90 Search results for "western world"

Columbus activist Amber Evans is still missing over a month after her disappearance
According to NBC News, not too long after she became the Executive Director of the Juvenile Justice Coalition in Columbus, Ohio; Amber Evans went missing. The 28-year-old Evans has worked for the organization since 2015, and though she loved her job, her mother Tonya Fischer said Evans had begun to grow weary. “The work was […]
Toni Morrison is our greatest living writer
by Daniel Johnson Toni Morrison, arguably the most influential living Black writer and some would say the most influential writer regardless of race, has crafted a body of work that is simultaneously grounded in a Black feminist/womanist politic, unquestionably Black, and commercially successful. In America, those things usually do not come all in the same […]
How tourists make cultures like Salvador’s into “exotic” commodities for their consumption
by Kathleen Anaza In the old tale of tourism, when the needs of a city’s residents are leveraged against the wants of its visitors, it’s the residents who lose. The recent Fyre Festival scam is a prime example of unequal power in tourism interests. A con man from the United States finessed hundreds of celebrities, […]
What Future’s fear of admitting his sobriety says about our unhealthy expectation for Black pain
By Arielle Gray Dana Schutz’s “Open Casket” is hard to decipher at first. Its textured and abstract strokes make it difficult to discern the image. But the more your eyes linger, the more easily the distorted face, rendered in geometric simplicity, and the brown coffin outlining the body become clear. After a second lengthy look, […]
New report details China’s drastic measures to silence opposition and activists
According to the New Yorker, China has been engaging in a concerted effort to stifle anyone it considers dangers to its perception as an idyllic communist paradise that is even wider than previously reported. They do this by exiling and jailing people in a practice called bei luyou, which means “to be touristed,” and consists […]
How liberal discourse that distances migrants from “criminals” obscures the crimes of this anti-Black state
By “DJ Ferguson” All Star Batman and Robin: The Boy Wonder written by Frank Miller is an unholy mixture of camp and 90s grim-and-gritty/edgy for its own sake, but this interaction between Batman and Green Lantern will stick with me for the rest of my life. This story takes place not long after Batman: Year […]
The Christianity I was taught didn’t align with my values. ‘The Color Purple’ helped me reimagine religion
By Gloria Oladipo Being around family for the various holidays this year has reminded me a lot of religion, specifically Christianity, which has been in my life since childhood. Rules based on Christian teachings were foundational to my upbringing. Using the Bible’s critique of witchcraft, my parents banned Harry Potter from our house. I wasn’t […]
White feminist Paganism and the colonization of Heaven and Earth
By “DJ Ferguson” If you were to listen to “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin—really listen to the words and let their meaning sink in—it becomes clear after a few verses that despite its name the song is not about immigration. It’s about colonialism. We come from the land of the ice and snow From the […]
It’s past time for Black men to become traitors to the male privilege that protects us
by Donnie Moreland This essay contains descriptions of sexual violence, including r/pe When I looked at her, I felt nauseous. Here she was, a college friend of mine, recounting a time when she had asked a group of Black male acquaintances the question, “How many of you have ever fucked a girl while she was […]
Canada is still not a “Plan B” for Americans when our country is going to sh*t
by JaLoni Amor Owens For many Americans, one of the only days that left the nation feeling as hopeless and defeated as it did on November 8, 2016 was the day after. Those on the left, whether or not Secretary Clinton was their first choice for President of the United States and whether or not […]
Gay men need to be better allies to women combating male violence
by Josh Rivers Content Warning: This essay includes discussion and description of sexual violence, with details that could be triggering. “You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other. I do not have to be you to recognise that our wars are the same. What we must do […]
Our reactions to Black men embracing in public highlight Black masculinity’s dehumanizing expectations
by Daniel Johnson The topic of masculinity, what it is and how it is expressed in both immediate and popular culture, is one that always seems to be spurred on or perhaps made more visible by conversations which happen on social media, usually centering around how men showing each other affection seems to be taboo. […]