Real talk. Real life. No apologies.
I’m Shirl — writer, strategist, and a Black woman who says what she means.
I'm Shirl.
I’ve spent 30 years in boardrooms and community spaces watching people dance around the truth. Say It Lady is what happens when I stop doing that.
New here? Start with these three.
Three essays that tell you exactly what this place is.
Latest
They Are Coming for Our Seats. All of Them.
The numbers on Black women’s job losses in the federal government and private sector tell one story. It is not a coincidence. It is a policy.
Nobody Knows You’re Faking It. That’s the Point.
I live with anxiety and depression. Some mornings I need four TED talks just to get out of bed. Someone this week told me I should inspire others. They are not wrong. But they do not know the whole story.
We Are Not Each Other’s Enemy. But We Act Like It.
On colorism, culturalism, cultural theft, and why the global African diaspora keeps choosing division over the unity that would actually change things.