Cuz He’s Black: When African American Boys Ready Themselves For a War We Can’t Prepare Them For
Really, I have no words to add to what poet Javon Johnson says in this, his poem, “Cuz He’s Black.” All the emotion, all the...
The March On Washington: Sybrina Fulton, The Head Nod and the Thumbs Up—A Translation
When I go for a run in Washington, DC, I take for granted the history that I pass as I plod out my mileage. I...
Raising 14-Year-Olds Ain’t For Punks: Learning How To Let My Baby Spread Her Wings & Fly
She started high school last week—left this house in a ball of nerves and excitement and fear and delight, curious about this new, independent path...
UPDATE: Dying Black Teen Denied Life-Saving Heart Transplant Because Of Grades Now Is On Transplant List
UPDATE: Anthony Stokes, the dying 15-year-old denied a chance to get a new heart because of his grades and juvenile record, has been put on...
Digging In the Crates: The Sun Will Make You Black
This is what I did for fun when I was a kid: I read. I cornrowed my doll’s hair. I read some more. I annoyed...
The George Zimmerman Verdict Is Deeply Inhumane. This Is Why We Need To Keep Fighting.
Who prays for our sons? When their bodies are bloodied, broken and frozen in the footnotes of this, our complicated history, who falls to their...
The Skin She’s In: A Black Dad Ponders Colorism’s Effect On His Light-Skinned Daughter
By JAMAL FREDERICK I love my daughter in ways I could never imagine and she’s long crossed the threshold of innocent infancy. She’s at that...
Return Of the Gentleman: What Black Boys Could Stand To Learn From Their Elders—For Our Girls’ Sake
I mean, I get it: he is my father and so Daddy is going to be an absolute gentleman to his little girl—make me feel...
Trayvon Martin’s Parents are Still Co-Parenting—Through Death and Zimmerman’s Trial
By DEESHA PHILYAW A friend recently sent me an MSNBC article about Trayvon Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, and the trial of George...
What You Do For Love: A Black Father Reflects On “Sacrifice” In Childrearing
By SHAWN TAYLOR Many children have trigger-points. It may be a place, a situation or a person, but when they’re triggered, they go bananas. For example:...
