culture
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Anxiety Is All in Your Head
The last few weeks had been good; the fog that spent the last year following me had risen back into the clouds, and the unsteadiness of anxiety seemed less promise and more memory. I was lulled into a comfort. Good news had begun to flood my life, and instead of questioning my worthiness or turning…
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Rock Music Doesn’t Have an Age Limit; Neither Should Hip-Hop
It took 47 years for Jay-Z to take his mask off. On his newly released 13th studio album, 4:44, he speaks to us as Shawn Corey Carter instead of Jay-Z for the first time. He speaks to us as a father and a husband. He speaks to us about the guilt, fear and regret he…
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Fighting for Black Lives in Colombia: At War’s End, the Search for a Seat at the Table
Editor’s note: This story is the third in a three-part series looking at the fight for rights of black people in Colombia. The first story explored the history of Afro-Colombians and the impact of the recently ended war with the FARC. The second looked at radicalized violence against blacks in Colombia. This final story looks…
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#NeverForget: 100 Years Ago, East St. Louis Was on Fire
On July 1, 1917, a car full of white men drove into East St. Louis, Ill., and opened fire, shooting into homes while black men, women and children slept in their beds. Troubled by this assault on their humanity, black citizens took up arms just in case these “joy riders” returned. Not long after, white,…
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Fighting for Black Lives in Colombia: The Violent Pushout of Blacks in Buenaventura
Editor’s note: This story is the second in a three-part series looking at the fight for rights of black people in Colombia. The first story explored the history of Afro-Colombians and the impact of the recently ended war with the FARC. This story examines the plight of blacks in Buenaventura, caught between booming industry and…
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Fighting for Black Lives in Colombia: ‘The People Do Not Give Up, Damn It’
Editor’s note: This story is the first in a three-part series looking at the fight for rights of black people in Colombia. This first piece explores the history of Afro-Colombians and the impact of the recently ended war with the FARC. Subsequent stories will examine the current political environment. Black activism started in Colombia when…
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I Am Your Uppity Negro
When I was growing up in and around Los Angeles, there were neighborhoods that I knew not to visit and certain stores I knew were off-limits. They were not for me. In fancy department stores, steely eyes followed me as I browsed, and salespeople wished me out the door as soon as I had walked…
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Fighting for the Fairy Tale: 4:44 and the Power of Vulnerability
Look, I apologize, often womanizedTook for my child to be bornTo see through a woman’s eyes … It’s the public apology some have been anticipating since the release of Beyoncé’s Lemonade, her seemingly confessional opus, almost entirely themed on surviving the pain of infidelity. Aside from being a groundbreaking hit, the visual album inevitably rekindled…
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Watch: Soul and Funk Icons Who Stood Tall for Black Empowerment
You could say that music usually reflects where we are as a society. The height of soul and funk music ran roughly parallel to the civil rights movement in America, from the 1950s to the ’70s, a period that was highly charged with political and social commentary. In today’s climate, it seems fitting to remember…
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How Much Is a Black Life Worth? We Calculated It
This week, Philando Castile’s family was awarded $3 million to settle a civil wrongful death lawsuit against the tiny township of St. Anthony, Minn. A week earlier, CNN reports, the family of Mike Brown reportedly received $1.5 million from the city of Ferguson, Mo., in the 2015 death of the 18-year old. It seems like…