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Where "Becky" Comes From, And Why It's Not Racist, Explained
Who is Beyonce? Beyonce is a Creole surfborting maven who, if she was an athlete, would be tested for PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) right now. Why’s that? Because the difference between 2005 Beyonce and Beyonce today is like the difference between pre-steroid Barry Bonds and post-steroid, head the size of a Toyota Prius on 26-inch…
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A Case For Why Lebron James (And Not Stephen Curry) Is Still The NBA's Best Player
Yesterday, Panama shared a recent conversation he had with a person who said the following: 1. Stephen Curry is overrated 2. Stephen Curry is not that good In 2016, these statements constitute basketball blasphemy. Actually, forget the basketball qualifier. Considering Steph’s strong Christian faith, I’m surprised Jesus himself didn’t drop out of the sky and…
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The Easiest And Quickest Way To Make A Bunch Of White People Mad At You (Hint: Just Say "No")
Last week, when walking through the door at one of the four coffee shops/cafes in my “this is where I’m working today” rotation — a placement determined by an algorithm that includes a free and strong wifi signal, food, available parking, lukewarm toilet seats, nice people working there, and an average room temperature conducive to Black…
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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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Dear White People Who Write Things: Here's How To Write About Beyonce's Lemonade
Yesterday, to culminate one of the two or three Blackest weeks of my lifetime, Beyonce debuted Lemonade, a beautiful, haunting, brilliant, and Black as all the fucks hour-long visual rendering of her new album. The album, also titled Lemonade, was made available on Tidal (sigh) when the film concluded. Naturally, this film and the album dominated pop culture last…
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Prince Was Unapologetically Black Before It Was Cool To Be So
Thursday night, I attended a screening of the Roots reboot at the Tribeca Film Festival. While in the van on the way to the post-screening reception, I met Alondra Nelson — Dean of Social Sciences at Columbia University — and a conversation about Roots segued into a conversation about her work in genealogy, which then…
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Harriet Tubman On The $20 Just Might Be The Most Elaborate Troll For White Tears Ever
The list of “things that tickle the fuck out of me” is a living and breathing one. Which is necessary because I occasionally find more things to tickle me. And, occasionally, things that tickled me before no longer do. Included on this list are things such as my daughter’s laugh, the last hour of Akeelah…
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Harriet Tubman On The $20 Is, Officially, The Blackest Thing That Will Ever Happen
I was going to create of a list of things Blacker than the face of Harriet Tubman — perhaps the fiercest and baddest person to ever plant a foot on American soil — replacing Andrew Jackson’s on the 20. This list would have included things like a spades game between Nat Turner, Shirley Chisholm, Nikki Giovanni, and…
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The Napa Valley Wine Train Settlement Is The Blackest Thing That Ever Happened This Week
I’ve already touched on the multiple levels of Blackness involved in the story of Sistahs on the Reading Edge; the California book club thrown off a wine train for being too rowdy. Exactly how many levels were there? Good question. Let’s review! 1. A group of Black women in a book club. (Because the only thing Black…
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Why Erykah Badu Won't Just Stop Tweeting About Short Skirts, Explained
Who is Erykah Badu? Erykah Badu is an iconic neo soul artist who single-handedly forced tens of thousands of Black men to delete men named “Tyrone” from their address books, which subsequently ruined the name Tyrone for tens of thousands of Black men. RIP the name Tyrone. Also, on a more superficial level, she’s become…
