Personal

My Top 6 Lessons Learned in 2015: Love, Loss, and the Liberation of Giving Fewer F***s.

2015 felt like finals week for 362 days. It was an entire year of being tested, being challenged, passing some things with flying colors, failing others miserably, breathing sighs of relief, taking short breaths of anxiety and looking forward to breakthroughs and break-frees that would seem more distant with each passing day. I’m not saying it wasn’t a good year, necessarily. It’s more like this … Continue reading My Top 6 Lessons Learned in 2015: Love, Loss, and the Liberation of Giving Fewer F***s.

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Activism, Black Empowerment, Gender Equality, Identity

Slutwalks & Million Man Marches: Our Strides and Stumbles Toward Liberation

For as long as I can remember — and long before I had the language to describe it — I’ve dealt with the contention between the collective cause of Black empowerment, about which I am very passionate, and my individual autonomy. Before phrases like “dominant culture” and “institutional oppression” were a part of my vocabulary, I picked up experientially that “society” expected less from me … Continue reading Slutwalks & Million Man Marches: Our Strides and Stumbles Toward Liberation

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Economic Development

“Let Me Be Black. I Let Y’all Be Foreign”: Nail Salons, Beauty Supplies, & the Quest for a Black Economy

Now, usually I don’t do this. By “this,” I mean muse on these types of user-generated viral videos that infect my newsfeed. But have a look at this. {“Let Her Be Black”} I don’t have any remarks on the video itself, but it (re)sparked my curiosity about a subject to which I can personally relate. I like to get my nails done on a pretty … Continue reading “Let Me Be Black. I Let Y’all Be Foreign”: Nail Salons, Beauty Supplies, & the Quest for a Black Economy

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Digital Culture, Identity

“Don’t Save Her. She Don’t Wanna Be Saved”: How the Ho/Queen Dichotomy is Killing the Black Body

One time for my LA sisters One time for my LA hoes Lame niggas can’t tell the difference One time for a nigga who knows J Cole’s catchy chant in “No Role Modelz” reminds us that there’s a difference between hoes and sisters. This meme reminds us that there’s a difference between queens and peasants. I am reminded of how commonplace it is to evaluate … Continue reading “Don’t Save Her. She Don’t Wanna Be Saved”: How the Ho/Queen Dichotomy is Killing the Black Body

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Communications, Digital Culture, Identity

#B*tchesBeDysfunctional: Promoting Black Dysfunction in Digital Language

Originally published on October 23, 2014 by briaanbarron.com It seems like only moments ago, a hashtag was a pound key on the telephone, and the word “meme” would have been read as a typo. Now these staples in our digital vocabulary have become sites for global trends, providing pathways for everything from the most current political news to inside jokes that the whole World Wide … Continue reading #B*tchesBeDysfunctional: Promoting Black Dysfunction in Digital Language

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