culture
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An Incomplete List of Things Black People Should Avoid Doing so They Won’t Be Killed by Police
On Sunday, March 18, police in Sacramento, Calif., fired 20 shots at Stephon Clark, killing him. Clark was unarmed and in his own backyard, leading many to ask what black people must do to escape the indiscriminate killing of black people. A 2015 study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, showed that there…
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Tracing Your Roots: Who Were Our Kin Before Tragedy Struck the Family?
Needing answers after a family was torn asunder by fatal acts of domestic violence. Dear Professor Gates: My sister Yahnique Sparks and I are having trouble finding information on our parents, Joseph Shirley Sparks and Ruby Lee Sparks (maiden name Johnson). They both died in 1981 when I was a child. Our mother perished at…
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Despite Terrorizing Black People, the Serial-Killing Suicide Bomber Was Not a Terrorist Because, Well … He’s White
The words are back. You know which words I’m talking about. The politically correct nouns, verbs and adjectives used to shield their sayers and writers from criticism. The ones that tiptoe along the protective, precipitously thin fence of caucasity to whitesplain any act committed by an Anglo-Saxon Protestant who claps on the one and three.…
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Reverse Racism, Explained
Why not? And by “many people” I assume you mean … That’s OK. You should know that I absolutely believe that black people can be racist. I don’t, however, use the terminology “reverse racism” or believe that using words that offend white people is an act of racism. Most of the time, when white people…
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There’s a Secret Government Document Called the ‘Race Paper’ and It’s Probably Being Used to Monitor Black Activists
When civil rights groups forced the government to release information on how federal law enforcement agencies monitor the scary collective of black bogeyman activists classified as “black identity extremists,” the groups noticed a repeated reference to one specific document. Although it is top secret, the government has confirmed its existence. We know it is nine…
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The Forgiven: Mpho Tutu Speaks on the Film and What It Means to Her Father’s Legacy
The motion picture The Forgiven was released in theaters March 9 with an expanded release on March 16 that includes video on demand and digital HD. The movie, from Saban Films, stars Forest Whitaker as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The plot, a blend of fact and fiction, focuses on what happens after Tutu is appointed head…
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Jemele Hill Is Still Out Here Spitting Truth About What’s Really Going On in America
I won’t lie—It didn’t sit well with me when ESPN sports personality Jemele Hill issued a statement saying she “deserved that suspension” following the social media backlash over her controversial tweets about President Donald Trump and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. I absolutely get that jobs are scarce and nice checks for those who truly…