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My Black Ass Deck of Playing Cards Is Better and Blacker Than Yours (Unless You Also Own a Black Ass Deck, Too)
I try to support black businesses as much as possible, and not just because some white brand fucks up. I buy my books from black-owned bookstores (for the most part; sometimes you can’t beat 50 percent off on a signed copy of a book that costs $34.99 at Barnes & Noble). If you’re a black-owned…
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28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB, Day 28: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young
Publisher Synopsis: From the cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com, and one of the most read writers on race and culture at work today, a provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the ever-shifting definitions of what it means to be Black (and male) in America. For Damon Young, existing while Black is an extreme sport. The act of…
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28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB | Day 23: Cane by Jean Toomer
Publisher Synopsis: Jean Toomer’s Cane is one of the most significant works to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, and is considered to be a masterpiece in American modernist literature because of its distinct structure and style. First published in 1923 and told through a series of vignettes, Cane uses poetry, prose, and play-like dialogue…
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28 Days of Literary Blackness with VSB | Day 16: The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
Publisher Synopsis: The Wretched of the Earth is a brilliant analysis of the psychology of the colonized and their path to liberation. Bearing singular insight into the rage and frustration of colonized peoples, and the role of violence in effecting historical change, the book incisively attacks the twin perils of post-independence colonial politics: the disenfranchisement…
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28 Days of Literary Blackness With VSB | Day 15: Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur
Publisher Synopsis: On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state and federal police attempted to question her about the shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that had claimed the life of a white state trooper. Long a target…
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A Review of Jacquees’ 4275 Album Because He Called Himself ‘The King of R&B’
OK, Jacquees might be an idiot. Perhaps a brilliant idiot since before last week’s “King of R&B” (of his generation) moment, I couldn’t point him out in a lineup, much less tell you the name of a single, solitary song he sang. But now? That pendulum has swung the entire other way. Again, as much…
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The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music; One NYC Principal Decides to Die on One Anyway
If there’s one movie I’ve seen a possible, actual, literal 1,000-plus times in life, it’s The Sound of Music. If you grew up overseas on military bases in the 1980s, movies were your viewing pleasure. The Department of Defense provided us with one channel, the Armed Forces Network (or AFN, for short), and decided what…
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A Line-by-Line Breakdown of Jay-Z's Verse on Meek Mill's Song 'What's Free?'
Meek Mill’s latest album, Championships, dropped today. While I’m not the biggest fan of the Philadelphia yellsmith, I can acknowledge that because of everything that’s transpired in the past, say 18 months of his life, this album release is an event. From a very public feud with Drake (they’re cool now; Drake’s even featured on…
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I Went to Morehouse College, But Morgan State University Was the First HBCU I Fell in Love With
There’s nothing like a good ole Facebook Memory, eh? This morning, while logging into the ‘Book, I was reminded of a discussion I started on November 29, 2017 (a year ago), spurred by an episode of This Is US about which historically black college or university (HBCU) was the most well-known. Here’s an excerpt (edited…
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Dear God, It's Me, Panama. I See Rain in the Forecast for Spelhouse Homecoming Next Weekend. Let's Talk
Dear God, What up, doe!?! How you doing, Big Homie? I be reading the news, so I can tell you’re either super busy or taking naps upon naps. No shade, Big Bro. I’m just saying I noticed that chaos is abundant. You know what, this isn’t starting out well. I really wanted to write you…
