theory & essay
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Selfies Are Stupid Trash Shitty Pictures And We Need To Stop Taking Them
For the last week or so, there’s been a trend on Facebook where people post statuses asking their friends to list their most unpopular non-political opinions; a prompt that has resulted in threads occasionally stretching hundreds of replies long. This has both amused and annoyed me, mainly because (approximately) 98% of the replies are people just…
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An Ode To Donny Hathaway and "This Christmas"
If you know like I know you don’t want to step to this Christmas season doesn’t officially begin until the first time I play Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas”, his 1970 single (that he wrote with Nadine McKinnor) that tanked upon release but over time has become as vital to the Christmas season as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want…
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This Cartoon Me Is Giving The Real Me Beard Envy And I Want To Take It On A Date
This cartoon me — created by GQ for my profile there — is giving the real me beard envy. Deadly serious beard envy. Like, I look at this beard the same way Kappas look at Benetton mannequins. Now, don’t get me wrong. My beard is nice. (Hi beard!) Well, its nicer now than it has ever…
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On Walter Scott, Michael Slager, Mistrials, and Serving on Jury Duty
I’m one of those people who never wanted to serve on a jury. I live in Washington, DC, and because of the population of this city, I feel like I get called in every two years, like clockwork. I’m never happy about this though I do use it, similar to voting in national elections, as…
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The Only Takeaway From The ‘Insecure’ Finale Is That Lawrence Is No Catch
This piece was originally published on November 30th, 2016 on The Frisky. The sight of black men cheering for Lawrence during Sunday night’s Insecure season finale gave me heart palpitations. Men gathered around the TV to howl like it was a NBA Championship game when Lawrence (Jay Ellis) had revenge sex with bank teller Tasha…
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I Dont Know How I'm Supposed To Feel About Kanye
This piece started off quite differently. You see, after years of skating around the margins of the sentiment, I’d finally leaned into full-on “Fuck Kanye West” mode. It followed years of annoyance at his trend of constantly obnoxious and solipsistic behavior. Even his admission during a recent concert that he didn’t vote at all Nov. 8 but…
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As A Dad, Queen Sugar Hit Me Right In The Feels
I love Queen Sugar. Let’s start there. I’d take Queen Sugar on a $200 date, juju on the beat with it, and cook greens, beans, tomatoes and potatoes just so it would have something to take home in case it got hungry. For those who aren’t familiar, the Ava DuVernay-helmed show is the story of a Louisiana agricultural family—the Bordelons—dealing with…
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This Election Failed My Daughter
My daughter was born in January of 2009, a week after Barack Obama was sworn into the office of the Presidency. I couldn’t have been happier. Her original due date was January 18, but I wanted SO badly for her to be born after he was inaugurated so that she would be born into a…
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Let’s Go Ahead And Talk About That Birth Control Piece
Yesterday, I wrote a piece entitled, “Male Birth Control Trials Halted Because of Side Effects. Good.” where I discussed recent reports about trials that have been halted for what is an effective injection for males that could serve as an additional alternative on the birth control market. But between some indefensible statements and some horrible…
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Male Birth Control Trials Halted Because Of Side Effects. Good.
So it looks like we’re getting closer to a marketplace available effective male-specific birth control method. The latest trials of a male contraceptive have proven to be 96 percent effective in trials. This could be revolutionary as, right now, women bare the lion’s share of the birth control responsibility from costs to having to take…