by Tabias Olajuawon This essay contains discussion of anti-Black violences, particularly lynching, and mention of r/pe “… Ancestors, you will find us still in cages, Despised and disciplined. You will find us still mis-named. Here you will find us despite.     You will not find us extinct. You will find us […]
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 Kathleen Anaza I feel a sense of healing and reconciliation when I consider Halimat’s life outside of being my mother. My own navigations of womanhood help me contextualize her as a nuanced and fascinating individual I can relate to. Positioning her as a peer, makes it difficult to be the hypercritical daughter I’ve at […]
Kofi Siriboe, best known for his work on OWN’s Queen Sugar as Ralph Angel recently released a documentary focusing on Black mental health. The short documentary, entitled “WTF is Mental Health?” functions as a primer on what mental health is and what some of the stigmas attached to it are. As Siriboe tells The Huffington Post, […]
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.
This past Tuesday, a House Committee on Workforce Education meeting sparked an uproar when Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said schools have the choice to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on undocumented students.
By Ashley Young A narrative was erased for me in the summer of 2017 when I was informed by a new doctor that I had been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder. It was my mental illness narrative, one with which I had become so strongly identified that, when it was stripped away, it occurred more as […]
by JeCorey Holder
By Briana Lawrence Ah. There they are. Your fave. The person who puts a smile on your face whenever they take a breath. If they’re at a convention, you best believe you’re gettin’ that autograph. Hell, you might even spring for a professional photo — or, at the very least, a selfie. You use their […]
On April 29, a white woman called the police on a Black family for using a charcoal grill at Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. A fellow Oakland resident, Michelle Snider, recorded the incident and accused the unidentified white woman of harassing the family because they are Black. It sparked national conversations about racism. Police came to the […]
by Tonya McKenzie This essay contains discussions and descriptions of sexual violence, child abuse, and murder There are some things that you never forget, like the sound of a car screeching down the street and slamming into one of your neighbors or the bombastic sound of a gunshot and the sight of the damage that […]
by Kathleen Anaza Drawing in viewers with juicy telenovela-style drama, star-studded casts and curated soundtracks, MTV Shuga has become a favorite among the scandalous and socially-conscious television viewer on the African continent. Over five seasons, Shuga has operated as three self-contained miniseries, each set in a unique country and with a distinct cast. The stories […]