I’m not a huge fan of failure. I rarely dance and I’ve always been the type to not make a move on a girl until I see the “It’s already yours” look in her eyes. Is that cowardly? Probably. But that’s how I grew up. When I was younger, few things scared me as much …
What was my biggest takeaway from “American Promise?” You can hate the player but you can’t hate the game. The movie follows two Black boys, Idris and Seun, for 13 years as they navigate a social experiment, which placed them in Dalton, a prestigious, predominantly white school. It was shown to a packed Hollywood Theater …
Going into “NorthBound,” I was looking for two things: voice and moments. Admittedly, I’m relatively new to Glenn Waco, only first hearing him tear up features on Mic Capes’ “Rise and Grind.” Between those features, the slew of tracks he released over the summer, and following him on social media, my impression was a young …
When I was a kid, I looked up to Shaq. By the end of college, I wanted to be a cross between Huey P. Newton and Earl Graves. Now that I’m 25, I idolize happiness. I’ve come to realize that life is a bell curve. You come into this world knowing nothing and gravitating to …
Dear writers, The time for phoning it in is over. If what you write doesn’t have a pulse, it doesn’t matter how insightful or pressing the issue is. There is a narrative going around that people don’t read anymore. That’s not true. People just don’t read boring, soulless work if they don’t have …
You know what’s ironic about Vice’s “Portland Has a Hip-Hop Problem?” Many local artists complain about getting no love in their hometown and how Portland is a bandwagon city. Yet, almost all of the local publications have covered everything in the Vice article better and not received close to the attention or generated as much …
I had an epiphany today. I need to yell at white people more. That’s where I went wrong in the past. At one point, I was getting speaking engagements and media interviews. The brief frenzy came from an editorial where I called out Lake Oswego for its culture of racism. People loved it and wanted …
If I were publisher, After school programs would fight job training For front page spreads. I’d treat youth mentors like pro athletes. Give every elder a politician’s prestige. Teach history every day Not just as a footnote to holidays. Profiles would pinpoint lessons, Not intoxicate you with charm. More old money education. Less …
To transplants and those who’ve only seen Portlandia, the city might seem like a liberal utopia full of green businesses and progressive ideals. Look a little deeper and you might see the coldest white supremacy game in the country, where white people have a monopoly on the villains and the heroes. However, if you go …
Artificial Intelligence: When Will the Portlandia Bubble Pop? Read More »
Sometimes I think we have a racism reflex? Right becomes left, up becomes down and the sky becomes green just because ignorant bigots are watching. For example, there is no shortage of Black people willing to start defending things like NSA spying and drone strikes anytime someone calls Obama a Muslim, socialist, anti-Christ. Now it’s …
When the Idea of Being Prepared for Court is Controversial Read More »