Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Today’s guest essay comes from Fortune’s L’Oreal Thompson Payton, who writes about why Black women deserve rest. Plus: There’s a shakeup at Netflix and stars are out early from the Australian Open. Have a mindful Monday.
– Rest up. At a yoga retreat for women of color I attended several years ago in the mountains of Georgia, one of the facilitators asked, “Who taught you how to rest?” I sat there for minutes racking my brain trying to come up with a list. Sure, my mother had weekly hair appointments, and my grandmother loved soap operas and the occasional romance novel. But rest? Black women didn’t have the luxury of rest.
That is until I came across Octavia Raheem, founder of the retreat, who introduced me to restorative yoga. Before Raheem, I’d approached yoga like I did all of my goals and ambitions: to be the best. There was no time or space for rest, only perfection. After all, Black women have notoriously had to work “twice as hard to get half as much.” Rest simply did not fit into that equation.
It’s a sentiment that Black People Breathe author and mindfulness teacher Zee Clarke shares, as does yoga nidra teacher Tracee Stanley. Clarke, Raheem, and Stanley are part of what inspired me to write about a trend I’ve been seeing in a new story for Fortune: the #SoftLife, as exhibited by the Soft Black Girl. She stands in opposition to the stereotype of the Strong Black Woman, an archetype that has prevented Black women from claiming the rest we deserve for generations.
“From the moment I was born, I felt like I had to be a strong Black woman,” Clarke told me. “Black women don’t have models for rest because our mothers didn’t rest. Our grandmothers didn’t rest. And when you go back to the times of slavery, we took care of white women’s children and then went home to take care of our own. That comes with a lot of fatigue and exhaustion, so the status quo becomes overworking and not taking care of yourself.”
I had the privilege of interviewing Tricia Hersey of The Nap Ministry back in 2019. Before learning about her work, I’d never considered naps to be revolutionary, but it made sense. In a world that constantly demands the most of Black women—demands that we be strong at all times and carry the weight of the world on our shoulders—rest is a form of resistance.
As author and activist Audre Lorde once said, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.” For Black women, self-care isn’t a nice-to-have, it can literally be a matter of life or death.
Octavia Raheem, Tracee Stanley, Tricia Hersey—these women were teaching me a different way. They were living and preaching the #SoftLife before it became a trending hashtag on TikTok. Because rest is more than a trend for them, and it sure as hell is about more than aesthetics.
“I believe that self-care needs to start practical and once you start it practical, it begins to become instinctual and bleeds into other parts of your life,” Affirmations for Black Women author and psychotherapist Oludara Adeeyo told me. “It’s not just about buying stuff, it’s saying no at work. It’s saying no in your personal life. It’s saying no because you changed your mind, and you want to rest. It’s about building community with people that make you feel whole and healed.”
And, for me, it’s also about leaving a legacy of rest, so my daughter and her children (if she so chooses to have them) will have an example to learn from—a role model of rest, if you will.
To remix that one popular quote, “Here’s to soft women. May we know them, may we raise them. May we be them.” Because Black women—whether we identify with the #SoftLife or not—deserve rest, too.
Read my full story here.
L’Oreal Thompson Payton
loreal.payton@fortune.com
@LTinthecity
The Broadsheet is Fortune’s newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Today’s edition was curated by Kinsey Crowley. Subscribe here.
ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Urgent anniversary. On the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade on Sunday, Vice President Kamala Harris said that the Biden administration is "fighting back" against the erosion of reproductive rights. New York Times
- Streaming power. Management shuffles at Netflix last week gave even more power in Hollywood to Bela Bajaria. The former head of global TV is now the chief content officer for the streamer. Fortune
- Tennis talk. Some of tennis's biggest stars exited early from the Australian Open. Coco Gauff lost in straight sets, while No. 1 Iga Swiatek was defeated by Elena Rybakina. Telegraph
- Trust fund. Sophia Amoruso launched a new venture firm called Trust Fund, aimed at investing $50,000 to $150,000 in scrappy, digital consumer startups. Her early backers are betting that her history with Nasty Gal and Girlboss will make her a smart investor. TechCrunch
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
- Failure to flee. Elizabeth Holmes bought a one-way ticket to Mexico weeks after she was convicted of defrauding Theranos investors, prosecutors say. She has been ordered to return to custody in April to begin her 11-year sentence while she appeals the verdict. CNN
- Fixing cars and Congress. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.) won a narrow race against a Trump-backed Republican. She thinks more "normal people" like her need to be in office to understand basic problems facing the middle class. Politico
- How to succeed. Successful women say that a few key qualities have allowed them to maintain momentum in their careers. A focused drive, a desire to learn, and an agile mindset are all critical, they told researchers. Harvard Business Review
ON MY RADAR
Why I'm letting go of Roe v. Wade on what would be its 50th anniversary Teen Vogue
The enduring, invisible power of blond New York Times
After education ban, Afghan women face an uncertain future New Lines Magazine
PARTING WORDS
"I'm so proud of Skims and the thought that it is a course being studied at Harvard is just crazy!"
- Kim Kardashian, after lecturing a Harvard Business School class about "moving beyond DTC"
This is the web version of The Broadsheet, a daily newsletter for and about the world’s most powerful women. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.
