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How 2 Players Are Controlling Their NBA Draft Future
Professional-sports selection is a dehumanizing process, especially in the NBA, where you have young, athletic black men inspected like cattle by mostly white, wealthy owners and general managers. Their health is checked; their athletic prowess is tested; they are asked asinine questions that sometimes take things too far and become invasive. Then, once this is…
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When It Comes to What’s Best for Black Folks, It’s Time for White People to Mind Their Business
I was an inquisitive child. My grandmother called me nosy, but I like to think I had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. I would often ask questions that were answered with, “It’s none of your business.” “Why did he never marry?” “It’s none of your business.” “Why does she have so many friends?” “It’s none…
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Cedric Robinson, Author of Black Marxism, Died This Month to Little Fanfare, but Not Before He Changed My Life
I know that many are given to hyperbole upon learning that a person they revere has gone to be with the ancestors, but it is not an overstatement to say that Cedric Robinson, who passed away on June 5, truly changed my life. I was a graduate student in 2006 when I came across a…
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3 Reasons Why Folks Tried to Take Away My Black Card and 1 Reason They’ll Never Get It
It’s usually threatened whenever there is a cultural milestone that you’ve failed to accomplish. Perhaps you’ve never seen the original Roots or have not fully memorized the entire catalog of Luther Vandross. When those around you discover this lapse in your black cultural conditioning, the threat is issued: “We’re going to revoke your black card.”…
