2228 Search results for "we read too"

Are We Reading Too Much into “Bitch Bad”?
Lupe Fiasco’s “Bitch Bad” has been the topic of conversation all around the internet this week. Lauders and critics alike are leading conversations about the song which takes on the misogynistic trend in hip hop of reducing women to vulgar names and sexual objects. The rapper has stated that he released the song for the […]
We have to recognize the dangers of “male-identified” womanhood
by Jenn M. Jackson, PhD A few weeks ago, I posted on Threads about the ways that male-identified women are harmful to building community. I said this in reference to the numbers of Black women who work tirelessly defending Black men like Chris Brown, Bill Cosby, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and so many others who commit […]
We Were Taught to Be Useful Before We Were Allowed to Be Human
by DeLisha Tapscott, Ed.D. I learned to be useful long before I understood what labor was. Long before I had language for work, worth, or expectation, I understood that being helpful mattered. Being capable mattered. Being low-maintenance mattered. Those traits were praised early, offered as signs of maturity and goodness, folded into what it meant […]
Reading for Our Lives: How Book Bans Leave Black Kids Behind
by Tayler Simon In the 2024-2025 school year, more than 4,000 unique titles were banned in the United States. Titles like All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison were among the most challenged books, reflecting a trend of targeting books by Black and/or LGBTQ+ authors. While all […]
Why Poetry? Ten Poets and Poems To Read As We Close Out Black History Month.
by Jari Bradley During the peak of the pandemic in 2020, there were numerous online poetry readings being held for the public to attend. I was just finishing my Master of Fine Arts program after three years on the East Coast, and with all the calamity that the world felt comprised of at that time, […]
What We Carry: A Coming-of-Age Tale of Grief, Therapy, and Reckoning
by Christian M. Ivey “What We Carry” is a powerful coming-of-age story that follows Drew, a young Black college student grappling with grief, anxiety, and the long shadow of racial trauma. Get yo ass up, Drew! My alarm rang, a nasty, raggedy rang, almost soundin’ like it was yellin’ at me. Get yo ass up, […]
We Speak Our City Back: A Series on Gentrification
by Alycia Kamil We Speak Our City Back On Language, Gentrification, and Black Presence in Chicago There are stories that arrive already smoothed out. Made digestible for funders, developers, and media outlets. The kind that trades in progress narratives and polished soundbites. This is not that kind of story. This piece opens differently. The voice […]
We were Transformed, but was the World? Reflecting on a Decade of Black-led Movement
by Asha Ransby-Sporn A full decade ago this summer, I arrived at a retreat center in the Chicago suburbs with about a hundred other Black organizers, and community leaders from around the country brought together by Cathy Cohen’s Black Youth Project. Not long into former President Barack Obama’s second term, the goal of the gathering […]
Dear Inbetweener: Finding my place as a bisexual biracial man
Editor’s Note: June is LGBTQ Pride Month. At Black Youth Project, we will be exploring gender, sexuality, transgender issues and queer theory, and we are interested in publishing works that address these topics and the things surrounding them. by Andrew Keahey When your whole life is in the inbetween, you see things that other people […]
We are more than just good or bad: How the God of the Binary fails Black people
By Itoro Udofia I grew up under the tutelage of The God of the Binary. He was forever in opposition to a ubiquitous outside force. He was the Good opposed to Evil. The Strong opposed to Weak. Right opposed to Wrong. There I stood, an eager and inquisitive girl child, making mistakes and looking for […]
Why we need to stop excluding Black populations from ideas of who is “Indigenous”
*Editor’s note: This piece has been deeply informed by conversations with my friend and colleague Preston Anderson through the years, among other things. A few months ago, I posted a Facebook status regarding a viral meme featuring Disney’s cartoon version of Pocahontas and John Smith, arguing that it promoted white supremacist ideas of interracial relationships […]
We shouldn’t be surprised by Jay-Z’s NFL move. He’s always been a capitalist & this is what capitalism looks like
By Brittani McNeill By now, we’ve all seen the news about Jay-Z’s new partnership with the NFL. The rap mogul, through a deal between the league and his company Roc Nation, will serve as an advisor, helping to select music for NFL events, including the Super Bowl, and lead conversations about “social justice.”