620 Search results for "middle"

Dear Black Woman, First, let me commend you on succeeding against all odds. Somehow you managed; you managed to make it through junior high and high school with your confidence intact. Despite my incessant barrage of negative imagery, you somehow made it this far in your life with a positive sense of self. I applaud […]

I would like to believe that there is a moment in everyone’s life that becomes a point of definition. This if nothing else has been the reality of my experience. My moment of definition was March 2006 when I was a participant in the finals of the Cleveland city wide poetry slam. Two weeks prior […]

Below is a short story inspired by a conversation I had with my father He stood at the platform ready to deliver his address. Weeks of intense rehearsal had prepared him for this very moment. As he stood attentively in his grey seersucker suit with his crisp white shirt, and wing tip shoes, he looked […]

Note: Late week, Professor Cohen had a talk about the Black Youth Project, including the blog, on campus.  I just want to say thanks to the folks who complimented me on my writing here.  It means a lot, and I want to express my deepest gratitude.   I’m sorry that I was socially awkward.  I had […]

“It’s all about the U”. Growing up in South Florida I heard this chant all the time, especially between the months of August and January. For those of you who don’t speak “college football”, the “U” is a reference to the University of Miami. During the late 80’s, early 90’s, and early 2000’s they were […]

(response to “NBA needs to teach guys like Arenas”) In the early hours of the Arenas debacle—the post-suspension one, commentators took to the airwaves, blogs, and news sites to talk about what changes the NBA would need to make, to not only teach Gilbert Arenas a lesson, but to teach all the other boys in […]

Aloha . . . Mahalo . . . Hula . . . Hana Hou . . . are a few Hawaiian words I’ve learned this week while visiting Hawaii. You know, I think Hawaii is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen with its luscious green mountains and its sparkling blue beaches. There is something […]

Sometimes I feel like life is one big reality show. I can’t say that I’m an avid follower of “For the Love of Ray J”, “The Bad Girls Club, or “The Real World”. However, I do know that drama and ratings are positively correlated. Many of the stars on the reality shows go on to […]

City Schools’ New Criteria for Diversity Raise Fears Crystal Yednak and Darnell Little, The New York Time, December 20, 2009 Violence leaves family facing grim holidays; Murders of son, cousin shatter happiness — but not faith Mary Mitchell, The Chicago Sun-Times, December 20, 2009 Health gap kills 3,200 black Chicagoans a year; African Americans miss […]

Bah Humbug.  I almost totally forgot that Christmas is this Friday, have no idea when Hanukkah started, and couldn’t name the principles of Kwanzaa if Maulana Karenga threatened to falsely imprison me.  Still, I’ve found enough holiday spirit to give gifts to folks both naughty and nice.  I think they’ll be somewhat useful to the […]

Today the Princess and the Frog opens across the nation. Of course, I’m going to go see the movie, however like most cynics I wrote a blog about the movie before it premiered approximately two months ago to  be exact. So, if my argument is proven wrong by actually seeing the film, I will write […]

Is a half-truth a whole lie? When looking back over my 6 years elementary school, 3 years of middle school, and 4 years of high school, I realized that not once did my classes teach me about any gay or lesbian figure in history. As a matter of a fact, if it is public education’s […]