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14 Observations From the 2018 BET Awards Before Rain Took Out My DirecTV for the Evening
In no particular order: 1. I don’t love J. Cole as an artist; nor do I care for most of his albums. But his performance at the BET Awards on Sunday night was awesome. I’ve long contended that I enjoy Cole the person more than the artist, and his performance highlighted that for me. Luckily,…
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What Rooting for Germany in the World Cup as a Black Man in America Is Like
On Saturday afternoon, I took my son to get a haircut at a pretty well-known barbershop in Washington, D.C., near Howard University. I had on my Germany away jersey because Germany was playing Sweden, and I love that jersey. Mexico won earlier in the day, making this a must-win for Germany for them to have…
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Wendell Carter Jr.’s Black Panther-Inspired NBA Draft Outfit Is the Blackest Thing That Ever Happened This Week
For many, the annual NBA draft is the most wonderful time of the year. Young men become instant millionaires, getting the opportunity to take their talents to one of 30 outposts to play basketball for a living and do the economic version of moisturizing their situation. It’s also a time of tremendous pomp and circumstance…
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White Dudes at Morehouse Isn’t Really News. White Women at Spelman Would Be a Much Better Story
Vice dropped a video on Wednesday about a white student named Tiago who just finished his freshman year at Morehouse College, the all-male historically black college in Atlanta which boasts alumni such as Martin Luther King Jr., Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Panama Jackson, Robert E. Johnson, etc. In the video, we hear from Tiago;…
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I’m Not Saying I Vote Just to Get an ‘I Voted’ Sticker, but I Really Like Getting My ‘I Voted’ Sticker
Today is Tuesday, June 19, in the year of our Lord 2018. In Washington, D.C., it’s primary voting day. That, and there’s a very hotly contested initiative (Initiative 77) on the ballot to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020, which would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped employees to the…
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The Quickest and Easiest Way to Effect Change? Be Famous
A few months back, I had the opportunity to speak at the University of California, Berkeley, about identity politics and public policy. I was asked at one point what I thought was the best way to make a difference in the world. It’s a pretty lofty question and is generally met with platitudes about being…
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The Washington Capitals’ Winning Washington, DC’s 1st Championship in Almost 30 Years Would Make Sense for Gentrified DC
The Washington Capitals, the Washington, D.C., region’s representative in the NHL, are one win away from being the 2017-2018 NHL champions. Obviously, this is an exciting time for the region because we haven’t had a championship win in any of the four major sports since 1992, when the Washington Racistnames won the Super Bowl, and…
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Ain’t No Way a Diss Record That Important Doesn’t See the Light of Day in 2018—Unless It Doesn’t Exist
Allegedly, Drake has a diss record in the can that would ruin Kanye West’s career. At least according to J. Prince. I find that a little bit hard to believe, considering I don’t know what Drake could say about Kanye that would do more damage than he seems to be doing himself. He’s got white…
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An Ode to My Big Sister, Who Might Not Know That She Put Me On to Hip-Hop
Since June is Black Music Month (or, more formally, African-American Music Appreciation Month), I figure that one of the best ways to celebrate is to talk about my own love for black music. There’s no talking about my love for black music without discussing hip-hop because it is now and has been the most prominent…
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Busboys and Poets Plays the ‘Race Card.’ It Probably Shouldn’t
I had an opportunity to speak on a panel after a performance of the play Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies, a few weeks back. The play is about two young men—Tru from the inner city of Baltimore, and Marquis from the fictional suburb of Achievement Heights—who both end up in jail, essentially for being…
