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Black Genius Recognized: Meet Our 2018 MacArthur Foundation Fellows
Although we know that genius drips from our very pores—from the magic of hip-hop to the delicacies of soul food—it’s nice to be acknowledged. And, as per usual, the MacArthur Foundation gets it right, choosing the best, the brightest, the most creative, and, dare we say, the wokest from our communities. This year, five black…
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Anti-Selfie and Self-Aware: Visionary Arielle Bobb-Willis Explains How Photography Saved Her Life
Much has (deservedly) been made of Tyler Mitchell, the 23-year-old photographer seemingly whisked from obscurity after he was tapped to shoot Beyoncé’s 2018 September cover story for American Vogue. But while Mitchell is indeed a talent, he is far from the only young black photographic phenom on the rise today. There are scores of talented…
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#FightFor15: Richest Man Alive Deigns to Pay His Amazon (and Whole Foods) Minions $15 an Hour
Although that headline is indeed snarky, at this point, we’ll take it how we can get it. Jeff Bezos, who is indeed, the richest person alive on earth, announced on Tuesday that Amazon is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all US employees, including part-time and temporary workers, a boon for those…
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When You Know You Know: Today, Take 5 Minutes to Assess Your Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk
Like everything else in this hypercapitalist country, even breast cancer awareness has been commodified (there’s even a term for it: pinkwashing). From the uniforms of the NFL to razors, perfume and handbags, October is literally awash in pink. But really, is all this pink posturing helping to bring awareness to women who are at risk…
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My Pain. Our Pain: Help Me Help the Mentally Ill Survive Police Interactions Without Being Killed
I need your help. I’ll tell you what kind at the end of this piece. But first I need to tell you a story: One day, I got a call from my Aunt Pat—my mother’s identical twin. Or maybe the call was from my mother—her voice pained. Panicked. Frantic. It’s all a blur now. I…
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Free NYC Art Pop-Up Runs Through This Weekend. See How ‘Broken Windows’ Broke Black Lives
Broken Windows, the now-debunked criminal justice theory that provided what many deem an academic justification for racial profiling, was nonetheless taken up by the NYPD in the 1990s and gave rise to “stop-and-frisk,” a policing tactic that fed thousands of black and brown bodies into New York’s grinding criminal justice system via its jails and…
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It Ain’t Worth It: Only Black Woman in Vermont Statehouse Resigns After Sustained Racial Harassment
Only a month after announcing she would not be running for re-election due to ongoing racial intimidation, Ruqaiyah “Kiah” Morris, the only black woman in the Vermont House of Representatives, announced her immediate resignation on Tuesday. In the short but sweet Facebook post, Morris explained that she originally planned to complete her term, which ran…
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Murder Burgers Go Green as White Castle and Wu-Tang Team Up
On top of making devils cower to the Caucus mountains, the mighty Wu-Tang Clan is also backing a new vegan burger … at White Castle. Hey, stranger things have happened! (remember that Martin Shrekli Wu disaster?) Actually, it makes sense that the hip-hop power team would be working with White Castle; if Jay Z is…
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Suge Knight, the Red Menace, Hit With 28 Years in Prison
Murder was the case that they gave him, and days before his trial was slated to begin, the man who many (and by “many” I mean “me”) believe sucked the soul out of hip-hop, is receiving his just desserts. Marion “Suge” Knight recently entered a plea of no contest to a charge of voluntary manslaughter…
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Steve Harvey Loses One of His Fifty-’Leven Gigs to Kelly Clarkson
Whatever feelings you have about the Chicklet-toothed “relationship expert” who sold the Now & Later-colored Easter suit to your head deacon, you gotta give it to Steve Harvey—he’s a damn hard worker. And perhaps the man who thought it was comedy gold to tell a Flint, Mich., resident to enjoy his “nice glass of brown…
