I recently detailed my journey with Respond to Racism for Oregon Humanities’ Beyond the Margins series with an essay titled “I Dream an Oregon.” Here’s an excerpt: When I was in journalism school, they told me whoever controls the media, controls the narrative. I’m a narcissist, so that was right up my alley. I’ve long …
It’s been four years since I’ve posted here. The last time, I asked the world, have white supremacists overplayed their hand? Fast forward to last night’s presidential debate, and President 45, when asked to denounce white supremacists, told them to “Stand back and stand by.” Needless to say, shit has escalated. In the meantime, I’ve …
Much like vampires, white supremacy doesn’t fare well in the light. For years, it has been operating underground, rallying people behind the notion that they are outsiders. Let them tell it, the liberal elite has discriminated against them. The mainstream media has supposedly silenced their voices. Now, with Donald Trump’s upcoming presidency, white supremacists and …
We are a bickering people. I’d love to say it’s a Willie Lynch thing but that’s too easy. It really amounts to desperation and guilt. Desperation for a win. Guilt for never feeling like we’ve done enough. Even with neo-Fascism staring us right in the face, we’re out here bashing each other over fighting tactics. …
People give great advice but we rarely listen to ourselves. For weeks, I’ve been obsessing over the concept of objective. I can’t make something just to make something. It needs a purpose. Got it. So what have I been doing for the last week? Trying to write a Raz Simone piece because I feel like …
Searching for an Objective (and the Raz Simone Essay That Wasn’t) Read More »
I’m not a huge fan of failure. I rarely dance and I’ve always been the type to not make a move on a girl until I see the “It’s already yours” look in her eyes. Is that cowardly? Probably. But that’s how I grew up. When I was younger, few things scared me as much …
What was my biggest takeaway from “American Promise?” You can hate the player but you can’t hate the game. The movie follows two Black boys, Idris and Seun, for 13 years as they navigate a social experiment, which placed them in Dalton, a prestigious, predominantly white school. It was shown to a packed Hollywood Theater …
Going into “NorthBound,” I was looking for two things: voice and moments. Admittedly, I’m relatively new to Glenn Waco, only first hearing him tear up features on Mic Capes’ “Rise and Grind.” Between those features, the slew of tracks he released over the summer, and following him on social media, my impression was a young …
When I was a kid, I looked up to Shaq. By the end of college, I wanted to be a cross between Huey P. Newton and Earl Graves. Now that I’m 25, I idolize happiness. I’ve come to realize that life is a bell curve. You come into this world knowing nothing and gravitating to …
Dear writers, The time for phoning it in is over. If what you write doesn’t have a pulse, it doesn’t matter how insightful or pressing the issue is. There is a narrative going around that people don’t read anymore. That’s not true. People just don’t read boring, soulless work if they don’t have …