• Entire Internet Surprised Women Like An Attractive Man

    It’s one of the 10 most ratchet things I’ve seen this year. And six of those 10 are twerk videos. All taking place in Waffle House bathrooms, someone’s grandmom’s kitchens, and Waffle House parking lots. And all featuring young women with as many tattoos as criminal citations. And I loved every second of them. I…

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  • VSB Presents: The #Blackestname In America Tournament, Round 2, Day 1

    10 observations from the last few days (from Twitter): 1. Nothing has ever been or will ever be Blacker than the email thread where we nominated names. That was prime Blackness. Blackness nirvana. 2. The athletes’ bracket was the hardest to narrow down. Could have had an entire bracket just for SEC football players at…

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  • Jason Whitlock, Greg Howard, And Speaking Around "Company"

    Because of some mechanical issues, a Megabus trip last week from D.C. to Pittsburgh — a journey that’s usually six hours long — ended up lasting close to nine. Aside from spending an hour cursing my decision not to just drive to D.C. and back, I spent a good part of that trip reading Greg…

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  • Why I'm Totally Here For Kyla McMullen's List Of 73 Sexy Science Sistas

    1. Because my homie Dahlia Haynes is on it. She’s #30. And I don’t know if she’s rocking a shirt or one of Jadakiss’s jean jackets with the sleeves cut. 2. Because I can think of several women who could have made the list, but didn’t — including the women I profiled for EBONY’s “Sistas…

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  • VSB Presents: The #BlackestName In America Tournament, Round 1 Day 1

    Detroit. The first season of Frank’s Place. The second verse on Lift Every Voice and Sing. Frosted Flakes with added sugar. ?uestlove’s name. ?uestlove’s beard. Your auntie. Grape Kool-aid. Killah Priest. Every character Isaiah Washington has ever played. Delta Sigma Theta. Uncles named “Unc.” The list of things undeniably and unquestionably Black stretches from here to Gary,…

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  • Welcome To The New VSB

    “What the hell are we doing?” This is an accurate synopsis of each of the dozens of conversations Panama and I have had in the past three years about the future and direction of VerySmartBrothas. We’ve both often joked that it has managed to stay afloat in spite of ourselves. But, after a couple years…

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  • A Story About My Dad

    It was a Monday. I was 11 years old, a guard on the St. Barts Bruins JV basketball team. We were a week away from our first game of the season, and our hot-to-death new uniforms — reversible tanks with our last names on the back and long cotton shorts with the school’s logo on…

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