34 Search results for "imperialism"

Anti-Asian Violence—it runs deeper than hate
by Diane Wong Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an alarming increase and series of violent hate crimes against Asian Americans. In the last two months alone, Pak Ho a 75 year old Chinese American was killed in Oakland Chinatown, Vicha Ratanapakdee a 84 year old Thai man was violently shoved to […]
When the Ancestors tell you to go to therapy
There aren’t enough accessible therapists to go around. I met this reality after an Ifa divination that I got while I was in Cuba, and my dreams for an entire year afterward, told me that I needed to focus on my mental health. My ancestors were LOUD about the mental work that I needed to […]
Van Jones, language and the psuedo memory of national identity
by Donnie Moreland In my six years participating in scholastic speech and debate competition, the one lasting impression of the sport itself, less any social interaction, was that language is never fixed. Language is neither absolute, or inherent. Language is craftable, manipulatable, sellable and infinitely interpretable. This seems obvious, but when you think of how […]
5 tips for engaging non-voters this election
Editor’s Note: This month at BYP, we will be exploring the US Midterms & 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 midterm elections vs presidential ones, and local […]
Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ contends with unresolved trauma, and a host of other unsettling things
This essay contains spoilers for Us. In the surface story of Us, the Wilson family travels to Santa Cruz for summer vacation and finds themselves stalked by doppelgängers in a sudden home invasion, but there is so much more to be found beneath it. Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) and Gabe (Winston Duke), with daughter Zora (Shahadi […]
How targeting Ilhan Omar instead of white supremacy furthered both anti-Semitism & Islamophobia
By Su’ad Abdul Khabeer, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Margari Hill, Rakel Joseph, Asha Noor, and Rebecca Pierce Last week, House Democrats passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and white supremacy. As Black women, Muslim and Jewish, we agree that anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism, sexism and Islamophobia must be condemned. Reports of anti-Semitism are on the rise: according to the FBI, […]
Instead of dismantling male-only military draft, judge rules women should be included
On Friday, Senior Judge Gray Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas ruled that a male-only military draft is unconstitutional.
We deserve to see more Black vampires on the screen
by Andrew Keahey The image on the screen is alway the same: a young woman, unsuspecting of any danger, twirls her hair and chats with a stranger. He’s always tall, he’s well-dressed and clearly of “good breeding”, and he’s always white. Pale white. The young woman’s thoughts ring clear, “Is this charming man a little […]
How liberal discourse that distances migrants from “criminals” obscures the crimes of this anti-Black state
By “DJ Ferguson” All Star Batman and Robin: The Boy Wonder written by Frank Miller is an unholy mixture of camp and 90s grim-and-gritty/edgy for its own sake, but this interaction between Batman and Green Lantern will stick with me for the rest of my life. This story takes place not long after Batman: Year […]
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 […]
‘The Haunting of Hill House’ & the colonial obsession with salvaging a world of suffering for the sake of sanity
Editor’s Note: This essay contains spoilers of season 1 of Haunting of Hill House and discussion of suicide I don’t remember how my parents died in the nightmare, but I woke up screaming bloody murder. I had to have been about 4-years-old. I don’t think I had considered being indefinitely away from my parents before, […]
We can’t talk about sexual health if we never talk openly about sex
We live in a society that is sexually repressive and at the same time oversaturated with reminders of sex. They say that “sex sells”—or, rather, sexually objectifying women and feeding into misogynistic male fantasy about power, control, and sexual prowess sells—and yet, Michigan State Representative Lisa Brown was barred from speaking on the House floor […]