race & politics
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The Cold War Between Straight Black Women And Gay Black Men
A Facebook friend recently sent me this video. Another distraction from all this pretending to write, thought I. Now, unlike the cats-are-assholes videos and clips of happy, dancing Black babies that occupy way too damn much of my day, this video prompted a big ol’ screwface. Ten seconds into the clip, I rolled my eyes…
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The Kind of #Columbusing I Don't Mind
There’s been a lot of discussion about “columbusing” or effectively the art of people (read: white people) claiming to discover shit that has already been common knowledge to others. Like braids. And jazz. And well, the world. You know, like how America got “founded” when there were people already here. It’s that imperialist bullshiggedy. But…
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On Bachelor Parties And Blackouts
(Editor’s Note: After some thought, I’ve decided to change the title, edit out the hashtag, and remove the references to Jada. Don’t want to be seen as capitalizing on what that girl has had to go through. D. Young) It started with Bellinis. We got there at 2:30. The bottomless was ending at 3. So, in order…
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VSB Roundtable: How Fake Deep Was Your Fake Deep?
The majority of the people reading this were either in high school or college when Love Jones/Def Poetry Jam fever hit the Bougie Black nation, turning everyone into some awkward combination of Saul Williams and Miss Cleo. Christina Eichelberger posed a great question to the rest of the VSB contributors: How fake deep was your…
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Street Harassment: The Black Girl's Bat Mitzvah
Ask any Black woman you know, and she’ll probably tell you street harassment has happened to her. Ask any teenage Black girl you know, and she probably thinks it’s supposed to. Street harassment, in its own sick way, was the way I figured out I wasn’t a little girl any more. Even though, at 15…
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Relax, Everyone. White Rappers Aren't Taking Over
I returned home this weekend after spending the previous week on a cruise ship. Which means the last 48 or so hours have been spent reacclimating to real life and attempting to rid myself of the remnants of cruise culture. I have to keep reminding myself that I won’t be eating 17 full meals a…
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On Head Scarves, Bed Time, and Women's Hair
While I rep Philly to the death of me, there is a very big part of me that was born in Washington, D.C. The best parts of me come alive when I’m in the District, probably because most of the friends I love best in the world have scattered themselves somewhere between Baltimore and Alexandria. Coming…
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VSB Presents: The #Blackest Name In America Tournament – And The Winner Is…
VA’SHAUNDYA KARLETTE NELSON aka SHAUNIE O’NEAL *cues up The Commodores “Three Times A Lady”* I’d like to commend Va’Shaundya for daring to do the undareable. For being all she could be. For doing all she could do. For excellence in the field of Blackness. #blackexcellence as it were. For she is our 2014 winner of the…
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The Most Divisive Topics In The Black Community
I’ve spent quite a lot of time being Black in my life. In fact, I’ve spent most of my life actively partaking in this endeavor. And do you know what I noticed during this time? Black folks are the most monolithic, non-monolithic people on the planet. That is probably not true, but rock with me…
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Judge Throws Out George's Zimmerman's Libel Suit Against NBC
In “Why Doesn’t He Just Go Away” news, Zimmerman’s suit against NBC was thrown out due to lack of evidence. Apparently, NBC’s “Today” show ran an edited version of Zimmerman’s 911 audio, holding him in a more unfavorable light. As if that’s needed. However, NBC won, claiming they were not aware their tapes were false.…