23 Search results for "grandmothers"

  The following post is from Salon.com. It was written by Brittney Cooper. By: Brittney Cooper In college, I once found myself on the D.C. metro with one of my favorite professors. As we were riding, a young white child began to climb on the seats and hang from the bars of the train. His […]

The following post is from the Chicago Reader. It was written by Steve Bogira. By: Steve Bogira e many Chicagoans, Latoya Winters was stunned by the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Shamiya Adams at a sleepover in July. Shamiya and several friends were in the bedroom of a home in West Garfield Park. They were circled […]

Black Men United, in partnership with the Goodwill Industries of Omaha and Risen Son Baptist Church is calling for the city of Omaha to stop killing one another for at least one month. Instead of traditional Mother’s Day gifts, the organization is hoping that city residents with give the gift of No Murders in May this […]

The following post was written by guest contributor Byron Smith. It is addressed to President Barack Obama, and was written after the President granted Chris Matthews an interview on the campus of American University in December.  By: Byron Smith   Dear Mr. President:   Last week I repeatedly watched the interview you granted to Chris […]

I was able meet Keith Boykin and hear him offer some encouraging remarks and speak about a new anthology called for Colored Boys Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Was Not Enough. A story that stood out to me from his speech was about his grandmother, who apparently told a man he was dating that […]

There is no sound more ironic than the opening a coke can moments before entering into a slum. A conglomerate of carbonation crushing towards the corners of cups that flow-eth over with milk, honey, and the justified envious tensions between those who have and those who have not. I picked up my privilege, and let […]

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIiK62AY-yU In California, the fight for equality in marriage continues. Even though I have conflicting thoughts about marriage in general, I still believe that homophobia and intolerance is what drives decisions like prob 8. These issues as we all know, are nothing new. And many of the remnants of homophobia are just as strong in the black community as […]

Growing up in East Cleveland, everyone on my block lived in a house that was owned by the family. It was comforting to have a home to grow up in and to have stable neighbors who acted as extended family. I realize now that home ownership contributed to personal investment in the community, which allowed […]

Standing in line at Potbelly’s deli, I hear “Excuse me, but.. I was just wondering what you do to your hair?” About sixteen inches of curly, usually frizzy, untamed, natural madness and somehow women ask me this a few times every week. Sometimes her hair looks just like mine, sometimes it’s heavily processed and looks […]

What happened this week that made me imagine my father a superhero: This week, I went to the doctor to check on my blood pressure. A couple of weeks ago it was a tad bit above the normal rate and so my doctor wanted to monitor it. So, I scheduled an appointment to come in […]

 “The faintest ink is better than the best memory” was said to me by a friend’s uncle at Christmas lunch in Barbados. If ink beats memory, then pictures beat the self-induce fantasy of a nation, right?  For this black history month, I question the existence of a post-racial America. Yesterday, I began to stare at the photos […]