The 300MENri Leadership Academy is a venture sponsored by #300MENri, a community-based men’s group in Providence, Rhode Island, as part of the group’s promotion of positive male development. As members of the community, we at #300MENri felt as though many of us had been neglecting our role in raising our boys and in demanding greatness… Continue reading The New 300
Month: May 2015
Poc Art
Nia King is an Oakland-based art activist and author of Queer and Trans Artists of Color, a collection of her interviews. As a long-time admirer of her work, I thought I’d turn the tables and ask her some questions about “artivism,” selling out, and who her queer and trans people of color (QTPOC) icons are.… Continue reading Poc Art
In Memoriam
To the black men—and women—who died fighting for a country they believed in, even if it didn’t believe in them, we give eternal thanks.
They See Us as Hulks
“They see us as Hulks, and paint us as so, not realizing or refusing to acknowledge that we are more so David Banners…brilliant minds, searching for answers and peace…while we continue to be attacked and prodded by the powers that be…in a world that doesn’t understand that our powers help to save it time after… Continue reading They See Us as Hulks
Foundational Love
Back in the days of cassette tapes, my love for underground and varied hip hop sounds crossed paths with a song titled “The Foundation” by one of my favorite artists of the time: Xzibit. The word foundation has two primary definitions: the first being the lowest load bearing part of a structure; the second, an underlying… Continue reading Foundational Love
Running from Blackness
Identity can be a complex beast to understand. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, to Haitian parents, and grew up in a system that only ever spoke about the African-American experience: coming from Africa on slave ships, landing in the South, gaining freedom, and participating in the Civil Rights Movement. My story has a… Continue reading Running from Blackness
Hey, Therapy
Hey, Therapy, On our first date, I was a few weeks on the surviving end of a deleted suicide note. I was tentative, terrified, and zombie-like. To say that I wasn’t in a good place that chilly September morning when I first entered your warm embrace would be the understatement of the century. I was… Continue reading Hey, Therapy
On Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly
Kendrick Lamar didn’t make an album. Or at least not in the traditional sense. To Pimp a Butterfly isn’t an album you’re going to want to just throw on. Its shuffle play value is low. This is an album you revisit. It’s an album you sit with. It’s an album you study. Kendrick didn’t make… Continue reading On Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly
The Pain of Awareness
Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent a great deal of time and words capturing what has been going on around Baltimore. Whether it’s a discussion on the politics surrounding the death of Freddie Gray, the race of the officers, the comments made by the mayor or the shot of hope provided by the state… Continue reading The Pain of Awareness
Spheres of Influence
Following the events in the U.S. cities of Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland, the Internet has caught fire with up-to-the-minute dispatches of the protests and engagements between U.S. citizens—more specifically African-Americans and allies against the particular stigmas that they face daily. Pictures and videos ranging from toppling and destruction of police vehicles and looting to… Continue reading Spheres of Influence