culture
-
3 Reasons Why Folks Tried to Take Away My Black Card and 1 Reason They’ll Never Get It
It’s usually threatened whenever there is a cultural milestone that you’ve failed to accomplish. Perhaps you’ve never seen the original Roots or have not fully memorized the entire catalog of Luther Vandross. When those around you discover this lapse in your black cultural conditioning, the threat is issued: “We’re going to revoke your black card.”…
-
They’re Called ‘Microaggressions’ but There’s Nothing Small About Them
For 11 months I regretted that I had not glared at my white therapist and said, “You are dead to me. You are not the person I thought you were. You never knew me. You only saw the stereotype.” For 18 years he had been my favorite doctor, yet I stayed away. Previously, I would…
-
Hip-Hop Has a Woman Problem
Let’s go down memory lane for a bit. Twenty-eight years ago marked the release of MC Lyte’s seminal debut album, Lyte as a Rock. It was hip-hop’s first meaningful album from a female emcee. Twenty years ago marked the release of Bahamadia’s Kollage, the best hip-hop album ever from a female rapper. With the help…
-
Allen Iverson Turned 41 This Year … and 25 Other Reasons Why I Feel Old Right Now
While I’ve been watching the Cavs play the Warriors during the NBA Finals, it’s been hard for me to look at Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue and take him seriously. Not because his team has been getting mollywhopped by Golden State in the first two outings. No, it’s because he will always be the guy Allen…
-
Naomi Campbell and the ‘Twice as Good’ as White People Myth
Recently, for The Guardian, Naomi Campbell shared an excerpt from a limited edition, two-volume book that chronicles her life as a groundbreaking and highly successful supermodel and all of the opportunities stemming from that. Yet for all that is shared in the excerpt—her as a supermodel, her speaking with world leaders as a contributing editor…
-
An Unofficial Guide to Ramadan for Trump Voters or the Uninitiated Negro
As of June 6, the holy month of Ramadan has started for much of the Muslim population—which, despite all statements by Donald Trump and his ilk, is not exclusively made up of bomb-toting Arabs in menacing turbans. This demographic includes Asians (fun fact—Indonesia contains the largest Muslim population in the world), Caucasians, the man who…
-
White Male Privilege: The Ultimate Trump Card
Fewer stories better illustrate the chasm present in America’s broken criminal-justice system than that of convicted sex offender Brock Turner. After being convicted of three felony counts for sexually assaulting an unconscious drunk woman, Turner, who is white, was sentenced to six months in jail with the possibility of being released in three months with…
-
My Husband Wets the Bed After Getting Sloppy Drunk and I Don’t Know What to Do
My husband loves to go out on the weekend and get wasted with his friends. A few times, he actually peed in the bed because he was beyond wasted. My dad was an alcoholic and it bothers me whenever this happens. He only drinks on the weekend, but I don’t like how sloppy he can…
-
‘Selling Hot P–sy’: Strippers Talk Sexuality, Misogyny and Stereotypes
Strip clubs have dominated the black pop-culture scene for decades, with Atlanta being the central hub. So much of what we see in television, film and music, particularly as it pertains to black women and femme representation, is distilled from the lived experiences of dancers who sell sex or the illusion of sex. In her…
-
Kimbo Slice and the Inglorious Path of Fleeting Glory
Kimbo Slice’s story was bound to end this way because America has always boxed with black men while wearing loaded gloves. Even when you’re bigger, faster, stronger and punching twice as hard, there’s always the risk of your Dickensian rise from poverty ending in tragedy because the American design, for many black people, is filled…