culture
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A Blow-by-Blow Account of the Harris Family Thanksgiving
After the popularity of black Twitter’s #ThanksgivingWithBlackFamilies and our undercover report on the Harris family’s Fourth of July cookout, we decided to embed a reporter for an up close look at Thanksgiving with the Harris family*. 10 a.m.: I arrived early to check out the preparation for the meal. After staring at me through the screen…
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It’s the Super Bowl of Holidays for Black Uncles, and 4 Other Reasons to Love Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Yes, you receive gifts during Christmas, and Easter was great because you got chocolate candy, but Thanksgiving? Nah, Thanksgiving has always been the gift that keeps on giving. Thanksgiving is the one place where family, particularly black families, come together to remind themselves about why they’re connected to…
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Frank’s Hot Sauce and 9 Other Black Thanksgiving Faux Pas That Will Earn You a Side Dish of Side Eye
I have a complicated relationship with Thanksgiving. It has historically been framed as a day, every year, when we are gluttonous to celebrate the fact that white people were saved by Native Americans. Therefore, it is only fitting that Thanksgiving, like the word “n—ga,” has become one of the blackest things in America. As with…
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How African Culture Influences What We Eat Around the World
Do you wonder how our culture influences how and what we eat? For a large part of the world’s nearly 170 million people of the African Diaspora, what is cooked in the kitchen and served at the table is, as Maya Angelou says, “more alike, my friend, than we are unalike.” Remnants of the Diaspora…
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How to Deal With the ‘When Are You Going to Do Something With Your Hair?’ Question During the Holidays
Being the youngest of my siblings, I watched them navigate many family gatherings where they were asked questions about their career goals, relationship status and state of womb occupancy. For a long time, I was always seen as the baby, and no one seemed to be rushing me into those next steps. It wasn’t until…
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Bring a Taste of the Diaspora to Your Thanksgiving Table
Turkey, ham, stuffing or dressing, gravy, collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams (with marshmallows), cranberry sauce (from the can … gotta be from the can)—yes, it’s Thanksgiving, and this menu is the foundation. It is so ubiquitous; asking your friends what they will be eating this holiday is reduced to shorthand, an easy guessing…
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On Black Men and Mental Health
They say it is only funny until everyone stops laughing. Well, today we’ve stopped laughing, and many of us are quite concerned. This weekend, Kanye West had what is being referring to as a mental breakdown after performing a few songs at a show in Sacramento, Calif. After going on a lengthy tirade about what…
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What Happened to Steve Francis?
The story of Steve Francis is becoming more bizarre by the minute. The latest is this: Francis, the onetime basketball standout and No. 2 NBA draft pick, was arrested in Houston on a DWI. He was accused of driving 85 mph in a 65 mph zone. When police pulled Francis over, authorities said that he smelled…
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How to Create a Thanksgiving Feast Fit for the Vegans or Vegetarians in Your Life
Thanksgiving is almost here, and while many of us will be gathering around a feast featuring collard greens with ham hocks, macaroni and cheese, buttery mashed potatoes, billowy dinner rolls and, of course, turkey—possibly even a deep-fried one—some guests may have adopted a restricted diet that avoids gobbling down some of these tasty holiday staples.…