Last year I posted on the return of The Game (yes, it has been a year since it (re)debuted on BET) and offered a critique of the ways in which the characters morphed to fit BET programming, which compromised the integrity of the characters that fans had fought and petitioned for. After The Game came […]
Tonight! Join a conversation on the State of the Union!
CF Eesha here, y’all. Tonight is the President’s State of the Union address to Congress. If the election season so far is any indication, we know that amidst the politicians and the pundits there’s very little time for real talk. This is one of the most important elections in recent history : there is a […]
Culo, Coffee and Crime: More on Disrespectability Politics
From an Australian researcher claiming Beyoncé’s name and her celebrity bum with a horse fly, a pissed Wisconsin congressman attacking the national obesity campaign by deriding the First Lady’s derriere, to Diddy riding on somebody else’s butt for more fame in his new book called Culo, across the academic, political, and the popular, our booty […]
Disrespectability Politics: On Jay-Z’s Bitch, Beyonce’s ‘Fly’ Ass, and Black Girl Blue
The birth of baby girl Blue Ivy Carter to parents Jay-Z and Beyonce’ earlier this month has cemented their status as the First Family of Hip Hop. Seriously, they have become the Obamas of the Hip Hop Generation, a comparison that is no less compelling given President Obama’s public admission of Jay-Z fandom, Jay-Z’s claims […]
When the Shit Hits the Fan: On the “Shit [People] Say” meme and why it matters
In case you missed it, there’s a new meme on the block and its kind of my favorite thing ever! The video that got things started, Shit (white) Girls Say, makes up for its own lacklusterness with the brilliance that it inspired. I have to admit, it’s been a while since I’ve been around groups […]
Some Reflections on the Limits of Sainthood
How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: […]
5 Reasons To See The Mountaintop
I went to New York City over winter break to see Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop on Broadway. I had been excited about seeing the play since it debuted in October. It stars Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett in a re-imagining of the night before Martin Luther King’s death. I found the play to be provocative […]
It’s a f#@%g compliment.
I’ve been ruminating on this one for days. I thought that the longer I waited to write it, the nicer I would be. Fuck it, I was wrong. I’m just gonna go there. I’m a feminist. Sometimes it feels like I live breathe, eat, and sleep feminism. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I’m just feminist enough. […]
The Power of Words: Racially Coded Political Rhetoric
1. New Gingrich has repeatedly referred to President Obama as “The Food Stamp” President while contrasting that with his own aims to become “The Paycheck” President. Ron Paul, in an attempt to beat unruly logic into submission, has tried to convince us that “entitlements” are not “rights.” In an effort to dispute affirmative action and minority rights he equates […]
Go See Pariah!!!
I’ve been trying to write a review for the movie Pariah for a while now but I can’t write anything that conveys what this film accomplishes. For those who need to know about the film before you see it, read Summer M.’s take and the review by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan at the Feminist Wire. Brilliant […]