1663 Search results for "young people"

My refusal to grant white people space is petty and satisfying
A friend and I were attending the first WakandaCon in Chicago. We stepped onto the hotel elevator on our way back to our shared room, deep in excited conversation about Black Panther and what had been discussed at the panel we had just left. Our discussion turned to how some non-Black people try their best […]
Black people aren’t resistant to mental health treatment. We’re resistant to framing it as a cure
I was stressed. I was broke. I’d just confronted my parents with my queerness, and they responded by refusing to support my education. And since enrolling at NYU’s film school, my film-maker dreams were eroding in the face of structural barriers erected by white supremacy. I was bouncing to and from mental health crises. Everything […]
Orlando Jones was fired from ‘American Gods’ because Black anger makes white people uncomfortable
by Andrew Keahey White supremacy doesn’t allow for Black anger. The second we get even mildly irritated in any way and make the mistake of actually showing it, we’re labeled as irrational, problematic, and even violent. You see it all the time. It’s one of the reasons twitchy white cops use to justify their brutality […]
Don’t get too excited about tech advances. Many are designed to leave Black people behind
Editor’s Note: This month at BYP, we will be exploring Black Liberation & Organizing, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. How do we hold politicians accountable to Black communities? Is that even possible? What should be our role in the electoral politics? What does abolition look like in practice? What […]
Menstrual cups are for Black people, too
by Neesha Powell-Twagirumukiza I’m on a self-ordained mission in the name of periods. A few months ago, I came across a story in Teen Vogue about Black people who menstruate and are disgusted by menstrual cups. As a Black menstruator whose quality of life improved once I began using menstrual cups, I charged myself with […]
Social media breaks aren’t self-care for Black people who feel isolated offline
By Taylor Lamb Social media has been popular long enough that people are no longer consistently singing its praises. Instead, we’ve collectively reached a point that it’s just too much. People care too much. They post too much. They spend too much time on their phones instead of engaging in person. I feel as though […]
Southern Baptists signal move away from conservatism with election of youngest president in 37 years
According to Jonathan Merritt of the Atlantic, Southern Baptists are attempting to shred their deep ties with the Republican Party and to re-engage with modern culture, as evidenced by their election of 45-year-old North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear as denomination president of the largest Protestant group in the U.S. Greear’s campaign video called for a […]
Shondaland on Law and Order (and Trump’s America) in ‘For The People’
by Nathaniel Phillips This essay contains spoilers for Shonda Rhimes’ For The People. A whistleblower is hunted by the US government for stealing highly sensitive information about the deportation of undocumented immigrants—medical records that should’ve been confidential and beyond the purview of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Her lawyer flips the script on the government […]
Black people still can’t swim: Reflections on the McKinney, TX pool incident 3 summers later
Editor’s Note: A version of this piece was previously published on The Each Other Project I learned to swim well before I was 14 by taking classes at the local YMCA in East Cleveland. If that rec center was the only frame of reference, you’d think swimming was an exclusively Black phenomenon, the pool being […]
‘The First Purge’ will finally center people of color in its violent, dystopian narrative
by Andrew Keahey The Purge series is an interesting phenomenon; a horror franchise with heavy commentary on American class politics, privilege, and security. Sure, it absolutely helps to fulfill the public’s desire for stylized hyper-violence, a craving once consistently nurtured by the Saw franchise, but it also endeavors to do much more with the stories […]
As light-skinned people, it’s our job to make space for those silenced most by colorism
By michal “mj” jones A few years ago, I invited a group of scholar-activists to present a panel on intergenerational movement building and breaking barriers between elder and younger organizers. The conversation went well, I thought, and we gave the floor over to the attendees to share their stories. Afterwards, an older woman with a […]
Beloved young Chicago Principal Rob Croston passed away after complications from genetic disorder
Widely-loved Chicago Public Schools Principal Robert “Rob” Croston has died, as the Chicago Sun Times reported. The Times noted Croston’s legacy of “resourcefulness, energy and leadership inspired his students” and his dedication to exposing economically and ethnically vulnerable Black students to rigorous lessons and learning opportunities with students of different races through a merger that […]