Once again, as happens every year about this time, the calendar has rolled over to February. Once again, as happens every year about this time, some people (usually, though not always, people of color) start doing things to commemorate Black History Month. And, once again, as happens every year about this time, skeptical souls start […]
Baghmore? Baltidad?
“While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression and people who have had members of their family killed by that regime, for them to be taking their feelings out on that regime,” he said. “And I don’t think there’s anyone in […]
We are all criminals
Odds are good that you don’t think of yourself as a criminal. Odds are even better that you’re wrong about that. I have no doubt that you believe yourself to be a good, upstanding, law-abiding citizen. You’re not a murderer. You’ve never mugged anyone. You don’t steal cars or break into people’s homes. You’re not […]
“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Film”: Version 2.0
Freshly online at Jump Cut, a reprint — with additional images — of an essay by Heather Ashley Hayes and myself on Django Unchained. PDF of the original essay can be found here.
But if not
In honor of Martin Luther King Day, a “video” of King’s sermon — “But If Not” — at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on 5 November 1967. The whole thing is well worth a listen, but the real takeaway moment comes at 18:25: I say to you, this morning, if you have never found […]
None of us are free
I made this mix CD almost a decade ago. The two most recent tracks on it (the first and the last, as it turns out) are from 2002. None of the others are more recent than 1989. The oldest track turned 75 earlier this year. These days, however, the whole mix feels far, far too […]
Last month’s links
I’ve skipped this ritual for a few weeks. So, to make up for it, here’s a small flood of some of the best things I’ve read about Ferguson over the past few weeks (with some side dish on Bill Cosby sprinkled in here and there). Ta-Nehisi Coates Kiese Laymon Tressie McMillan Cottom Nick Mirzoeff Jennifer […]
Miss-iss-ouri goddamn
[photo by Jilly Ballistic] It’s hard to know what else to say about the miscarriage of justice that happened when the grand jury in Ferguson decided that Darren Wilson didn’t need to be indicted for killing Mike Brown. I wish I could say I was surprised. But I’m not. Like a lot of people — […]
Videos of the week
This week, three great tastes that taste great together.
Future must-read
New. Paul. Beatty. Novel. OMG. Okay. It looks like I’ll need to wait until March to actually get my hands on The Sellout. But I’ll be counting down the days till then. I’ve already gushed briefly here about Beatty’s first novel, The White Boy Shuffle, and I could do the same about his third novel, […]