culture

  • Watch: Color Complex: Untangling Black Women’s Hair

    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…

  • Jada Pinkett Smith’s Still in Her Feelings About That Tupac Film During an Atlanta Radio Interview

    Jada Pinkett Smith’s outrage over the Tupac Shakur film All Eyez on Me has not subsided one bit. During an appearance Wednesday on The Ryan Cameron Morning Show With Wanda Smith on Atlanta radio’s V-103, while promoting her latest film, Girls Trip, with co-star Regina Hall and producer Will Packer, Pinkett Smith had a strong…

  • How a Lack of Access to Healthy Food May Destroy Your Mind as Well as Your Body

    It is widely known that a lack of access to fresh, healthy foods can contribute to poor diets and higher levels of diet-related diseases. In the case of brain health, we know that everyone who has a brain is at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, with the greatest risk factors being aging and genetics. But…

  • Watch: Philly’s Real-Life Superhero

    The first time Ariell Johnson imagined herself as a superhero was when she laid eyes on Storm of The X-Men. “I just saw this white-haired, white-eyed black woman flying around shooting lightning at people and I was like, ‘Who is this?’” she says. “I felt like I was just kind of watching other people’s adventures…

  • Watch: These Little Grads Will Make Your Day With ‘Hey Black Child’

    Congratulations are in order for the 2017 graduating kindergarten class at the Academy of Knowledge in Miami. The adorable kids were tasked with reciting the iconic poem “Hey Black Child” by Useni Eugene Perkins, and it’s everything you want it to be. Check out the cuties in the video above: Hey Black ChildDo you know…

  • The Black Person’s Guide to Game of Thrones

    I was talking to a friend about my weekend plans, and I told her that I probably wouldn’t do much because I’d probably have the bubble guts nervously awaiting the season premiere of Game of Thrones. Her reply perplexed me, shook me to my core and made me rethink many of the choices that I’ve…

  • Building Without Tools: 4:44 and the Power of Vulnerability, Part 2

    What I thought when I met my dad was, “Oh, I’m free to love now.” But it’s like, how are you gonna do it? … You’ve never done this before; no one informed you how to do this. You don’t even have the tools to do it … “Will 4:44 be for black men the…

  • Didn’t We Almost Have It All, Joseline Hernandez?

    Five years ago, a woman dressed like Sensational Queen Sherri from the pro-wrestling world was introduced to me as Joseline Hernandez, the self-professed Puerto Rican Princess and then-sidepiece of the legendary producer Stevie J. Joseline had dreams of becoming a rap star, and while she was one of the biggest messes I had ever seen…

  • We Fact-Checked Umar Johnson’s Hotep Tantrum With Roland Martin Because Someone Had To

    While everyone is grabbing the popcorn for the Blac Chyna-Rob Kardashian beef, the real donnybrook was happening Monday on TV One’s News One Now, when host Roland Martin had ankh-right leader Umar Abdullah-Johnson on his morning show. Everything seemed cool in the Great Ascot vs. Daishiki War, and then everything exploded. Johnson called a panelist…

  • Brunch Is the Most Important Meal of the Gay?

    According to Twitter, brunch makes you gay. Yup. In 2017, the year of our Lord and Savior, having an affinity for bacon and pancakes is a telltale sign of your homosexuality. Over the weekend, a series of tweets erupted stating that men who enjoy brunch must be gay. I was thoroughly confused. Unless there is…