A Black Female Perspective…
My father and I were scheduled to see Miss Aretha Franklin this past March on her birthday. The concert was abruptly cancelled, my father’s funds returned to his bank account. This alarmed us in a way we did not articulate. Instead we remained hopeful that in a few months we would be able to see […]
In commemorating a milestone birthday gifted to me earlier this year, my most elaborate gifts were to the person I was five years ago. The girl who wore make-up, the girl who loved Beyonce. The current me, a black nationalist, received no gifts of the pan africanist sort, or ones that scratched her itch of […]
Introduction Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, an innovated theory of society as a hyper-site for ridicule and conformity is nothing short of fascinating. A product of magical realism, the film employs protagonist Cassius Green— a melanated black body who attempts to negotiate the western subject by way of capitalistic ambitions as resulting in a […]
Amidst the contemporary climate of inclusionary activism emerges seasoned director Spike Lee’s BlackKklansman. Based on a book of the same title by protagonist Ron Stallworth, the book and movie entertain via depicting black entry in a white space. This activity occurs multiple times at once throughout the film, the most notable being protagonist Ron Stallworth […]
Almost six years ago, a twenty-four year old African displaced in New York, jumped on a plane and moved to California for graduate school. She sat nervously at a departmental orientation, listening to professors introduce themselves. Afterwards, she walked alone on campus giving herself an unofficial tour. While acquainting herself with what would become her […]
In a workshop designed to prepare instructors for an upcoming fall course, I listened to a number of white instructors speak highly of Wes Moore’s best-selling book The Other Wes Moore. Each word spoken felt like a dagger to my flesh, as African adjacent instructors violently delineated the benefits of teaching black authors to a group of […]
As a black man, Howard University gave me purpose.
So this post marks the first of my “The Soulz of Black Folk: Re-defining Celebrity” series. This summer, I will feature a few carefully selected members of the black collective that demonstrate an espousal to uplifting the black collective. Everyday, countless bodies across the diaspora contribute to black upliftment in big ways deemed small by […]
A Common “Curse” Toni Morrison is a phenomenal writer. Her writing grabs the reader by the ears and makes them hear the heart beat of the characters she creates in their minds. What she provokes is not reading, but a way to see with. words. All the great writers, from Gertrude Dorsey Brown, to Wallace […]
The most recent Nas album is easily superior to the albums that debuted on or around its release. Though often lauded for a stream of consciousness that elevates discussions of women, money and material, Nas still very much meditates on these things. On the album we hear his raspy flow boast of the caliber of […]
