O n February 29th, 2016, Stephen A. Smith gave a speech at the University of South Alabama as part of the school’s offerings for Black History Month. During his talk, Smith told young black students and attendees that racism is not an excuse for lack of progress because it doesn’t exist. “You don’t have to… Continue reading Why Don’t People Understand Racism?
Year: 2016
Historical Reflections on Black Americans in NYC Real Estate and the Agents of Change
Although I am not black, I would like to reflect on the agents who denied black people their predetermined fates of oppression, and ultimately changed the landscape for black New Yorkers and all tenants of color. The roots of residential segregation that remain in our society may stem from the time of redlined New York.… Continue reading Historical Reflections on Black Americans in NYC Real Estate and the Agents of Change
Papa Was a Rolling Stone
P apa is rolling stone Piece of sediment covered with dirt rain soot fractures my mother’s tears Praise its speed Praise its swiftness Praise the mineral that was never concrete A tribal stone that rolled its way from Africa and cotton field Praise the stone that broke too many glass houses glass women This Rolling… Continue reading Papa Was a Rolling Stone
Rogue’s Rules: Chapter 2
Rogue’s Rules is a work of fiction by award-winning, bestselling author Jervey Tervalon. Read the other chapters in the series here. RULE 6 If you pick your spots, and hunker down and take care of your own business, you get by, You get short. When you want more that’s when you get got. That was… Continue reading Rogue’s Rules: Chapter 2
Connecting Through the Canvas: Donnie Rogers, Harlem Artist
A famous Harlem transplant once said, “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.” Almost a century ago, Langston Hughes moved to the uptown New York City neighborhood from the Midwest to spread his creative wings in an era that… Continue reading Connecting Through the Canvas: Donnie Rogers, Harlem Artist
The Dueling Sides of “Just Comply”
Since the gunning down of Mike Brown in August of 2014, more attention has been brought to the problem of police brutality in America, specifically police brutality directed at unarmed black men and children. While the mainstream narrative prefers to frame this as a “new” problem, it’s really an age-old issue rooted in the severe systematic and institutional racism… Continue reading The Dueling Sides of “Just Comply”
Black Girl Free: Unleashing the Wild
M y daughter is six and she likes to twerk. I watch these movements; her hands perched on her knees, back slightly arched as she sways from side to side. I am not compelled to stop her. I watch in amazement at the confidence she spews as her hair, big and wild, sway in concert… Continue reading Black Girl Free: Unleashing the Wild
Rogue’s Rules: Chapter 1
Rogue’s Rules is a work of fiction by award-winning, bestselling author Jervey Tervalon. Read the other chapters in the series here. 5-7-74 This is how I do it: Pay to park even if the daily rate is steep. Campus is crazy crowded, people like hair on your head, but no reason to bitch; it’s just… Continue reading Rogue’s Rules: Chapter 1
I Don’t Blame You For Not Wanting To Vote… But You Should Vote Anyway
Let’s be perfectly honest and keep it 100: The 2016 election cycle is a shit show. It’d be a shit show if it existed in a vacuum. It’s an even bigger debacle on the heels of our nation’s first black president who ran a near flawless campaign in 2008 and made lightning strike twice in… Continue reading I Don’t Blame You For Not Wanting To Vote… But You Should Vote Anyway
The Black Church is Not Always a Safe Space for Victims of Domestic Violence
In March, gospel artist James Fortune pled guilty to assaulting his wife back in 2014. The well publicized details of the case are ugly—Fortune struck her with a vanity bar stool, kicked, and threw her against the wall. But an additional ugly event, one deeply symptomatic of the Black church’s domestic violence problem, will go… Continue reading The Black Church is Not Always a Safe Space for Victims of Domestic Violence