theory & essay
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I Just Was Not That Into Rap Music…Until I Heard The College Dropout
This is an embarrassing thing to admit, but the first rap album I ever owned was Beware of Dog by Lil’ Bow Wow. In my defense, I was young and that “Puppy Love” video was lit. But I still cringe thinking about it — my early insistence that Shad Moss was the GOAT — especially…
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All You Need To Know About Race In America Happened To Me In 90 Seconds Today
It was 10:00am. The Wife Person surprised me with tickets to the Cavs/Heat game yesterday, so we made the two hour drive to Cleveland, stayed overnight, and drove back early this morning. I took her directly to work, and drove back home. “Home” for us is an old high school building that had been closed…
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On Falling And Staying Madly And Deeply In Love With…The Library
I still remember my first library card. It was tan and all the private information that could be used for identity theft — name, age, face, favorite member of SWV, etc — was typed on its face. I don’t remember it because I have a great memory, but because my mom still has it. She is…
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Why It Matters That The New York Times Refused To Refer To "White People" When Reporting On Lynchings In America
As horrified as I’ve always been by the fact that thousands of Black Americans were lynched — unjustly murdered by mobs for crimes they did or didn’t commit — I recently learned that I haven’t quite been horrified enough. Very aware of much of the chilling history associated with that act of America terrorism —…
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What Happened With Ledisi Was Messed Up. But I Can't Get Mad At Beyonce
Russell Westbrook is a force of nature. A basketball singularity whose sole mission is to spaghettify anything existing between him and getting to the rim. Opposing point guards. Gravity. Other teammates. Common sense. It doesn’t fucking matter. He’s not the best player on his team. But he is the most unstoppable. Because, 0 for 16…
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Life As One Of The Last People On Kanye West Island
It’s 9:30 AM. I’m home. Drinking orange juice and watching Divergent. It’s the fourth time I’ve seen it this week. I keep hoping it somehow gets better. I’m always wrong. I open my blinds to let the morning sun in. The light breaks through. It’s sudden and arrogant, as morning sunlight tends to be. I open the…
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Yes, The Grammys Suck (And Have Sucked For Some Time), But Why?
The Grammys suck. This is neither a new nor a particularly provocative statement. It’s not even an opinion. We all know the Grammys suck. We continue to watch, talk, and write about them — hoping with each year that they might suck a bit less — but the slow burn of shitty continues. There is…
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Russell Westbrook And A Black Man's Respect
I recently saw the Vine of Russell Westbrook shooting eye daggers at Jeremy Lamb for not shaking his hand in what looks to be a timeout or some shit and it made me laugh a thousand laughs. Or maybe like ten. The number is unimportant as numbers are merely vessels to get to the point…