There's a lot we can learn from watching the careers of prominent Black people. Icons like Melissa Harris Perry & Roland S. Martin provide at least 4 key lessons for Black employees and as Black professionals working in White spaces, we would be wise to pay attention. To help us do that, let's start with a quick analogy: one that compares the power of house guests and … [Read more...]
Black Hair, White Racism & the Law
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New Hair Era | Same Old Racism When I first cut out my perm in the 1990s I had no reason to believe that I was going to live long enough to see a natural Black hair movement. Nobody, and I mean nobody at my predominantly White Penn State University campus was wearing natural hairstyles then and I remember feeling very alone. A lot of my friends and advisors would ask me … [Read more...]
Black Folk Money Shuffle
There's Financial Health...Then There's What We Have... When Louis Farrakhan issued the call for Justice or Else! A lot of folks got stuck on the "else" part. Many of us couldn't imagine what our community actually could do if we don't get justice from White America. Most people failed to realize that the "or else" is up to us. I see this most clearly when I think about … [Read more...]
#DearSheriffLott: Sex With Black People Can’t Cure Racism
Dear Sheriff Leon Lott, It's amazing that I'm using the phrase “sex with Black people” in the title of an open letter. But that’s what happens when someone with your level of power dares to use the “my employee/friend/brother-can’t-be-racist-because-he-has-an-African-American-girlfriend” excuse. I’m still tripping that you said this out loud and in public. As if sex … [Read more...]
Black People: Your Children Will Soon be Forgotten
No doubt about it, the (trigger warning) video of Officer Benjamin Fields dragging that Black girl from her desk and flipping her on the floor at Spring Valley High School in South Carolina is brutal to watch. The horror of the video is made worse by the fact that nearly every other person in the classroom remains utterly calm (shocked?) and sedate as they watch this torture … [Read more...]