As this blog’s resident skeptic, it’s difficult not to conjecture aloud about what decisions were made after the FLOTUS and company attended Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral. Who knows if any of them came back with a “Barack, it’s bad. You can’t keep ignoring them” so compelling that the POTUS actually stopped reading this month’s Ebony and paid attention. […]
Megan Piphus, an upperclassman at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, recently appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She’s using music, ventriloquism, and puppetry, to inspire youth to dream big and in color!
At the border in Arizona that separates the United States and Mexico (Photo by Paradise Gray) Last week, courtesy of two incredible organizations that formed in protest of Arizona’s racist immigration legislation SB1070, the Sound Strike and Culture Strike, I was blessed to visit Tucson, Arizona.  Part of the trip was to perform at a arts festival for migrant […]
I was shocked to recently learn about the Oakland, California school board’s 1996 decision to classify Ebonics as the official language of its African American students. At the mere age of four, I was ignorant to the political and social controversy this decision stirred up nationwide. Now, at 19, I can understand the problematic implications […]
With the recent celebration of Kwanzaa, I am reinvigorated with hope as I learn to internalize the principles each day offered. I couldn’t help but place special emphasis on the principle Kujichagulia (Self Determination) which means, “To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves in order to stand up for ourselves.” […]
Colin Neary and Jasiri X (Photo by Paradise Gray) After all of the media attention around my decision to perform my song “Occupy (We the 99)” at the University of Connecticut despite the objections of the student government; they still haven’t gotten the point! At first, they were saying all the right things. According to […]
During introduction to my Advanced Economics course, while I did find myself slightly unsettled by some of his ideas about economics, I found very interesting my instructor’s explanation of ‘human capital.’ While most of his day is spent teaching high school, he is also an entreprenuer. He went on to explain his current process of […]
There have been too many occasions in which a Black business has taken advantage of its customers for the sake of maximizing their income. A boatload majority of the support for these businesses comes from other Black people, and in effect, the profit-focused regulation creates a sad reality. Economic projects, whether entrepreneurship or achievement of […]
Why black students struggle with science Janelle Richards, The Grio | March 24, 2011 Black undergrads are struggling in science. It’s a myth that they don’t like the subject, or just aren’t interested. In fact, in their freshman year of college, black and Hispanic students have the same degrees of interest in science careers as […]
What’s Really Behind Black Child-Abuse Stats Katti Gray, The Root | March 24, 2011 Rates of reported child abuse are disproportionately high for black children, a fact that has long been linked to suspected racial bias by a largely white child-protection workforce. But a recently released study by Washington University researchers debunks that allegation, citing […]
Black Brits Shut Out of Top Universities Huw Evans, The Root| March 2, 2011 England’s university system has an enviable reputation, unless you are black. Even though the number of black students at English universities has tripled over the last 12 years, such students are at a disadvantage in comparison with white students at every […]
Hope everyone’s Christmas was complete with family and happiness. If you thought that such a spirit lives for a few moments in December, you are indeed wrong and perhaps exhausted. There follows more family time and appreciation for any Black souls that share, also, a need for little historical significance in their life. Today is […]
