writer. creator. storyteller.
writer. creator. storyteller.
“I’m a man whose greatest wealth and honor is my family. That’s number one. I’m a person who cares a lot about young people,” he says. “…I guess I’m an artist. I’m a person who is driven to contribute stories to people, and I think in some ways the job of the artist is to reflect the most intimate parts of themselves to others.”
O-T FAGBENLE IS SHOWING US A DIFFERENT SIDE OF BARACK OBAMA ON THE FIRST LADY
I’m not saying that journalism as a whole is completely fucked up, but it is trending in that direction. And this is scary because journalists are supposed to be the watchdogs of society. We have an obligation to be truthful and tell the people what is happening. That doesn’t always happen these days.
U.S. Journalism is a Hellscape Right Now
“About a third of our population is African American; African Americans have a higher incidence of maternal mortality. So, if you correct our population for race, we’re not as much of an outlier as it’d otherwise appear. Now, I say that not to minimize the issue but to focus the issue as to where it would be. For whatever reason, people of color have a higher incidence of maternal mortality.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy proves America doesn’t care about Black women
Not only is professionalism a double standard in how it’s applied, but the actual standard itself is grounded in a set of beliefs that are meant to control and subjugate people of color, including Black people.
Professionalism Is a Racist Construct
Today I called my mom to ask her a question, and she told me that she was really sad today. I asked her why, and she said the news about the Buffalo shooting had really upset her.
“All those women were older Black women just going for groceries in a store they fought to have in their neighborhood,” she said, her voice cracking.
I tried to soothe her, but what can you say, really?I know it hit home for her because she’s in her 70s. I know the thought occurred to her that it could easily be her in a store one day.
The people in that store were targeted because they were Black. That is horrifying to think about, but it is definitely our American reality.
I’m scared for all of us. You never know where one of these people may show up and decide to pull something like this.
I listened to my mother sob today, the fear in her voice, and there was really nothing I could say to make her feel better.
I told her not to spend her entire day feeling sad, but how do you prevent that when we live in this country
A country where they won’t legislate guns, but they will legislate the private decisions women make with their bodies.I just wanted to give her a hug and tell her it was going to be all right. But we all know that’s a lie. It’s going to get worse.Love your people and hold on to them tight.
Remember kids, you can’t be “a part” of something if you are “apart” from it.
These mean two different things, and they aren’t interchangeable.
“A part” is inclusive. “Apart” is exclusive.
I hope this helps.
Black women are always expected to turn the other cheek when it comes to the people who mistreat them. We are always expected to be the bigger person, to rise above it all and act like we are indifferent to the hateful speech, abusive behavior and gaslighting that goes on in situations like this.
Black women don’t owe Kevin Samuels anything
For theGrio, I wrote about how Black women are being asked to show grace to Kevin Samuels in light of his death, despite the fact that he had none for Black women when he was living.
I had a Petco bag with Lady’s old leash and harness in it (I bought her new ones) as well as some new bully sticks for later. I left it on the side of my ottoman when we came in.
Tell me why this little heffa sniffed out the bully sticks, went in the bag and got one, took it to her bed, peeled off the label herself (!!!!!) and is currently enjoying it as I type this?
She is very pleased with herself, and I’m just like “She’s too smart for her own good.”
I love Daria
Look at my baby.
Today, a friend informed me that I am quoted in a book they are currently reading called What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat, by Aubrey Gordon. She cited my article I wrote Quantasia Sharpton, the woman who sued Usher for giving her herpes. When her lawsuit was originally reported, people laughed it off and said there was no way Usher would sleep with a fat woman like that. I disagreed.
Go me!
Continue reading “WTF, Netflix?”“In a Business Insider article published in February, employees said that Netflix wooed them with the promise of more stability and higher wages than journalism has offered in recent years: If Netflix says “We’re going to pay you a more-than-livable wage and let you continue to write about the things that you write,’ honestly, why wouldn’t you want to do that?,” one writer told Insider.”
Netflix Lays Off the Journalists It Just Hired
“Both the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department have horrible reputations and track records when it comes to their interactions with the residents of the city. The sheriff’s department, in particular, is known to be filled with internal gangs that target the city’s residents of color. The county sheriff himself is currently embroiled in a scandal in which it is alleged he attempted to cover up a video of a deputy kneeling on a handcuffed inmate’s neck—a case reminiscent of the murder of George Floyd.”
30 years after the 1992 Los Angeles Rebellion, policing in the city hasn’t changed much
“In April 29, 1992, the city of Los Angeles erupted into a state of civil unrest following the not guilty verdict in the trial of the Los Angeles police officers charged with the brutal beating of Rodney King. For six days, people angry about the trial’s outcome took to the streets, businesses were looted and the city burned. While the verdict was the final straw for many, the fuse for their anger was lit years before.”
30 years after the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, not enough has changed
Bring back personal blogging.
I don’t want to have to worry about white people policing me, trying to “put me in my place,” being suspicious of me simply because I am Black and taking every opportunity to foist their opinions or their “advice” on me.
It Is Absolutely Exhausting Being Black in America
I am out of office I am currently out of office, enjoying the 4/20 holiday …
Read More
So I’m going to leave you with this: As you spark up today, put one in the air for brothers and sisters still locked down because they sold a dime bag. Blow one for the ones who just had a joint on them and got the most extreme forms of “justice” just because some judge could. Light one for all the soldiers in the struggle who are still serving time for the same thing a lot of white people are making millions off of now and getting away with it because they have a storefront.
As we celebrate 4/20, let’s remember that the ‘weed man’ has been gentrified by white people
Continue reading “Y’all can’t drive”“I have had plenty of accidents where someone has hit me, including one horrible hit-and-run accident 12 years ago, and all of these accidents have shown me that people really don’t obey the rules of the road or know how to drive.”
5 reasons why y’all need to take driver’s education again
Continue reading “It’s all about the way we see ourselves”“First of all, I realize that my body is mine and mine alone. This means that no amount of outside messaging should be able to impact how I feel about myself. Coming to that realization was a process, and we all come to it at different times, but once you get there, it is the most liberating feeling in the world.”
I no longer wish to be ‘at war’ with my body
While Jim Crow legally ended in the 1960s, its legacy and the legacy of the white vigilantism and terror that preceded it still lives on in both our criminal justice system and our everyday society.
White Vigilantism Is American History
The problem is that whiteness is centered so much in our world, people like this don’t know how to respond when it isn’t. White people don’t have to worry about their “culture” being left out of anything, because it’s always present, but they still complain when they can’t see themselves in something. They will even go so far as to insert themselves where they don’t belong.
Why Can’t We Just Enjoy Black History Month?
Continue reading “Kanye West and his abusive behavior”“Kanye apologists and even Kanye himself will say this is about her keeping his children away from him and things of that nature, but if this were really about his children, he wouldn’t be going to such great lengths to humiliate their mother.”
What Kanye is doing is not OK, and he needs to be held accountable
Continue reading “Harlem Nights is one of the greatest Black comedies of all time”“I remember the anticipation when Harlem Nights was coming out. We knew Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor were putting together a movie for us by us. We knew it was going to be exceptionally funny. We had no idea what we were in store for.”
28 Days of Black Movies: ‘Harlem Nights’ is an all-star Black comedy classic
Continue reading “Waiting to Exhale is still a good watch all these years later”By the end of the film, these women are tired of the same old same old and ready to open themselves up to the possibilities, even if that means being single for a time until they find the right one.
28 Days of Black Movies: ‘Waiting to Exhale’ is the romantic drama in which sisters choose themselves
Continue reading “I’d be willing to bet everyone loves Set It Off”“Cleo leads the police on a high-speed chase that ends with her being cornered by them. She lights a cigarette, takes a few pulls, and then gets out of her car and starts shooting at them. This is where my favorite phrase “Going out like Cleo” comes from because the police light her up, but she went out like a GANGSTER, OK?!”
28 Days of Black Movies: ‘Set It Off’ depicts a perfect example of what we mean by ‘ride or die’ friendships
Continue reading “If you have never watched Sprung, it’s time you did”“Before we go any further, can we please talk about how underused Paula Jai Parker has been in the film industry? She is hilarious and generally eats up every scene she is in. She has a way of emoting and expressing things with her voice that makes her hysterical to watch. Her attitude, the way she rolls her eyes, rolls her neck and generally gives you that good hood sister attitude is something we got a peek of when she played Joi in Friday. In Sprung, she steals the show in my opinion.”
28 Days of Black Movies: ‘Sprung’ is a hidden gem among ’90s Black rom-coms
Continue reading “We still miss Whitney, 10 years later”“Her death impacted us just as deeply as that of Michael Jackson before her. It sent a shockwave through our entire community. And when the details finally surfaced about what may have happened, we were saddened and mourned even more for a life lost too soon.”
Ten years later, losing Whitney still hurts
Continue reading “Friday is definitely a hood classic”“For instance, I can’t tell you how many times I had already watched the movie before it was pointed out to me that when Joi calls Craig to confront him about his alleged trip to the movies, there is a dude in blue khakis lying in bed beside her.”
28 Days of Black Movies: 5 reasons why ‘Friday’ is an iconic Black film