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Looking for an Unconventional Way to Give Back to Your Alma Mater? Take The Homecoming Challenge
At my daughter’s elementary school, they have a pretty cool program that has the potential to pay dividends far down the road. When you get to fifth grade, you are paired with a kindergarten buddy, and every few days during your fifth-grade year, you and your buddy get to hang out and do projects together.…
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8 Very Black Reasons to Check Out Raising Dion on Netflix
Netflix’s original series, Raising Dion, dropped on Friday, October 4, and became my newest binge. I watched all nine episodes over the weekend and now I feel like talking about it. While watching, I made some observations that I’ve turned into very black reasons to check out the series. I wanted to share them with…
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This Is My Third Season Not Watching the NFL. Here's How My Life Has Changed Since I Stopped
Back in 2017, I decided to give up watching NFL games for various reasons. Chief among them was that I didn’t like how the NFL was treating Colin Kaepernick in the wake of his nonviolent protests against police brutality and the (what appeared to me to be clear) collusion among team owners to keep him…
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Filed Under 'Marriage': My Wife Steals My Cool Clothes So She Can Get All the Cool Points
I’m coming up on a year of marriage next month—Oct. 12, to be exact—and the year has flown by. Like I assume most couples do on the eve of that first year anniversary, we’ve both reflected (together and separately) on our journey into marriage and the year we’ve had. It hasn’t resulted in any grand…
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I Am Still a Part of the Rhythm Nation 30 Years Later and That's Alright With Me
I recently saw a Billboard article that ranked every song on Janet Jackson’s fourth studio album, 1989’s Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814 (we’ll just call it Rhythm Nation from here on out)—though I’m sure most folks think it’s her second album after her landmark album, 1986’s Control—and thought to myself that I could never do…
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10 Thoughts About the Upcoming 'A Night with Whitney: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour'
1. I could understand a Las Vegas residency for “A Night with Whitney.” What happens there, rightly stays there, so it makes sense. Yes, that’s a non-sequitur. But so is ‘Whitney was popular let’s make her a ghost and tour her.’ I’ve been to Vegas and seen things that I have not seen anywhere else,…
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So I Guess Nike Doesn’t Actually Care If I Get the Package They Shipped To Me, Huh?
They may not have the most iconic and recognizable logo of all time (I’m sure the folks involved in that debate argue about this frequently), but Nike is absolutely near the top. Should you decide to look at folks’ feet all day long, I’d wager that you’d see more Nike swooshes (also called the Nike…
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Thanks to My Kids, I Hope to Never Hear ‘Old Town Road’ Again. I’ll Probably Listen to It Again This Afternoon
This is just an estimate, but I’d wager that, to date, I’ve heard Lil Nas X’s smash hit, “Old Town Road,” probably 75 million times. Every time we get into the car, any car, my kids ask to hear “their song.” Their song is “Old Town Road.” In the morning and in the evening. On…
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Already an Awesome HBCU, Spelman College Receives Funding for STEM Center; Becomes Awesomer
Spelman College, the all-women historically black college located in Atlanta, was recently ranked as the best historically black college or university (HBCU) by U.S. News & World Report. Well, it looks like that train of black excellence will not be slowing down any time soon. The college recently received a $2 million grant from the…
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Joan Johnson, Who Co-Founded Johnson Products and Thus Co-Helped Us Live Our Best Black Lives, Has Died at 89
Universal blackness suffered a tremendous loss last week when Joan Johnson—who along with husband, George Johnson, founded Johnson Products—passed away at age 89. Johnson Products, which brought to us such omnipresent hair products as Afro Sheen, Ultra Sheen, and Gentle Treatment, could (and actually, probably, still can) literally be found in black bathrooms, kitchens, salons,…
