90% of traditional publishing is white and Black books might make up 1% at best — and you chose to complain about THAT. We need to drop the respectability politics we adopted to survive, because it just doesn't work. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackBookTok #RespectabilityPolitics

This is 100% on Podium. They wanted access to a whole genre and used a Black face to get it — and false advertising sets the book up to fail. The creator pushed back on being called a token… but that is exactly what she was. #EricaPleasePodcast #BookTok #BlackBookTok #Tokenism

The consideration and respect in these conversations is NOT reciprocal. Not dating trans men, bisexual men — I see it as a preference, the same way I don't date white men. I exclude a lot of people from my dating pool. #EricaPleasePodcast #DatingPreferences #BlackWomen

I can support you as a friend. But partnering with someone means creating space for their whole experience — and it's not too much for Black women to decide what they want in a partner. #EricaPleasePodcast #DatingPreferences #BlackWomen

Tell people the five things you want in a partner and they'll come back with why you shouldn't want ANY of them. Meanwhile everybody else gets to have exactly who they want. Black women don't. Make it make sense. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackWomen #DatingDiscourse

I want to show up in my FULL Blackness — when I'm excellent AND when I'm messed up — and still be loved. Excellence isn't a permanent state. It's a peak. Everything in between is still valid, still worthy, still lovable. #EricaPleasePodcast #EricaVainTV #BlackWomen #Blackness

Their whole job has been to commodify their struggle and sell it to platforms that profit off watching them self-destruct — at the same time people claim they don't want to see Black trauma. Make it make sense. #EricaPleasePodcast #Blaxploitation #ChriseanRock

When I heard E. Kane's kids were taken by CPS, the first thing I thought of was blaxploitation — Black people turning their own struggles into content for financial gain. You can do whatever you want with your life… but at what cost? #EricaPleasePodcast #ChriseanRock #Blaxploitation

From 'Black books are the hood' to 'A24 Blacks' — it's one conversation: respectability politics and the myth that being palatable enough will save us. It doesn't matter how much distance you create. You're still Black. #EricaPleasePodcast #RespectabilityPolitics #A24Blacks

A24 has made some incredible Black films — and historically hasn't supported them like its white films. This feels like the Jack and Jill conversation: 'this is the only acceptable way to be Black.' We need MORE representation, not less. #EricaPleasePodcast #A24Blacks #BlackFilm #Representation

People are criticizing folks for mourning Dolly Parton and Hayden Panettiere. But the media you attach to in your formative years helps build who you become. Being moved by that loss isn't weird. #EricaPleasePodcast #EricaVainTV #Podcast #Commentary

They paid a fantasy BookToker to promote Capone and she called it a mafia, enemies-to-lovers romance. I've read that book THREE times. There is no mafia. #EricaPleasePodcast #BookTok #BlackBookTok #Capone

Now it's straight Black women and bisexual men. If not dating bisexual men makes me biphobic — fine. I'll take the label. And I saw a LOT of Black women respond the exact same way. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackWomen #DatingDiscourse

'Most Black authors on BookTok write urban fiction' is a LIE. Kennedy Ryan has never been urban fiction. Christina C. Jones has never been urban fiction. I could go down the whole list. White supremacist talking points coming out of a Black mouth. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackBookTok #KennedyRyan…

The world is already unsafe for us — we're carving out our little pieces. Most Black authors aren't getting traditional deals. Ryan Coogler made it through the system, but he's a rarity. Don't sanitize the excuses people use to avoid us. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackBookTok #BlackFilm

No 'trauma'? Girl, have you stepped outside? America is traumatic. Our media shows our lived experiences — and white films get acclaimed for their trauma while ours get called lowbrow. #EricaPleasePodcast #A24Blacks #BlackFilm #TraumaPorn

On the surface it looked like an 'I told y'all so' — but Amanda used all those eyes on her to point people toward donating to send kids in Kenya to school. THIS is why I'll never write her off completely. #EricaPleasePodcast #AmandaSeales #Insecure

Supporting Amanda's philanthropy doesn't mean I align with everything she's said. Online we slot people into 'right or wrong' and lose everything in the middle. Sometimes it doesn't matter who the messenger is — you need to listen to the message. #EricaPleasePodcast #EricaVainTV #Podcast #Commentary

A Black author said some readers don't read Black books because Black books are Black spaces and they don't feel safe. Ma'am. It's a BOOK. It's not a kickback, it's not a party. You're not in physical danger. #EricaPleasePodcast #BookTok #BlackBookTok #BlackAuthors

If something happened to Kyla Pratt, I don't know if I'd be okay. Aaliyah's death sent me through it when I barely understood grief. We've got the language for everything now — and we're way too quick to throw 'parasocial' at people. #EricaPleasePodcast #EricaVainTV