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A Long-Time White Reader of VSB Needs Some Help. Let's Help Him.
Here at VSB HQ, we get a lot of emails per day. Like a lot a lot. I italicized that first “a lot” to let you know two things: 1) like,it’s really a lot, and 2) to let you know it’s real. Like, real real. Using the same word twice – and italicizing to boot…
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The Rent is Too Damn High in Washington, DC. How the Hell are People Affording It?
A few years ago, the Washington Post dropped a story that still makes the rounds on the internets even today about just how much it costs to live comfortably in the District of Columbia. Their suggestion: Roughly $108,000 per year. This was their household “happiness” estimate. According to that same article, DC has the third…
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Clifton Powell Hall of Fame for Role Players in The Realm of Black Excellence at the Cinematic Arts
In my head, Clifton Powell is my homeboy. Ever since I first saw Menace II Society in 1993 and Chauncey called Kane a “cockblockin’ motherfucker”, I knew there was something special about him. Roughly an almost literal hundred thousand trillion roles later, I’m still rockin’ with him. When I fire up Netflix, sometimes I search…
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Bethune-Cookman University Officials Ought To Be Ashamed Of Themselves
Bethune-Cookman University, a historically Black university in Daytona Beach, Florida, has invited – and she has accepted – ironically titled Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to be the commencement speaker next week. I’ve read several articles about this because I’ve honestly been trying to understand and what I’ve come up with is that there is…
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Dear White People on Netflix Is Everything That The Movie Could Have Been Plus More. You Might Should Watch It.
(There are no spoilers in this piece. You’re welcome.) Let’s get this out of the way early: The movie Dear White People wasn’t very good. It wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t very good. For a movie with such a provocative title and premise, I was remarkably underwhelmed by the actual movie. When my friend and…
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Do You Watch Greenleaf? You Might Should Watch Greenleaf.
I came to actively watch the show Greenleaf on accident. I was tip-toeing in my Jordan’s (more like Chuck’s but whatevs) through Netflix and saw that the first season was available. I knew it was an OWN show but I kind of thought it was a reality show about a family in a megachurch. I…
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Henrietta Lacks at Johns Hopkins, Slaves at Georgetown, and Compensating Specific Historical Wrongs
On Saturday, HBO aired its original movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, an adaptation of the book of the same name. Even if you’ve never read the book (as I haven’t, but am going to) you’ve more than likely heard somebody you know talking about this book, written by Rebecca Skloot, that talks about…
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Hey Y'all, His Name Is Eddie KING, Jr. Not Eddie Kane, Jr. Here’s How I Know.
It is amazing how a simple comment or Facebook status message can lead to clarity, but that’s exactly what happened that has me out here doing it for the culture and providing some definitive information to settle bets that have languished for years. Hell, I, myself, lost $20 on this very discussion because of a…
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Steve Stephens Is at Fault for Robert Godwin Sr.’s Death. He and He Alone. Not Joy Lane or Anybody Else. Stop That Shit.
I don’t remember the first time I heard the phrase “toxic masculinity” but it has stuck with me ever since. It’s not a hard concept to define or understand. Effectively, and simply, it’s a label placed on actions and behaviors attributable to “manhood” that are destructive, often violent, and naturally come with extremely negative consequences…
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A Slightly Premature Full Length Discussion About Kendrick Lamar’s New Album, DAMN.
Dustin Seibert and I decided to discuss Kendrick Lamar’s latest proper album release, DAMN. because what else are we supposed to do when one of the biggest artists in the game today drops a project? Exactly. Panama: At roughly 11pm EST last night, I was alerted via Facebook that Kung Fu Kenny’s latest will-be-hailed-as-a-classic album…
