Nick Chiles

Where Black Moms Matter

February 6, 2012

The Giants Super Bowl Victory Offers Dad a Teachable Moment

By NICK CHILES There are many responsibilities that a father has to his children, but the Super Bowl win last night of my New York Giants reminded me of one of dad’s primary duties: we bequeath to our children our favorite sports teams. This is especially important when you move ...

February 2, 2012

If Mitt Romney Doesn’t Care about the Poor, He Doesn’t Care about America’s Children

By NICK CHILES Every once in a while, politicians open their mouths and some truth comes out. That’s what happened to Mitt Romney yesterday during an interview on CNN with Soledad O’Brien. Pushing the idea that he is the champion of the American middle class, Romney said he was “not ...

February 1, 2012

Don Cornelius Is Gone—And a Part of Us Has Gone with Him

By NICK CHILES For those of us over the age of 40, how can we find the words to explain how much of an impact Don Cornelius had on the air we breathed in the 1970’s? With the news that Mr. Cornelius ended his life early this morning, apparently with ...

February 1, 2012

Women’s Professional Soccer Shuts Down—and Female Athletes, Young and Old, Are Heartbroken

By NICK CHILES Today is a sad day for the two little girl jocks in my house, and they don’t even know it yet. The Women’s Professional Soccer League just announced that it was suspending operations for the 2012 season. The league hopes to resolve its many issues and come ...

January 31, 2012

Guess What? Playing With Your Kids Can Help Your Job Performance

By NICK CHILES Sometimes science can deliver tasty little morsels of good news. Here’s the latest one I heard: playing with your kids can actually reduce your stress at work. Talk about your great two-for-one deals. Come on, that’s like saying that eating more chocolate cake can help you lose ...

April 26, 2011

Kemba Walker And the Get Over Syndrome

By NICK CHILES I can remember the moment so clearly. I was watching the NCAA tournament, witnessing the amazing Kemba Walker strut, stutter-step and cross-over his way through the field on the march to the national championship. At some point I heard the announcer say that Kemba had accumulated enough credits to ...

March 18, 2011

Little Girl Loved: A Letter For the Cleveland, Texas Child From a Black Father Who Cares

By NICK CHILES Baby girl, I have some things that I need to say to you. It breaks my heart that these words are even necessary, that a black father has to have this conversation with one of his children. I wanted us to be beyond this, for our community ...

February 26, 2011

Parent Fail #2080: My Son Is Clueless About How Banks Work

By Nick Chiles There comes a time in every parent's life when we are faced with an undeniable fact: we have left holes. Somewhere in our painstaking efforts to raise a perfect African American boy child, one who is well-girded to face the strains and struggles of an unforgiving world, ...

December 9, 2010

Another Black Boy, Another Senseless Murder When Will It Stop?

Pace University Football Player Danroy Henry, Jr. By NICK CHILES When will it stop? Another innocent black man killed by the cops. This time it was in Westchester County, New York, on the campus of Pace University. This time it was a football player, Danroy Henry, Jr., age 20, a junior ...

November 15, 2010

With Catastrophe Looming, Lets Hand African American Boys a Book

“In My Mind,” by ZOBEL By NICK CHILES Have you ever spent time in a kindergarten classroom? The kiddies are unbelievably cute, with their bright eyes, big sloppy grins and all-around eagerness to please. But the thing that's most striking about them is their excitement about learning. It's like they ...