culture
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Top 5 Countries to Move to if You’re Afraid of a ‘President Trump’
Miles Marshall Lewis left America and moved to Paris after George W. Bush was elected president of the United States in 2001. “I left the States partially because I felt like my protests [in the lead-up to] the Iraqi War weren’t being heard,” said Lewis, who is a music journalist. “I didn’t want to be…
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Imagine How Different Our Country Will Be When We Collectively Honor Black Excellence
Imagine how different our children would be if they were aware of the many contributions that black people have made to improve the world throughout history. Imagine, for a second, how different our country will be when we, collectively, honor black excellence, beyond the month of February, a time designed to reflect upon black history.…
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I Wish Barbie Had Gotten Her ‘Curvy’ New Body in the 1990s
If Barbie of the 1990s had been a brown-skinned thick chick with natural hair, my life might be different. Well, not completely different. But I’d venture to guess that the way I perceived myself, as an adolescent, teen and even young adult—particularly my body image—wouldn’t be the same. Perhaps I would have been more forgiving…
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Watch: Did Beyoncé Culturally Appropriate Indian Culture in Her New Video?
A big issue in 2015 was the cultural appropriation of black or African-American culture, whether it was with rap music or cornrows. And there can be a bit of a wrinkle when African Americans are accused of the same thing. And so it happened with pop star Beyoncé, who is faulted by some for appropriating Indian…
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The SAG Awards Can Teach the Oscars a Thing or Two About Diversity
A slew of black actors, TV shows and films including Straight Outta Compton and Beasts of No Nation are up to be honored at tonight’s SAG Awards. Unlike the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has a significant diversity problem and has faced significant backlash in recent weeks (see #OscarsSoWhite … again), all actors…
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Why We Need to Raise the Minimum Wage to $15
“Anyone who has struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” — James Baldwin I’m not poor, but I’m not rich; according to my W2, I’m middle-class. I’ve never had sleep for dinner, but I’m very familiar with poverty because I’ve witnessed it firsthand. In my neighborhood, nobody was “fly on your…
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Do Biracial Men Have It ‘Easier’ Than Biracial Women?
Full disclosure: I love Sage Steele. (I know she’s not Drake, but stay with me.) If you don’t know anything about sports, Steele is a veteran journalist who came up in the Indianapolis news scene and made it all the way to the hallowed halls of Bristol, Conn., and ESPN. Even though I have long…
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4 Theories on Why Kanye Is Still So Obsessed With Amber Rose
Wednesday afternoon, Kanye West went Peak Kanye with his hourlong rant of consciousness directed at Wiz Khalifa, where he insulted Khalifa’s music and his status as a rapper while also giving Khalifa what seemed to be genuinely sincere compliments. Kanye West is a weird duck. Unfortunately, Kanye didn’t stop there, as he felt the need…
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Donald Trump: Politician or Comic Book Supervillain?
There are a lot of ways you could describe Donald Trump: Business man. Reality-television star. Republican front-runner. Vehement racist. Comic book supervillain? Yes, the Donald may not don the garish costumes and makeup of the Joker (although one could debate about his hairpiece), but much of what he says does sound as if it could…
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Why We Need More Films About Slavery
I was prepared to dislike Kara Brown’s Jezebel article, “I’m So Damn Tired of Slave Movies,” based on the title alone. That sentiment has been popular lately, given all the attention garnered at the Sundance Film Festival for actor-turned-director-producer-screenwriter Nate Parker’s upcoming film, The Birth of a Nation. Reports from Utah say the movie—a biography…