#MeToo6/7/19Jun 7 20194#MeToo6/7/19#MeTooOn Lena Waithe and the Danger of Pinning Your Creative Authenticity to Your ActivismShamira Ibrahim29When it was announced that rising actor Jason Mitchell—known for his performances in Straight Outta Compton,…
America. In Black.1/24/19Jan 24 20193America. In Black.1/24/19America. In Black.A Neverending Quest for SovereigntyShamira Ibrahim7I often jokingly tell people that I grew up in a household made up of three (occasionally four, depending on what…
Race Matters1/15/19Jan 15 20193Race Matters1/15/19Race Matters‘Hang the Whites’: Rapper’s Hate Speech Trial Exposes the Hypocrisy of Race Relations in FranceShamira Ibrahim141The music video for 34-year-old French rapper Nick Conrad’s “Pendez les Blancs” (“Hang the Whites”) opens with a…
Music9/11/18Sep 11 20182Music9/11/18MusicAfropunk’s Owners Get Real About the Festival's Growth, Recent ControversiesShamira Ibrahim37For Matthew Morgan and Jocelyn Cooper, it has been a long, 15-year journey to get the Afropunk Festival from the…
Entertainment9/4/18Sep 4 20182Entertainment9/4/18EntertainmentCouple Thrown Out of Afropunk for Protest T-Shirt Questioning Festival's Inclusivity, Eroding Punk Nature [Updated]Shamira Ibrahim55It has been an oft-repeated refrain that the Afropunk Festival has changed from the punk-centered origins of its…
Jun 12 2018116/12/18Black Ramadan and the Importance of Finding Community in IsolationShamira Ibrahim20When I was a child, my mom would tell me stories about Ramadan in our homeland of Comoros. Some parts weren’t the…
Jan 12 2018501/12/18The Counter to Trump’s Xenophobic Racism Is Not Exceptionalist Immigrant NarrativesShamira Ibrahim43Sometime Thursday, Donald J. Trump waddled into the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C., and…
Aug 25 201788/25/17Did Afropunk Lose Its Punk Roots?Shamira Ibrahim88This weekend, a sea of unapologetic blackness will descend upon Fort Greene’s Commodore Barry Park for Brooklyn,…
Aug 15 2017468/15/17Body Image and Me: My Struggle With Body DysmorphiaShamira Ibrahim114A few months ago, I reconnected with a dear friend whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time. We met up for brunch,…
Jun 29 2017Save6/29/17Serena Williams Beats Everyone On The Court, But Just Can't Win With White People And Black MenShamira Ibrahim607I want to say that the first time that I heard Serena Williams called a man was middle school. I can’t say that with…
May 23 2017Save5/23/17America Owes Bresha Meadows A Debt That Will Never Be PaidShamira Ibrahim1.3KIn just a few months, Bresha Meadows will finally be out of prison. However, it won’t be due to her case being…
Mar 8 2017Save3/8/17Why I’m Not Participating In "A Day Without A Woman"Shamira Ibrahim996Today, millions of American women will exercise their right to protest by participating in “A Day Without A Woman” —…
Feb 27 2017Save2/27/17It's A Low Down Dirty Shame What Remy Ma Did To That Nicki Girl From QueensShamira Ibrahim953When I heard direct shots cast at Remy Ma on Gucci Mane & Nicki’s reconciliatory collab “Make Love”, three words…
Feb 9 2017Save2/9/17The Knicks Are A Dolan-Fueled Dumpster Fire And The Treatment Of Charles Oakley Is The Last StrawShamira Ibrahim299As I’ve written about before, the life of a Knicks fan is one of pure masochism. It’s season after season of…
Jan 24 2017Save1/24/17Bless Her Heart: Chrisette Michele's "No Political Genius" Is The Best/Worst Thing I've Ever HeardShamira Ibrahim622I’ve spent the better part of the last week wondering why in the hell Chrisette Michele was singing at Donald…
Jan 5 2017Save1/5/17Stop Being The Gym Snob Who Complains About New People At The Gym After New Year'sShamira Ibrahim817Despite the pending apocalypse’s greatest efforts to wipe out the human population in one fell swoop, the bulk of us…
Nov 9 2016Save11/9/16Once Again, Black Women Did The Work White Women Refused ToShamira Ibrahim1.6KThere will be plenty of time in the coming days, weeks and months to do a full post-mortem on what just happened…
Oct 20 2016110/20/16Guilty Or Not, Derrick Rose Is Rape Culture PersonifiedShamira Ibrahim411I wish I could say I was surprised that Derrick Rose and his cohorts were found not liable on all counts in the…
Oct 7 2016Save10/7/16Things I Know I'm Just Going To Suck At Forever (And I'm Okay With That)Shamira Ibrahim406I’m currently on a kick of acquiring basic life skills that escaped me because of either growing up in poverty, city…
Sep 28 2016Save9/28/16I Can't Root For The Knicks Anymore If Derrick Rose Is On Our TeamShamira Ibrahim446I’ve experienced the sweet torture of being a New York Knickerbockers fan for almost my entire life.