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  • Yes, You Can Measure White Privilege

    Whenever anyone slips the words “white privilege” into a conversation, it immediately builds an impenetrable wall. For some white people, the words elicit an uneasy feeling because, for them, the term is accusatory without being specific. It is a nebulous concept that seemingly reduces the complex mishmash of history, racism and social phenomena to a…

    By

    Michael Harriot

    Published

  • 3 Companies That Are Taking Pepsi (and the United States of Advertising) to School

    First, let me say that I ain’t mad at Pepsi for trying to capitalize on millennials’ activism. They do, after all, have shareholders to report to. I’m mad that Pepsi didn’t pour consumerism down our throats (pun intended) in a way that made us want to drink the proverbial Kool-Aid. I’m mad that they weren’t…

    By

    Chanté Griffin

    Published

  • Unique Views, Episode 38: Where Do You Even Go to Buy a Prison, Damian Marley?!

    Stephen A. Crockett Jr. and I finally did something we never do: No, we didn’t get along. We’ll never do that. We did a minisode of our podcast! Every week, when I grow weary of Stephen’s voice and personality, I say, “Ugh, let’s just make this a minisode so that we can just get in and…

    By

    Danielle Young

    Published

  • Can We Please Stop Listening to Athletes Who Talk About Race?

    My mother is blind in both eyes. When she was 19 years old, she received a cornea transplant, which restored her eyesight … kinda. Although she is still legally blind, she stubbornly refuses to allow her disability to affect her life because she doesn’t consider the small amount of eyesight she now has to be…

    By

    Michael Harriot

    Published

  • No Romance Without … Resistance?

    “People have to start respecting the vagina. Until every man is fighting for our rights, we should consider stopping having sex.” —Janelle Monáe text Come again? In a recent interview with Marie Claire, singer Janelle Monáe discussed her ideas when it comes to participating in resistance. I’m not going to lie: As a hot-blooded, fully…

    By

    Maiysha Kai

    Published

  • Top Model Needs to Do More Than Just Bring Tyra Banks Back

    I conducted an informal poll of trusted homies about the state of America’s Next Top Model by asking one simple question: What’s the first thing that comes to mind when I mention Top Model? Most answered “Tyra Banks,” while a few mentioned infamous phrases from the show, like, “We were rooting for you! We were…

    By

    Michael Arceneaux

    Published

  • White People Are So Happy They Can Now Drink Rosé Out of a 40 Ounce This Summer

    When it comes to trolling “the blacks,” white folks collectively employ a “can’t stop, won’t stop” approach. Enter, the latest way to pour salt on our wounds and mock us: 40-ounce rosé. I know what you’re thinking if you’re a Negro: Since when is a 40 the move in the mainstream? After all, the idea…

    By

    Michael Arceneaux

    Published

  • Watch: Hashtag Revolution: 16-Year-Old Girl Teaches Only Lesson You’ll Ever Need About #Melanin

    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. #Melanin is a shining example of a hashtag-turned-movement. Not only is it a fresh and delicious word to use in place…

    By

    Danielle Young

    Published

  • Watch Out Loud: What Is #BlackBoyJoy and Why Do We Need It?

    I was obsessed with Chance the Rapper after watching him live his unapologetic best life at the 2016 Video Music Awards on MTV. He stuck to my rib so much, I asked my managing editor, Danielle Belton, if I could write about him. She obliged my random request. Not only did I write about Chance…

    By

    Danielle Young

    Published

  • Henry Louis Gates Jr. Named Goodwill Ambassador in Global Fight for Rights of People of African Descent

    While we focus on the history and legacy of slavery in the United States, it is sometimes easy to forget that the forced deportation of people of African descent is an international, cross-cultural experience that extends across borders. On April 4, in a first-of-its-kind ceremony at Harvard University, organizations dedicated to the recognition, justice and…

    By

    Michael Harriot

    Published