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Jackee Harry and Anita Baker Are Great on Twitter, but Tina Knowles Lawson Is Killing the ’Gram
Older black women are, by and large, my happy place. They often prove themselves to be incredibly honest, wonderfully hilarious and the very best of blackness. I have had an affinity for the group I describe as “black aunties” since I was a child who obsessed over his literal black aunties. However, it is often…
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‘1st Gay President’? No. But Is Barack Obama an LGBT Ally? A Resounding Yes
Far too often, we are collectively thrilled with people conveying basic human decency or, in other cases, simply acknowledging the marginalized in ways typically not done by anyone who is a part of the majority. When I was a child, of all things I remember about Bill Clinton, one that sticks out most is this…
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It’s Easier to Blame Hip-Hop for Concert Shootings Than It Is to Address America’s Violence
As common as death by gun in America is, the hand that holds the gun often defines how those deaths are depicted. So it was not surprising to see the kind of reaction generated by one man being killed and three people being wounded at a T.I. concert in New York City recently. It concerned…
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‘Project Pat’ Buchanan Really Needs to Stop It With This ‘Death of the White Middle Class’ Nonsense
When it comes to the subgenre of punditry best described as “crotchety, delusional conservative white man,” Pat Buchanan has long been its shining star. To Buchanan’s credit, he’s been consistently curmudgeonly about America’s shifting demographics for decades. In 1992 Buchanan infamously spoke of a “culture war” plaguing the United States during a speech at that…
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Naomi Campbell and the ‘Twice as Good’ as White People Myth
Recently, for The Guardian, Naomi Campbell shared an excerpt from a limited edition, two-volume book that chronicles her life as a groundbreaking and highly successful supermodel and all of the opportunities stemming from that. Yet for all that is shared in the excerpt—her as a supermodel, her speaking with world leaders as a contributing editor…
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Donald Trump May Not Be Our BFF, but He Is Brash Enough to Keep the Clintons Real on Race
In a recent New York Times profile of the Donald J. Trump presidential campaign, the presumptive Republican nominee for president made a curious claim: “By the way, I’m going to do great with the African-American vote. One poll came out saying Donald Trump’s going to get 25 percent of the African-American vote.” Fox News personalities…
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Was Tamar Braxton’s Neck-Rolling Too Real for The Real?
Bless her heart: It’s been mighty rough for Tamar Braxton within the last year. Not only was she forced to leave Dancing With the Stars because of a life-threatening health crisis, but her very good album, Calling All Lovers, caught the fade from consumers. Now one of the biggest breaks in her post-Braxton Family Values career—a slot on the hit daytime…
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The Billboard Music Awards Show Is So White, It Looks Like a Donald Trump Rally
In theory, I can understand why Madonna was asked to pay tribute to Prince at this year’s Billboard Music Awards, airing Sunday. When it comes to stars of a certain era—specifically the mid-1980s—there was a trinity: Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson. No stars could command their level of fame. No other acts at the time…
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Hey, Aisha Tyler, Going to a PWI Isn’t ‘Brave’ and Not Everyone at an HBCU Is the Same
There are very few conversations I find more cringe-inducing and exhausting than the debate over whether or not it is best for a black student to attend a predominantly white institution of higher learning or one that is historically black. Everything ain’t for everybody, and not enough people on either side of the issue know…
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I Know It’s Hard to Accept, but Beyoncé Is Smarter Than You, or Much Smarter Than You Think She Is
Why do some people act as if Beyoncé eats with her feet? I read Beyoncé’s recent and increasingly rare interview with Elle magazine, in which she discussed her new Ivy Park activewear collection in addition to answering questions about feminism, race and police brutality. I found it rather standard for Beyoncé, or any celebrity of…
