Teaching White Privilege

I teach a required first-year writing course at a large public university.
Most students in my class are from out of state and our conversations are generally calm, slightly interesting, and at times absurd. Although I teach writing, I assign readings that force us to rethink what we already know, how it is [...]

“Got Dat Spice, Son!”

In the final sequence of “Feel the Noise,” Omarion embraces his biological father on stage at a Puerto Rican day parade event in New York City. This narrative of father-son bonding and reunion — making a social critique of black masculine and patriarchal responsibility and accountability — takes on a diasporic, intercultural twist as [...]

Flight to Canada

We out this booch!
Bean and I — with $300 dollars cash, thousands in credit, and 4 pairs of clean panties between us – became the new Chinese Bonnie and Clyde upon leaving the United Snakes of Amerikkka and entering Canada. I’ll let you know about our fugitive status in a second (the streets or [...]

Family Trees

In biographical materials on De La Soul, their legacy often ends in 1993 with the release of their 3rd album “Buhloone Mindstate.” Coincidentally, my memory of De La Soul starts with their 4th and far less heralded album, “Stakes is High.” I first saw the “Stakes is High” video on CMC, the local [...]