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 …
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 …
You know what’s ironic about Vice’s “Portland Has a Hip-Hop Problem?” Many local artists complain about getting no love in their hometown and how Portland is a bandwagon city. Yet, almost all of the local publications have covered everything in the Vice article better and not received close to the attention or generated as much …
I had an epiphany today. I need to yell at white people more. That’s where I went wrong in the past. At one point, I was getting speaking engagements and media interviews. The brief frenzy came from an editorial where I called out Lake Oswego for its culture of racism. People loved it and wanted …
If I were publisher, After school programs would fight job training For front page spreads. I’d treat youth mentors like pro athletes. Give every elder a politician’s prestige. Teach history every day Not just as a footnote to holidays. Profiles would pinpoint lessons, Not intoxicate you with charm. More old money education. Less …