433 Search results for "mental health"

Georgia Prison Strike & Why We Need Our Own Media

Did you know one of the largest prison protests in US history took place last week? If you said no that’s not surprising considering it was not covered by corporate funded mainstream media. The word got out through conscious bloggers like Davey D, effective uses of social media like Twitter and Facebook and by the hard work and efforts of some a the few independent and unafraid media outlets we have left.

According to the Final Call Newspaper (the last standing black owned weekly international newspaper),

“Fed up with bad food, unjust treatment, poor education and inadequate health care, thousands of inmates in Georgia’s prison system staged “Lockdown for Liberty,” a peaceful protest on Dec. 9, according to activists”
Michael Vick & The Constitutionality of Obamacare
Just 3 years ago, life seemed to be over for Michael Vick. The first round draft pick who dazzled crowds with his blazing speed and cannon arm seemingly reached the nadir of his life. When defensive ends blitzed Vick, his agility and uncanny vision usually helped him evade tackles and pick up huge chunks of […]
Women’s Her-story Month: A tribute to Old Black Women Healers
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom. –Maya Angelou So, how do you make a little black girl believe that all she has gone through does not determine her ability to […]
Why Aren’t We Funding This!!!!
30.1 Million dollar is how much it cost. This past Monday I woke up at 7 am in the morning to participate in the University of Chicago’s annual day of service. To be honest, when the clock went off for me to wake up, I had my doubts if I was going to be able […]
Hate The Fags…Just Don’t Kill Them? WTF
They said it would make my life better. They said I would find my “purpose.” It was my 8th grade school year. My pastor said I should read this book that would change my life. The name of the book was A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. It’s always interesting to reflect back to […]
I saw the movie Precious, but what about her mother, Mary?
I am my mother’s daughter and my mother is the daughter of my grandmother. And both their stories and silences speak through me. I begin with this mantra because spiritually and mentally I desperately need to understand why tears stained and wrinkled my cheeks as I watched the movie Precious. Yes, I am a Cancer […]
Lost in Translation: A Response to 'Precious'
Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry said Precious was awesome and that everyone should go see it. Since I am the most obedient of Negroes, I saw it last Friday. If Flavor Flav is the world’s greatest hype man, this duo is officially the world’s greatest hype machine. I found Precious slightly underwhelming, uninspiring, and lacking […]
She's Gotta Have it: What, Exactly, is "Rape Rape"?
I’m still on IR trying to get this chapter draft to semi-embarrassing level. (Which, frankly, would be a pleasant surprise to my committee since, you know, I rarely have anything to show them–and when I do it’s some incoherent mess about black people and geography. Yes, I mortify the race with every word I type.) […]
You Gon' Be All Right: On Maia Campbell and (More on) Tyler Perry
Note: I know this post is mad long. I’ll be more succinct in the future. I know you have better things to do. Last week, I didn’t take the opportunity to blog about Maia Campbell, something that I had fully intended to do. Instead, my only significant output was a blog about Tyler Perry taking […]
Pop Life (Remix): I Will Always Love You, Whitney
Yesterday, my mom sent me a text message proclaiming her excitement for Whitney Houston’s newest album, which was released yesterday. In her “I’m fifty years old” text message shorthand, Ma said she loved every song on I Look to You, Nippy’s first solo effort in years. The reviews are mixed. Though I haven’t *technically* heard […]
Sick and Tired: Being Black, Woman, Poor, Sick, and (Uninsured)
In 1964 at the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer said, “All my life I’ve been sick and tired . . . Now, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Even though these words were distinctively about Southern racism, I find myself unconsciously gravitating to these words to talk about the […]
Obama, You Are Doomed to Fail, Unless You're Jesus!
Like most black children growing up in Houston’s Fifth Ward, I spent most of my life medically uninsured. If you got sick, you stayed home and endured the experimental ministering of your grandmother whose medical knowledge consisted of a spoonful of Castor Oil, two drops of sweet oil in each ear, and effectual prayer to […]