culture
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13th and the Invisibleness of Black Women
Acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th was released on Netflix last week. Masterfully produced and directed by DuVernay, it is a poignant documentary detailing white America’s continual, desperate and ever-changing attempts to maintain racial and legal domination over black people. What has emerged as common knowledge through the Movement for Black Lives is laid out clearly and…
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How Trump Turned the 2nd Debate Into a Rap Battle
Sunday’s debate showed one thing about Donald Trump that I’d never noticed: He is thoroughly versed in the Loaded Lux playbook of battle rap. Just 90 minutes prior to Sunday’s town hall showdown versus Hillary “Supa Predatah” Clinton, Trump hosted a Facebook Live press conference with several women who’d accused the former president and current…
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A Plan to Change the Negative Narrative About Black Boys and Men
On Feb. 26, 2012, a 17-year-old boy wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag of Skittles and some iced tea was profiled, targeted, stalked and killed for no other reason than “walking while black” in his own neighborhood. In the weeks and months following his death, the name “Trayvon Martin” would become synonymous with what…
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Spreading the Word: Meet the Man Who Created a Spotify for Church Sermons
Like many preachers, Nicholas Richards felt a special affinity for the pulpit. “I didn’t choose the church,” he said during a recent interview. “The church chose me.” Don’t take our word for it. Watch him speak on Isaiah 9:1-6 as he interprets the passage, adapting and connecting it to contemporary life and classic literature. Richards,…
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In Colson Whitehead’s Imaginative The Underground Railroad, the Train to Freedom Is Real
Previously nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and a MacArthur “genius” grant, Colson Whitehead has now been nominated for a National Book Award for his latest novel, The Underground Railroad, itself already selected as an Oprah’s Book Club pick for 2016. Whitehead is also the author of John Henry…
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‘Real Sista’: Does My Natural Hair Make Me More ‘Down for the Cause’?
Over the weekend, at a street festival in Brooklyn N.Y., an older gentleman walked up to me and a friend (who also has natural hair) and handed us fliers about a social-justice meeting. While handing them to us, he said, “For my real sistas; I know you two are down for the cause.” I can…
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Unique Views Podcast, Episode 13: How Crab Dinners Made BuzzFeed's Quinta B. Broke
“Hate“ is a strong word. It should only be used for intense situations like brussels sprouts, Donald Trump and the cancellation of NBC’s The Black Donnellys. In this vein, I say that I do not hate Danielle Young, aka Patti LaDanielle, aka Ms. Patti Patti. But she’s close. She’s kind of like broccoli, Mike Pence and…