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
Just a Citizen of the World
Who am I? Where am I from? I was born in Geneva, Switzerland, but people sometimes give me the look when I tell them I’m Swiss. I was told many times, “Go back home!” “Go back to Africa!” When I heard that, I kept telling them that I was born in Switzerland and therefore my… Continue reading Just a Citizen of the World
Do Companies Care?
When Abernathy launched in January, I had a clear idea of who I wanted to reach and the kind of change I wanted to make in their lives. My thesis was that black men must take control of our own narratives, and that an online platform was a great way to quickly facilitate this. What… Continue reading Do Companies Care?
Abernathy Man: Kwame Thomison
Abernathy Man is a series that spotlights remarkable black men and the work they’re doing. Kwame Thomison is a manager at Facebook who got his first Silicon Valley experience at Meebo, the online messaging company. He credits his time at Meebo as the reason doors at other companies opened. Facebook was one of those open… Continue reading Abernathy Man: Kwame Thomison
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