When Richard Wright wrote “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow, an Autobiographical Sketch”, he began by telling the story of how he “learned” to be black. The incident commenced with a school yard fight with a white boy, resulting in his own mother beating him to teach him that he should never fight whites because…Continue Reading A Different Colored Problem

In the art exhibit Tales of a Conjure Woman the artist Renee Stout tries to depict black women who are in fact changing their realities. When I say changing their realities I mean that it is through the use of potions and remedies that they can take control of their own destinies and change the…Continue Reading Tales of a Conjure Woman

(Boardwalk Empire’s Chalky White and Dr. Narcisse) For those who are unfamiliar with HBO’s hit TV series, Boardwalk Empire, the character Chalky White might come as somewhat of a surprise. Chalky is a black gangster who runs the colored section of town in 1920’s Atlantic City. Although he ultimately answers to the man who runs Atlantic…Continue Reading Revisiting the Racial Mountain in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire

Over the last thirteen years, Ice-T has graced primetime television in more than 300 episodes of Law and Order: SVU, as Odafin “Finn” Tutuola. As one of only 3 major recurring characters throughout the lifespan of the show (the other two being Monique Jeffries, played by Michelle Hurd and Melinda Warner played by Tamara Tunie),…Continue Reading Detective Odafin Tutuola: Law and Order: SVU’s Token Black Guy?

Caitlin Robinson It is obvious that media has a big impact on how society views others in the world today. Media has the power to convince people what’s right and what’s wrong in certain cases. A good bit of media that I see on a regular basis are advertisements. It seems like now a days…Continue Reading Marketing Blackness: Are They Doing It Right?

If you are not living under a rock then you know who Miley Cyrus is. She is a pop sensation who has recently stripped herself of the disney channel image as Hannah Montana and become “The bad bitch she really is” according to a statement she made on her documentary. That so called “bad bitch”…Continue Reading The Influence of Miley Cyrus

Saturday night my husband and I went to see The Best Holiday, which is the sequel to the 1999 movie The Best Man. This romantic comedy focused on the lives of eight major characters that are all African American are upper-to-upper Middle class citizens living or working in New York City. Throughout the entire movie…Continue Reading $30.6 million Proves African Americans Love to See Themselves in a Positive Light

In the movie 42, viewers are treated to an inside look at the life and journey of Jackie Robinson, the first black man to play major league baseball.  Because the story focuses on a black man fighting for equal rights in baseball, one might assume that the movie will feature some violence and protesting, however,…Continue Reading 42 and Invisibility