race & politics
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On #BlackBrunch And Bottomless White Tears
Earlier this week, NYC protesters supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement decided to take it up a notch and encroach upon “White spaces” in order to express their outrage over police brutality against Black folks. I thought it was a splendid idea. More often than not, creating awareness about an issue to facilitate change means making folks…
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Roxane Gay Is Kind Of A Big Deal
The #NBRB book club (I’ll let you consult Google for the acronym’s meaning) uses Twitter to discuss books written by some of the best and brightest. A few months back, the club set its sights on Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist. I had the opportunity to interview Roxane for the inaugural “Kind of a Big Deal”…
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Remembering Stuart Scott
I know I watched SportsCenter before Stuart Scott made his first appearance on the show 1993. I just don’t remember what it looked like or sounded like prior to him. This morning, as I was getting ready for work, I did what I always do and turned on ESPN to watch SportsCenter, but this time…
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Pittsburgh Police Chief Says "Racism Is Bad." Some Officers Get Offended. Chief Replies "Sorry Not Sorry"
To get a better context of the environment new Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay recently entered, it would be helpful to know each of the following things: 1. Out of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country, the Pittsburgh metropolitan area is the 2nd Whitest. 2. There were 66 homicides in the city in…
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Meet The Police Chief Who Gets It. Let's Hope There Are More.
This year has been one hell of a roller coaster ride when it comes to law enforcement and the public perception of it. While it seems like many white people got to see a little bit of what Black folks have been screaming about for years, there are still those individuals who struggle with the…
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"Anti-Police Brutality" Does Not Mean "Anti-Police"
According to published news reports, hours before Ismaaiyl Brinsley shot and killed two NYPD officers, he shot his ex-girlfriend, Shaneka Thompson, in Baltimore. He also stole her iPhone. After shooting her, he boarded a Bolt Bus to New York City, and updated his Instagram account from her phone, vowing to kill cops. Minutes after following…
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President Obama Is Officially Trolling The Fuck Out Of Conservatives, And I Love It
If you have any doubts that President Barack Obama has made “trolling the fuck out of conservatives” his personal mission for his last two years in office, consider this: In the past two years, President Obama has effectively… 1. Legalized gay marriage 2. Legalized marijuana 3. Given legal status to millions of illegal immigrants …and…
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Why The Georgetown Hoyas Need To Be Your Favorite College Basketball Team
Although they won’t get as much publicity as Lebron, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, and the rest of the professional athletes and celebrities donning “I Can’t Breathe” shirts, what the Hoyas did before Wednesday night’s game against Kansas was arguably more impressive. One, because they’re a group of 19 and 20 year olds conscientious enough to…
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Dear Black People: Blackness Is Not A Disease
Implicit bias has replaced overt racism as the primary cause of disparities that disadvantage Black people. It’s not that there are no overt bigots anymore, but our society has made most bigotry so stigmatized that it has been forced to go underground, into the unconscious. You will have people who are absolutely sure they hold…