A recent editorial asks the question, “Where Are Ordinary Black Youth in Popular Culture?” Are the stories of black youth that are “neither marginalized or at the proverbial mountaintop” invisible to mainstream America?
Every week, the Black Youth Project collects the top news stories about black youth from across the country. This week: “Mental Health Disparities Endanger Chicago’s Youth,” “Race and the NYPD: It’s Complicated,” and more!
How does one frame Black masculinity in the age of Barack Obama and Chief Keef? Does Black masculinity fall within the framework of masculinity in general, or is it an outlier seeking to find a home? In Souls of Black Folks, W.E.B. Dubois purports that due to the irreparable damages of slavery and institutionalized racism, […]
Christa Schoeman, the makeup artist for The History Channel’s The Bible, as well as the miniseries’ executive producer have responded to the whole Satan-looks like-Obama “controversy”: “There was not an inch of thought about President Obama in my head at any time,” said Schoeman, who laughed at the very suggestion that Satan resembles the U.S. […]
Now all the teachers couldn’t reach me And my momma couldn’t beat me Hard enough to match the pain of my pop not seeing me (Jay-Z) I was speaking to a middle school student that I am mentoring through a non-profit in Chicago, and the student explained to me an event in his life growing […]
Django is a film that’s been pivoted as an answer, when it raises more questions than anything. Should it be viewed within its historical significance, and the extent to which it can portray the horrors of slavery while reinvigorating a moment in history that many find irrelevant and antiquated? Or rather, should it be divorced […]
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?”
A few weeks ago I threatened to record an album of me performing Christmas carols as spoken word pieces. It seemed like a genius idea at the time until: 1. While trying it in the privacy of my own home I realized that although initially funny, it gets annoying really quickly, and 2. DMX performed […]
Every week, the Black Youth Project collects the top news stories about black youth from across the country. This week: ‘Young People Campaign For Peace In East Oakland,’ ‘Youth Vote Gap Suggests Republicans Risk Losing An ‘Entire Generation’ To Democrats’ and more!
When we blame Black women for our failure to be seen as “real men” in a White racist society we only show ourselves to be immature. Our mothers, our sisters, our aunts, our girlfriends, our wives, and nieces are not our enemy.
North Carolina voters ban same sex marriage, Obama comes out in favor of it, and while gay rights issues remain immediately timely and thoroughly heated, America’s corporations have not failed to find a money-making opportunity out of it. Target launched a line of gay pride t-shirts and will donate up to $120,000 of proceeds to […]
For decades, the existence of the black “matriarchy” has been studied, scrutinized and depicted in an effort to understand its causes and effects on the black family system. The term is contestable because while some schools of thought determine there is no black matriarchy, others who believe the matriarchy is the cause for the issues […]
