culture
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Hella Homecoming: The Evolution of Insecure
Summer is indisputably a season tailor-made for black joy. ’Tis the season of cookouts, stoop-sitting, rooftop bars, music and food festivals, block parties, hand fans, summer jams and all-white affairs (“Diner en Blanc,” if you’re bougie). And for fans of Issa Rae, it is now also the season to welcome with open and sun-kissed arms…
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Cersei Lannister Would Be an AKA: And the Other Black Greek Organizations These Game of Thrones Characters Would Pledge
In undergrad, there was a frat brother who would watch fictional movies and randomly announce which characters he thought would have tried to join black Greek organizations. Prince Akeem from Coming to America? He would have tried to be an Alpha. Jody from Baby Boy? He was Omega material. Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense?…
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He’s Not Black, He’s O.J.: Simpson Manages to Get Parole in Trump’s America and We’re Shocked!
Black America figured that O.J. Simpson would be in prison forever. To hear white people tell it, O.J. is responsible for: ex-wife Nicole Simpson’s and Ron Goldman’s deaths; the current Black Lives Matter movement; Colin Kaepernick’s protest and hair; Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s maritial issues; and Drake’s supposed baby with a former video vixen. (Sidenote: How…
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Watch: Color Complex: Meet Jayne Waithera, the Extraordinary Kenyan Woman Giving a Voice to Albinism
Skin color both unites and divides us. Whether you live in India, East Africa or Japan, the color of your skin shapes your identity and opportunities. Color Complex is a narrative series that explores how people of color around the world struggle for visibility and learn to navigate the prejudices and social hierarchies associated with…
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Watch: Jay Ellis and Yvonne Orji of Insecure Talk About That Infamous ‘Best Buy Polo’ Scene
It was the swinging hanger heard around the world. I remember it like it was yesterday … Issa Rae’s character Issa in Insecure rushed back home to Inglewood, Calif., to reconnect with her estranged (and fresh) ex Lawrence (played by Jay Ellis), only to find that he wasn’t there and he’d left something for her:…
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Say What? In Defense of Mumble Rap
With the release of 4:44, Jay-Z seems to have single-handedly grown rap up. Despite the fact that hip-hop is damn near 40 years old, Jigga’s newest release has many arguing that hip-hop has finally reached its nonironic-dad-hat phase. I would argue that Jigga did this years before with his 2006 release, Kingdom Come, which was…
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2017 Wypipo Tournament, Round 2: A Few ‘Dark’ Horses Among the Blackfaces in the Round of 32
Round 1 of our tournament is officially in the books, and now we are in the second round of the 2017 World Wypipo Tournament, sponsored by Caucasian Farms Potato Salad—whose ingredients are simple and fresh (it’s just mayonnaise and white potatoes). Please remember, this competition has nothing to do with white people. It is for…
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In George Romero’s ‘Dead’ Horror Films, a Black Man Could Be a Hero
The first time I saw—really saw—George Romero’s classic 1968 film Night of the Living Dead was in a college horror-film class. The class was rumored to be a “gut”—little to no reading, no exams. Just write a couple of papers and get an easy A, people claimed. It was anything but. The professor took his…
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Why Michael Vick—Who Killed Dogs—Should Have Nothing to Say to Colin Kaepernick, Who Stands Up for Black People Being Killed Like Dogs
Updated Tuesday, July 18, 2017, 1 p.m. EDT: Colin Kaepernick appears to have responded to Michael Vick’s words with a simple tweet entitled “Stockholm Syndrome.” Earlier: I don’t know why Michael Vick would think that he is in any position to tell anybody how to rehab his image, but the convicted dogfighter and gambling-ring operator…