culture
-
When Incarcerated People Die, Blame the Prison-Industrial Complex
Early Wednesday morning, Aaron Hernandez joined the long list of incarcerated people, including Sandra Bland and Kalief Browder, who allegedly committed suicide while in prison, or soon after being released. We should not be mistaken about who or what is to blame: prisons and jails. The prison-industrial complex and the various ways it promotes the…
-
#MarginSci: The March for Science as a Microcosm of Liberal Racism
Despite overwhelming data demonstrating that Donald Trump rode a wave of white resentment across age, gender, income and education levels into the Oval Office, there is still a strong—and wrong—chorus of people on “the left” who believe we can work with the Trump administration and that our collective energy should be spent engaging Trump voters…
-
So, About That Old Interview in Which Prince Mentioned Gay Marriage …
Like many fans, I remember exactly where I was when I found out Prince had died. I was near the end of a lunch meeting when my phone started moving as if it were possessed by a Bedroom Kandi product. The same thing happened to the person I was meeting with. Given how both our…
-
Richard Spencer’s Racist Little Secret
On Tuesday, Richard Spencer—who is the actual throw-up in the back of your mouth—visited Auburn University in Alabama to spew his white nationalist rhetoric. Following the donnybrook that happened in Berkeley, Calif., last week, every media outlet prepared for another showdown between his supposed legion of neofascists and students opposed to his nonsense. I even…
-
Prince Estate Sues to Block ‘Unauthorized’ Release of New Songs
If you were planning to drop a few bills on that new Prince EP, you might want to hold up a minute. The Prince estate has filed a lawsuit to block the release of the new six-song EP called Deliverance, which is slated for release on Friday, the one-year anniversary of Prince’s death. The estate…
-
Watch: Hashtag Revolution: #BlackTravel Takes the World by Storm
Hashtags have defined pop culture. You spot them all over social media, and now many of them have become popular phrases, especially when they highlight blackness: #BlackBoyJoy, #BlackLivesMatter, #GrowingUpBlack and the list goes on. #BlackTravel has become more than a hashtag; it’s a lifestyle, offering up various imagery of beautiful black people all over the…
-
The Tragedies of Black Masculinity
I remember the feeling I had last week when I saw the text come in from a friend back home. The text read, “Y’all hear about North Park Elementary?” All I could do was think about the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach when I got the same text about the terrorist…
-
Evelyn Lozada Has Returned to Basketball Wives, and So Far Tami Roman Can’t Take It
At one point during the season premiere of Basketball Wives, the returning Evelyn Lozada asks a very poignant question: “Why the fuck am I here?” One of my favorite colored-people proverbs comes to mind: A check is a check. Although Lozada successfully managed to flee VH1 and go on to OWN to star in her…
-
The Racist, Homophobic History of an Ala. Church Gunning for Its Own Police Force
While advocates of civil liberties decry a powerful Alabama politician’s effort to push through a bill that would give a lily-white suburban church its own police force, many are unaware of the church’s long history of troubling race relations. The Alabama Legislature is now considering Senate Bill 193. If passed, the law would give Briarwood…