culture

If you miss the days of irrational exuberance, that halcyon era of the late ’90s when otherwise sensible people spent thousands of dollars on stock in companies they knew nothing about except that their names contained the suffix “.com,” then follow the NBA for the next couple of weeks. The spending of some teams is…

I recently traveled abroad to the Dominican Republic with some of my closest male friends. Before I left, I read Don’t Blame it on Rio: The Real Deal Behind Why Men Go to Brazil for Sex by Jewel Woods and Karen Hunter. At the time I read it, I took some of the accounts in…

Why is coupling such a contentious topic in the black community? Yesterday’s explanation was that black men are all gay and secretly on the “down low.” This pseudo-sociological approach explained everything from high HIV rates among black men and women to why marriage rates are so low. It fed anxieties and provided for salacious stories…

The Fourth of July is complicated for me. It’s my country’s birthday and a national holiday. But I’m not going to wave a miniature Old Glory or dress up like Uncle Sam in red, white and blue. If I go out after dark to see fireworks and listen to John Philip Sousa’s war music, it’s because…

One’s thanks for the work of Jacob Lawrence—an American painter of ingenious vision and remarkable aesthetic grace—must always be twofold. The duality stems from what was, throughout his career, a truly hybrid mission. Lawrence made history with his 1943 “Migration Series,” now on display in its entirety in the airy rooms of the Phillips Collection…

Much has been made about Oprah going vegan for 21 days. But she, of course, does not have to worry about managing her vegan eating plan on a budget like I do. As a vegetarian, do I have to give up the items I have become accustomed to because they are more expensive as a…

Legislatures in two more states—Missouri and Nebraska—are contemplating apologies for slavery. Slavery was introduced in what would become Missouri at least as early as 1720 when Philippe Francois Renault brought 500 enslaved Africans to excavate the mines in present-day St. Louis and Jefferson counties. Missouri outlawed the practice with the ratification of its state constitution…

In some of the most respected medical manuals, fibroids are referred to as little more than a pesky annoyance. On a legitimate medical Web site they are described as, “generally symptomless, rarely causing problems and seldom requiring treatment.” But that’s not the story whispered in late-night phone conversations, shared at sister circle support groups, posted…

After a four-year battle with uterine fibroids, I am finally surrendering. Last Monday, I checked into N.Y. Presbyterian Hospital and underwent a hysterectomy. I am 34 years old. I fought back with hormones and holistic treatments. I have had second and third opinions in Chicago, Philadelphia and New York. I’ve seen black doctors and white,…

Now that the much buzzed about all-black issue of Vogue Italia has hit stands, readers can finally take in the mezmorizing glamour of black models filling the glossy’s pages—even if they can’t read the text, which will remain in Italian, even in U.S.-circulated copies of the magazine. I sat down with legendary modeling agent and…