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When In Doubt, Trust Yourself (Unless You Make Bad Decisions As A Rule, Then Don't)
Disclaimer: The following words do not work if you are allergic to common sense or if Chris Brown or Kanye West are your spirit animals. They work only if you have pledged allegiance to good decision-making. I’m feeling motivational again. Until I saw the movie Brown Sugar in the early aughts, I’d never heard the term “trust…
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Learn to Trust Yourself
Disclaimer: The following words do not work if you are allergic to common sense or if Kanye West is your spirit animal. They work only if you have pledged allegiance to good decision-making. Until I saw the movie Brown Sugar in the early aughts, I’d never heard the term “trust yourself.” That might sound crazy,…
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I Miss the Old Kanye
Kanye’s latest album, The Life of Pablo, has been reviewed and discussed at length in the almost week since it was made available via Tidal, and not always for good reasons. The music is super well produced, and the featured artists all add wonderful layers to what is a pretty schizophrenic project. The music is…
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Lessons In Blackness From Yale University's Black Solidarity Conference
(This will be long and yes, that is what she said. There’s a lot to unpack in these words. Grab a seat and come along for the ride. Also, keep in mind, I’m an HBCU graduate so my perspective is rooted in that fact. Perspective is everything.) This past weekend, Damon and I had the…
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3 Lessons in Blackness at the Black Solidarity Conference
This past weekend, Damon Young and I had the pleasure of speaking at Yale University as part of its 21st annual Black Solidarity Conference. Since it was a conference dedicated to issues surrounding blackness, I’m going to share a few things that stood out to me: 1. HBCUs and PWIs, HBCUs vs. PWIs, everybody hates…
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An Ode To SWV
I grew up in Frankfurt, Germany, as a military brat in the mid-’80s and early ’90s. Those of us who grew up overseas had one channel to watch on television: AFN, which stands for the Armed Forces Network. We all watched the same cartoons, the same soap operas (General Hospital was followed by Guiding Light), and the…
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Movies That Make My Eyes Sweat Even Though I'm Super Hardbody Real and Stuff.
I’m pretty much the hardest, realest dude I know. I don’t always make my bed in the morning. I almost never pay my mortgage on the first of the month; sure, I pay it before its late but never when they ask me. I’m that real. Sometimes I even get three donuts at a time…
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An Ode to SWV
I grew up in Frankfurt, Germany, as a military brat in the mid-’80s and early ’90s. Those of us who grew up overseas had one channel to watch on television: AFN, which stands for the Armed Forces Network. We all watched the same cartoons, the same soap operas (General Hospital was followed by Guiding Light),…
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A Primer On Bitchassness Courtesy of Love & Hip Hop New York
On Monday nights, VH1 broadcasts Love & Hip Hop New York (LHHNY) bringing to us the shenanigans of a beloved group of super-villains, all of whom are on the “cusp” of fame and dangling their legs off of the cliff of notoriety. If you were to tell me that you hate everybody on that show,…
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If Beyoncé Has Gone Full Black, I'm Here For It.
Based on the events of the past weekend related to Beyoncé, it’s entirely possible that she’s trolling America, all of it. Beyoncé dropped the video for the song “Formation” on Saturday, converting (my) Facebook into a de facto Beyoncé fan site. “Formation” is an unapologetically black- and Southern-ass song and video. The words to the…
