Zeba Blay is a Ghanaian-American writer, film and cultural critic and former senior culture writer for The Huffington Post. She coined the hashtag #Carefree BlackGirl in 2013 and published her accompanying debut essay collection Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black Women in Pop Culture in 2021.
Early life and education
Blay was born in Ghana and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey.[2] She took a film class in high school that helped her develop an interest in film criticism.[3] In 2013, she received her bachelor's degree from The New School's Eugene Lang College, where she created an original concentration in cultural criticism.[4]
She coined the viral hashtag #CarefreeBlackGirl on Twitter in October 2013, as a method "to assert and affirm my right to exist."[11][2] In October 2021, she released her debut book based on the concept, Carefree Black Girls: A Celebration of Black Women in Pop Culture, an essay collection on the contributions of Black women to American culture.[12][2] The book explores topics including colorism, the policing of Black women's bodies,[2]Cardi B,[2] and her insights as a working journalist.[2][13] She also includes her personal experiences with anxiety and depression.[5]
Blay announced that she will release two books in 2022.[4]
Other work
Blay co-hosted the pop culture podcast Two Brown Girls with Fariha Róisín from 2012–2017.[14]
She uses her personal Instagram as an archive for images related to Black expression, emotion, and care.[15]