What is your role in the deconstruction of anti-Blackness?
Who has most benefitted from the anti-Black mythology that was (and is) used to justify the kidnapping and enslavement of African people? How does that mythology influence us today?
“There was no concept of race or a white race before the need to justify the enslavement of Africans. Creating a separate and inferior black race simultaneously created the “superior” white race: one concept could not exist without the other.”
― White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
European_Douchebag and the Bearded Sikh Girl: When Cyberbullying Goes Terribly Right
I'm not sure how much attention you're willing to pay to the ramblings of a Reddit poster named "european_douchebag," but the guy has sparked a conversation that has led many, myself included, to examine the impromptu judgments we make about how other humans choose to...
1968 Olympics Black Power Salute: Ever Wonder What that White Guy Was Thinking?
When American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black fists in protest and solidarity at the Mexico City Olympic games in 1968, I was much too young to understand the significance of the moment. I do remember the controversy it stirred. I have vague...
Joshua Bennett’s ’10 Things I Want to Say to a Black Woman’ — To Click or Not to Click?
Spoken word artist Joshua Bennett has ten things he wants to say to a black woman, and I'm not sure I want to hear it. I've happened upon Bennett's YouTube video and I see that hundreds of thousands of viewers have already clicked "play." I'm curious. And dubious....
Kathleen Cross Interviewed by Masud Olufani
This is a cross post from BahaiTeachings.org "In her multidisciplinary professional practice, which includes writing, pedagogy, and public speaking, Kathleen Cross unpacks the social complexity of being fair-skinned in a society where one’s proximity to “whiteness”...
Phenomenal On So Many Levels
I'm sharing this Amazon.com review of Skin Deep here because I felt the reader really connected with the characters and really understood the plot of the novel and the part melanin plays in it: Wow! This was an awesome read. It was recommended by a book club, so this...
Help Me Understand Why Cannes Winner “Blue is the Warmest Color” is a Triumph for Lesbians
I was a late bloomer. I was a tree-climbing, pet-menagerie-loving, book-devouring tomboy my entire childhood. At 14 years old I still had not reached puberty, and I had begun to wonder if something might be physically wrong with me, since most of my girl-friends had...
Tatiana Zamir Wants to Touch You…
Truth is a part of our foundation…even though pain may come from being vulnerable, beauty will surely follow.” –Tatiana Zamir Tatiana Zamir wants to touch you. Yes, you read that right. Not only does Tatiana Zamir want to touch you, she wants you to know that it may...
One on One with Kumaserati: We Talk Black Wall Street, Kat Stacks and ’99 Names of God’
If you are a serious aficionado of "conscious" hip hop music, you are no doubt familiar with the name Kumasi Simmons, a.k.a., Kumaserati, a gifted hood-born poet with a unique flow that has attracted souls from as close as Brooklyn and Compton to as far as Paris,...
I Dreamed of Rihanna’s Grandmother Last Night
Anyone who knows me knows that I believe that the dream world is much more than an odd vacation spot our brain visits as it recharges for another day. Indeed, some of my most life-altering experiences have occurred in that other world, and many of my ideas about God,...
Sometimes it Lasts…But Sometimes it Hurts Instead
"Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead." -Adele The photo above was taken at a surprise party for Todd Barr on September 8, 2002--his last birthday on earth. I wonder if the people in attendance that day know what a tremendous gift they gave...
Here’s Why I Love Kola Boof
"I wish, so much, that I hadn’t stayed with the bodies over night. Because that is how I received my imagination...I could hear their blood going into the earth...And I know TOO MUCH." -Kola Boof Whenever I think of Kola Boof, I see an image of Naima Bint Harith, a...
Happy Birthday to Me, Tupac and a White Dude Who Dyed for Freedom (not a typo)
Today is my birthday. And Tupac's Too. Another June 16th human being I really love is John Howard Griffin. I hope you already know all about this man, but if not, he was a White anti-racist who grew up in the South and wanted to do something to reach the hearts and...
Asian Activist Scot Nakagawa: “White Supremacy Has a Special Relationship with Blacks”
If you have ever attended a cultural sensitivity training or participated in a forum or workshop exploring issues of race and racism, you have probably noticed that when the dialogue moves to a specific focus on white/black relations (and the ferocity with which...
Justus, Joshua and James: 3 Black Chess Players Achieve Master Ranking at Age 12
There are some 77,000 members of the United States Chess Federation and fewer than 2 percent of them are excellent enough players to be called “masters.” Of those masters, just 13 of them are under the age of 14. Of those 13, three are African American boys from the...
Schooling Carmen Available Free on Amazon.com (for 24 Hours Only)
My novel Schooling Carmen is available in Kindle format free at Amazon.com for the next 24 hours. *(Usually $4.99, but for 24 hours, that is until MIDNIGHT (pst) May 7th you can get it free.) "Cross quickly pulls her readers in...It's not her style to do anything...
NY Post Writer Phil Mushnick is Happy to be Entertained by Ni – – ers, Until They Get Uppity
New York Post writer Phil Mushnick is apparently comfortable with talented "niggers" chasing a basketball around for his entertainment —and his kids can listen to their music— but when a wealthy black man has the gall to actually OWN a NBA team franchise and express...
Ten Most Irreverent (Funny?) Tweets About the Fire at Tyler Perry Studios
So, if you're a frequent visitor to my blog you already know I am NOT a Tyler Perry hater, but plenty of folks are, as evidenced by the sheer volume (and spitefulness) of tweets regarding the 4-alarm fire that caused a building to collapse at Perry's Atlanta studio....
‘Preezy of the United Steezy’ Barack Obama Slow Jams the News with Jimmy Fallon & The Roots
[embedplusvideo height="275" width="440" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/vAFQIciWsF4?fs=1" vars="ytid=vAFQIciWsF4&width=440&height=275&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep6423" /] Whether or not you agree with his premise that college...
If You Noticed My Silence…
My last few months were spent being pounded by monster waves in this beautiful and at times ferocious sea of life. But I have, at last, found calmer waters, have surfaced for air, and am back at the keyboard. Thank you to all who sent healing prayers for my little one...
One on One with ‘Alpha’s’ Star, Malik Yoba
As an award-winning actor, a playwright and a published author. He composes and performs original music and is a gifted singer, lyricist and poet. He’s a sex symbol. A motivational speaker. He’s a philanthropist and a father. It is an impressive list of titles,...
Know Good White People: Wrestling the term ‘White Pride’ Out of the Hands of the Klan
Jean Rankin was a wife and mother of thirteen children living in a modest home overlooking the Ohio river in what was the "free state" of Ohio. Through her window she could see a clear and gorgeous view of Kentucky, where thousands of enslaved African Americans lived...
Where Do Broken Hearts Go?
“If I should die this very day, don’t cry, ’cause on Earth we wasn’t meant to stay…” -Whitney Houston (Your Love is My Love) Forgive me for being blunt, but my grandmother died exactly the same way Whitney Houston did, alone in a hotel bathtub. Only, Grandma left a...
Study Finds Kids with Low I.Q. More Likely to Become Racist, Politically Conservative Adults
Researchers at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, have published a study in Psychological Science that shows people who score low on I.Q. tests in childhood are more likely to develop prejudiced beliefs and conservative political views in adulthood. I.Q., or...
Tyler Perry to ‘Red Tails’ Producer George Lucas: ‘Thank You for Having the Courage’
Tyler Perry knows well the risks and rewards associated with making films that feature an all-black cast. Though Perry has made a successful career of producing all-black movies, he knows firsthand Hollywood's resistance when it comes to funding and distributing...
Update 1/17/12: Schooling Carmen E-Book (FREE for 48 hours)
Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls: Celebrating the 1st Graduating Class
From the moment Oprah Winfrey announced her intention to build a leadership academy for impoverished girls on the African continent, critics were vehement and vocal about why it was the wrong thing to do. When scandal rocked the school, not once, but repeatedly, the...
Cross-Post from Bionic Beauty: I Am Beautiful…Because I Am by Kathleen Cross
I have been incredibly excited to share this week’s Powerful Beauty guest contributor. Kathleen Cross is the author of two Harper Collins novels, Skin Deep and Schooling Carmen. She has been a guest on numerous radio and television shows, including Oprah, Montel and...
5 Ways Families Can Honor Dr. King & The Dream « Growing Up Global
5 Ways Families Can Honor Dr. King & The Dream « Growing Up Global.
Gordon Hirabayashi, 1918-2012
If you don't know the name Gordon Hirabayashi, you should. He is an indisputable hero and icon of American history. Best known for being one of the few people to openly defy the government's unconstitutional internment of Japanese Americans during World War II,...
A Conversation with Common: ‘I Want to Become One of the Greats’
It has been nearly 20 years since the "conscious rapper" Common released his debut album, yet he continues to treat his fans to new and deeper insights into why he is, and will remain, a cultural icon. --And it just keeps getting better. This handsome and grounded...
Brown and Beautiful: 10 Children’s Books That Nurture Healthy Self-Esteem in Black Toddlers
More than 70 years have passed since Dr. Kenneth B Clark and his wife Mamie designed and conducted the "doll test" to study the psychological effects of racism on young children. They showed four dolls, identical except for color, to black children ages 3 to 7 and...
Inventor Develops Procedure to Permanently Turn Brown Eyes Blue
"It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes, those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights — if those eyes of hers were different, that is to say, beautiful, she herself would be different." –Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye An inventor in...
Mexicans Recreate ‘Black Doll-White Doll’ Experiment to Measure Skin Color Preference South of the Border
In an attempt to measure the degree to which Mexican children are affected by the legacy of European colonialism and the present day images they are bombarded with via the media, researchers in Mexico conducted an experiment modeled after the famous 1940's Clark study...
Cee Lo Green Changes Two Words of John Lennon Song, Gets Slammed With ‘F— You’ Tweets
When Cee Lo Green performed at NBC's televised New Year's Eve party, he offered his own rendition of the classic John Lennon song, "Imagine." It would seem that the Lennon song would make a great choice for a diverse crowd celebrating together and looking forward to...
Conservative Bloggers Call First Lady ‘Fat Cakes Michelle,’ Criticize Her Fashion Choices
Ever on the hunt for something disparaging to say about the first family, conservative bloggers have criticized President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for various aspects of their 17-day vacation in Hawaii--including the first lady's fashion choices....
Take This Job and Shove It? 5 Signs You May Have the Worst Boss in the World
If you are an employee who works in an environment where your higher-ups are supportive, creative, fair-minded and open to feedback, count yourself among the lucky ones. Unfortunately, not everyone is so blessed. Many employees are struggling to cope in a negative...
Happy Feet Two Delivers a Message Every Kid (Even the Grown Ones) Should Hear
"If you want it, you must will it. If you will it, it will be yours." Though I loved the overall message of Happy Feet Two, I found a couple of serious glitches in this energetic and well-meaning sequel to an Academy Award-winning predecessor. Let's just go ahead and...
Crips and Bloods Unite to Occupy Atlanta
Georgia Peace Education Program Director, Tim Franzen, shares the story of Shabaka Addae Guillory, a 20-year-old who joined the Crips at age 14, and Sherrod Britton, a 29-year-old Blood member. According to Franzen, the two became best friends during an impromptu...
Desperate Ex-Skinhead Turns to Former Black Enemy to Escape Life of Hate
"I wasn't on any great mission for the white race. I was just a thug." -Bryon Widner Before he fell in love and married his wife, Julie, Bryon Widner had once devoted his life, his heart and his body to the cause of white supremacy. A pillar in the neo-Nazi movement,...
We’re a Culture Not a Costume (REPOST)
Fed up with the annual parade of white folks in blackface, "Indian squaws," and other culturally insensitive Halloween costumes on their campus, a group of students at Ohio University decided to do something about it. Members of the campus club STARS (Students...
First Lady Michelle Obama’s Bestseller, ‘American Grown’
I don't know if the first lady of the United States named her book "American Grown" with the intention of b***h slapping those who've accused her over the years of being unpatriotic (the same ones who accused her husband of being a non-American.) But, ahem, take...
We’re a Culture, Not a Costume: Ohio University Students Teaching What NOT to Wear
Fed up with the annual parade of white folks in blackface, "Indian squaws," and other culturally insensitive Halloween costumes on their campus, a group of students at Ohio University decided to do something about it. Members of the campus club STARS (Students...
“Curvy” Ballerina Speaks on Being American Ballet Theatre’s First Black Soloist
The image most of us have of mainstream classical ballet is one of stick-thin white women who got their start in the world of dance back when they were toddlers sporting baby ballet slippers and tiny tutus. Prepare to revamp that image now that Misty Copeland has...
Malik Yoba’s New SyFy Show Alphas is “The Wire Meets X-Files”
UPDATE: Alphas is five episodes in, and the show is awesome. And, for those who say black folks aren't into SciFi, check out this vote of confidence I found over at allhiphop.com with the thread title: Please tell me y'all niggaz are watching Alphas. :-/ Rumor has it...
Zero Tolerance Public School Policies Are Pre-Criminalizing Black and Brown Children
The United States of America makes up 5 percent of the world’s population, but houses 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. No country in the world, not a dictatorship or a communist, Islamic or facist country anywhere on Earth imprisons more of its citizens than...
Black Mothers Are Least Likely to Breast-Feed … Is a Breast-Feeding Doll the Solution?
A recent CDC report found that non-Hispanic black women in the U.S. were least likely to breastfeed compared to other racial groups, despite the fact that breast milk provides superior nutrition, natural immunity, and possible allergy prevention for babies who receive...
Restaurant Servers Want a Tip? Serve Black Customers Better
According to a recent poll by The Root on attitudes and habits regarding tipping, African Americans are much more likely than whites to tip as a "reward for good service." These findings were among a number of differences in tipping habits across cultural lines...
Black Graduate Forced to Share Valedictorian Honor With White Student Who Did Not Earn It
A black teenager named Kymberly Wimberly who had a baby during her junior year, yet managed to earn the highest grade-point average at her high school, is suing an Arkansas school district, contending she was discriminated against when she was not allowed to be sole...
Amy Winehouse’s 15-Year-Old Goddaughter’s Soulful Show Must Go On
Two hours after learning that Amy Winehouse’s voice had been forever silenced, her goddaughter and protégé, Dionne Bromfield, took to the stage to perform. Though the 15-year-old made no mention of the tragedy, nor sang any of her godmother's songs during her...
‘Ebony,’ ‘Jet’ Publisher John H. Johnson Immortalized on Black Heritage Postage Stamp
In the wake of recent news that family-owned Johnson Publications has sold a minority share of the business to JPMorgan Chase & Co., the U.S. Postal Service is announcing that it will include the publishing company's founder, John H. Johnson, in their Black...
Abandoned at Birth Now an AIDS Activist: Hydeia Broadbent’s Life a Testament to Early Diagnosis and Treatment
Born HIV-infected to a crack-addicted mother and diagnosed with full blown AIDS at age 3, Hydeia Broadbent was not expected to live past the age of 5. More than 20 years after receiving that death sentence, this beautiful young woman blogs, tweets and travels the...
Mexican Beer Ad Implies African Women Are Animals
I was driving down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood and had to circle the block for a second look at this bus bench poster. What the hell? This is just wrong on too many levels to believe, but the most glaring offense is the negative message it sends about African women....
Does Your Toddler Have Bad Credit?
With the rise in foreclosures, bankruptcies, long-term unemployment and other recession-related financial disasters, some desperate people have resorted to stealing the identities of children to apply for credit. It is estimated that as many as 400,000 kids per year...
White Hate Crime Convict Scheduled to Die July 20; Bangladeshi Victim Wants Him Spared
When terrorists attacked America on 9/11, Mark Anthony Stroman went on a murderous rampage to, as he put it, “exact some measure of equality and fairness for the thousands of victims of September 11.” With specific intent to kill Middle Eastern-looking men, Stroman...
Employers Prefer White Felons Over Blacks With No Criminal Record
You may remember the 2003 University of Chicago study by Devah Pager that sent young white and black "testers" with randomly assigned “felony convictions” to apply for low-wage jobs. The study found that whites with felonies were more likely to be called for...
Where Does John Singleton Stand on that Spike Lee / Tyler Perry Thing?
Director John Singleton, who is at the American Black Film Festival in Miami celebrating the 20th anniversary of his film, Boyz n the Hood, sat down with The Root to chat about black film. Asked about his views on the negative comments that have gone back and forth...
Oprah Rumored to Top Short List to Host 2012 Academy Awards
It has been almost 25 years since Oprah Winfrey didn’t get an Academy Award for her critically-acclaimed portrayal of Sophia in the Spielberg-directed film, The Color Purple, and right about now the folks at the Academy have to be hoping she’s not holding that against...
One on One with Malika Haqq
STUNNING, is the word that instantly came to my mind when Malika Haqq walked into our recent interview casually dressed and wearing no makeup. If you've caught any of the episodes of E! Network's Khloe & Lamar (another new spin-off of the hit reality show Keeping...
Two Years After His Death the Spirit of Michael Jackson Keeps Brazilian Kids Out of Trouble
In memory of Michael Jackson on this, the 2nd Anniversary of his death, a little something that would make him smile: [embedplusvideo height="298" width="480" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/3-XsLT2K1to?fs=1"...
Week Before Airport Police Arrested Black Man for Sagging Pants, This Half-Naked White Guy Flew With No Problem
How is it that a 20-year-old Black man with his pants sagging low enough to expose his boxer shorts made US Airways flight attendants feel the need to correct his fashion choice, yet this passenger flew with no problem on the same airline a week before--despite the...
Teen Slaves in New Jersey Forced to Braid Hair Made $4Million for their Captors
Imagine you are looking to get your hair braided and you find a salon where the price is low and the quality of the braids is high. You sit for hours in a chair, while a young girl who could be the same age as your sister or daughter works her artistry on your hair....
‘Black Like Me’ White Author Darkened His Skin to Write About “Being Black”
Today is my birthday. And Tupac's Too. Another June 16th human being I really love is John Howard Griffin. I hope you already know all about this man, but if not, he was a White anti-racist who grew up in the South and wanted to do something to reach the hearts and...
Happy Birthday Tupac
Yes, I am aware of the news that broke yesterday about Dexter Isaac confessing to shooting 'Pac back in 1994. But, I don't feel like writing a story about that today. Not today. Instead, Happy Birthday Tupac... "And my AIM is to spread more smiles than tears Utilize...
Bret Lockett Should Apologize to Kim Kardashian and Admit an Impostor Duped Him
If you've paid any attention at all to entertainment news channels over the last few days, you have heard that football player Bret Lockett is calling Kim Kardashian a cheater and a liar. He adamantly swears he has carried on a five-month telephone sex affair with the...
Tupac’s Godfather Geronimo Ji-Jaga: The Definition of Tragedy Turned Triumph
Geronimo Ji-Jaga died Thursday, June 2nd in Tanzania, Africa. [embedplusvideo height="387" width="480" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/iqgdF2foAA0?fs=1"...
Dove Body Wash Will Turn Brown Women White!
So, several bloggers around the web have been commenting on this Dove VisibleCare body wash advertisement, saying it appears to them to be (unintentionally) racist. *Blink* Um. I don't think I'm gonna hop on that band wagon. It seems pretty clear to me that the before...
Scott Heron’s Music ‘Reflected Black Anger’ (WTH ?!) I Can’t…
On Friday, May 27th, 2011, Gil Scott-Heron died, and it was up to the rest of us left here on Earth to decide whether that mattered much. Within hours, the Internet began buzzing about his life, his incredible talent, and the impression his words and music left on the...
Lauren London Exclusive Interview: ‘Under My Skin” (Part 2)
After we got most of the serious topics out of the way last week in part one of this interview, the beautiful actress and model Lauren London responded candidly to my barrage of not-quite-so-deep questions: You are stranded on an island for the weekend. Name three...
Disrespect Us? No They Won’t. (Yes. They Will.)
Okay. So. It is pretty much universally recognized that Beyoncé is THE ISH when it comes to demonstrating how it is done ("it" being how to use your talent, looks, brains and work ethic to dominate your industry). As far as the song "Run The World (Girls)" is...
‘Under My Skin’ Exclusive Interview w/ Lauren London (Pt.1)
From the moment she hit the big screen starring opposite T.I. in the film ATL, Lauren London forever silenced those critics who said her early roles in music videos were anything less than saavy career moves. If you’ve seen the way Lauren’s dimpled smile and...
Gil Scott Heron – The “Godfather of Rap” Has Gone Home
[embedplusvideo height="350" width="430" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/X6OASOH_66A?fs=1" vars="ytid=X6OASOH_66A&width=430&height=350&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep2081" /] [embedplusvideo...
Sometimes ‘Scientists’ Really Aren’t
If you haven't heard or read about Psychology Today blogger Satoshi Kanazawa's recent proclamation that he could "scientifically" explain why Black women are the least attractive women on earth, consider yourself fortunate to not have that garbage in your head. (The...
Thor Haters Are Playing the Double Standard Card
In Norse mythology Heimdall is described as "the whitest of the gods," which adds interesting irony to the controversy surrounding the casting of Idris Elba as Heimdall in the blockbuster hit Thor. Thousands of upset comic book fans have posted angry Internet comments...
CBS Early Show Gives Term ‘White Wedding’ New Meaning
Tuesday on the CBS Early Show host Erica Hill gave new meaning to the term "white wedding" when her segment on why "we" like wedding movies so much managed to focus exclusively on films about white folks. In keeping with the show's committment to feeding its viewers a...
Did I Tell You the One About the Mexican…
A few years ago I attended a Power of Oneness Awards ceremony where actor Edward James Olmos was honored for his work to bring about the unity of the human family. In his acceptance speech that night (to an ethnically diverse, majority Euro-American crowd) he referred...
White (Skinned) For a Day…
This has got to be one of the saddest things I've ever seen. This is Toni Morrison's "The Bluest Eye" in REAL LIFE. How do you undo this kind of damage done to someone's identity? How does someone live in their skin when they are this disturbed by it? What's bizarre...
Tyler Perry is Free
I have a vivid memory of a city bus ride I took with my father when I was eight years old. We were on our way to the science museum and there were some young Black kids in the back of the bus acting up. Nothing outlandish--just a few unsupervised pubescents being...
What We Owe Eve
I am a genealogy enthusiast who has spent countless hours tracing my roots back through the generations, often discovering historical gems that connect me to people I had never heard of whose survival and life choices resulted in my existence. It is a sobering and...
Father & Friend: ‘Every Time I Look at You, I See Myself’
[embedplusvideo height="269" width="430" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/RbqF6Xv1mNU?fs=1" vars="ytid=RbqF6Xv1mNU&width=430&height=269&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep8485" /] A public...
LouAnne Johnson Responds to ‘Dangerous Minds’ Questions
After writing the post Waiting For...A White Lady?, I did some further research and found that LouAnne Johnson has a website where she posts articles and answers questions about her current work as a teacher and her past experiences writing the book "My Posse Don't Do...
Waiting For…A White Lady?
[embedplusvideo height="281" width="500" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/VC3h8BTzGNs?fs=1" vars="ytid=VC3h8BTzGNs&width=500&height=281&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep3060" /] You gotta watch...
The Only Thing Greater Than Yourself…
[embedplusvideo height="387" width="480" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/AXQDa7GzPYw?fs=1" vars="ytid=AXQDa7GzPYw&width=480&height=387&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=¬es=" id="ep8377" /] Sadly, the majority of young people today have no...
The Darker the Berry…The More Invisible?
Los Angeles Times Magazine celebrated the "50 Most Beautiful Women in Film" in their February, 2011 edition. Someone at the magazine was given the task of deciding what beautiful looks like and they came up with the following 50:
Louis CK: ‘Here’s How Great it Is to Be White’
One comedian's take on White privilege. WARNING...EXPLICIT LANGUAGE. [embedplusvideo height="269" width="430" standard="http://www.youtube.com/v/TG4f9zR5yzY?fs=1"...
DeBlackifying Barack Obama
The fact that President Barack Obama is the product of an interracial marriage has led folks of every ethnicity to argue about whether he should be calling himself "Black." Many people are of the opinion that he should identify himself as "Biracial" to...
Are Will and Jada Pimping the Mini-Mes?
How stupid unobservant am I? (Rhetorical question. Don't answer that.) Um, yeah, so I just (like, just this minute while writing this piece) figured out that Jaden and Willow smith's given names are tributes to their parents. Will/Willow. Jaden/Jada. Duh. Okay. I...
The intern who saved Rep. Giffords’ life is gay, Mexican and naturalized?
An insane (and insanely armed) white guy shoots Arizona's first Jewish Congresswoman and the man who is credited with helping to save her life is an openly gay, naturalized American citizen of Mexican descent. (You're awesome, Daniel.) This 20-year-old hero heard...
I Socked My 3-Year Old Daughter in the Eye: Janet Jackson Made Me Do It
My three-year-old is a handful. She has more energy than any toddler I've ever seen. Sometimes she just runs around in circles in the living room trying to use up what seems to be a never ending store of kinetic abundance. The day I socked her in the eye (did I...
Blind, brain damaged 8-year-old lifts football linebacker
“Can I ask you something?’’ he said, sitting in the Parkers’ living room after Sammy was asleep. “Is it OK if this article is more about Sam than me?’’ Why? “He’s done more for me than I’ve done for him." Rudy Favard is a busy teenager--a high school senior who is...
Oprah, Kathleen and Heavy D: we got our OWN thang
So, yesterday Oprah was talking to me (like she does several times a week). I was a little preoccupied with something on my laptop, but when I finally looked up at her she looked me right in my eyes (to make sure I was really paying attention, I suppose) and she said,...
I Don’t Hate “Octomom”
If she's not buying a ticket for this week's Mega Millions lottery, Nadya Suleman should pray for me to win. If I did win that $290 million, I would gladly take 1% of my winnings and build a house for "Octomom" and her 14 children--not because I agree with her...
Sofia Vergara’s Heart is Bigger Than Her…Well, Everything Else
One big drawback to being as friggin' drop dead ridiculously gorgeous and sexy as Sofia Vergara--It's pretty impossible for people to see (or bother looking for) your spiritual assets when your physical ones are so distracting. If you've watched the Emmy-award winning...
Mike Vick and I Have Something in Common
First things first, let me confess that as it relates to discussing Michael Vick's crimes against animals I cannot be considered unbiased. I have an 8-year-old pit bull who has been with our family since he was two months old and the thought of Baloo, or any other...
Teena Marie’s Last Words Were Wishes
It is beyond tragic that Teena Marie, who at age 54 had so much more living to do, died in her sleep on Christmas night--the very same night her only child, Alia Rose, turned 19. Alia and Teena, Summer 2010Teena's last words via Twitter just a few hours before she...
Tyler Perry’s Extreme Makeover…Burned Home Edition
So, I realize Tyler Perry is an entertainment mega-mogul who owns his own friggin' film studio, but it is still pretty difficult to think of him and not get a visual of the makeover he undergoes to portray grandma Madea--an extreme makeover that led to him becoming...
An intimate Christmas gift from L. Boogie
When rap legend Rakim was asked by MTV News who he most wanted to see on stage at Rock The Bells in San Bernardino this summer, he had a quick answer. "Lauryn Hill, man....I'm amped. Lauryn, welcome back. We need you." It was the first time in over a decade most of...
Will you be alive next Christmas Eve?
None of us really knows the answer to that question because in this life a tragedy or a miracle can happen in an instant. For most the answer is yes, but for many, this Christmas will be the last spent here on earth with family and friends. I don't mean to be morbid...
Rainn, Rainn, Goes Away…
Forgive me for the drippy headline pun, but it has rained so much in Southern California this week, some of us damn near needed a rowboat to get our holiday shopping done. Rainn Wilson, I forgive you for abandoning us to the floods, but I gotta ask you why a rich and...
Could Beating Up on Chris Brown Hurt Our Daughters?
Yesterday Chris Brown tweeted a picture of the diploma he received after completing a 52-week domestic violence class. A popular website on Newsweek's list of "Most Influential Bloggers" posted, "How embarrassing it must be for his mother to have a son who had to...
Four-year-old criminal caught in the act of stealing…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygVkWCeam1U] ...stealing the show, that is. 😉 MJ lives on...
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