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6 Jobs That People Don’t Think Require Real ‘Work’
I’m a creative. I like to think that I’m good at it. At the very least, I’m good enough at it to get paid to do it like I’m doing it for television. Do you know what this means? I’ll tell you what it means: It means that while it brings home the bacon, it…
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Arming Teachers Is Probably One of the Worst Policy Suggestions of All Time
When I was in ninth grade, I had a classmate named Chris. Chris was your typical badass: a little older than the rest of us, a little less interested in shit than the rest of us, basically coming to school because what the fuck else did he have to do while the rest of us…
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Don’t ‘Fix’ My Problem. Acknowledge That It Exists
I’m in a real, grown-up relationship. We’re engaged, but it already involves kids, a mortgage, car payments, bills, blended families, vacations and real-life decisions. It also involves fun, but it’s less of the boozy-brunch variety and more of the adult-with-kid fun that occurs when you hang with the other homies with kids at each other’s…
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Why I Hate Referring to Anybody in My Family as ‘Step’ Anything
For roughly the past six months, I’ve had the opportunity to talk and write about my family in a way that is more substantive than I have in all my years of writing; most discussions were spurred from the article about how politics had created a rift between my (white) mother and me. In nearly…
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Perfect Music Moments in Black History: The Roots and Common ‘Act Too (The Love of My Life)’
The Roots’ fourth album, 1999’s Things Fall Apart, is largely regarded as the album that put them over the top. While Organix, Do You Want More?!!!??! (personal fave) and Illadelph Halflife were all dope albums with superb hits—“Silent Treatment,” “Clones,” “Proceed” and “What They Do” immediately come to mind—Things Fall Apart is the one where…
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A Spoiler-Free Review of Black Panther With No Plot Points or Facts in Roughly 250 Words
I had the opportunity to see Black Panther on Tuesday afternoon. If you’ll remember, I don’t know shit about Black Panther. That all changed on Tuesday. I still don’t know as much as most folks who got backstories and histories, but now I know more. With this newfound knowledge and my excitement in tow, I…
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Perfect Music Moments in Black History: Nina Simone’s ‘4 Women’
For a certain segment out there, I imagine that Jay-Z’s song “The Story of O.J.” introduced them to Nina Simone (born Eunice Waymon). The song samples her famous 1966 song “Four Women,” released on the Wild Is the Wind album. For those who were introduced to her through Jay-Z, I’m both happy and sad: happy…
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Perfect Music Moments in Black History: Rick James and Smokey Robinson ‘Ebony Eyes’
I’m not saying that I embarrass my kids often, but I can’t lie; I rather enjoy the fact that I have a child who has already found it possible to be ashamed of things I do. One of those things that absolutely go Full-On Embarrassing Dad is singing Rick James and Smokey Robinson’s “Ebony Eyes”…
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10 Thoughts on Anna Holmes’ New York Times Op-Ed ‘Black With (Some) White Privilege’
Anna Holmes, the founder of Jezebel and editorial director at Topic.com, recently wrote an op-ed for the New York Times titled, “Black With (Some) White Privilege.” Full disclosure: I’m part of a currently running, very interesting and insightful documentary series she executive-produced called The Loving Generation, which explores the lives and identities of kids born…
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Perfect Music Moments in Black History: Groove Theory’s ‘Tell Me’
Music from the 1990s is largely regarded with rose-colored nostalgia. Hip-hop made the leap, R&B was blessed with several noteworthy groups that provided classic albums, and neo-soul showed up and made superstars out of folks like Erykah Badu and D’Angelo. New jack swing took a step out of the arena but gave way to artists…
