8012 Search results for "art"

How my experience as a Black man working with children was tainted by racism
Editor’s Note: This month at BYP, we will be exploring Education & Schooling, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. What are the implications of charter and private schools in communities of color? How do we counteract anti-Black textbooks and teachers in our childrens’ education? How did you heal from bullying […]
The white writer’s misimagination of Black characters in science fiction
by Inigo Laguda This essay contains spoilers for Another Life (2019) and Annihilation (2018) For a writer, I read astonishingly little. I chalk my aversion up to over-inundating myself with books as a boy and filling all my curious voids with grand words and fantastical tales. It’s almost like I nauseatingly engorged myself on literature […]
When does defending one’s reputation become a ploy to avoid addressing faults?
I don’t want to live in a world where all I have is my reputation. I don’t want my worth to be determined solely by what others say and think about me based on standards I never agreed to, but such is the nature of capitalism. In the age of The Influencer, we are being […]
Reclaiming memory as a Black father and son in the face of cultural and racial traumas
This essay contains discussions of racialized state violence and suicide attempts by Donnie Moreland I have difficulty recalling specific details of my childhood. Trauma has a way of coloring memory. Strangely, the events I sometimes beg to forget are the ones I can see with a clarity the remainder of my youth is never afforded. […]
Used in a relentless pursuit of the elusive middle class, side hustle culture is killing Black folx
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 […]
White supremacy is where my PTSD and intrusive thoughts intersect
by Ja’Loni Amor Owens “The bus is late. Again,” I mumbled to myself. A lanky white man plopped down next to me even though there was plenty of room for him to sit further away, and not invade my space. “You waiting for the bus?” he asked. Duh. “Yeah, I am. It’s late though.” “You […]
Faced with commercialization, the Black Punk community turns to its past for a guide to keep resisting
By Monika Estrella Negra The majority of the Black punks I have talked to were drawn to (or got lost in) the Punk scene in order to escape the rigidity and heteronormative idealism of traditional Black political organizing. This is not to infer that all Black punks identify with far leftist views, nor does it […]
Keeping Black history will always be necessary, but it takes a toll
I imagine that I would be a historian, a social librarian of sorts, whenever Black liberation is realized, and I imagine that my role wouldn’t look much different from the work I am already doing: Helping to keep Black histories. For as long as I’ve been aware of my Blackness as a threat to whiteness […]
Feature: Grassroots organization BYP100 uses “radical inclusion” to combat racial injustice
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 […]
Comic: I’m waiting for Black conspiracy theorists to turn their attention towards cisheteropatriarchy
by JeCorey Holder Cis straight people have all kinds of enthusiasm towards organizing think-pieces and deep-dives into government conspiracies, secret societies, and grand hidden stratagems about why their favorite homophobic rapper or sexually predatory celebrity was killed or arrested. I’m talkin’ paragraphs on why “Lil Tinky” or whoever was a crucial part of some grand […]
Black women, our closeted emotional needs won’t get met
by Najya A. Williams In the dark of the night, the world had fallen asleep and I was left to the comfort of my favorite recliner and a random Enneagram personality test my friend had shared with me. With the popularity of tests and quizzes meant to predict your life, I held a healthy amount […]
“E pluribus unum”: Federalism is a reactionary structure built on anti-Blackness
by Aaron Jamal E pluribus unum — Latin for “Out of many, one.” Included in the Great Seal of the United States in 1776. The political system of the United States is in a state of perpetual crisis. The state of Tennessee has proposed a new bill that will drastically limit the voting power of […]