15 Search results for "consumerism"

I come from folks who organized rent parties and bail funds, who put money away for rainy days or times when mamas needed to escape dysfunctional and abusive households. I come from folks who believe in direct giving and show it. Folks who give hugs and offer handshakes in order to exchange money discreetly. Folks who […]

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 […]

by Tiffany Hobbs  I hope Jesus doesn’t look like the white man on the wall. That flowy-locked iteration of the Messiah they wanted Black people to believe in would find his alabaster skin colored with surprise as Ms. Aretha Franklin entered the gates and demanded payment—her heavenly reward—upfront. Her blessings must be plentiful, as she […]

by Josie Pickens Sonya Renee Taylor’s The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love is equal parts self-help guide and interrogating conversation about body shaming and body terrorism. Taylor’s premise is that if we stop terrorizing our own bodies, we will feel obligated to not only stop terrorizing the bodies others, but […]

What do you get when you mix a thin, pretty, young, celebrity model (from the Kardashian brood no less) with a corporatized imaginary protest? If you guessed trash, congratulations. That’s what Pepsi gave us. You also get a glimpse of the image many white people have in their minds of corporations, consumers, and social issues. And, it’s a […]

I’m in a weird place as a parent and an activist; at what point do I talk to my daughter about the truth behind Thanksgiving or any other holiday draped in an ugly American truth?

“I’m thankful for being born indigenous to this continent,” a powerful statement I could never make; a powerful statement most people that live in this country cannot make, but one young Native American girl did in a video about the truth behind Thanksgiving with a group of 5 of her peers.

What happens when activism becomes cool? Profitable? In a world driven by consumerism it seems almost necessary to integrate something like Black Liberation into the culture – as something that can be accessed, understood, bought, and enjoyed by most- to create sustainable change.

We reported that Lauryn Hill was released last week after serving a prison sentence for tax evasion. Hill was supposed to be under house arrest for three months, but now a judge has granted her permission to delay house arrest so that she can go on tour.

Lauryn Hill is once again a free woman after serving three months in prison for failing to pay more than $1.8 million in taxes between 2005 and 2007. Her new single “Consumerism” was released on the last day of her sentence.

  First of all, I love when an artist spits conscious lyrics, which Kanye certainly does on his new song, “New Slaves”. I especially like when he references CCA and how they’re really making new slaves:   “Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), now the nation’s largest private prison company, was founded just over 30 years ago in Nashville. Since […]

For most hip-hop heads (real and self-proclaimed), XXL Magazine is the “Holy Grail” for everything rap related. While I respect the publication’s long history of raw and unadulterated hip-hop journalism, I feel as if the 2013 Freshman list slighted some very talented and promising emcees. Each year, since 2008, XXL has released a “Top 10 […]