culture

The first time I got a deep glimpse into my family history, I had to leave the room to gather myself. It was around seven years ago, and a genealogist, Rafi Guber, and the comedian Billy Crystal had come to my home to present me with previously unknown information about my great-grandmother, a steely woman…

It was “Hot Ice” night at Sugar Hill Lounge in Atlanta’s Underground entertainment district, but the usual Saturday offering of live R&B and reggae music gave way to a more urgent purpose: Drumming up black voter turnout for today’s Georgia’s presidential primary. Billed as a non-partisan, multi-generational Wake Up Call/Town Hall Party for Hope, Change…

I’ve been trying to get black folks to pay attention to the AIDS epidemic in our community for over twenty years. In the last few months I’ve learned everything I need to know about mobilizing black folk, and I owe it all to Barack Obama. In October, polls showed that black voters backed Hillary Clinton…