culture
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#OscarsSoWhite 2016: The History of Black Protest Against Hollywood
The 2016 Oscars are just around the corner, and many are still contemplating whether or not to boycott one of the year’s most watched awards shows for failing to nominate a single black actor, actress or director for the second year in a row. There is a long history of protest against racial inequity in…
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Essence Honors Black Women in Hollywood
In a word, Essence’s Black Women in Hollywood event was magical. #BlackGirlMagic was in full effect at the Beverly Wilshire to celebrate the day’s honorees: actress Tracee Ellis Ross (fierce and fearless award), entertainment lawyer Nina Shaw (power award), and actress, director, producer and choreographer Debbie Allen (legend award). On the heels of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, and…
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Donald Trump Proves You Can Do Anything You Put Your Mind to … if You’re a Rich White Man
The concept of the American dream has been an essential—perhaps the most essential—aspect of our country’s mythos since its inception. Yet the phrase itself didn’t become standard until 1931, when James Truslow Adams articulated and popularized it in the book Epic of America: But there has been also the American dream, that dream of a…
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Scandal Recap: Sleeping With the Frenemy
In this week’s episode of Scandal, everyone seems to be up to something, but what? Fitz is “wild-carding.” The episode kicks off with Fitz in the back of his limo making out with his new bae, Lillian, and he’s on his way to second base with visions of third when Abby barges into the limo and tells the…
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Why Aren’t More African Americans Opening Up About Their Mental Health?
Aliya’s turn: A few days ago, I told my mom that I had been “feeling a bit down.” She gave me some words of support and I felt better. But it took me weeks to share that with my mom. And when I did, I played it down so that she wouldn’t know that it…
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Lil Wayne Is an Underappreciated Rap Legend
Seventeen years ago this week, Juvenile released “Back That Azz Up” (or “Back That Thang Up,” if you were a baby trying to make babies on the dance floor of a high school gymnasium). The descending chords in the intro cause an immediate Pavlovian response. Men crane their necks like gazelles hearing a rustle in…
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‘The Academy Is Biased’: Flawed Voting, Stiff Rules Cause Blacks to Miss Out on Nominations
The outcry surrounding the lack of diversity at the Oscars is almost as old as the Oscars itself. Before the most recent videos of Jada Pinkett Smith and the Twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, there was Sacheen Littlefeather. She spoke out about the mistreatment of Native Americans when she appeared on the Academy Awards stage, standing in for…
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6 Steps Black Folks Need to Take to Drop the Pounds
It’s now late February, which means the folks who “resolutely” started clogging the gym after Jan. 1 have long since bailed, freeing up the machines for us regulars. It’s also a great time to spread the brass tacks all over the damn floor. America is, in the medical parlance of a close gastroenterologist friend of…
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There’s Nothing More Adorable Than a Little-Known Black-History Lesson With This Father-Daughter Duo
During Black History Month, we’ve been proudly sharing stories that you more than likely never heard about in school. We call these untold stories Hidden History. One of those stories was about Spotswood Rice, a slave-turned-soldier who was separated from his family and fought tooth and nail to get them back. We wanted to do more…