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For Us, By Us: Newarkās Blackness Doing It for the Culture, the Politics, the People
Newark is so black that during the Great Migration, folks thought it was āNew York,ā got off the train, and stayed. True story. Newark so black they gotta mayor named Ras, a royal title in Amharic, and you know how black people love grand names (also see: NWK native Queen Latifahā who named herself). New-Ark,…
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This Black History Month, Letās Recognize the African-American Prisoners Who Helped Build America
Like much of the rest of the discourse around jails, prisons and mass incarceration, Black History Month is not usually a time when we talk about the thousands of black prisoners that were forced to build America after the Civil War. Itās time to recognize them because the postwar South was literally rebuilt on their…
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Harlemās Blackness Is Triumphant. When It Comes to Blackest City, There Is No Competition
There are very few words synonymous with blackness. āHarlemā fits that bill. Harlem is a place, yes, but it is also an idea; it is an exhortation. It is our very own Oz. In fact, Harlem, unlike most things in America that signify blacknessāāinner city,ā āurban,ā āwelfareāāis triumphant. It represents the very best of us,…
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Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Jermaine Dupri Talk Super Bowl LIII, While the Mothers of the Movement Walk From Participating in the Festivities
On yet another cold winter day in New York City, high above the West Side Highway, a small group of luminaries representing the ATL descended on Manhattan to talk Super Bowl LIII. Among them: Kate Atwood, Executive Director of ChooseATL; Dan Corso, Super Bowl LIII Host Committee Board of Directors and President of Atlanta Sports…
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Dear Black Boy: You Can Fly Even If You Canāt Run, Shoot or Dribble, Says Martellus Bennett
More than two years out, many of us still canāt stomach the sickening shooting deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling by police. That senseless carnage, caught on video for all to see, sent millions reeling and many into action. Some marched, some knelt, some prayed, wept and/or raged on social media. Some, like NFL…
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Black Artists Unite to Revive Black Wall Streetās Legacy
At the turn of the 20th century, the thriving neighborhood of Greenwood, known as Black Wall Street, in Tulsa, Okla., was an epicenter of black wealth in the United States. From 1905 to 1921, it was a flourishing community filled with black families who owned businesses, homes, newspapers and churches. It was also the site…
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Stacey Abrams Exemplifies the Kwanzaa Principle of ImaniāConsciously Moving Forward Against Forces Seen and Unseen
The last day of Kwanzaa is represented by the principle of Imani, or faithāthe essence of what has gotten us through when there seemed no way out. Black people, in general, are a spiritual people. But we are also a people of faith, which is not necessarily attached to formal religion. In the words of…
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Kuumba & Chill: Netflixās Doyenne Jasmyn Lawson Is Out Here Doing It for the Culture
As we continue on our Kwanzaa trek this year, today we celebrate Kuumba, or creativity, a place whereāletās be frankāblack folks excel. From Black Twitter to music of practically every genre; from comedy to cooking; from politics to fashion, we are nothing if not creative. Kuumba is defined as: āTo do always as much as…
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Kwanzaa Shout: Richelieu Dennis, the āEssenceā of Cooperative Economics
TodayāDec. 29āthe Kwanzaa principle celebrated is Ujamaa, or ācooperative economics,ā and there was very little debate as to who personified the āessenceā of this concept, simply defined as such: To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together. Richelieu Dennis, founder of the and CEO of SunĀdial…
