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20 Things 50-Year-Old Black Men Get to Do Without Giving a Damn
The realization that I’m officially closer to 50 than I am to 18 hit me while I was playing basketball last week. My legs were feeling especially springy, so I decided to actually try to dunk instead of doing the nonchalant, rim-grab, “almost” dunk thing I do to convince people—myself included—that I can still dunk if…
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What a Trump Presidency Would Mean for Black America, Explained
Who is Ted Cruz? Well, I feel the same way with Donald Trump. Not that he’s going to come out the closet as a Bornean orangutan. (Although that’s still on the table.) Just that I’m not at all surprised that someone like him could receive such support and advance so far. As ugly as the…
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11 Thoughts That Ran Through My Mind While Watching the Roots Remake With a Random White Woman Sitting Next to Me
Last week I was invited to a screening at the Tribeca Film Festival of the first episode of the Roots remake, set to premiere on the History Channel on Memorial Day. During the screening, which took place at the School of Visual Arts Theatre in New York City, a random white woman sat in the seat right…
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Why Black Women Should Have the 1st Glass of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, Explained
What is Lemonade? Lemonade is my favorite fruit-related beverage. It’s great with everything—raspberries, artificial raspberry flavor, oranges, iced tea, gin, vodka, post-fellatio conversations about groceries, etc.—which makes it both versatile and delicious. It’s also both the title of Beyoncé’s new album and the hourlong film accompanying it. Wait … Beyoncé has a new album? How…
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4 Things I Learned as a Man on a New Natural-Hair Journey
Late last year I wrote a piece (“The Nappyheaded Black Male Revolution Is On”) about changing my hair for the first time in over a decade, connecting my decision to get a fade and allow it to grow out to the creative hair decisions being made by black males (young and old) around the country.…
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105 Real Black Women More Deserving of Book Deals Than Fake Black Woman Rachel Dolezal
On Wednesday, various news outlets confirmed what post-racial turducken Rachel Dolezal alluded to in her recent interview on the Today show. She did indeed receive a deal to pen a book about race. From The Guardian: Rachel Dolezal, the civil-rights activist who was accused of misrepresenting herself as black last year, has been signed to…
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Questions From BuzzFeed’s ‘27 Questions Black People Have for Black People,’ Ranked From Least to Most Terrible
Along with being so remarkably tone-deaf that its tone-deafness felt intentional, BuzzFeed’s now infamous “27 Questions Black People Have for Black People” actually raised more questions than it answered. Namely, who green-lit this? Were the people in the video actors reading from a script? Or did they come up with their own questions? And where…
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Why Bill Clinton Is the Least-Deserving Honorary Black Person, Explained
Who is Bill Clinton? Bill Clinton is a white man. Why is Bill Clinton in the news today? Bill Clinton is a white man who happened to be president of the United States from 1992 to 2000. His wife, Hillary Clinton, a white woman, is running for president now. Bill Clinton was a popular president…
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White Privilege Seems Like an Abstract Idea Until You Remember It Kills Black People
My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in November 2012. At that point, she was given four to six months to live. But she held on for an entire year, not succumbing to the disease until November 2013. Her diagnosis, while devastating, was not a surprise. She had been a smoker for more…
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Tidal Is the Streaming-Service Equivalent of My Ex’s Mom’s Runny Eggs
In my early 20s, I dated a woman (“Kim”) for a little over a year. We met at the Gap—she was working there and I entered the store while she was working there to pretend like I was buying a “sweater for my sister” with the hope that she’d ask if I needed any help…
