Van Jones is a problem for Black people

A recording and transcript of the speech Jones delivered were published online yesterday. Regardless of where you stand on what exactly he was apologizing for, the entire thing reeks of both-sideism. Jones discredits activism in the Black community, throws Black people under the bus in favor of trying to score points with white people and blames us for Kanye West. In short, this mess stinks, but let me go point-by-point and explain why.
Op-Ed: Van Jones Needs To Be Held Accountable For His Anti-Black Comments

For NewsOne, I shared my thoughts on Van Jones and his apology to the Jewish community on behalf of Black people.

haiku #2

infatuation
mutual admiration
pure adoration

Twitter is dying a slow death under Elon Musk

To be clear, Twitter was already on life support, but Captain Apartheid swooped in and started unplugging all the machinery, and now the site is wheezing for help and pushing the nurse call button, but no one is responding.
What we lost in the fire: Elon Musk is slowly killing the things that made Twitter a force for good

haiku #1

thinking about you
a confidante and a muse
away message blues

You happy now, bitch?

“Wendell Pierce is a Black man who grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, with parents who stressed education — understanding that your first wealth is health, and soon thereafter is education,” the actor, who recently became the first Black man to play the lead in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman on Broadway, told Andscape.
How ‘Death of a Salesman’ helped Wendell Pierce become fearless

Y’all. I had the extreme pleasure of interviewing actor Wendell Pierce to discuss his role playing Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Pierce is the first Black actor to play the role on Broadway.

Wendell Pierce is one of my favorite actors. I stan. I was so excited to do this interview, and he did not disappoint. (read more after the jump)

Stephen A Smith, Jerry Jones, and defending racism

“I’m pretty pissed off,” Smith said. “I’m pissed off but not for reasons people think. I am very, very fond of Jerry Jones, and I’m not hiding that from anybody. Is his record perfect? No, but I’m pissed off because he doesn’t deserve what just happened. He doesn’t deserve it. One report, our report, said he was 14 years old. Another report said he was 15 years old. At minimum that’s 65 years ago.”
Stephen A. Smith defending Jerry Jones is egregious, and here’s why

The Washington Post published an article about Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones last week. The article included a photo taken in September 1957 when six Black teens attempted to integrate the racially-segregated North Little Rock High School. They were met by an angry white mob at the front door of the school.

Jerry Jones, who was 14 at the time, is pictured in the photo standing in the crowd. When the photo came out, he rightfully received public backlash

ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith put on his Jason Whitlock costume and rushed to the defense of Jones, who he says is the victim of an attempt at “cancel culture” for something he did when he was a kid.

If only Stephen A understood that it’s a lot more nuanced than that.

My latest for theGrio.

Karen Bass is the new mayor of Los Angeles

The job ahead of her is not an easy one, but I am fully confident that she will be able to handle it because let’s face it, if you want something done, you really just have to get a Black woman to do it.
Congratulations, Karen Bass. You Deserve.

Rick Caruso thought he was going to be able to buy his way into becoming the Mayor of Los Angeles, but it did not work out the way he thought. After spending more than $100 million of his own money and outspending Karen bass 11 to 1, he lost, and Los Angeles has it’s first woman, first Black woman, and only the second Black person in history to be mayor.

She deserves. My latest at theGrio.

Drake is a sassy bitch

Listen, I get it. You are a white woman of color who was born and raised in Canada. You are an actor who got your start on the Canadian show “Degrassi,” and you are now in the midst of playing your biggest role, that of a rapper named Drake.
Dear Drake, please leave Megan Thee Stallion and every other Black woman out of your mouth

For theGrio, I addressed Drake and his messy bitch behavior. In case you are unaware, on his recent release with 21 Savage, he decided to go after Megan Thee Stallion unprovoked, and I don’t like that.

On Kyrie Irving, Jeff Bezos, Amazon and antisemitism

Kyrie Irving definitely should have apologized for posting the link, but it should have ended there. If you are not going to hold the hosts of the material accountable, how are you going to find multiple ways to punish the consumer for taking it in?
Kyrie Irving has gotten all the smoke, but why aren’t Jeff Bezos and Amazon being held accountable?

For theGrio, I share my thoughts on the sanctions the Nets have put on Kyrie Irving and question why Jeff Bezos isn’t receiving the same amount of scrutiny for hosting the infamous antisemitic video that Irving has received for posting it to his Twitter account.

White women always choose race and class over their best interests

Most people who have watched the show have expressed their disgust and horror at what is depicted. They have often said how horrible it would be if something like this happened in real life. You can tell the people who said that weren’t Black, because Black people know (or should know, anyway) that the exact things being depicted in “The Handmaid’s Tale” actually happened to enslaved Black women in this country.
Serena Joy of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ is the epitome of white people who don’t care until it happens to them

For theGrio, I wrote about how Serena Joy Wateford on The Handmaid’s Tale is very much like white women (and white people in general) in this country who only care about an issue when it directly impacts them.

NaNoWriMo 2022

Thanks to some encouragement from Darnell Lamont Walker, for the first time in about 20 years, I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.

The idea of the challenge is to write every day during the month of November. If you are consistent, you should be able to eke out a first draft of a 50,000 word novel. At least, that’s how we did the program back in the day.

Darnell’s encouragement was different. He said folks should write whatever they want, whether that be a short story, an essay, poetry or something else. The biggest point was to get writing.

Outside of writing to eat aka freelancing, I have not done much writing for myself, and I miss that, so I’m going to take this opportunity to change that.

For those of you who have been following me for some time, I’ve decided I’m going to work on a first draft for what will be the first book in my series of “The Pusha Stories” as they’ve come to be known.

I will post excerpts along the way.

Wish me luck.

One day I woke up and realized I am the prize

Once my focus was taken off turning myself into “wife material,” I was able to devote that energy to improving and evolving me for me. Regular talks with my therapist, a lot of self-critique-turned-into-active improvements and consistently listening to myself helped me to improve my relationship with myself as well as others around me.
My life changed for the better once I decentered romance

For theGrio, I discuss how my life changed once I de-centered romance.

White people: Please don’t do this

The one part of Halloween that I don’t enjoy, however, is the predictable parade of white people doing inappropriate things and wearing inappropriate costumes. It seems like no matter how much we call them out for it and explain why it is inappropriate, they keep doing it anyway, year after year.
A list of 5 things I am begging white people not to do this Halloween season

What we not gon do is let Sarah Silverman attack Holly Robinson Peete

The other issue is the way Silverman came at Peete. Nowhere in Silverman’s timeline is there a tweet showing her directly addressing anyone else about their presumed silence on the issue of Kanye’s anti-semitic statements. Yet she felt totally emboldened to go after a Black woman.
Sarah Silverman went after Holly Robinson Peete on Twitter, and it’s not OK

Black Twitter really is the shit

Let me just pause right here to say that Black people bring the spice everywhere we go. We add that little bit of razzle dazzle that is needed to level up any type of event or gathering.
Black Twitter makes everything better

What’s wrong with taking Black Girl Magic everywhere we go?

The Cardinal Divas are a majorette dance squad similar in nature to those mostly seen on the campuses of our nation’s HBCUs. Part spirit squad, part dance troupe, and always killing the game, these dance squads do something known as “j-setting,” a style of dance popularized by the squad at Jackson State University. Unlike white majorettes, Black majorettes do away with the traditional batons in favor of high kicks and mind-blowing choreography that can be done sitting in the stands as well as on the field.
Why are so many Black people bothered by the new Black majorette squad at USC?

‘Woke,’ ‘quiet quitting,’ and other word games the right plays

You see, those on the right have been engaged in a game of wordplay that has them redefining words and phrases to fit their various propaganda campaigns. Three very loud examples that come to mind are the word “woke” and the phrases “critical race theory” and “quiet quitting.” Stick with me and I’ll explain to you what I mean.
Word games and propaganda campaigns: The right is weaponizing language against us

When white institutions uphold white supremacy

As a Black woman, Anya was supposed to keep her thoughts to herself. This is how white supremacy works. You are supposed to endure the abuse and keep silent about it. Even raising the issue makes you a bigger problem than the issue itself. Remember selective offense?
Carnegie Mellon’s response to Professor Uju Anya’s tweet is an example of how institutions uphold white supremacy

Why are Black characters in fantasy stories such a controversial thing for white people?

It really bothers (some) white people that Black people get cast in their favorite make-believe stories. Maybe we are infringing on their ability to make believe that we don’t exist. Whatever the case may be, it’s seriously time to get over it, like Whoopi said.
When you can imagine dragons but not imagine Black people in fantasy stories, your racism is showing

Serena Williams is the greatest athlete of all time

Have you ever watched Serena on the court? It is almost as if she has a choreographer who plots out her moves for her. She is aware of the ball and her body at all times. She moves around the court with a speed and gracefulness that almost makes it look easy. Almost.
There are no qualifiers needed. Serena Williams is the greatest athlete of all time, and here are a few reasons why

Selective offense strikes again, this time with Chris Rock

Comedian Chris Rock, who was infamously slapped by Will Smith while on stage at this year’s Oscars, recently made a very tasteless joke about Nicole Brown Simpson, who was murdered in 1994 along with her friend, Ron Goldman.
The responses to Chris Rock’s tasteless joke about Nicole Brown Simpson vs. Jada say a lot about how America views Black women

The PWI vs HBCU debate is old and tired and needs to stop

We live in a world where facts matter, and there are simple facts that could help people understand why a Black student may not choose to go to an HBCU—and they have absolutely nothing to do with wanting to be white.
Yes, David Banner, HBCUs are a treasure but not always an option for a lot of Black students

I have a new attitude to start the week. A new determination if you will. A new goal. Sometimes, we need to reset our own programs just so we can get things right.

Amazon’s ‘A League of Their Own’ Tells Black stories loudly and proudly

Although the new show is also a fictionalized retelling of the World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), that’s where the similarities to the original ends.
‘A League of Their Own’ is based on the 1992 movie, but has an identity all its own

I Love L.A.

“I Love L.A.” is not just a song and a phrase that appears on T-shirts bought by tourists on Venice Beach. It is both a motto and a mantra. People who are from here recognize the greatness of our city, and we will defend it to the bitter end because we love it here.
Los Angeles gets a bad rap, and it’s completely unwarranted

It’s OK to spoil yourself

Because when you get right down to it, why work every single day if you can’t enjoy the money you make from it?
Treat yourself, don’t cheat yourself!

‘Down in the valley where the girlies get naked’

Since season one, fans have been intrigued by the goings-on at the Pynk, the strip club owned and operated by Uncle Clifford (Annan) but commanded by the women who perform there, including Mercedes (Evans); Keyshawn, aka Mississippi (Thornton); and Autumn (Johnson). Every single scene of every single episode is jam-packed with action, drama, or both, and by the end of each episode, you are left wanting more of the characters and their brilliantly evolving stories.
If you are not already watching ‘P-Valley,’ here is a list of reasons why you should

Stan culture is scary

Through the power of the internet and social media, fans have now built themselves into legions of rabid mobs that attack anyone who has even the slightest criticism of their favorite artists.
Stan culture is a crazy, toxic and unforgiving world

Terrell Owens is the latest Black man to experience a white woman’s weaponized tears

Who was the first white woman to lie on a Black man? Who was the first white woman to use her tears to try and get a Black man in trouble, or worse—killed? Who was the first white woman who realized if she put out her best crocodile tears, it could gain her the results she was looking for?
Terrell Owens finds out the hard way that white women have perfected weaponizing their tears against Black men

Jay Ellis got cyber-bullied over his marriage, and that’s not OK

As I watched this, I kept wondering why people felt the need to attack him. He had done nothing wrong. His bride had done nothing wrong. They were simply living their lives and sharing what is undoubtedly a very happy moment in their story. Why do people feel the need to ruin that (or at least try to) simply because they don’t want to see an interracial couple?
Jay Ellis and his new wife are not harming you, so why the vicious social media attacks?

monique judge

storyteller. writer. creator.

my writing