black men
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A Look Back at the Reaction to 'Straight Black Men Are the White People of Black People' a Year Later
A year ago, a line in a piece from Saki Benibo—an assertion also articulated a year before in a tweet from Mela Machinko—inspired me to write something of my own based on that statement. The result (“Straight Black Men Are The White People Of Black People”) was my most read VSB piece of 2017. It…
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Why You Just Can’t Trust a Man With Weak Dap, Explained
My answer depends on who asks. If a white person asks, I’d perhaps say something like “It’s a catchall to describe what often happens when black males greet each other with myriad intimate (and sometimes complex) variations of the standard handshake. Also, some members of the Latino community are familiar with and partake in this…
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Why Do Black Republicans Usually Have Such Bad Haircuts? An Important Exposé
Before we begin today, I believe it’s important to make something clear. Bad haircuts/hairdos isn’t the same thing as bad hair, because bad hair doesn’t really exist. Of course, there is black-people hair. And this comes in myriad grades and textures. Certain types of this hair has been (wrongly) referred to as “good.” Naturally, if…
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Yeah, Telling Black Women ‘To Carry Pepper Spray’ to Fight Street Harassment Is Missing the Point
While at lunch with a friend a few years ago, she couldn’t locate her lip gloss, so she emptied her purse out on the table to find it. She didn’t have much in there—an iPhone, a wallet, her keys and a small make-up kit. And also, a can of pepper spray. She noticed me noticing…
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We Don't Trust the Criminal Justice System Until It Clears a Black Man of Sexual Assault. Then We're All In
In what I imagine will eventually be a very regretful decision on her part, Angela Rye—noted #BlackGirlMagic trumpeter, public speaker, CNN contributor and women’s empowerment scion—decided to jump out the window in defense of her “brother,” Charlamagne Tha God (CTG). Through Instagram comments that referenced resurfacing allegations that CTG drugged and raped a then-15-year-old girl…
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Powerful, Immersive Play As Much as I Can Brings Voices of Southern Gay Black Men and HIV/AIDS Awareness to Harlem
Currently, Angels in America, the most Tony Award-nominated play in history, is smack in the middle of its much anticipated revival on Broadway in New York City. Debuting in 1992, Tony Kushner’s iconic and surreal tale tackles external and internal homophobia, Reaganism, McCarthyism and the AIDS epidemic in a much grittier mid-’80s New York City.…
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Oh, Nooow Y’all Want to Boycott Starbucks? I Been Trying to Get Y’all to Do That for 15 Years!
Have you ever been right for the wrong reason? I’m sure you have. We all have. Well, when it comes to Starbucks, I’ve been right for both the right and wrong reasons. Starbucks has always represented gentrification to me (yep) and has been representative of the Man stepping on the necks of black folks near…
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Is It a Coincidence That Today’s Most Outspoken Black Male Athletes Are Married to Black Women? (Hint: Nah)
In 2005, Kanye West articulated the perceived inevitability of successful black men leaving black women for white women in “Gold Digger”—a song 1) in which he was speaking specifically to black women and 2) that he created while he was likely dating either Alexis Phifer or Brooke Crittendon (actual black women). Considering Kanye’s present life,…
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Is #TeamNatural Ready to Go Coed? 9 Natural-Hair ‘Guy-rus’ Who Might Teach You a Few Things
While I was talking wash-day routines with some of my natural friends, we found ourselves scrolling through a seemingly endless list of natural-hair gurus giving all types of product suggestions, protective-style techniques and hacks for maintaining healthy hair. After clicking on about the 12th video geared toward women and our natural-hair needs, our guy friend…