244 Search results for "shirt"

Watch video all the way through. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGv8PQr8Uo4 I don’t know what’s scarier: the black extremist advocating for genocide or the black reverend who makes white people out to be victims of unequal media coverage. No doubt, neither of them should represent black folks but the reverend is what most of our successes will grow to […]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzQmdTt5dPQ These days I’m feeling more and more like a bastard when I hear “hip hop,” because the Hip Hop that raised me was intellectually gangsta. Guess that explains the initial hunger that goes through me when I hear a song by Somali emcee, K’naan. His debut single, “TIA: This Is Africa,” directly disses the […]

The black hipster: a sneaker pimp wearing nothing other than Levi skinnies below the waist and a vintage Public Enemy snap back above the forehead, selects weapons of change from an arsenal of flannels and graphic tees. In the local boutique shelves, such as Leaders 1354 in Chicago, lie images of Huey P. Newton, Rosa […]

As I wiped the residue from the corner of my eyes one morning I felt different. Somewhere in the depths of my soul I felt an inexplicable tingling sensation that was incessantly thumping. I drank a glass of water and peered out my window overlooking Lake Michigan. As I watched the unforgiving Chicago wind make […]

A few months ago I wrote a post about my disillusionment with hip-hop. I was desperately hoping that my love, which was on life support at the time, could be revived. As hip-hop lay dying on the operating table I prayed that Dr. Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest could resuscitate my loved one. As […]

Jimmy Santiago Baca, a leading contemporary Latino poet writing in the United States, reminds us that “Poetry’s mission is to subvert, to question, to challenge, provoke, to flail one’s vulnerability and voice into the marvelous whirlwind of poetry’s awe, flagging at the horns of the raging beast that is societies gluttonous comfort, ‘bringing social justice’…affirm […]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoLHtzHvyQk&feature=player_embedded So, am I the only one who finds the YouTube’s “viralization” (yes, I made up a word) of the Bed Intruder Song deeply unsettling and problematic? Every time, I check my Facebook newsfeed I see, yet, another “remix” of the Bed Intruder Song. For those of you who are not familiar with the song, […]

“Feminism tells us that the personal is political. Therefore, feminism is a useful frame for helping me to make sense of the gender politics that may be at play in my dating life. When a card-carrying feminist goes on a date, it is a feminist issue, maybe a micro-level one, but a feminist issue nonetheless. […]

I save up all my BET watching minutes for one night: the BET Awards.  During the telecast, I’m generally underwhelmed and embarrassed for black people.  That last part is a lie.  Still, the BET Awards is how I up my hater stamina.  If I can sit through the entire show and say at least 50 […]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYHguBEXkac I wrote this blog literally a year ago today. It was not a published blog because the Black Youth Project had yet to premier online. Well, I think my thoughts a year ago still resonate today as we honor Michael Jackson’s memory. The title of the blog is, “The Feasting of Michael Jackson’s Flesh: […]

Where I come from, the homeless are a dime a dozen, and beggars are as common as the neglected pennies of college students. It sounds harsh, but it’s true. While growing up, it was not uncommon for me to run into a crackhead who literally asked for a quarter everyday. It was no secret, everyone […]

Tonight I ate dinner with “privilege.” I watched his grandchildren in their plaid collared shirts and blue blazers drink the purified water of wealth. Tonight, I watched people consume 350-dollar plates of food. Each seat was a representation of money going to a good cause, while each word that pierced my ears still a symbol […]