culture
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My Friends Didn’t Show Up at My Birthday Party, and I’m Ready to Drop-Kick Them
My boyfriend planned a surprise birthday celebration for me lasting over the course of three days. The first night, only two of the 10 friends that RSVP’d showed up. On my actual birthday, none of my friends showed up. On the last day, four of my friends showed up. Everyone else in attendance was a…
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New Orleans’ Removal of Symbols Honoring Traitors and Domestic Terrorists Is Long Overdue
By a vote of 6-1, the New Orleans City Council decided Thursday to remove symbols honoring the Confederate States of America, a domestic terrorist group that existed in this country 1860-1865, and one that is still revered by many white Americans who wax nostalgic about a time when the Old South still lived. Though the…
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10 Things I’ve Learned After Being a Dad for 2 Weeks
1. Infants are what would happen to an adult if you made it super tiny and then gave it a liter of Jack Daniels. The tiny part I knew already, but the drunken part is something I’ve discovered in the last couple of weeks. Because you treat infants the same way you’d treat a friend…
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Love & Hip Hop: Remy Ma and Papoose Are the Black Love I Never Knew I Needed
My earnest devotion to the Love & Hip Hop franchise is quite well-documented. When it comes to the general thoughts that consume me any day of the week, it goes 1) ranking various chicken establishments by seasoning and breading, 2) praying that Serge Ibaka will finally respond to my DMs and 3) rabidly consuming the latest…
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My Daughter Talks Back to Me—and I Encourage It
I was raised by two civil rights activists, one of whom was born in the ’30s in the Deep South, the other raised in Newark, N.J. It goes without saying that the very idea of “talking back” was unheard of in my household. We couldn’t even look back, much less talk back. So why does…
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Nautical Movie Thriller, Now in Theaters, Ignores a Horrifying Racial Mystery
In the Heart of the Sea is the latest film from director Ron Howard, a special effects extravaganza with a rumored $100 million price tag. With a star-studded cast, it tells the story of the whaling ship Essex, which was attacked by a giant killer whale in 1820, a survivor’s tale so stirring that it…
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Watch: Lupita Nyong’o Is a Lifelong Star Wars Fan
So far, there hasn’t been a challenge that Lupita Nyong’o hasn’t mastered. Whether it’s nailing her breakout role as Patsey in the unflinching 12 Years a Slave to Oscar perfection or owning the Broadway stage in Eclipsed, penned by fellow African actress Danai Gurira, her everywomanness has yet to fail. In Star Wars: The Force…
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Being Mary Jane Recap: No More Drama, No More Pain
The old Mary Jane would have gone running back to David. The new, happier, slightly less insufferable Mary Jane has learned to butter the bread that’s in front of her. Someone is forever popping up at M.J.’s house unannounced, so David’s mom is no different. M.J. leaves her white boo in bed to listen to…
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The Time When The Color Purple Became an Iconic Black Film
In the canon of black films, The Color Purple—released Dec. 18, 1985—will always have a space in the top 10. Based on the novel by Alice Walker and directed by Steven Spielberg, the film—lusciously shot and performed with an aching realness by an all-star cast—was heralded immediately as one of the most nuanced portrayals of…
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Kevin Powell: The Evolution of an Activist
“There are folks who think I’m just a writer, and that is absolutely untrue,” Kevin Powell begins. “I’ve been an activist for 30 years.” He has just gotten off the phone with a woman from Guyana who is seeking his help to obtain an organ transplant for her sick father in New Jersey. Powell, one…