theory & essay
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Why Black People Care So Damn Much About Potato Salad, Explained
What is potato salad? Potato salad is a popular side dish that comes in many different versions in many different parts of the world. In Southern Germany, it’s generally prepared with vinegar, potatoes, oil, mustard, vegetable broth, bacon bits, parsley, red onion and topped with chive and served warm. In Sicily, its made with string beans and…
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Rest In Power Afeni Shakur, You Are Appreciated.
We are having what could be considered one of the Blackest years on record. Larry Wilmore dropping the n-word at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner is peak Blackness no matter what side of the “appropriate” aisle you sit on. In fact, in any other year it’s the runaway winner, except moments prior to that moment,…
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A List Of People Ted Cruz Has Maybe Probably (Definitely) Murdered
Ted Cruz is no longer running for president of the United States. Which is good, because Ted Cruz is also maybe — actually, definitely — a murderer. But bad because not being president will give him more time to murder people. Which is what he (probably) does when he’s not running for office. Murder people. Of…
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DC Is Black As Fuck. Which Must Suck If You're A Racist On Vacation There.
Washington, DC, is a wonderful city. It also conjures up two distinctly different identities depending on who you’re speaking with. For instance, for the young, urban professional, when we think of DC we think of U Street, NW, (or what once was U Street, NW) and H Street, NE, Columbia Heights, 14th Street, NW, DuPont Circle…
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For Bald Black Men Trying To Find The Right Razor And The Ladies Who Love Them.
[***This post is not sponsored by nan mofo. Nobody paid me so its 100 percent my opinion and experience. Oh, and this will be long. Which is what she said. – PJ***] One day it’ll all make sense I had hair. Then slowly and surely, my hair began its descent into Black history. This wasn’t…
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Dudes Read "Mean Tweets" About Women To Their Faces and My Feelings Got Hurt.
When Damon, Liz, and I started VSB back in March of 2008, we only had one real strategy (that morphed into three): respond to people’s comments. At the outset, we posted three times a week and quickly went to posting one new piece per day (strategy two) and very soon after decided to always post at…
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How and Why I Forgave the Father I Never Had
“Kids have a hole in their soul in the shape of their dad. And if a father is unwilling or unable to fill that hole, it can leave a wound that is not easily healed.” – Ronald Warren My life is the result of the bargaining between two consenting adults; only one held up their…
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I Really Wish Hillary Clinton Would Stop Trying To Be Down. It's Embarrassing.
Even though it’s political season and there are lots of commercials that indicate that every vote counts—vote or die and shit, Wu Tang is here forever and all—forcing politicians to do everything to court the votes of communities not like theirs, I kind of wish Hillary Clinton would stop trying to win the Black vote…
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Mainstream Digital Media Sites Are Apparently Struggling Right Now. VSB, However, Is Not.
There’s a couple ways to look at the recent spate of news on the difficulties multi-million dollar digital media companies — Buzzfeed, Mashable, Salon, and Gawker Media to name a few — are currently having. The most popular way, it seems, is to conclude that we’re reaching a bust period; that Facebook’s (and Google’s) ubiquity is so pervasive…
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Why I Stopped Caring About Baseball
Growing up, I was fortunate enough to play several organized sports at varying levels from early youth through high school. I played soccer and basketball, ran both track and cross-country, gave football a short stint. In college I took badminton as one of my physical education requirements, and apparently my particular class was so good,…