By Rashad J. Smith The 1991 Superbowl rendition of the Star Spangled Banner sung by the late Whitney Houston had the entire Nation in an uproar. Either you loved and supported the performance or you despised it because the infamous accusation turned fact that Ms. Houston pre-recorded the audio. While the controversy couldn’t be ignored, neither […]
By Rashad J. Smith Every night the world tunes in to their local news stations anticipating a report about the young, the black, and their destruction to society. We’re guilty of being entertained by the captured crimes on First 48 and infested with the notion to remain silent about crimes. We enjoy the violent […]
Jasiri X and Pharoahe Monch at the Brooklyn Bowl for the Sandy Relief Concert (Photo by Paradise Gray) On “Our World with Black Enterprise“, hosted by Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, we discussed the current state of Hip-Hop and it’s future, with Hip-Hop artist Pharoahe Monch, Dr. Tricia Rose, chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown University and myself. […]
Megan Piphus, an upperclassman at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She’s using music, ventriloquism, and puppetry, to inspire youth to dream big and in color!
In the wake of the terrible massacre in Newtown, Conneticut, Democrats (and many Republicans) are pushing for the return of an assault weapons ban. Would such a ban go far enough?
In the LGBTQ community there is something called “throwing shade.” A colloquial term used to describe instances when one individual verbally and offensively altercates another. I am not interested in the shade itself, but moreso the reasoning as to why this experience is so common among interactions between youth of color in the LGBTQ community. […]
At this point, even his fans know that rapper Rick Ross is far from the image he manufactures for his songs and videos. Slate Magazine even went as far to label the success of Rick Ross, in the face of his correction officer past, as the end of street credibility being necessary to Hip-Hop fans. So the news that Rick Ross canceled […]
While I’m excited about the fact that a network created particularly for Black America is taking a stance and focusing on analyzing and potentially solving Black issues, I’m bothered because I feel the network is afraid to bring this program in with full-force.
The youth of generation Y struggle to overstand the meaning of their actions; I know this since my daily fate mingles with the universal problems for youth. I felt so bad the other evening, I felt like I wasn’t doing anything with my life. These are the days of my personal history in which I […]
16 year-old Sierra Leone native Kelvin Doe is the youngest person to be invited to MIT’s “Visiting Practitioner’s Program.” His accomplishments are astounding; he runs his own community radio station, and he created a battery that provides light for homes in his neighborhood.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama Much has been made in the last few weeks of the decisive victory President Obama and the democratic party enjoyed on election night. Many people believe that Obama’s landslide victory has given him a mandate, but does this include foreign policy? Does President Obama now have the power […]
“I can help you with the brand new technology / You can help me with the age-old philosophy.” –Better People, India Arie It repeatedly comes to my attention that many adults of our society suffer from an ironic form of cognitive dissonance when it comes to their politics on aiding youth. Many hasten to advocate […]
