Very Smart Brothas
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It’s Easy to Believe Conspiracy Theories When Your Country Conspires Against You
From 1979 to 1981, at least 28 black boys and young adults were murdered in the South. Atlanta Monster is a podcast that explores the disturbing and complicated case of Wayne Williams, the person a jury found guilty of what has come to be known as the “Atlanta Child Murders.” Hosted by Payne Lindsey, a…
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See, This Is Exactly Why I Don’t Be Going to Space: An Astronaut Came Back to Earth With an Altered Genetic Makeup
In what reads like the beginning of a sci-fi book, astronaut Scott Kelly had the club going up … to space, and when he returned to terra firma, he was a changed man. Genetically. That man’s genes were different. Seven percent of his prespace genetic makeup was altered. I realize that sometimes things blow my…
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We Can Now Add Schoolchildren to the List of People Forced to Clean Up the Mess White Men Made
The biggest surprise of being a parent so far is how often my daughter surprises me. She’s a little over 2 years old now, and it seems like every week she does or says something new that I had no idea she knew how to do or say. Yesterday morning, for instance, she noticed me…
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We Need a New Category for Today’s Rap Music Because This Shit Ain’t Hip-Hop
Eleven years ago this month, I made the decision to get my first tattoo below my elbow—a piece covering my entire forearm that could never be hidden without clothing. I wanted the tattoo to be meaningful, so it only made sense to dedicate it to one of my favorite things ever: hip-hop. The piece is…
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A Friend of Mine Asked Me to Explain Some White Shit to Her and Now I’m Offended
All my life I had to fight. That’s not true, but you can’t say “all my life” and NOT add “I had to fight” if you’re black and over a certain age. Shoutouts to The Color Purple and Miss Sophia. Hey, Oprah, boo. Anyway, all my life I’ve been black. Only recently have I become…
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Is It Just Me, or Is BuzzFeed’s Headline About Big Lez Mad Disrespectful?
I was perusing the internet streets like I always do looking for what’s good in the hood when I came across an article from BuzzFeed that made me clutch my pearls, then touch my chest and say, “Why, I never!” The headline? “We Found the Girl Who Danced to Living Single’s Theme Song and Sis…
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Why I Don’t Have Any White Friends, Explained
Huh? It was when I was 17: The Pittsburgh Zoo made this big stink about getting a polar bear—press releases and parties and polar-bear-themed brunches and shit—despite the fact that they already had perfectly fine (and strikingly handsome) black and brown bears. I saw that as a metaphor for America, and I pledged to never…
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Why Don’t We Tip Fast-Food Workers?
I didn’t know you were supposed to tip bartenders until I was 25 years old. And then, I only learned because I was tip-shamed by a woman I was dating. She saw I didn’t leave a tip on the Long Island iced teas I’d ordered for both of us (again, I was 25) and asked,…