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Why Would Any Black Person Want to Serve in Trump’s Administration?
There are many reasons for anyone of conscience not to serve in the administration of our hate-mongering, habanero-hue-having president-elect. He is a racist. He is a sexist. He is a xenophobe. Likewise, there are plenty of reasons for a black man in particular not to want to serve in the administration of such a character.…
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Our Next President Is a Thin-Skinned Twitter Troll, so What Does This Mean for Artists Who Criticize Him?
It’s often difficult to resist the urge to let my eyes roll to the back of my head at peak Janet Jackson speed upon hearing the declaration that X issue is a distraction from Y, the bigger, more important matter at hand. Yes, in media, superficial stories can often be assigned more attention than their…
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Before Erykah Badu Hosted the Soul Train Awards Sunday, She Threw a Vegan Dinner: Explained
Upon my receipt of an email containing an invitation to a soul vegan dinner hosted by Erykah Badu that required the donning of a kimono, an immediate response came to mind: Of course Badu wants me to eat vegan food dressed like Kinu from A Different World. Badu doesn’t strike me as a Popeye’s Tuesday two-piece-special…
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Ben Carson Knew When to End the Charade; Too Bad Tangerine Mussolini Didn't
There are many reasons not to serve in the Donald Trump administration. For starters, by the simple virtue of Tangerine Mussolini’s being grossly unqualified for the presidency, who could blame anyone for not wanting to serve under what will likely prove to be a disastrous commander in chief? However, when it comes to the likes…
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We Owe Donald Trump as Much Respect as He Gave Us During His Run for President
In a concession speech that was exceptionally gracious, given the behavior of her political opponent throughout this abysmal and subsequently catastrophic election season, Hillary Clinton declared, “Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.” Clinton is a consummate professional, and though she deserved a…
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Stop Pitting Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween Against The Birth of a Nation
If one ever wants to know what the slower side of intelligentsia is thinking or, in this case, not really thinking, in 2016, you can often find the answer in a meme. To wit, after Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween grossed more than $28 million opening weekend, I stumbled upon an unfortunate lil’ meme that compared…
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Really, CNN? You're Hot With Donna Brazile, but Cool With Corey Lewandowski Being on Trump's Payroll?
Donna Brazile responded to headlines regarding her resignation from CNN—in light of leaked emails showing her providing the Hillary Clinton campaign with debate questions—in familiar, black-auntie fashion. Brazile quoted Michelle Obama’s “When they go low, we go high.” She invoked Martin Luther King Jr. She thanked people for their prayers, in some instances, in a…
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Thankfully, Money. Power. Respect. Is Less Love & Hip Hop and More Married to Medicine
For black professionals who do reality television, there often needs to be a middle ground in terms of entertainment value—as in, some kind of balance between Olivia Pope at a Jack and Jill banquet and Joseline Hernandez, inebriated and full of rage. Anything besides shows like The Real Housewives of Potomac, which spent far too…
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Sometimes It’s Perfectly OK to Hate Those Who Believe in Your Oppression
When Michelle Obama said, “When they go low, we go high,” she offered a succinct and strong defense of dignity. The idea is that simply because someone else—in this case, Donald Trump—resorts to a certain level of campaigning that many find debasing doesn’t mean everyone else should join him in the mud pool. It’s a…
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Melania Trump Signed Up to Be a Rich Man’s Wife, Not First Lady
Last weekend, at the Tidal X 1015 concert in Brooklyn, N.Y., Nicki Minaj delivered a pointed critique that echoed a sentiment that quite a few share about Melania Trump. After reciting lyrics from “Win Again,” she said: “It’s O motherf—king K, ’cause Barack needed a Michelle, bitch, and Bill needed a motherf—king Hillary, bitch; you…
