Very Smart Brothas
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After Charleston, Questioning The Power of Prayer
Lookin’ down on my soul now Tell me I’m in control now Tell me I can live long and I can live wrong and I can live right And I can sing songs and I can unite with you that I love, you that I like Look at my life and tell me I fight.”…
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Dear Respectability Politics Brigade: This Is Time For You To Shut The Fuck Up
In the wake of the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina, this letter is equally outdated and timely. In what seems like the unsavory mixture of an eternity and “just yesterday,” Black people have been murdered (again) by a White person (again) for the crime of “existing while Black” (again). As I struggle to…
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I'm Sorry White Guys Who Happen To Look Like Dylann Roof, But I'm Profiling The Fuck Out Of You
I know, I know, I know. Assigning characteristics to a person just because of the way they look, or the way they’re dressed, or the way they wear their hair, is wrong. It is not right to assume that every dead-eyed White guy hanging out in a Black church is just biding his time until he kills…
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Killed At A Church? A Church! A Church.
By now, almost everybody has heard what happened in Charleston, SC. It’s all over local and national news and when you walk into work (if you haven’t already) there’s a good chance somebody will bring it up. For those not in the know, a white gunman walked into Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, sat…
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Nowhere, No Safety, No Country For Black Americans
The privilege of being allowed to exist on Earth — and the experiences, the enlightenments, and the beauties associated with this privilege — comes with a couple unfavorable conditions. 1. We will die. 2. We will coexist with entities actively attempting to kill us. These are facts every human is conscious of. But this awareness…
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The Haters' Guide To Successfully Hating The Golden State Warriors
The Golden State Warriors are the new NBA champions; a perfect end to a historic season where they won 67 games (the third most in NBA history) and won the affections of both casual and diehard fans with an aesthetically and analytically pleasing style of play. They also feature a ridiculously popular league MVP who might not…
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There Is Nothing Wrong With Making And Laughing At Jokes About Ridiculous Ass Rachel Dolezal
Rachel Dolezal’s appearance on The Today Show this morning — and her admission that she identifies as Black — confirms it: She is a turducken of bullshit. A turducken inside of a giraffe inside of a whale that was eaten by a fucking Indominus Rex. Not only is her actual aesthetic an intentional optical illusion, following…
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A Bougie Black Love Story
When I first saw these engagement photos of friend of VSB (and awesome writer) Brandelyn Castine and her fiancee — captured by J.A. Washington — two thoughts came to mind: 1. These are awesome! I need to reach out to her and see if she’s cool with me posting them on VSB. 2. Wait…why didn’t I…
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What About Bob?: My White Friend Who REALLY Wanted To Be Black
When I was in middle school in Frankfurt, Germany, I had a friend named Bob Dobalina. Obviously this isn’t his real name, but a name I’ve made up to protect the identity of said friend….who is not named Bob Dobalina. But we shall call him that. Mr. Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina. Bob would be 36…