blackness
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I’m Gonna Go On Ahead and Count Tiger Woods’ Win as Another One for the Black Community. Cool? Let’s Fight
Tiger Woods made a triumphant return to Augusta National on Sunday, winning his fifth Master’s Tournament (and his first since 2005), becoming one of the oldest golfers to win a major tournament at age 43, and putting him three back from tying the record for most majors titles, currently held by golf-legend Jack Nicklaus. Only…
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Visiting the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Was the Most Emotional Museum Experience I've Ever Had
Today is April 4, 2019. Fifty-one years ago today, on April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down by James Earl Ray while standing on the balcony outside of his room, 306, at the Lorraine Motel, located at 450 Mulberry St., in Memphis, Tenn. In the time since then, the Lorraine Motel…
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A History of Heroes
I became black at age 7. I was in second grade, missing two front teeth, and talking a mile a minute to my mom while she stood at the stove, telling her about my newest school project. I’d been instructed that day by my teacher, Ms. Jefferson, to go into our extensive elementary library and…
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The 2019 NAACP Image Awards Noms Are Here. Naturally, Wakanda Is Forever Winning with Black Panther
Following its Entertainer of the Year announcement, the NAACP Image Awards have announced their 2019 nominees. The iconic awards ceremony will be celebrating its 50th this year. To the surprise of no one with a deck of black cards, Black Panther leads the pack in terms of projects, with 17 total nominations (and multiples in…
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Amanda Seales Will Have You Lifting Every Voice to Sing in Her New HBO Special 'I Be Knowin'
I first experienced Amanda Seales live and in action during the early iteration of her game show, Smart Funny & Black at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles. Since then, she has taken the popular game show on a multi-city tour. Now, Seales is leveling up even higher with more content: HBO’s Amanda Seales:…
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America. In Black.: A VSB Essay Series About the Unique and Individual Experiences of Black People in America
One of the best parts about VSB over the course of our existence—which is going on 11 years(!!!!!) come March—is that we’ve had the opportunity to write about and share many different aspects of blackness in America. Some of it has been serious and some of it has been fun, but the vast majority of…
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AfroPunk Brooklyn 2018 Was an Explosion of Style
Every year like clockwork, the ultimate young black reunion takes place on the lawns of Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, as all the stylish friends you wish you had come out stunting in their bright, bold, and very unapologetically black street style, ready to mosh and sway the hot evenings away. This year was no…
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The 'Black Don't Crack' All-Stars
I was watching Set It Off the other day because there’s never not a good time to watch Set It Off. Watching Vivica, Jada, Kimberly Elise (looking as homely as they could possibly make her) and Queen Latifah rob banks and be overly dramatic is one of my favorite pastimes. Queen Latifah as Cleo, though,…
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The Complexity of Not Calling the Police While Black
The news has lately been inundated with examples of white folks (and even some nonwhite folks) doing the ultimate white-folkin’ of calling the police for no reason on black folks who were doing nothing but existing and living their everyday lives. From Starbucks to walking in the park with our own children or trying to…
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This Is America: Save a White Drug Addict, Jail a Black One
Much has been said of the government responses to the opioid epidemic—specifically that it is leniently and sympathetically called an epidemic (I agree with that assessment), with sights set on healing and treatment. While necessary to combat the issue, the sympathy with which our nation views the current drug scourge is, frankly, frustrating. Why frustrating?…