Each year I attempt to listen to every Grammy nominated record or album. It’s as great way to find new music and pick my favorites. It also lessens the, “Who is that?!?!” confusion I’ve often felt during the show. After a few years of live tweeting my adventure at #GrammyListeningParty, folks asked to join me. […]
We drank Hennessy and tequila and danced to our favorite songs in an old chapel surrounded by Christian icons and beautiful artwork, and it was holy. We saw the sacred in the secular, and God was in that place.
Many of us have chosen to worship a God who resembles the white slave master, a God focused on controlling behavior, policing sexuality, and keeping people in their place, a God aligned with the capitalistic, white supremacist, sexist, and patriarchal values of mainstream America. But that isn’t the only God we have access to.
Salt-N-Pepa’s lyrics helped me learn to verbalize the concepts of sexual liberation, autonomy, and women’s ability to be sexual without losing their dignity. Their lyrics were a rebellious voice that challenged the sexism, respectability politics, and the confining and conservative interpretation of womanhood that was present in the church and culture around me.
what about the women?The story of Moses is one of the most well-known stories in the biblical canon. Sunday school classes study it, pastors preach it, Charlton Heston portrayed him, and Disney adapted his story. Moses’ story is so common that most people assume they know it and breeze through when reading or hearing it, […]
We have the responsibility to bear witness to the way people who don’t look like us, people who don’t love like us, and people who don’t confront the world like us experience the world. Let books be a tiny step in helping us do just that.
Last week NBC announced that John Legend had been cast as Jesus of Nazareth in Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert! which will air Easter Sunday. Legend’s casting bumps against the traditional portrayal of Jesus as a white man, despite historical and biblical accounts describing Jesus as a Middle Eastern Jew. While it’s important to […]
But not everyone has celebrated her wins. No matter what Cardi accomplishes, there’s always a choir ready to harmonize and disparage her based on her past work as an exotic dancer. But why?
In the midst of an overwhelming newscycle, I decided to escape in a book. Most of what I read is nonfiction and requires way too much brain power, so I grabbed a fiction book, The Hate U Give. It was the previous month’s selection in the Reading While Black Book Club. I’m always behind and […]
A few years ago one of my middle school classmate’s mother befriended me on Facebook. Her daughter and I cheered together, and her and my mom used to chat when we were at practice, games and camps. They were both doctor’s wives, so I guessed they talked about doctor’s wives stuff. Not long after befriending […]
While driving back from the beach Sunday afternoon, R. Kelly’s “Bump n’ Grind” came on a 90’s playlist. Carpool karaoke ended. An awkward silence fell throughout the car. And frowns appeared on our faces. “I just can’t listen to his music anymore.” “Because he’s an unapologetic sexual predator who sings about his sins,” I responded. […]
Historically, hip hop has been unapologetically homophobic. From the genre’s inception, rap lyrics have used slurs to emasculate and feminization to belittle foes and rivals while threatening and celebrating violence against LGBTQ people. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five mention an incarcerated man who became an “undercover fag” in “The Message.” Will Smith, who became […]
“What a sore loser!” “Some role model.” “Be professional!” “He won’t last in the NFL with that attitude.” “He has to grow up.” “The world doesn’t revolve around you, boy.” These are all statements made after Cam Newton, who appeared frustrated after the Carolina Panthers’ 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos and annoyed by reporters […]
Around the time George Zimmerman was acquitted for murdering Trayvon Martin, I took to Facebook to vent my frustration over the case and my fears for my kid, a black boy who was quickly transforming into a black teenager who would soon be categorized as a black man because “black kids look older.” “Don’t let […]
Surgeon General Warning: This playlist should only be played between Black Friday and New Years Day. Playing Christmas music outside of this timeframe may lead to serious health risks like physical assault. You have been warned. Don’t be that person. One of my favorite Christmas memories occurred when I was around 7, and my dad […]