culture
-
Where Education Reform and Sexism Collide: Firing Female Teachers and Expelling Black Girls Props Up Patriarchy
Editor’s note: Once a month, this column will tackle broader questions about what the country should do about gaps in achievement and opportunity. Tucked away from the hoopla and ruckus of the Democratic National Convention at a quaint restaurant a few miles away, approximately 200 people gathered at a fundraiser for Rights4Girls to rally around…
-
Is Hair-Texture Hierarchy the New Colorism?
If you aren’t up on your Twitter hashtags this week, Smoochr created quite the (I’m sure intended) buzz when #shutdownsmoochr began trending earlier this week. On Blavity, Tyler Young called the new dating app a “digital paper bag test.” Allowing users to filter their prospects based on skin tone, lip size and hair texture, it…
-
Goodbye, Payday Loans; Hello, Helpful Tech Startups and Other Options for 'Distressed Borrowers'
Right now in America, millions of consumers are considered “distressed borrowers.” These are people who can’t qualify for a credit card, get a mortgage to buy a home or take out an affordable personal loan to cover an emergency expense. And because the options that are available—typically, payday or car-title loans—don’t report to major credit…
-
I’m Not With Her Because I’m Petty
Most of my friends who grew up in the South have a story about the time their mothers sent them out to the yard to pick their own switch for a whipping. I do not. My mom summoned me for a spanking once and declared that I had to go outside and pick a switch,…
-
When Corny Black Celebrities Say They Aren’t Voting, Does Anyone Care?
During the 2004 presidential campaign, Diddy launched the Vote or Die initiative. At the time I was a student at Howard University, and through our newspaper, The Hilltop, I wrote about the problems with giving celebrities too much sway in mobilizing groups—notably young people—to the polls. After all, famous folks may be well-meaning, but for…
-
Kidz Bop Is the Best Hustle Ever
For a vast many people who haven’t put birth control to the test (and failed), Kidz Bop isn’t a thing. If you don’t have children, there’s literally zero reason to know of its existence. But for a lot of us with kids old enough to comprehend, process and regurgitate what they hear, the music struggle…
-
My Boyfriend Refused to Wish Me a Happy Birthday
I’ve been dating a guy since January. He doesn’t celebrate birthdays or holidays. Fine. Today is my birthday and 5 p.m. came, and this man still hasn’t wished me a happy birthday. I texted him and we got into an argument. I wasn’t expecting him to roll out the red carpet, but is a text…
-
How Dare Malia Obama Be a #CarefreeBlackGirl and Miss Hillary Clinton at the DNC?!
Hillary Clinton gave a personal (read: boring) speech at the Democratic National Convention that left the crowd roaring. But Malia Obama wasn’t there! How dare she? Who does the oldest daughter of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama think she is?! This is just a thought, but maybe Malia Obama is just a…
-
How My Fiancee’s Natural Ruined My Life
It started with a black satin pillowcase. I don’t know when it arrived, but I know that once it got there, I was banned from touching it. Even though it is a pillowcase, I couldn’t actually lay my head on it because apparently I have a greasy mechanic’s rag for hair. Such is the life…
-
The DNC Is Over, but the Memes Continue
History was made at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and the internet had no chill. To say that Hillary Clinton, as the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major political party, has broken barriers might be a gross understatement. And for four nights, social media watched, listened and tweeted. Thank…