notes From a Trap Feminist. It is trap feminism that continues to set her apart as a writer, journalist, host, fat influencer, and content creator. All over the internet, Sesali is known for being a bad fat Black girl: A bad bitch. A fat femme. A proud champion of Black girls. Her nearly 50k Instagram followers look to her for plus size style, confidence, and a bold, authentic perspective on… well, everything. She’s worked on campaigns for Showtime, Bumble, Foria Wellness, and BLK. She’s been on panels for Freeform, SlayTV, RoundTable Journal, Girls for Gender Equity, and ENVSN Festival. She’s appeared on BuzzFeed’s wildly popular Twitter talk show, Hella Opinions and she’s also one of the subjects in Black Girl Church, a documentary about Black women and one of their magically sacred spaces: the beauty supply store. In 2019, Sesali left her post as Senior Entertainment Editor at NYLON magazine where she not only oversaw editorial features and packages, but developed three digital video series, and convinced Young M.A. to do a really flowery photoshoot. Before that, she was a senior entertainment writer at Refinery29. She honed in on Black pop culture and helped launch Unbothered, R29’s sub brand for Black women. Over the course of her career Sesali is proud to have profiled trendsetters like Janelle Monae, Issa Rae, Lizzo, and Megan thee Stallion during the early stages of her career. Her writing has also appeared in the New York Times and the o.g., now defunct blog, Feministing. These days, Sesali is interested in expanding the intersectional space she’s cultivated by curating events, writing for film and television, and doing elevated pop culture correspondence. She’s an alum of the Gender Studies programs at DePaul University (BA) and Georgia State University (MA). You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or at the nail shop.
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