Crazy right?

I’d like to tell you a brief story. Buckle up, Buttercup, because like Bandersnatch, this story could have (had) multiple endings.

I try to support black businesses as much as possible, and not just because some white brand fucks up. I buy my books from black-owned bookstores (for the most part; sometimes you can’t beat 50 percent off on a signed copy of a book that costs $34.99 at Barnes & Noble). If you’re a black-owned apparel company who…

“I shuddered to think that while we wanted that flag dragged into the mud and sullied beyond repair, we also wanted it pristine, its white stripes, summer cloud white. Watching it wave in the breeze of a distance made us nearly choke with emotion. It lifted us up with its promise and broke our hearts with its denial.”

When news broke of the college admissions scam that rocked America, a pretty large segment of us were neither shocked nor surprised. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, privileged-kid college enrollment fixer William “Rick” Singer founded a for-profit counseling and college prep business, The Key, that…

At some point in his 56 years of life, Cesar Alteri Sayoc—the man charged with mailing explosive devices across the country and who is the mixed son of Italian and Filipino parents—learned to cloak himself in the construct of whiteness and the benefits he likely presumed it would provide.

When I tell people I’m from Jersey that usually garners one of three reactions:

In a now viral clip from an upcoming episode of LeBron James’ The Shop, the topic of financial obligations to family members is brought up, and a few of the men present—Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, and Jerrod Carmichael specifically—weigh in. Although it’s impossible to possess an accurate judgment of their true feelings…

The R. Kelly cry face—memed into oblivion after footage of his bizarre and explosive interview with Gayle King was first made public yesterday—seems poised to replace the Michael Jordan cry face as the go-to stock image for brutal and humiliating public defeat. If you believe in karma, seeing him in such conspicuous…

The slogans “Buy Black” or “Support Black Businesses” have existed for some time as clarion calls for black consumers to patronize black owned (or seemingly black owned) establishments. We see it hashtagged and sprawled across graphics calling for exclusive 30 day “buy black challenges” to spur economic growth in…

At the intersection of Black History Month and Women’s History Month, at midnight on March 1, 2019, Solange Knowles, aka Solange, aka Solo, aka The Knowles We All Love to Love, dropped her fourth album—the one right after the expectations-creating A Seat at the Table, so we all care—When I Get Home (WIGH).

One of the first sermons I ever preached was titled “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”

Publisher Synopsis: From the cofounder of VerySmartBrothas.com, and one of the most read writers on race and culture at work today, a provocative and humorous memoir-in-essays that explores the ever-shifting definitions of what it means to be Black (and male) in America.

Publisher Synopsis (via B&N): Musician, composer, producer, arranger and pioneering entrepreneur Quincy Jones has lived large and worked for five decades alongside the superstars of music and entertainment—including Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Ray Charles, Will Smith and dozens of…

My parents and I would sometimes play this game where we brought up a thoroughly unattractive and/or vaguely problematic dare (i.e.: Driving to GetGo while butt-ass naked) and then attached increasing dollar amounts to it until you finally said yes. (“Would you drive to GetGo while butt naked for $10?” “No.” “50?”…

1. My sexuality (of course)

Publisher Synopsis: Each captivating story plunges headfirst into the lives of new, utterly original characters. Some are darkly humorous—from two mothers exchanging snide remarks through notes in their kids’ backpacks, to the young girl contemplating how best to notify her Facebook friends of her impending…

While at the “MBK! Rising” conference in Oakland, Calif., last week, a student asked Barack Obama how to change the narrative on how men of color are generally perceived. He answered in the Obama-branded way he usually does when he speaks to large groups of young black men—thoughtful, measured, sincere, witty, and…

Publisher Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police…

Publisher Synopsis: Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American…