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To All Old White Men Considering a Run for President in 2020: Reconsider
For a brief period on the campus of Howard University, I walked around looking like Huey Freeman come to life from the comic strip pages with one unshakable thought: I wanted George W. Bush to get the fuck out of the White House. As a native Houstonian, I already loathed Dubya as Texas governor. Sure,…
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Justin Timberlake Claims He Made Peace With Janet Jackson, so Why Do I Still Want Michael Jackson’s Ghost to Haunt Him in Retaliation?
When Justin Timberlake revealed to Apple Music’s Beats 1 host Zane Lowe that he “absolutely” made peace with Janet Jackson following the controversy that erupted from the 2004 Super Bowl, all I could hear was one of my favorite Negro colloquialisms: “Bitch, you lying.” Although I am not privy to whatever conversation Timberlake might have…
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What a Recovering Catholic and Out Gay Man Makes of the Priest Who Just Came Out
On Dec. 17, the Rev. Gregory Greiten shared a secret with parishioners at the St. Bernadette Catholic Parish: “I am gay.” Greiten was then greeted with a standing ovation, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The next day, Greiten wrote a column in the National Catholic Reporter. As someone who now uses the descriptor “recovering…
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K. Michelle’s New Album Is Basically The Shade Room: The Musical
K. Michelle’s latest album, Kimberly: The People I Used to Know, is more or less an hourlong, multigenre “Fuck you” to various folks who have pissed her off for varied reasons through the years. The frame of mind she entered or at least settled on for her fourth studio effort is laid bare in the…
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Miguel’s War & Leisure Is Not as Political as Initially Advertised, but It’s a Near-Perfect Listen
In the lead-up to Miguel’s fourth album, the newly released War & Leisure, fans were teased about a project that would ostensibly feature the singer-songwriter leaning into subject matter that was more outwardly political. That is not to say the discussion of sex, a topic Miguel has covered extensively in his career, cannot in and…
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White Men Asking Barack Obama to Lead the Resistance Need to Do the Work Themselves
In the final press conference of his presidency, Barack Obama reiterated that he would largely keep mum once his successor took office. “It is appropriate for him to go forward with his vision and his values,” Obama explained. However, that statement did come with a bit of a caveat. For Obama, there would be “certain…
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The So-Called Christians Defending Sweet Potato Saddam Are Begging to Be Jumped by Jesus
Last weekend the president of the United States turned his sights away from a humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory ravaged by Hurricane Maria, to a subject more in line with his interests: black football players daring to exercise their right to peaceful protest. During the following weekend, that spoiled, queso-colored white supremacist…
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I Love Watching Insecure With Twitter and I Hate Watching Insecure With Twitter
I like to watch certain shows alongside social media because it gives me the chance to see what other people are thinking without being burdened by the sound of their voices interrupting the dialogue. This has long been true for me when it comes to reality shows like Love & Hip Hop and The Real…
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How Petrified Should We Be for Hurricane Victims Now That Ben Carson Is the Head of HUD?
As the waters recede in parts of Houston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and other areas of Texas impacted by the horrific Hurricane Harvey, the agony of recovery efforts has begun. Approximately 100,000 homes have been damaged, and the varying degrees of insurance—notably the lack of flood insurance in the flood-stricken Houston—present a unique conundrum for storm…
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After Getting the Boot, Bannon Wants to Go to War? Great, Let Them Hos Fight
Does anyone think that big walking cold sore Stephen Bannon willfully let go of the most powerful position he will ever hold? On the departure of now-former White House chief strategist Bannon, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement: White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and Steve Bannon have mutually…
