“It is ludicrous for the society to believe that these temporary measures can long contain the tempers of an oppressed people. And when the dynamite does go off, pious pronouncements of patience should not go forth. Blame should not be placed on ‘outside agitators’ or on ‘Communist influence’ or on…

I still remember the day I discovered Hyattsville. A rainy evening in May many years ago, I navigated unfamiliar streets only to find this unique space, a mix of buildings and soil, that promised to be everything I wanted in the DC area. …

I must admit that I am often skeptical of public figures who are bestowed a status — auntie, uncle, cookout invitee — that grants them membership into our cultural community absent birthright. There is such great, irrevocable reverence and presumed responsibility that comes along with that status that I still…

Plus: 35 Policy Recommendations to Protect Black Futures — Growing up in Memphis, I never felt a need to either hide or display my blackness. Everyone around me was Black and you stood out by being smart and ambitious. I did not lack role models or positive examples and although I was smart, I wasn’t extraordinary; I was doing…

After 28 days I think I have settled into a routine. I wake up, walk downstairs, move my laptop from the sofa to the countertop, start a pot of coffee, and apply eye drops to prepare myself for a long day in front of a screen. On weekends I let…

(Or: On Nov. 6th, White Supremacy or Nah?) — I’ve struggled with how to say what I’ve been feeling the past few days and at every mention of “love and light” I find myself singing a bastardized version of Solange’s Cranes in the Sky: I can’t love it away… Away, away, away, away, away, away… Away, away, away, away…

On days like today, the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, TN, or any day acknowledging a pivotal moment in history for that matter, we all remember the person for what we have come to learn and appreciate about them. Today, we’ll all…

That’s my mama and me. (I loved that bear, by the way.) I was about two or three years old and my mother was about my age now — 36 or 37. My mom is a college graduate who made her career as a social worker. She and my dad…