Mia McKenzie is an American writer, activist, and the founder of the website Black Girl Dangerous (BGD).[1] She grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended the University of Pittsburgh. McKenzie identifies as a queer Black feminist and uses her writing and website to write about LGBTQ people of color. She is a recipient of the Lambda Literary Award for her debut novel, The Summer We Got Free, as well as her 2021 novel, Skye Falling.[2] Her essays and short stories appear regularly on BGD as well as various publications, such as the Kenyon Review.[3]
McKenzie presents talks that center on the intersections of race, class, queerness, and gender at universities and conferences across the United States[3][4][5] She lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Personal life and education
Mia McKenzie was born and raised in Philadelphia. She grew up in a working-class family where the Christian church was important to family life.[6] In an interview with Elixher magazine, McKenzie states: "I come from a family of churchgoers and I was raised going to church, and because of that I have a particular interest in and connection to the stories of Black church folk, and especially the ways in which incredible amounts of queerness and equal amounts of homophobia co-exist in Black churches."[7] McKenzie studied writing at the University of Pittsburgh.
As Black women, we are always so cognizant of people’s perceptions of us, and always having to modify ourselves–our tones of voice, the language we use–to make other people feel less threatened by us. We are expected to accommodate anti-Black racism by not doing or saying anything that will scare white folks. In this way, we are asked to make racism easier for people. I got tired of being expected to do that. I decided that I would, instead, embrace my own dangerousness–remake it and reshape it and retell it–and use it as a tool of self-expression.[7]
