BYP100’s Kai M. Green pens a short essay emphasizing the urgency of Black and People of Color Freedom Struggles NOW! The title sums it up: “If our Freedom is Criminal, We Must Change the Laws.”
Sometimes Black folks are so hard on Black folks. To much attention and fanfare, actor Romany Malco published an article last week in Huff Post outlining his take on the Trayvon Martin case. In a crisp and spirited litany, Malco aligned himself with the chorus of folks who have decided that the Trayvon Martin case […]
Watch a passionate and deeply moving video of the entire BYP100 reading their collective response to the George Zimmerman verdict: “We continue to call out Black Love, Black Power and Black is Beautiful in the face of continued devaluation of Black life. We affirm a love of ALL Black life, no matter if we are in hoodies or business suits, incarcerated or in boardrooms, on welfare or in the WNBA, on the corner or in the White House.”
Rhymes and Reasons interviews Eve Ewing about the Hip Hop songs that changed her life: A Tribe Called Quest’s “I Left My Wallet in El Segundo,” M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes,” and Serengeti’s “Day by Day.”
Rhymes and Reasons interviews Pugz Atomz about the Hip Hop songs that changed his life: Saafir’s “Light Sleeper,” Whodini’s “The Freaks Come Out,” “Spaceship” from Kanye West, GLC, and Consequence, and “Brooklyn Hardrock,” by Thurston Howell III.
Jacinda Bullie – a founding member of Chicago’s influential hip-hop arts and education collective, Kuumba Lynx – talks w/ R&R about the Hip Hop songs that changed her life: “Roxanne’s Revenge,” by Roxanne Shante, the lovers’ anthem “All I Need,” by Method Man ft. Mary J. Blige, and more
Rhymes and Reasons interviews Chicago emcee Vic Spencer about the Hip Hop songs that changed his life: “Bloodshed & War” by Da Youngstas ft. Mobb Deep, “Tonight’s da Night” from Redman and Kane & Abel’s “Black Jesus.”
Rhymes and Reasons interviews Sage Morgan-Hubbard about the Hip Hop songs that changed her life: Arrested Development’s “People Everyday,” Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” and Queen Latifah’s “U.N.I.T.Y.”
Rhymes and Reasons interviews minster/rapper Julian “J. Kwest” DeShazier about the Hip Hop songs that changed his life: Outkast’s “13th Floor/Growing Old,” Common and Lauryn Hill’s “Retrospect for Life,” and “Triumph,” by the Wu-tang Clan
In a recent op-ed, Tamika Mallory asserts that our nation is desensitized to the murders in black communities: “Do we really think that if kids in Beverly Hills, the nice suburbs of Chicago or the Upper East Side were shot and killed on a daily basis like those in Brooklyn, the South Side of Chicago, or Compton, there wouldn’t be more outrage?”
For many of us in the LGBTQ community, Jason Collins offers a grand celebratory moment. Quite simply, he announced, “I’m black. And I’m gay,” and disputably became the “the first active male athlete in a major U. S. team sport to come out of the closet.” Though he might be the first active male athlete, […]
Rhymes and Reasons interviews poet Shannon Matesky about the Hip Hop songs that changed her life: TLC’s “What About Your Friends,” Lauryn Hill’s “Everything is Everything,” and Eve’s “Love Is Blind.”
