culture
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I’m a Grown-Ass Man and I’m Scared to Death of NYC Subways, and I Don’t Give a Shit How You Feel About That
It wasn’t until my fifth or sixth time in New York City as an adult that I realized why it always felt 10 degrees hotter than the actual temperature in the summer and 10 degrees colder than the actual temperature in the winter. (A New York City 80 degrees feels like 90, and 20 degrees…
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Why White People Feel Oppressed, Explained
As our y’all’s Commander colluder-in-chief prepares for his first official vacation (even though he has taken more days off than any recent president, but you know how lazy those people can be), only days after announcing his new Clorox Immigration Plan, the Justice Department’s Jim Crow Affirmative Action Policy and the Muslim Friends and Family…
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Tracing Your Roots: Who Were My Granddad’s Enslaved Parents?
A reader encounters the proverbial brick wall that African Americans encounter in antebellum genealogy research. Dear Professor Gates: Please help me find the parents of my grandfather Frank Lockhart (born July 28, 1878; died March 15, 1968). At some point he married Amanda Standback, but I have not been able to confirm any records for…
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Do You Know Someone Who Died or Nearly Died in Childbirth? Help Us Investigate Maternal Health
By many measures, the United States has become the most dangerous industrialized nation in which to give birth. For black women, the risks are particularly high. Black mothers are three to four times more likely than white mothers to die from pregnancy and childbirth. They’re twice as likely to nearly die from complications such as…
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Color of Climate: Is Climate Change Gentrifying Miami’s Black Neighborhoods?
Paulette Richards has lived in Liberty City for almost 40 years. In that time, the 57-year-old community organizer has seen some things in the close-knit and vibrant historically black community, located in northwest Miami-Dade County. She’s seen young mothers struggle to feed their babies despite working multiple jobs. She’s seen kids suffering because of a…
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The Dark Tower: Mediocre Marksmanship and Magical Negroes
The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and The Shining are a trio of renowned Stephen King titles turned to film. And they are also leading exhibits for the Stephen King “Magical Negro theory,” the idea that a lone black character is at the behest of white characters and protagonists by whom he’s surrounded. This black…
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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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Dear Family, Please Move Out of Mo., Love, Danielle
Last month the NAACP issued its first-ever travel advisory for a state—a whole entire state—for people of color. That state was my home state, the place of my birth and home to the people I love most in the world: Missouri. The advisory was shocking in that it wasn’t for other states much more historically…
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10 Reasons You Absolutely Should Be Watching Queen Sugar Right Now (and When It Comes Back)
Queen Sugar, the Ava DuVernay-helmed television show on Auntie O’s OWN and based on the book by Natalie Baszile, is kicking ass and taking names right now. It’s easily one of the most compelling shows on television, and probably the only justification for why I see Farmers Only commercials on black television networks. I won’t…
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Respectable Negroes Can’t Advise Colin Kaepernick on Shit
Neither Michael Vick nor Ray Lewis is a coon. They simply have no interest in going toe-to-toe with white supremacy. And Colin Kaepernick has no interest in being a well-behaved, respectable Negro to get a job in the National Football League. Such behavior will not liberate black people, and he knows it. His stance is…