59 Search results for "gender roles"

A few weeks ago, writer slash (cultural) critic slash Twitter all-star, Toure published a piece in the The New York Times about the allegedly recent flurry of white women rappers. From rehashing black respectability in an article about Michael Vick, to considering the black middle class in a discussion of the Obamas’ vacationing tendencies, Toure is no stranger […]

*Spoiler Alert* On Friday, Dee Rees’ much lauded independent film, Pariah will expand its release from four theaters to eleven, increasing the opportunity for many to view this incredibly important Focus Features release. Rees’ debut work has deservedly generated a deluge of critical praise, and should at the very least garner a few nominations come award […]

“Being based means [being] positive, doing what you want to do, not caring and just being yourself.” There isn’t anyone in the music industry who is more enigmatic than Brandon McCartney aka Lil’ B. His non-traditional rapping style coupled with his strict adherence to the “based” lifestyle has inspired thousands and left many “hip-hop heads” […]

BYP Researcher Raises Money for Academic Conference on ‘Jersey Shore’ at the University of Chicago Huffington Post | May 19, 2011 For many, the “Jersey Shore” is a guilty pleasure, but for University of Chicago student and reality television enthusiast David Showalter, it is a social experiment worthy of critical analysis. Earlier this month, Showalter […]

As a young black girl like most children I told lies. I told big lies. I told small lies. I told white lies. I told lies. And, even had the audacity to argue with my “all seeing all knowing” do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do black grandmother about the usage of lie over her usage of “telling a story.” What […]

Let me start by apologizing for my absence last week. I know people say this all the time but there is just so much going on in my head/heart that I almost can’t tell up from down. I could get personal and write about the emotional toll my ailing grandmother is having on me. I […]

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…affirm poetry at any […]

  The homosexuality controversy in black faith communities has reached a feverish pitch, especially with Tonéx’s and Donnie McClurkin’s recent admissions. Probably most renowned for the rumors regarding their sexuality, these two black gospel singers have become the centerpiece to the debate of the role homosexuals should play in black faith communities.  Unfortunately both men’s […]

Dalvin Aboagye Near the end of May, the more melanin-infused parts of the internet were set ablaze by a questionable scene in the second season of She’s Gotta Have It, the Spike Lee-produced Netflix series based on his 1986 film of the same name. Within what many already saw as a weak portrayal of Black […]

by Jenn M. Jackson My sixty-eight year old mother has been an unpaid, unofficial caretaker for my grandmother for at least twenty years. She was a social worker for more than three decades. Now, she also works for free as an administrative assistant at church. After delivering fresh produce and cooked meals to my elderly […]

by Jamara Wakefield  Let’s keep it real, there are few radical resources available for Black students when experiencing oppression on campus. It manifests in a variety of forms: from explicit aggression to microaggressions to institutional policies to interactions that feel “off” but aren’t easily quantifiable, in part because the campus environment justifies these actions.  The […]

By J.R. Yussuf I began prioritizing my mental health shortly after graduating college in 2012. I still felt as though I had to keep it a secret because going to see a therapist was seen as bizarre. But I went anyway because with each passing day, life increasingly felt like a punishment and soon sleep […]