Dear Mr. Creekmur (& Similarly Distressed HipHop Daddies), I want to start by saying thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts about the Nicki Minaj poster down on paper. I know this may have been a difficult subject to discuss out in the open so I appreciate the risk you took by “going there.” As a parent it is clear that your words were at least partially … [Read more...]
Natural Hair: Win, Lose, or Draw?
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The Win Like many of you I was thrilled when I saw Tamron Hall, the first Black woman to co-anchor the Today Show, make her natural hair debut on the air. #BlackTwitter collectively lost its mind as we ooh’d and ahh’d over Hall’s natural hairstyle. Even White folks got on board and supported her curly girl look. The Today show took the nerve-wrenching step of polling … [Read more...]
When Donald Sterling is Your OBGYN/Pastor/Teacher/Doctor/Lawyer
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Donald Sterling Is Everywhere. Not just because recordings of him spewing racist garbage to his Black Latina girlfriend are all over the Internet. Not because the public—and the NBA—was reminded that he is a racist slumlord who has been sued more than once for engaging in pervasive, blatant housing discrimination. Not because we now associate his picture with all that is … [Read more...]
Uncle Sam Doesn’t Want the Real You
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(Unless He Can’t Get Anyone Else to Fight in His Wars) When creating a war ready military unit, the concept of “uniformity” is important. But concepts of uniformity do not exist in a vacuum. When military norms have their roots in a society that is permeated with a racist ideology (one that says Whiteness and all things associated with it are superior and that Blackness and … [Read more...]
White Women + Black Hair = Racial Progress?
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White Women + Black Hair = Progress? Recently there have been a number of images circulating in which corporate White women are featured wearing business suits and hairstyles typically seen only on Black women. These images are part of an exhibit, which seeks to build bridges between White and Black women. The photographer is a young Black woman by the name of Endia Beal, who … [Read more...]