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10 Most Common Statements Heard the Monday After an HBCU Homecoming Weekend
For me, the 2017 homecoming season has reached its conclusion. Samesies for several other schools that celebrated their homecoming this past weekend, like Howard, Hampton and our homecoming co-defendants at Morehouse, Spelman College. Lots of other schools will be celebrating into the next few weeks as we all reminisce on days yonder or, for current…
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Watch: VSB and The Root Present the Battle of the HBCUs for VSB HBCU Week!
What’s the fun of celebrating HBCUs if we don’t have a little head-to-head action regarding who has the best homecoming, football team and more? No fun is what. Luckily, we’re fun as shit around here, so where more than two are gathered in the name of HBCUs, let there be shenanigans. With the help of…
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Welcome to HBCU Week at VSB!
Homecoming season is upon us. It’s been in full swing for weeks now as several schools across this land of ours have gathered for celebration, shenanigans, revelry and family fun! This week at VSB, from Oct. 16 to Oct. 22 (or Oct. 20 for me—I’ll be in Atlanta for SpelHouse homecoming next weekend revelratin’ with…
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What My Frayed Relationship With My Mother Has Taught Me About Grace and Mercy
On Wednesday morning I had the pleasure of being a returning guest on the WDET radio show Detroit Today With Stephen Henderson, who was here in Washington, D.C., recording from NPR headquarters. I was there to talk about the article I wrote a few months ago about my frayed relationship with my mother because of…
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Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope Is 20. It’s Still Dope AF
On Oct. 7, 1997, Janet Jackson’s sixth studio album and her fourth STRAIGHT BANGER in a row (following Control, Rhythm Nation 1814 and Janet.), The Velvet Rope, was released to the masses. That means it is fixin’ to turn 20 years old. I remember going to Tower Records on Peachtree Road in the Buckhead section of…
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Dear College Choice, Who Is You and Why Come Your HBCU Rankings Don’t Make No Damn Sense?
Dear College Choice, Hi. What the fuck, B? I was recently made privy to your “Best Historically Black Colleges & Universities for 2017” list. I do not know when you dropped this list. Real talk, it doesn’t matter, but I have some very real questions about your rankings. Basically, how in the holy hell did…
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A Prayer for My Emotions as This Is Us Embarks on Its 2nd Season
Let us bow our heads in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, so luminescent and full of zinc and other elements available only in theory via the periodic table of elements, I come to you in supplication, oh Lord. Tonight, Father God, the second season of This Is Us begins on your network, NBC, as all network…
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It’s Funny How 1 Title Can Fuck Up the Game: Thoughts on the Response to Damon’s Piece About Black Men
1. I didn’t love the title, either. The substance of the piece itself was perfectly fine—to argue and debate that would be stupid (more on this later). It’s no different from conversations many of us have in any number of spaces we congregate when sober, perhaps not wrapped up in as neat a bow as…
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The Saga of My Stolen Car: Shenanigans Ensue
The story of my stolen car doesn’t begin two weeks ago, when it was actually stolen. Like most stories, it’s much deeper than that. That’s what she said. Ahem. The story of my stolen car really begins back in August of 2012, a few months after I made the biggest purchase of my life: my…
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I Threw My Back Out This Morning by … Waking Up. I Think I’m Officially Old Now
I realize that talking about the aches and pains of getting older is a pretty cliché thing to do. But since I try to be at least six or seven stereotypes a day—it really is empowering in an ironic way—I feel like being one age-appropriate cliché is OK. With that being said, I’m feeling old…
