culture

I could talk about music incessantly. I’m like Steve Hightower (of Steve Hightower and the High Tops fame): Music is my one true love. Or, at the very least, my first love. I used to steal tapes. I remember my first CD purchase. I’ve had full-fledged arguments with friends that nearly turned into brawls over…

Black lives matter in Germany. Last month, by request of the Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission), I keynoted the Network Inclusion Leaders, or NILE, conference, in Berlin, which focused on “building sustainable collaboration among young leaders of color who are committed to a just and inclusive society.” There, I learned…

Thabiti Boone grew up in a neighborhood where fathers didn’t exist, he says. The few who were physically present weren’t there spiritually or emotionally. “I never saw dads in the park playing with their sons,” Boone recalls. In his own life, Boone, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., says that his father was present but not…

On Wednesday, Elle published an essay by Linda Chavers lamenting the use of the popular phrase “Black Girl Magic.” Chavers’ essay was prompted by Essence magazine’s use of the catchphrase for female black excellence on its February-issue covers. “There’s something else that rubs me the wrong way about the phrase ‘black girl magic,’” writes Chavers.…

So … what’s your type? Admit it: You probably have one; most of us do. No harm there. We like what we like, right?  Right? Now that we’ve broken the ice, do you have a fetish? Too personal? Well, how about this: Six months ago I decided to stop side-eyeing my singlehood (read: my painfully…

Aliya’s turn: Like many with mothers in my mom’s generation, my older brother, younger sister and I were spanked more than once. The offenses were usually one or more of the big three: lying, cheating and stealing. My parents just did not stand for any of it, and there would be corporal punishment, by hand…

On Monday, prosecutors in Brooklyn, N.Y., charged four teenage boys with first-degree rape after the sexual assault of an 18-year-old black girl at a park late last week. The name of the victim hasn’t been released. Police have revealed the identities of the alleged perpetrators, however: Ethan Phillip, 15; Denzel Murray, 14; Shaquell Cooper, 15; and Onandi Brown,…

I am 31 with two children. Two-and-a-half years ago, I started dating a guy I knew in high school. He has custody of his three kids, but ultimately, I am raising them without his company. He is a business owner, and all he seems to care about is money! Of course, I hate it! He…

As a book-loving black, literary homo-thug who writes openly about life, sexuality, society, the innumerable consequences of white terribleness and the absence of Teen Summit in post-Y2K childhood development (hint: They’re doomed), I’ve always felt that Sir James Baldwin occupied a peculiar space in my world. I’ve always known that his work was important to…

Online dating is like bargain shopping for a Chanel bag at Goodwill. You might find it, but you have to dig. Recently, I relocated to New York City and was told by a friend to try online dating; against my better judgment, I took his advice and joined OkCupid. Within hours of being on the…