So, I’m kinda new to all of this new age social-justice stuff. Of course, I’ve always been aware of what racism and sexism and bias meant, but some of the terminology used to describe specific examples of it—i.e., microaggressions, white privilege, street harassment, etc.—were also new to me and it took a while to understand…

Last week, in response to the lynching photo found at a Joe’s Crab Shack in Minnesota, I wrote a piece explaining “post-racial racism” (which has also been referred to as “Chad Crow”—Jim Crow’s laid-back cousin): In post-racial 21st-century America, no one actually wants to admit to being racist. They’ll do racist things, say racist words,…

You can say many things about Ben Carson, the back-ordered, decaffeinated coffee machine who recently dropped out of the presidential race. Iconic surgeon. Popeyes enthusiast. Vigilante. Black History Month book-report muse. Delusional motherf—ker. But one thing you cannot do is doubt his blackness bona fides. Yes, his actual politics, if enacted, would have put America back to 1953.…

What is Joe’s Crab Shack? Joe’s Crab Shack was, until Wednesday, the place you took a date if she was in the mood for chain store crabmeat but thought Red Lobster was too bougie. Since Wednesday, however, I’m sure it’ll be the preferred space for Donald Trump rally after-parties. Why? What happened Wednesday? While dining…

Who is Ryan Coogler? And who is Michael B. Jordan? Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan are the young director-actor duo most famous for creating the harrowing and amazing (and amazingly shut out for Oscar consideration) Fruitvale Station. They also worked together on Creed—a critically acclaimed movie with a black director, a black star and…

What does “Hotep” mean? “Hotep” is an Egyptian word that means “at peace.” It’s basically the Egyptian “What’s good?” Over the past several decades, the word has also been utilized quite frequently by black Americans who happen to be more Afrocentric. Let me put it this way: If you happen to attend a Juneteenth festival…

Who is Zoe Saldana? Zoe Saldana is a star actress who’s been in numerous science fiction and fantasy blockbusters, most notably Avatar, Star Trek, The Guardians of the Galaxy and Drumline. Wait, Drumline was fantasy? Of course! In it, she was the baddest senior on campus and she fell in love with a freshman. A…

The concept of the American dream has been an essential—perhaps the most essential—aspect of our country’s mythos since its inception. Yet the phrase itself didn’t become standard until 1931, when James Truslow Adams articulated and popularized it in the book Epic of America: But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a…

Who is Rev. Run? And who is Tyrese? Rev. Run is a hip-hop legend who’s made a second career out of disseminating homespun, succinct and alliterative aphorisms that manage to sound 17 times wittier and wiser than they actually are. He’s basically the working-class man’s Steve Harvey. And Tyrese? Well, Tyrese is a man with an…

It’s Wednesday, two days removed from the Grammy Awards. Yet much of America—black America, specifically—is still recovering from the hangover induced by Kendrick Lamar’s sublime performance Monday night. His explosive mashup of “The Blacker the Berry,” “Alright” and a yet-to-be-titled new track referencing Trayvon Martin was equal parts brilliant, bold, ebullient, boiling and unapologetically black.…