Yes, I’ll admit it. I was a choir boy. I was the seven-year-old that would have singing lessons with his grandma that wouldn’t end until I either held my notes longer than her, or practiced my scales to her pleasing. Embarrassingly, I wanted to be in the choir for many years, and when I finally… Continue reading My Kind of Gospel
Month: November 2015
Hola, Morocha
As I maneuvered the shit-laden sidewalks of San Telmo, a gently gentrified neighborhood of Buenos Aires, I couldn’t help but hear the Sesame Street song “one of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong,” playing from an imaginary loudspeaker. To see people’s reactions to me, you’d think I… Continue reading Hola, Morocha
A Letter to My Father
It wasn’t until we stopped speaking that I realized that we haven’t had a real conversation at any point in life. Sure, there have been talks, but they’ve always been one-sided, and I don’t think either of us realized it. Truth is, I’ve been living in your shadow for so long trying to be just… Continue reading A Letter to My Father
Life Away from the World
In 2007, I signed a contract that would forever change my life: a four-year agreement with the United States Marine Corps. I soon learned the true meaning of honor, courage, and commitment. At 20 years old, I had responsibilities that not many young men my age would regularly have. I trained hard and gave my… Continue reading Life Away from the World
Train Up a Child
From an early age, I wanted to be a mother. I never thought too deeply about how I would raise my children or the values I’d instill into them, but I figured when the time came I’d sit down and discuss it with my husband. As I’m closing in on the final months of my… Continue reading Train Up a Child
Stokely and the Birth of Black Power
Cocky. Self-assured. Reckless. Radical. Activist. Organizer. Leader. By the summer of 1966, any of these words would be used to describe the man who coined the term Black Power, signaling the official shift from the Civil Rights Movement to the Black Power Movement. No man made a greater contribution to the Civil Rights Movement while… Continue reading Stokely and the Birth of Black Power
Martinique
The best ideas happen around 3am. That’s my experience, at least. They tend to be superlative decisions if someone in the decision matrix is inebriated or otherwise compromised by more than mere exhaustion. Hence, when my inebriated host suggested I take an early morning ferry from the monastery in Saint Lucia where I was staying… Continue reading Martinique
Driving Uptown Innovation: A Conversation With John Henry
John Henry is the Executive Director of cofound/harlem, “a non-profit, social-impact accelerator building 100 companies in Harlem in 5 years to increase economic opportunity for Harlem residents.” John also runs the popular Uptown Tech Meetup group, which hosts regular events, workshops, and intimate sessions with industry leaders. Before Cofound, John was an award-winning jazz musician… Continue reading Driving Uptown Innovation: A Conversation With John Henry
Therapy Changed Everything
Deciding to go into therapy is a choice that often comes as a last resort. For black men, we avoid it until it becomes a self-imposed ultimatum. In my case, it was a desire. I wanted to talk to someone who held no judgement of my past. I wanted to confide in someone who held… Continue reading Therapy Changed Everything
On Being Native and Black
Complex relationships are oftentimes the best relationships. Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack had a complex relationship. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had a complex relationship. Lennon and McCartney had a complex relationship. But despite those complex relationships, all of them made beautiful music together. COMPLEX With Natives and black people, there were certainly many, many… Continue reading On Being Native and Black