562 Search results for "blackness"

  America has no idea what to do with all of itself, so we have to figure it out for each other. I must confess, the events of the past few weeks have left me feeling speechless, overwhelmed, and divided within myself. From the Zimmerman trial, the gutting of the VRA, and the bittersweet advances […]

  A lack of empathy perpetuates racial disparities…. At least, that is what Slate writer, Jason Silverstein, argues. Touching on a plethora of severe identity issues within our “post-racial” society (just kidding, that doesn’t exist), Silverstein demonstrates problematic assumptions on “what it means to be black.” Answers to this question are often infused with essentialist […]

Should the experience of light-skinned black women be the subject of a documentary like “Dark Girls”?

  Injustice within public school walls is not a new phenomenon. Historically, segregated schools in the Jim Crow South remain the prevailing example of severe educational unfairness. This authorized discrimination left many black students in overcrowded and lackluster schools, with minimal resources. If you look around America today, however, similar educational injustices can be easily […]

Last week, writer Kiese Laymon published an essay, “You Are the Second Person,” chronicling his experience getting his novel, Long Division (which hit shelves earlier this month), published. Laymon’s thought-provoking, powerful, and inspiring work centered on exchanges between him and his former editor. Laymon’s former editor, described in the piece as a 54-year-old black man, […]

The Trayvon Martin case has remained in the nation’s conscious. Just about every news source is covering the trial and the nation is still dialoging about what should happen to the man who killed him. With the national attention this case has received, I can’t help but think back to Rekia Boyd and wonder why […]

  I was delighted by the discussion my last blog post- “To All Afraid of the ‘Ghetto’”- sparked both online and on the University of Chicago campus. Many of my classmates approached me about the blog and gave even more personal accounts on comments the pervade our campus from our administration, the University of Chicago […]

I cannot count the number of times I have heard comments equating majority poor black neighborhoods (“ghettos”) with exponential violence this week. Most, however, do not understand the clear problems with these statements. While the majority of these comments are from my classmates at the University of Chicago- a school that actively others the surrounding […]

  It was the wise Martin Luther King Jr. that stated, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Though explicitly referring to the active disenfranchisement of Black people in the 60’s, this powerful quote provides much truth in the context of urban violence. As a nation, our discourse on urban violence has been exceptionally […]

  There is often talk about how schools can become safer spaces for queer students of color. Given that queer students of color are disproportionately impacted by poverty, homelessness, and inner city violence, this goal should certainly be one of the biggest priorities for school communities. However, creating a safe space for queer students will […]

 On Monday, Jada Pinkett Smith offered a question to her Facebook followers trying to prompt conversation around the topic of whether or not black women should be willing to allow white women to grace the covers of Black magazines such as Essence. She asks:  With love and respect to all parties involved, my question is […]

Often when I tell people I am from Detroit (particularly white people), I am often met with a look of either bewilderment or amazement. This shock is often magnified when I tell people that I attended Detroit Public Schools all my life. I suppose people begin to short circuit when I tell them my birthplace […]