blackness
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A Letter of Thanks to My Son Who Wants to Be Luke Cage This Halloween
Dear L.J., I bought this house a few years ago because I wanted you to have what I did not: childhood memories of a place to call home, a backyard and the feeling of security that an apartment never could provide. I, however, was not ready for the responsibility of homeownership. When the toilet runs…
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Deon Cole’s Apology to the Black Race Is the Blackest Thing That Ever Happened This Week
Deon Cole had something in his heart that he needed to get out. See, he came to Atlanta during Spelhouse and Clark Atlanta homecoming this past weekend (it really was, or felt like, every damn school in the metro Atlanta area’s homecoming this weekend) and came to a very stark but important realization. To quote…
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Waka Flocka Doubles Down on ‘I’m Not Black’ Comment, but What Does He Really Mean?
So Waka Flocka took to Instagram over the weekend to double down on comments in which he insisted that he is not black. In his post, the rapper addressed comments that were made during an interview with Sway last week: “I’m not the black America calls me,” Waka said in a video on Instagram. “I’m…
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10 Things My Black Paranoia Saved Me From
Hi. I’m black and I’m a man. That makes me a black man (by default), and that means I’m paranoid as fuck. Like, I’m pretty sure you’re plotting against me right now, so I’m looking at you crazy. Or at least you might could be. In fact, who is you? Is you is or is…
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An Ode to the Blackest Fruit of All Time
I am not afraid of stereotypes. I know that many of them are rooted in racism and false perception, but I do not concern myself with that. I embrace them. They are funny to me. When a white man says, “Black people are lazy,” all I hear in my head is, “Watch me outwork this…
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Judge of Characters: Thank You, Kodak Black, Say Black Women Everywhere
This week, some folks hate their blackness, while others who aren’t black embrace blackness with open arms! Who am I talking about? Well, first … let’s dig into rapper Kodak Black, just a little bit. (I say “a little bit” because I literally know nothing about him and I don’t care enough to do research.)…
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Money Isn't Everything … Unless You Don't Have It, And Then Yeah, It's Everything
In February of 2012, a month after I began working for EBONY.com, they asked if I wanted to go to Milwaukee to witness and write on the unveiling of a Black bikers exhibit at the Harley-Davidson museum. Although I had zero interest in motorcycles, I accepted. It was an all expense paid trip to a…
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No, You Can’t Just Wake Up and Decide to Be Black
Apparently people seem to have a hard time grasping the concept of race when it comes to being black. That was clearly seen in the comments section of my Paris Jackson post about how she had declared herself a black woman. I left the ending vague and with a question on purpose because I wanted…