We can discuss the etymology of ‘ratchet’ all we want, but long story short, it is one of the few words in the English language that can equally serve as an adjective (“That club is pretty ratchet.”), verb (“We need play some Fat Trel so we can ratchet it up in here.”), and noun (“This […]
It’s New Year’s Eve, and tomorrow many of us will start making resolutions we will inevitably break. I don’t make resolutions; I’m also not into composing “Best of…” and “Worst of…” lists mostly because I don’t choose to dedicate my memory to cataloging such things. Since my blogging day has coincided with the event, however, […]
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!
I had planned on using this morning’s post to conclude my silly holiday special. Since I took time last week to make a mixtape of rappers covering Christmas songs, I figured I’d spend this morning telling you all about this new, mythical black Christmas figure I had invented. Since Kwanzaa is insufficient and the idea […]
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. […]
Every week, the Black Youth Project collects the top news stories about black youth from across the country. Click here to check out our archive of weekly news round-ups, and check back every Monday for a new roundup of headlines about young black America
The Rock Hall of Fame has announced 2013’s inductees; among them, Public Enemy and Donna Summer. Other inductees includeAlbert King, songwriter Randy Newman, Rush, and 70’s hard rock band Heart. Public Enemy is only the 4th Hip Hop act ever inducted into the Rock Hall.
Angela Davis has announced the launch of the “Bury the Ratchet” Campaign, aimed at fighting the negative, stereotypical portrayals of Black women in mainstream media. Do you watch ‘ratchet’ reality shows like Housewives and Love & Hip Hop? Is it time to “bury the ratchet?”
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 […]
I write this in ambivalence, dejectedly trying to wrap my mind around a string of incidents that continue to unearth the plight of young Black men in this country. In scarcely a week’s time, 17 year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot to death by another gun toting “scared” white man, while Brandon Jackson, another Black […]
Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, was awarded The Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship earlier this week. Jealous has decided to give part of his prize money to Troy Davis’ nephew. Kudos to Mr. Jealous for his award and his generosity.
Black Christmas? There’s an app for that. A company called Around The Way, which is the fruit of a partnership between two companies located in New York and Washington, D.C., has created a mobile phone app that will help consumers find black-owned establishments.
