Very Smart Brothas
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I Took a Knee for the Anthem Before an Alumni Basketball Game … but I Just Felt Silly
I am currently still recovering from the alumni basketball game I played in last weekend, a process that, considering how my back and knee(s) and throat and chest and spleen feel right now, will likely last until June (of 2019). I am hydrating frequently; I am taking longer-than-usual showers; I’ve developed an intimate relationship with…
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Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike (aka RBRM) Is the Lemonade We Get From New Edition’s Lemons
The Temptations are one of my favorite groups of all time. But I have to caveat that: The version of the Temptations that features the “Death Lineup” (no pun intended, seriously) of David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams is my favorite. Even though that lineup is my favorite, the lineup…
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This Mother’s Day Will Be Different
Editor’s note: It’s very important for me to mention that I have two mothers. I was largely raised by my black mother, but my white mother was ever present in my life and obviously had a significant hand in shaping who I am as a person. God saw fit to gift me with two mothers…
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‘Calling the Police’ Is White People’s AppleCare for Black People
You’d think learning that Sarah Braasch—the woman who called the police on Yale graduate student Lolade Siyonbola for #NappingWhileBlack—is a philosophy Ph.D. candidate who’s studied gender and law would add something to this story. A surprise, perhaps, that a person who has undoubtedly encountered lessons on unconscious bias and systemic oppression would be so transparently…
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This Is America: Save a White Drug Addict, Jail a Black One
Much has been said of the government responses to the opioid epidemic—specifically that it is leniently and sympathetically called an epidemic (I agree with that assessment), with sights set on healing and treatment. While necessary to combat the issue, the sympathy with which our nation views the current drug scourge is, frankly, frustrating. Why frustrating?…
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The Fugees’ ‘Killing Me Softly’ Is Overrated and the Least Awesome Song on The Score. Fight Me, Bro
I was recently hipped to Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s (the Roots) Questlove Supreme podcast on Pandora. I can’t believe I’ve never listened to it before, but now that I’ve found love, what am I going to do with it? I’m going to binge the fuck out of this podcast and treat every day like Christmas. The…
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A List of the Fucks I Give About the Snitch-Ass Police Dogs That’ll Be Unemployed if Marijuana Is Legalized
1. Zero fucks 2. Nil fucks 3. Nan fucks 4. Zot fucks 5. Zip fucks 6. Nada fucks 7. Void fucks 8. Zilch fucks 9. Squat fucks 10. A negative fuck 11. A fuck that exists on an event horizon, which means it doesn’t really exist, at least not with the properties that we’ve come…
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Black Life, White Wife and the Art Caught in the Middle
Over the weekend, Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, dropped a video for a new song called “This Is America.” You are reading this, which means there’s a better than 90 percent chance that you’ve both seen the video and had a discussion about it already. Probably several. I assume, based on the imagery and visuals…
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10 Reasons I Wear Hats for Sports Teams I Don’t Support or Watch
1. The hat matches my shoes. 2. I’m black and therefore stylishly stylin’ on you. And the hat matches my shoes. 3. I like the color of the hat because it matches my shoes. 4. I like the color of the stitching on that hat because it matches my shoes. 5. I like the design…