How beautiful if nothing more than to watch her sashay down the catwalk. How beautiful to hear her parents cheering for this young girl as she strikes a pose, then another, then another—each more fierce than the last. I don’t even begrudge the black fanny pack strapped over her shoulder like the worst damn fashion […]
by Khaaliq Crowder As a Black millennial, I sometimes forget about the advantage that folks of my generation have as opposed to our grandparents and older relatives when it comes to media representation. Black people weren’t always in movies, and when we were, our presence was seldom. My grandparents, who grew in the 1930s and […]
I don’t know for sure if my family knows I’m not straight, and yet I suspect they somehow knew before I did. My family, who policed my lack of femininity growing up, and punished me for being a Tomboy. Who teased me for being a “Plain Jane.” Who asked for years when I was going […]
by Tiffany Hobbs I hope Jesus doesn’t look like the white man on the wall. That flowy-locked iteration of the Messiah they wanted Black people to believe in would find his alabaster skin colored with surprise as Ms. Aretha Franklin entered the gates and demanded payment—her heavenly reward—upfront. Her blessings must be plentiful, as she […]
By Teju Adisa-Farrar When God made mountains He made runaway slaves — Nikki Giovanni, Chasing Utopia We were not supposed to survive. Last month, AfroPunk published an article about Argentina’s genocide of their Black populations. Unsurprisingly, Argentina is not much different from other countries who have tried to erase their Black populations or their impact […]
Keith Ellison won the Minnesota primary election for attorney general and will go on to face Republican candidate Doug Wardlow despite allegations of abuse from an ex-girlfriend. Speaking to a group of supporters at the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis, Ellison said of the allegations “We had a very unexpected event at the end of this […]
By Blake Simons Oakland has made national news for ridiculous displays of whiteness again, and this time it wasn’t because of BBQ Becky. In a viral video, a white man named Henry Sintay, since infamously dubbed “Jogger Joe,” can be seen destroying a houseless Black man named Drew’s tent and belongings by throwing them into […]
According to reports from the Smithsonian and Chicago magazine, Google Arts & Culture is collaborating with digital archivists from the Chicago Defender and other Black newspapers such as the Dallas Post-Tribune, the Washington Informer and the Baltimore Afro-American to digitize their archives and maintain their legacy. This effort began in earnest when Angela Ford was searching […]
By Rachael Edwards I’m not a touchy-feely person. Like most humans, I appreciate having a say in whose fingers touch me, if I can help it. On New York City subways this seems almost impossible. But even when subways are crowded, it’s easy to notice people moving their bodies awkwardly to make sure they are […]
In 2014, Gregory Hill, a 30 year old Black man, was shot three times and killed by police in his Florida garage after complaints of loud music. To add insult to injury, last week, a federal jury awarded his family a $4 verdict in their civil case.
According to reports from the New York Times, Judge John D. Bates of the Federal District Court for the District of Colombia called the Trump administration’s choice to terminate Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals one that was based on a “virtually unexplained” claim of unlawfulness. Judge Bates placed a stay on his decision, giving the […]
Omarosa Manigault Newman was dismissed on Wednesday from her post as the Director of Communications for the White House Office of Public Liason, which leaves Trump’s White House with no Black senior advisors. Although virtually no one on Trump’s staff could tell you exactly what Newman’s job description was, she clearly viewed herself as a […]
