culture
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Talking Her Out of Skin Bleaching Won't Work
(The Root) — “I have a cousin who’s lived here in the United States for a few years, although, like me, she is Nigerian. (My family moved here when I was younger.) She is becoming well adjusted to American life in my opinion, with the exception of one practice from home that she still clings…
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Twitter Is Turning Us Into Political Punks
(The Root) — As seminal events take their twists and turns through the zeitgeist, more often than not we’re as likely to tweet about it as we are to act on it. These days, critical issues aren’t marked by mass movements to counteract fire hoses and snapping German shepherds on a bigot’s leash. And you’d…
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Transgender Women and Male Desire
The recent headlines about DJ Mister Cee illustrate why we need more descriptive and inclusive language to talk about male sexuality and masculinity, Mychal Denzel Smith writes at Feministing. My hope is that, along with becoming more accepting, this pushes, not just hip-hop but the wider culture as well, to develop a more useful and…
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What About Those Nontraditional 'White' Names?
Writing at Clutch magazine, Yesha Callahan describes the double standard regarding so-called black names and wonders why some of the nontraditional names that white parents give their children are not similarly critiqued. There’s always that question of “What’s in a name?” but nowadays it’s “Why do parents give black children such weird names?”. That exact question…
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Misty Copeland Brings Diversity to Ballet
In her national Diet Dr. Pepper commercial, ballerina Misty Copeland, 31, declares, “I am one of a kind.” Indeed, the black ballerina, who is Italian, African and German, looks like no others in her peer group at the American Ballet Theatre. But as proud as she may be to be one of a kind, she…
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4 Men Charged in Chicago Mass Shooting
Four men in their early 20s have been charged in last week’s mass shooting spree in Chicago that injured 13 people, including a 3-year-old boy. Tabari Young and Brad Jett, both 22, along with Bryon Champ, 21, and Kewane Gatewood, 20, have been charged. Young is being singled out as the shooter, according to the…
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Why We Need Separate but Equal
(The Root) — I don’t hate many things. I’m pretty good at keeping that emotion in check. But here’s a short list of things I hate: 1. Bigots 2. Misogynists 3. Terrorists, including American terrorists, here and abroad, and especially the ones who stand on street corners harassing women who pass by 4. The willfully…
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Isaiah Washington Explores a Killer's Soul
(The Root) — On Oct. 2, 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo began a shooting spree around the Washington, D.C., area — a string of attacks that left 10 dead and three seriously wounded. The snipers terrorized D.C. for more than three weeks before being caught about 40 miles outside the city. Now…
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Black Dogs: Last Hired, 1st Fired?
(The Root) — As a fan of animals and a nonfan of discrimination, I was compelled to write years ago about a topic I had begun hearing about from fellow animal lovers and shelter volunteers: doggie discrimination. Before anyone laughs, the topic is very serious — in fact, deadly serious. According to anecdotal evidence compiled…
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The Emmys Didn't Push the Envelope
The 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were painstakingly blasé, Neil Drumming opines at Salon. There were a few eyebrow-raising moments related to “racial and sexuality politics,” but nothing pushed the envelope. My editor also suggested that I discuss the show’s “racial and sexuality politics.” As a whole, the telecast felt safely and thankfully apolitical to me. As far…