By: Sam Fleming Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange and Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy are the only two albums that I feel truly changed my life. Maybe it is because I have played both so many times that they have soundtracked infinitely many memorable moments of my last few years, but both albums hold […]
As details of Nate Parker’s rape trial seemingly came out of nowhere, so did the many people who chose to support him despite the gruesome details of his rape case. With Parker’s upcoming film, The Birth of A Nation, set up for an October release, whether or not to support it has become a deeply personal question many […]
There have been many opinions following “Lochte-Gate.” In summary, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte flat-out lied about a robbery and confrontation he initially claimed to have experienced with teammates while in Brazil. The story has since been debunked but that hasn’t kept many in the media from finding unique ways to defend him anyway. Today host […]
Simone Biles. Simone Manuel. Michelle Carter. Claressa Shields. Allyson Felix. Ibtihaj Muhammad. These are just some of the names of Black women who excelled on the world’s biggest stage in the 2016 Rio Olympics. It feels as if this round of games came as fast as they went. And while there were plenty of wonderful […]
I told myself I would not write about Nate Parker being a rapist. I’d known about his sexually violent history for years, and the vileness of his queerantagonism, too. The depth of his awfulness had already been addressed, and so it was odd to me—but certainly predictable—to witness the conversation rehashed at such a moment, […]
This article was originally posted at Water Cooler Convos. Over the past two weeks, I have watched Black girl after Black girl medal in the 2016 Summer Olympics. Simone Biles has dominated gymnastics. Simone Manuel did the same in swimming. Michelle Carter won gold in shot put. And, while I felt immense pride watching each […]
On Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates announced in a memo that, over time, the DOJ will end its contracts with private prison companies that operate 13 facilities within the Bureau of Prisons (BOP). While this is a significant move given the times we live in, these contracts, with Corrections Corporation of America and GEO […]
We’ve covered Cam Newton extensively. More specifically, we’ve covered the racism that’s specifically targeted him as an outwardly confident black man on one of the world’s grandest stages. We’ve also looked at how that means that he can’t be too emotional because it may make the wrong people uncomfortable. Now we’re going to talk about […]
Nate Parker’s future appeared to be whatever he wanted it to be. He’s become a respected actor who was about to break into the next phase of his career as a director and producer of the highly-publicized film “The Birth of A Nation” that shocked audiences at Sundance and was quickly bought up by a major […]
This past week in Columbus, Ohio, Rae’Lynn Thomas, 28, was shot and killed by her mother’s ex-boyfriend, a man with a history transphobic comments, who repeatedly called her “the devil,” according to Mic.
Give it about a year, tops. The most popular name for newborn girls, especially magical black girls, will be Simone. Screenshot this as proof. Yesterday (Aug. 11) will be remembered as the day that Simones ruled the world with their superb athletic ability for the entire world to see.
More than 60 volunteers gathered at Ellis Park in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood to host a free community day for the city’s youth this past Saturday. For the third year in a row, The TakeBack offered a full afternoon of activities, such as kickball, a bounce house, football and a three-on-three basketball tournament for local children to […]