Hearing a room full of Black women open up about sex and shame was electrifying | Jendella Benson

Hosting a workshop around issues muffled by a blanket of silence in our community felt daunting. But it was revelatory

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On a chilly Saturday in November, I found myself sitting in an auditorium at Birmingham City University, getting ready to talk to more than a hundred women I'd never met about sex. Sounds quite heavy," was my dad's response when I explained that I was heading back to my home town for an event called Black Women and Undoing Sexual Shame. And in all honesty, I did feel a little out of my depth.

The summit was a partnership between the university and Black Ballad, the digital magazine and membership community for Black women, and I was co-hosting a workshop with Dr Kadian Pow, a lecturer in sociology and Black studies.

Jendella Benson is a British-Nigerian author, editor and head of editorial at Black Ballad. Her debut novel is Hope & Glory

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