MEET THE FOUNDER
I’m Toi Banks, also known as Spottie.
I created Black Girl Dating World to share my life, which has inescapably been shaped by Blackness, womanhood, curiosity and my belief that Black women’s stories are integral to understanding American society.
Although this all began as a personal blog in 2017, it has since developed into an independent media platform exploring travel, culture, dating and everyday life through the lens of Black women.
ABOUT BGDW
It’s a triple entendre
That means it has three meanings, which include dating men, dating places, and dating life. Here, my personal stories meet cultural perspectives. My trips go beyond a simple itinerary and Black women are the focal point.
This is a media platform that encourages readers to travel the world thoughtfully, challenge social conditioning and explore how life could look if we imagined it for ourselves.
The BGDW Philosophy
Black womanhood, on our own terms.
A framework for moving through the world with intention, questioning what we inherited and making space for what Black women know to be true.
Seek out Black experiences, communities and cultural connections across the world.
01
SEEK
Challenge the constructs imposed upon Black womanhood and examine how Black women have defined ourselves.
02
CHALLENGE
Reclaim community, culture, pleasure, movement and the freedom to imagine life for ourselves.
03
RECLAIM
The perspective of BGDW is informed by a tradition of Black feminist and womanist thought, including the work of Alice Walker, bell hooks, Toni Morrison and the Black women who have always defined life beyond the limits prescribed for us.