culture
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In the Streets, in Protest and on the Basketball Court, Black Women Lead
A day after rallies around the country to protest the slayings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling at the hands of police, two photos are emblazoned in my mind. The first is of a woman standing peacefully in a sundress wearing sensible shoes while police in riot gear swarm to arrest her. The second is…
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Swimming in the Black Community: How Racism Is Drowning Us
Summertime is here, which means that pool parties and beach days are bound to be had. However, while many of us may be sporting a two-piece on the sand, very few of us will be jumping off a diving board anytime soon. Why? Because, according to research from the USA Swimming Foundation and the University of Memphis,…
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On the Road to Self-Care, Exercising Is One Way to Stay Mentally and Physically Fit
If you’re anything like me, the events that have unfolded over the past 72 hours have been at best astonishing and at worst exhausting. Being black in America has always been a particularly tenuous game: Show your well-earned frustration to others and you could be branded as too sensitive. Keep your legitimate anger inside yourself…
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Walter Mosley Refuses to Be Boxed In
Walter Mosley’s website lists books he’s written. Right now there are 48: 43 fiction and five nonfiction. And later this year, he’ll add to the list—a highly intellectual book titled, Folding the Red Into the Black: Developing a Viable Untopia for Human Survival in the 21st Century, which is due out in October. “It’s a…
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Pinklining: The Financial Threat More Women of Color Are Facing
The Great Recession is over. The economy is back on its feet. That’s the popular narrative Americans see and hear every day, but the impact of the financial crisis is still being felt across the country, especially by women of color. A new report (pdf) highlights how “pinklining,” a term most people have probably never…
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Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and the Hypocritical Screams of White America After the Dallas Cop Shootings
There was a moment when white Americans felt the dread black Americans live with daily. It happened Dec. 14, 2012, when a shooter entered a Newtown, Conn., elementary school and fatally shot 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7. The notion of safety was shown to be a fraud. The unfairness and vulnerability…
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It's Not About You: 5 Things That May Not Label You Racist, but Racist Adjacent
It’s official: America is going through something serious right now. There are multiple shootings of black people at the hands of law enforcement that have left many families confused and in mourning; there was a sniper shooting that killed five police officers in Dallas; and I mostly fear that the violent and horrific stories aren’t…
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Did the NY Daily News’ Graphic Cover Image of Alton Sterling Go Too Far?
On Thursday the New York Daily News published on its cover a graphic image of the slain body of Alton Sterling, who was killed by a Baton Rouge, La., police officer Tuesday night. The image was a screenshot from one of two widely circulating cellphone videos of Sterling’s demise, the result of multiple shots fired…
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Black Trauma and Self-Care: How Can Black People Heal After Witnessing Excessive Violence Against Our Own?
Police shootings seem to be a normal occurrence these days. It’s a scary reminder that despite how often we chant “Black lives matter,” for many in law enforcement and people without melanin, our lives are disposable. With the frequency of such shootings, we’ve been bombarded with graphic videos and photos of victims all over our…