culture
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It’s Hot to Be Unapologetically Black … Until It’s Presented Like Tiffany Haddish
Once upon a time (somewhat) long ago, I had a hankering for Popeyes Chicken during lunch hour at work. It was one of our extra-busy days, so I needed to do a grab-and-go. As the promising waft of Louisiana lust soothed my nose, I was hit with a wave of heaviness: “Wait, do I really…
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The Retroactive Healing Power of A Wrinkle in Time
I was expecting director Ava DuVernay’s new sci-fi/fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time to be magic. I’d seen her achieve as much in her other films with far less capital behind them than the history-making, $100 million budget that Disney provided this time, so there was no question that this film would be gorgeous. I…
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Mourning the Living: On Finally Winning the Lawsuit Against Ebony Magazine
Have you ever had a feeling like you were mourning the death of something that was still alive? On Feb. 27, after months of back-and-forth, canceled court dates and a stringing along that felt as if we were never going to come to an agreement, 43 writers settled their lawsuit with the once powerful Ebony…
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Black Panther Inspires Black Brazilians to Occupy White-Dominant Spaces
Black Panther has inspired the Diaspora in myriad ways. The film has been applauded by black people across the world for touching on the complex relationships between Africans and African Americans, for serving up positive images of African culture for global audiences, and for providing a vehicle that allows black people throughout the world to…
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Make Wakanda Real by Embracing Your African Roots
Growing up as a Ghanaian American in Central Massachusetts during the 1980s was a constant series of “firsts.” I checked boxes identifying myself as a “first-generation” American. I was the first child of my African immigrant parents to take ballet and gymnastic classes. I was their first Girl Scout, first overpriced prom experience and first…
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So … Will Hollywood Finally Learn This Lesson, or Nah?
When writer-director Jordan Peele won his Best Original Screenplay Oscar for 2017’s biggest hit, Get Out, I cheered. When cast members of 2018’s biggest hit so far, Marvel’s Black Panther, walked the red carpet at the 90th Academy Awards, I swooned. And when I looked out at the sea of (mostly) white people attending the…
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Of Lions, Hunters and Heroes: Black Film, Black Stories and Black Realities
Tonight the Black Lives Matter Global Network took to the Oscars stage. Five years of building up black communities. Five years of experiencing police repression. Five years of centering black stories as the way we honor both the dead and the living. We took to the Oscar stage because Black Lives Matter refuses to stop…
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Fishbone
I’m not going to kill myself. I yelled it out early this morning when my mother woke me up. “I AM NOT GOING TO FUCKING KILL MYSELF!” is exactly how I said it when she came busting into my room demanding that I get my clothes on to go to meet Jesus. Two days ago…