153 Search results for "black nuance"

Apologies that never were and probably never will be
My mom apologizes to me and I’m glad she does. Mostly for small things, but sometimes for big things too. Recently, she apologized for her fatphobia towards me and how damaging it was to me growing up. I was appreciative. I thanked her. Not long after that apology, she made no less than three fatphobic […]
“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 […]
Comic: Sex Education utterly failed you and that’s not our fault
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 […]
How tourists make cultures like Salvador’s into “exotic” commodities for their consumption
by Kathleen Anaza In the old tale of tourism, when the needs of a city’s residents are leveraged against the wants of its visitors, it’s the residents who lose. The recent Fyre Festival scam is a prime example of unequal power in tourism interests. A con man from the United States finessed hundreds of celebrities, […]
Gay men need to be better allies to women combating male violence
by Josh Rivers Content Warning: This essay includes discussion and description of sexual violence, with details that could be triggering. “You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other. I do not have to be you to recognise that our wars are the same. What we must do […]
Let’s give Jordan Peele’s ‘Candyman’ remake a chance to intrigue and horrify us
by Andrew Keahey Though there were many films that came before it, there are few Black horror films more revered than the 1992 classic Candyman, starring the frighteningly well-cast Tony Todd. Based on the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker, Candyman is the dark tale of a graduate student doing research on urban legends, […]
American history classes are actually worsening kids’ understanding of America
In the year 1995, University of Vermont sociologist and historian James W. Loewen published a book titled Lies My Teacher Told Me which was designed to both criticize the history classes in America and serve as a history text itself. A result of Loewen’s critical analysis of a dozen history textbooks, the book found that […]
‘MTV Shuga’ is a messy millennial edutainment series educating African youth about sexual health
by Kathleen Anaza Drawing in viewers with juicy telenovela-style drama, star-studded casts and curated soundtracks, MTV Shuga has become a favorite among the scandalous and socially-conscious television viewer on the African continent. Over five seasons, Shuga has operated as three self-contained miniseries, each set in a unique country and with a distinct cast. The stories […]
Four Oscar nominations offer more proof that ‘Get Out’ is game-changing storytelling
by Andrew Keahey Awards season is never much of a shining time for creatives of color. It’s consistently a celebration of white achievement while Black excellence and other visionaries of color are routinely ignored in favor of the same tropes and story telling devices that we’re used to seeing year after year. These tropes become […]
A history of white valor: How World War II stories were made to erase violence against Africa
By Lewam Dejen As a Black woman, a diasporic transplant and a student in and of the West, I find myself in a sunken place within traditions of “collective history.” I am nowhere in the stories to which I devoted my everything. Many marginalized people know the struggle of holding tightly onto what decidedly unsees […]
The ‘Tales from the Hood’ sequel will be right on time
by Andrew Keahey This essay contains spoilers for Tales from the Hood (1995) Tales from the Hood is a 1995 horror anthology masterpiece from director Rusty Cundieff and producer Spike Lee. The films follows three gang bangers visiting a funeral home to retrieve drugs from the eccentric funeral director, Clarence Williams III. The funeral director […]
By consensus, ‘Bright’ is trash, trading in tropes, but Netflix thinks it’s a success
The reviews are in, and by most accounts the straight to Netflix “blockbuster” Bright is a really expensive bomb. The 90 million dollar Will Smith led action/buddy cop/fantasy film is a big part of Netflix’s gambit to compete with not only the major Hollywood studios on the TV front, but to eventually compete with and […]