It’s back-to-school time in America. Your Facebook timelines are full of pictures of back-to-school pictures of kids you may or may not know (depending on how many “friends” you actually have) preparing to Shiggy Dance on down the road to that fresh education provided by the state or sponsored by that employment you…

Perhaps later this year, after the midterms and/or in two years after the next presidential election, we’ll be able to confirm the existence of the silver linings we hope the Trump presidency has gifted us.

Father’s Day is here. It’s time to let the love flow in both word and deed in celebration of real men. I’m talking about men who do the work of raising their own biological children and even sometimes, perhaps more significantly, the kids who are not theirs by blood but who belong to them through the power of love. …

When I’m in the studio, I sometimes have these visions of conversations I’d like to have with my father. It leads me to think what it would be like if he and I could communicate on a higher level because there’s always been this barrier between us.

Since my daughter was born, I’ve had two very clear objectives: 1) Raise a good human being who goes to Spelman College, and 2) Turn my daughter (and the rest of my kids) into music heads. I want my kids to be the ones who go to school talking about that new Marvin Gaye Here, My Dear album. I want them thinking that…

Editor’s note: Corey Richardson, the author of We Used to Have Money, Now We Have You! A Dad’s Bedtime Story, is a frequent VSB contributor. 

Editor’s note: It’s very important for me to mention that I have two mothers. I was largely raised by my black mother, but my white mother was ever present in my life and obviously had a significant hand in shaping who I am as a person. God saw fit to gift me with two mothers to help shape me into the person that I…

One Arizona teen received, quite literally, a shock after his mother allegedly woke him up for Easter church service using a stun gun.

My son is only 2 years old—he’s loving and outgoing. He runs to strangers with open arms, saying “Hug” in his cute little voice. He laughs heartily and shares his toys regardless of the other child’s color. But most importantly, he’s free.

Somehow, I didn’t realize that This Is Us had returned to my Tuesday nights. The last episode I saw was THE episode where Jack [CENSORED]. You know what? “[CENSORED]” means died. Bought the farm. Kicked the bucket. And any other euphemism for dying you can think of. Anyway, on Facebook, I saw somebody mention this…

I don’t remember the first time I bumped the back of my daughter’s head on the top of the passenger-side rear door when attempting to put her in the car seat, but I remember the last time I did it—Saturday afternoon. We were on our way to Whole Foods (whose hot bar is a surprisingly good food option for dads with…

The Washington, D.C., area is under a high-wind warning. There are winds gusting at up to 60 miles per hour. In the alley behind my house, trash cans are littered about, making it entirely impassable. A neighbor’s trash can hit my SECOND-floor window while bouncing into my neighbor’s yard. Let that marinate for a…

The recent case of an alleged serial killer in Tampa, Fla., raises an interesting question—namely, should parents be forced to participate in the conviction of their child if it could quite literally mean the death of their offspring? Would your mother do it? Could you snitch out your own child? More important, in…

Parents, stop me if you’ve heard any of this before. Of my three children, my youngest, Rome, is by far the biggest spark plug. He’s a living, breathing 100 emoji. When he’s asleep, we take pains to make sure he sleeps as long as possible, shushing any and everybody in the vicinity making noise—not because we don’t…

On a recent trip to buy some gifts for my own and other children for Christmas, I decided to venture to the beads-and-bracelets-and-shit aisle of a Toys R Us near my home. This is my go-to aisle when I need a random gift for my daughter or her classmates when we’re on the way to a birthday party. My daughter in…

Being a parent is awesome. It teaches you about yourself. For example, you get to learn your true “patience” threshold and if you need to work on it in order to make it through the next 18 years (short answer: Yes, you do). You get to go see blockbuster movies that some people without kids don’t even know exist (I…

Please forgive me, for I have sinned.

Black women are hauled over the white-hot coals of racism and sexism on the regular, in real life and especially online, where the trolls spew their anonymous venom. We’re called everything from ugly to “cum dumpsters.” White men call us far worse. Even the president of the United States has gotten in on it. And when…

Children are tons of fun. Sure, they’re a lot of work, too, but you get used to that, and pretty soon the work is just part of life. On a daily basis you get to marvel and laugh at the new discoveries of infants and toddlers, the smarts and progress of your preteens, and, from what I hear, wonder just who in the hell…

One of the great things about being a parent is watching your child (or children) blossom into whatever kind of person they’ll become. The possibilities are endless, and that potential can warm even the coldest heart. Yay, babies and kids and shit. Part of this blossoming typically includes moving through the ranks of…