brothas: you are right. They don’t care. They may never. but We do. don’t let their abuse become an excuse to relinquish your life and your heart. look at consider draw inspiration from your babies, siblings, aunties, daddies, nanas, mamas, spouses, loved ones, pop-pops, cousins, homies, uncles, mom-moms… …We. the lovers that take you in,… Continue reading We.
Category: Blackness
Open Letter From a Mother
Child, there is greatness in your lineage I won’t trace each and every root for you they’re too nappy Lord knows this tree been grown in some shit soil beady with miseducation southern fried and fatty but there was greatness here still is set in North Carolina cotton fields we had no business breaking mason… Continue reading Open Letter From a Mother
Why We Need Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq
It’s not wise to underestimate how movies can shape a young person’s life. Twenty years ago, when I was a teenager, Tales From the Hood played a tremendous role in my growing up. The movie, through an infusion of horror and humor, showed several stories dealing with racism and Black men growing up in urban… Continue reading Why We Need Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq
Searching For Identity In the Realm of Black Hair
A few weeks ago, I stepped away from the kinky/curly hair community for a basic haircut. I’d re-entered the space with an understanding of how I revel in the fragmentation of the African-American community. While I question what it means to be united with other African-Americans, I used my hair to play up my self-worth.… Continue reading Searching For Identity In the Realm of Black Hair
Love Gaps
We are only heard from our graves / Depicted as the help or 40 million dollar slave / To whip work or catch a similar case / Of mathematics is problematic because this tragic habit is not in our fave / Or…institutionalize our lifestyle as a crime / like black military women with natural hairstyles… Continue reading Love Gaps
Uncle Shadow and the Crescent City
There is something mesmerizing, yet indescribable about New Orleans. For as many times as I have been, I still don’t understand it. Yet, it’s one of the American cities I enjoy most. Whether it’s folks calling me “baby” or the ever-present Bounce remix thumping from sound systems worth more than the vehicles they’re in, ain’t nothing like… Continue reading Uncle Shadow and the Crescent City
The Quiet Revolution
The quiet Revolution of being Black in America Where our bodies are always on auction blocks We are bought and sold for fragile egos Where our defiance is listed under justifiable homicide Justice is a word we don’t know and we are told to just go along Even when the police are hell-bent on violating… Continue reading The Quiet Revolution
One Photo, One City
Philadelphia was everything that Boston could never be. After two miserable years of living in Massachusetts and desperately seeking an out, a weekend visit to Philly during the Odunde Festival did me in. The streets were crowded with black people. Their beauty was an overwhelming barrage to the senses. Booths burst with vibrant African prints.… Continue reading One Photo, One City
¡CUBA VIVA! — Tambor
The narratives of the African Diaspora in Latin America are sadly underrepresented in both English and Spanish language media, and history curricula in schools. With projects like Negro: A Docu-Series about Latino Identity and now the documentary, Tambor, Dash Harris aims to educate us on how traditional African culture manifests in modern-day Latino society. I… Continue reading ¡CUBA VIVA! — Tambor
Power On, Fist Up: African Amedia
Mainstream American media has a shameful record of misrepresenting black Americans, their lives and stories in ways that are either outright racist or implied through more subtle, coded language and images. Artist Justin Adu’s African Amedia exhibit, at the African American Museum of Dallas, seeks to address these negative portrayals through the use of multimedia art. I… Continue reading Power On, Fist Up: African Amedia