The other day I was walking through a big hotel in San Diego, on my way to give a keynote speech for a corporate event. I was the only person at the conference without an ID badge and I wondered how hard it would be to talk my way past security. I figured it would… Continue reading The Time I Scared a Security Guard by Being an Old White Guy
Category: Awareness
Black Like Me
Once upon a time, I lived in Colombia. And one day, I posted this as my Facebook status: Acabo de caminar del gimnasio. Hoy es un día brillante de sol tropical. Y bajo de ese sol iluminante, se me dió cuenta que yo era el único negro/moreno/mulato en la calle que no era obrero, vigilante,… Continue reading Black Like Me
The New 300
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
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
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
Changing Society’s Perspective on Disability
Before I even knew who I was, my life changed forever. As an infant, I was injured in a car accident caused by a drunken driver. But even though I was paralyzed and grew up with a spinal cord injury, I didn’t let my disability slow me down. I learned how to do everything from… Continue reading Changing Society’s Perspective on Disability
Together, We Are Better
My mother and father grew up in segregation. Mickey and Miami have fooled people into thinking otherwise, but Florida is and always was a Southern state. My father was born during the Baby Boom and lived in a shotgun house on the brother side of Jacksonville, the youngest of four siblings. His older brother, Julian, made… Continue reading Together, We Are Better
Brothers, Do You Love Yourselves?
Fat faggot was what they called me from eighth through twelfth grades. It had been just plain faggot before then. And sissy and sweet thang and Oreo and mutt and sometimes halfbreed and once or twice even cracker. But it was fat faggot that stayed. It stayed after I had graduated high school and lost… Continue reading Brothers, Do You Love Yourselves?