244 Search results for "american dream"

My parents’ storybook romance gave me unrealistic expectations for (Black) love in the digital age
Editor’s Note: This month at BYP, we will be exploring the US Elections & Family/Parenting issues, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics. How has our political system been working for and against us? What dynamics are different today? How should we prepare for the presidential election, and what is the […]
Tips, resources, and affirmations for Black students in higher education
by Jamara Wakefield Let’s keep it real, there are few radical resources available for Black students when experiencing oppression on campus. It manifests in a variety of forms: from explicit aggression to microaggressions to institutional policies to interactions that feel “off” but aren’t easily quantifiable, in part because the campus environment justifies these actions. The […]
The conditioning that fuels the mental health epidemic for Black men, and how to stop it
By J.R. Yussuf I began prioritizing my mental health shortly after graduating college in 2012. I still felt as though I had to keep it a secret because going to see a therapist was seen as bizarre. But I went anyway because with each passing day, life increasingly felt like a punishment and soon sleep […]
Contending with the violent history surrounding Black wombs as I await fatherhood
Editor’s Note: April is Black Women’s History Month. Throughout this month, Black Youth Project is celebrating Black women. This month is also National Minority Health Month, Autism Awareness Month, Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Child Abuse Prevention Month. We are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. by Donnie Moreland […]
A meditation on intergenerational trauma and how we raise Black children
This essay contains discussion of suicide. by Donnie Moreland On the other side of her beautiful and hardened, bulging belly, I can feel them. My baby navigating the uterus of the woman I love, curious to the pressure of my palm on the soft brown flesh between them and I. I imagine their curiosity, or […]
The excellence of Black Hollywood doesn’t need to be validated by mainstream awards
by Khaaliq Crowder As a Black millennial, I sometimes forget about the advantage that folks of my generation have as opposed to our grandparents and older relatives when it comes to media representation. Black people weren’t always in movies, and when we were, our presence was seldom. My grandparents, who grew in the 1930s and […]
Marc Lamont Hill was fired for telling the truth about the Palestinian resistance
by Daniel Johnson Recently, University of Temple professor, author, and activist Marc Lamont Hill was fired from his post as an on-air political commentator at CNN after delivering an address at the U.N. during the organization’s marking of the upcoming 70th anniversary of its original Declaration of Human Rights, which came on the conclusion of […]
Liberals use “unity” to systematically silence women of color. It’s time to be divisive
By Clelia Rodriguez The persecution and hunt of non-white bodies is old news. Social media maps it up instantly with white liberals’ “I’m glad that’s not me or my family going through that,” or their almost gratifying pity. Each second, each moment, each hour, each day, each night, each week, each month, each year, each […]
Interview: Kiese Laymon’s ‘Heavy’ reminds us that Blackness can be abundant in a world trying to make us disappear
This essay discusses child abuse, sexual violence, addiction, and extreme weight loss I tell him about my recent trip up to Philly and what happened on the way back. Our Uber driver overheard a conversation between myself, a child of the Carolinas, and my friend, the most Texas Texan I know, in which she told […]
Continuing the tradition of Black youth organizations’ solidarity with Palestine
by Ajamu Amiri Dillahunt On April 16th 2018, the City Council of Durham, North Carolina became the first city in the country to unanimously pass a policy statement ending police exchanges between the Durham Police Department and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). This auspicious decision was made possible because of the Demiltarize! Durham2Palestine Campaign, a […]
To deal with intergenerational Black trauma, we must care for our elders
By Amber Butts As children, we are told to stay out of grown folk business. As adults and elders, we then continue that wheel and narrative, which doesn’t give space for us to build an intergenerational emotional intelligence. What if children were in more “grown folk” conversations? Could we better prepare for it if children […]
Why Black children must see themselves in the classroom.
by Liljuan Gonzalez I remember seeing a little Black girl being viciously yelled at to stop moving and to sit with her hands folded while her eyes followed the teacher. When she moved an inch, out of jitters or childish restlessness, her teacher responded with a death glare or a disparaging tone that blindly enforced […]