culture
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The Mama Dilemma: Adoption, Racism and the Search for Answers
Eight years ago I got a Facebook message that said, “Do you remember me?” I was prepping for a staff meeting and couldn’t place the name or the blond woman in the icon. I shot back a quick sorry that I didn’t remember her and turned my back to the computer. When I turned around,…
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My Mother’s Daughter, a Multigenerational Talk About Motherhood, Part 2: Lemuria
Editor’s note: This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, The Glow Up interviewed four generations of mothers within a single Harlem family that recently welcomed its fifth generation. We’ve asked these mothers, ages 19 to 83, the same 12 questions about motherhood, daughterhood and matriarchy. These are their stories. I first met Lemuria Alawode-El in 1994…
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Speaking Out Against Domestic Violence on Black Women Is No Longer Taboo, but Doing Something About It Is
My first job, about a decade ago in Harlem, was interning at a shelter for domestic violence survivors. Most were lower-income black and Latina women. A colleague and I would organize these makeshift financial sessions, giving these women overviews about how to build credit, manage debt, apply for housing vouchers and the like. I regularly…
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My Mother’s Daughter, a Multigenerational Talk About Motherhood, Part 1: Zaiane
Editor’s note: This year, to celebrate Mother’s Day, The Glow Up interviewed four generations of mothers within a single Harlem family that recently welcomed its fifth generation. We’ve asked these mothers, ages 19 to 83, the same 12 questions about motherhood, daughterhood and matriarchy. These are their stories. A few weeks ago, I found myself…
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The All-American Question: Can You Truly Love Black People if You Date Outside the Race?
Whether it is about a same-sex, interracial or nonconforming relationship, as a rule, I tend not to involve myself in the question of whom other people choose to love, and it’s not because I have a self-righteous sense of egalitarian, progressive thinking. It’s mostly because I have one universal rule for other people’s masturbation, relationships…
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Tarana Burke: Black Community Needs to Have Uncomfortable Conversations About Sexual Violence
I caught up with Tarana Burke at the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault annual awards on Monday in New York City, where she picked up yet another award for her years of activism, most notably #MeToo. Over the past year alone, Hollywood and media luminaries like Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Matt Lauer and…
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Black Genius: A Privilege Afforded Only to Straight Black Men
This. Is. America. Whether you love it or hate it or are somewhere in between, Donald Glover’s newest music video, juxtaposing black joy and pain, has folks thinking. Somewhere in between “This is a masterpiece” and “This is blasphemy” are screams from some of the largest (social) media platforms throwing out that ever trite and…
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Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America’ Explained by 2 People Who Don’t Pretend to Understand It
Since Donald Glover/Childish Gambino released the awe-inspiring video for his song “This Is America,” the internet has been filled with people explaining the symbolism of the imagery, subtext and subtle references contained in the music video. Those people don’t know shit. Instead of overwhelming you with bullshit phrases gleaned from an art-appreciation class, we decided…
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‘Not All White People’: A Definitive Disclaimer
I wrote about white people gentrifying fried-bologna sandwiches last week. I knew as soon as I hit publish on the post what type of response it was going to get, but I published it anyway because the kinds of white people who would turn a fried-bologna sandwich into some type of hipster happy meal, complete…