culture
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25 Years Later, the Power and Brilliance of Boyz n the Hood Still Resonate
“In any type of writing program, they say to write about what you know,” John Singleton told Walter Mosley during a conversation following a 25th-anniversary screening of his classic film debut, Boyz n the Hood, in New York in June. “When you’re a certain age, you only have a limited amount of life experience. I…
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Lessons From La. State: Let Students Lead the Way in Protests Over Police Killings
Baton Rouge, La., Thursday, July 7: The perspiring temperatures outdoors were outdone by the racial climate created by years of police killings. Indoors, the climate was slightly less heated as hundreds of college students and community members crammed into the African American Cultural Center and the adjacent Women’s Center on the campus of the Louisiana…
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Freddie Gray Case: Prosecutors Question Officer’s Failure to Put a Seat Belt on Gray
For the trial of Baltimore Police Lt. Brian Rice, 42, prosecutors are largely following the same script as in the previous trials: calling the same witnesses and following the same lines of questioning. The prosecution is focusing on its argument that Rice, as the highest-ranking of the six police officers who have faced or will…
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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…