373 Search results for "systems"

COVID-19 shows how little we learned from the AIDS Epidemic
COVID-19 has quickly taken center stage in the lives of virtually everyone around the globe. As things have unfolded over the last couple of months, I can’t help but notice aspects of this pandemic that feel familiar. As someone who is living with HIV and has learned a lot about the AIDS epidemic over the […]
COVID-19 or not, Black folks are building virtual spaces of joy, intimacy and tenderness
The impacts of capitalism and society’s never ending romanticization of working hard, being productive and making money (lest we be labeled lazy) have done a disservice to our relationships. We usually don’t have time to check in because even when we are off of work, we’re too exhausted to be present enough to support vulnerable, […]
“Believe survivors” is inadequate for confronting the power dynamics that fuel sexual abuse
by Hari Ziyad Content Warning: Sexual Violence In February, the New York Times reported on a years-long feud between fashion executive Peter Nygard and his neighbor in the Bahamas, billionaire Louis Bacon, which was prompted over an adequately ostentatious property dispute. This gilded tea kettle of drama boiled over in a recent lawsuit alleging that […]
The endless appropriation of MLK and white supremacy’s need to rewrite historical narratives
Barely a month has passed since I wrote about appropriation and the vampiric nature of whiteness, specifically as it pertains to Black art and aesthetic. My focus was white artists and their simultaneous disavowal and infiltration of rap and hip-hop, and my purpose was to illustrate the pattern of how white society appropriates Black art […]
Crisis makes clear who can afford to survive (and who cannot)
“That’s all anybody can do right now. Live. Hold out. Survive. I don’t know whether good times are coming back again. But I know that won’t matter if we don’t survive these times.” – Octavia E. Butler While on a hike today, I spoke with two folks about how our bodies are shaped by the […]
Capitalism makes us think that having our basic needs met is revolutionary. It’s a lie.
The true focus of revolutionary change is never merely the oppressive situations which we seek to escape, but that piece of the oppressor which is planted deep within each of us, and which knows only the oppressors’ tactics, the oppressors’ relationships. -Audre Lorde I check my bank account every day, regardless of whether or not […]
Black folks don’t need a nuclear family to be legitimate
It’s Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week and, as per usual, the miserable trolls have crawled out of their pitiful caves to smear their shit on any and everything that might make people feel happy, accepted, and seen. Trolls, of course, typically believe in nothing. They simply enjoy a perpetually contrarian existence, and actively seek to make […]
Black non-monogamy is a pre-colonial practice
Valentine’s Day is tomorrow and as usual it’s got me reflecting on how utterly diabolical consumerist culture is, how it influences and perpetuates our constant need to measure who is most worthy of love, affection and gifts. And why we think it is our business to begin with. It also has me deeply bitter about […]
Mental health treatment is a Black tradition, white people just took credit for it
by Imade Nibokun Black people invented mental health treatment before the “pray it away” stigma and the white supremacy that produced it. While Black folks continue to address the stigmas attached to mental illness, we must also acknowledge that Black mental health practitioners existed first. The first known physician in history is an Egyptian architect […]
The business of prisons and the laws that make sure they exist
by Cheryldean Peters Beginning in the early 1600s, my ancestors were legally forced into slavery and robbed of their freedom. They were involuntarily exploited, beaten and forced to work as servants, which primarily helped generate income for America’s economy. Their servitude drastically enhanced local and colonial economics while creating generational wealth for their oppressors. Africans […]
Quality, art, the culture of sameness, and white men’s egos
“Culture today is infecting everything with sameness. Film, radio, and magazines form a system. Each branch of culture is unanimous within itself and all are unanimous together.” —”The Culture Industry: Enlightenment As Mass Deception”, Dialectic of Enlightenment Stephen King recently tweeted, “I would never consider diversity in matters of art. Only quality. It seems to […]
We need to respond to PTSD with community care
by Jamila Mitchell This article discusses suicide, r/pe, and other topics that may be triggering for some readers. For some reason, I found myself in pain on the floor of my bathroom with a closed door, empty pill bottles, and spilt bleach. Frantically, I reached out to people through my phone and Facebook contacts. All […]