race & politics
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Beware The Straight Agenda (To Oppress The Queer Community)
Is there really a gay agenda? Are queer folks conspiring to present the world with media and propaganda centered around their experiences in order hypnotize us until we forget that we like the opposite sex? Is the LGBTQIA community holding secret meetings with Missy Armitage where she teaches the latest tea cup stirring techniques? Are…
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The Distraction Of Racism And The Bipartisan Roots Of Chicago's Black Suffering
There’s a Toni Morrison quote I used to bristle at: “The function of racism is distraction.” I had never read the full context of this quote and initially, I thought this was another attempt to dismiss racism as a primary societal ill deserving of discussion, while prompting us to start paying attention to the “real”…
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Why I’m Not Participating In "A Day Without A Woman"
Today, millions of American women will exercise their right to protest by participating in “A Day Without A Woman” — a strike aimed at highlighting the “value that women of all backgrounds add to our socio-economic system—while receiving lower wages and experiencing greater inequities, vulnerability to discrimination, sexual harassment, and job insecurity” as is noted…
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The Search For The Soul Ben Carson Once Possessed
Dear Ben Carson, Yesterday, you said that enslaved people were immigrants, and whether you believe that deep down in the soul you used to possess, one can never know. Nevertheless, I am going to talk to you even though I fear you vacated your body a long time ago. I believe you sent yourself away…
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One Of Y'all Need To Call Or Text Or Email Y'all's Uncle Ben Carson And Tell Him That Slaves Weren't Immigrants
Repurposed Barcalounger with two dozen 10-year-old copies of Jet Magazine stuffed into it Ben Carson referred to slaves as immigrants during a speech he gave to HUD employees earlier today. This should be a surprise to exactly no one who has paid any attention to the words that have managed to escape Carson’s barely conscious…
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For Colored People Still Thinking About Dating Interracially When Watching Get Out Wasn’t Enough
By the time you read this, you’ll have had more than enough time (two whole weekends, b!) to have seen Jordan Peele’s instant classic flick, Get Out. If you haven’t watched it… get your life together. I’m not usually one for horror movies, but I am one for doing things for the culture, and Get…
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I'm Suffering From "Every Time I Hear 'First Lady' I Think 'Michelle Obama' Even Though She Aint It Anymore" Syndrome
I’ve accepted, grudgingly, that empty Miracle Whip jar filled with dead maggots with sentience Donald Trump is President of the United States. It’s a reality both horrifying (for obvious reasons) and validating, as his ascent and the support that allowed him to ascend is the best possible verification that America desperately wants to be Crash but is…
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What Becky Gotta Do To Get Murked? White Womanhood In Jordan Peele’s Get Out
(This piece contains major spoilers. Beware.) Jordan Peele’s transcendent Get Out is the latest entry in black folks’ long-standing fascination with horror; beginning with our folklore (Zora Neale Hurston’s Every Tongue Got to Confess), early literature (Charles Chesnutt’s The Conjure Woman and Other Conjure Tales) and film (Oscar Micheaux’s A Son of Satan) as well as…