Menacing Hype Women and Pokémon Collections Aren’t the Threat — Or What’s Really Killing Us?

Love is an underused superpower. Check this visual: a woman introduces her man’s vinyl collection like it’s a third-grade science fair project — and then dares the internet to clap back. But some folks in our online village think they found the latest existential threat to Black masculinity. The comments are cruel. Commenters called the […]

Juneteenth: Beyond the Watermelon and Cookout

“Hmm. Didn’t know where to go. Turned us out just like, you know, you turn out cattle. [ laugh ] I say. Didn’t know where ta go.”—Laura Smalley, former slave in antebellum Texas; interviewed the Library of Congress’ Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project Laura Smalley’s recollection of living in Texas […]

Strange Brew: Smartphones are Shaping Our Lives

Are you living outside your screen? Hannah Arendt warned us that technology can cut both ways — open new doors while narrowing important ones. A walk through Chelsea a few years ago made me see her point. While on my way to watch legendary bassist Melvin Gibbs give a free performance at an art gallery, […]

Obama, Harris, Black Men, Black Women, and the Bigger Problem No One Talks About

As if white supremacy has nothing to do with this … Black men’s apparent problem with Vice President Kamala Harris running for Commander in Chief and former President Barack Obama admonishing those men about their feelings show how white supremacy — no, not white people — has such a voodoo headlock on Black intimate partnerships […]

Tyrese’s Ignorance of the ‘Asian Hate Crimes Bill’ — Symptom of a Disease Too Big for Him To See

Even stars chase clout for more shine, but that’s not the real problem. After shrugging my shoulders and giving a gas face while watching The Shade Room’s Instagram reel of singer and actor Tyrese Gibson blasting the Biden-Harris administration for signing the so-called Asian Hate Crime Bill while ignoring the safety needs of Black and […]

Why Gaza’s Latest Unchosen Trauma Reflects a Sad Day in America

Reflecting on the Flour Massacre Israel starved the Gazans, and then murdered scores of them two days ago for starving. The Israeli military’s version of the story is that the unarmed Palestinians’ desperate rush towards the humanitarian aid trucks posed a threat to the soldiers on the ground. And US President Joe Biden still ships […]

Questions in January

If poverty in America was treated like an invading Russian army, how much lethal aid would the poor receive to eliminate it? If former President Donald Trump is elected president of the US again, Should current President Joe Biden flee the country as if it were Haiti? Should Vice President Kamala Harris leave? If Trump […]

“The Other Black Girl” Floored Folks in Book Form, and It’s Now a TV Series

The show started streaming on Hulu last night. Those with eyes have witnessed this real-life story before: people guilty of working while Black in White spaces while the latter thinks it’s trying sooo hard to decriminalize the former’s daily identity that the outcome can be outrageously funny. And simply outrageous. You can replace “Black” with […]

Marion, Kansas Police Raids Town Newspaper, 98-Year-Old Owner Dies

We should call out attacks on the press in all towns, large and small … I rarely read a local news headline from the Midwest that says, “Kansas Newspaper Owner Died in the Line of Duty After Police Raid”. So, yeah. I started digging. The decedent is 98-year-old Joan Meyer, co-owner of the Marion County […]

Lizzo Blitz

Hmph. That lawsuit … The latest news about Lizzo ain’t surprised me — until I read the weight-shaming part. And then you could see the mushroom cloud over my skull. I was like — no lie — “Holy Deckard-in-the-director’s cut … ” And then I laughed at her Replicant azz. I became serious after that. […]