Celebrating Community
In a word, fatigue may be the most accurate response to 2020 thus far. Pandemic aside, viral content of Black people being racially profiled and murdered by either vigilantes or police is sadly routine. On March 13, 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor, was killed by a spray of bullets from officers shooting under a ‘no-knock’ warrant – it appears the officers […]
Hollywood’s Counterfeit Culture The theft of intellectual property and appropriation are common practices in the entertainment industry. Hollywood Svengalis wielding power over wide-eyed dreamers is a well-established part of entertainment culture and tolerated by many insiders. According to activist and film director Micheal Rice, HBOmax and its show producers have continued the practice with their alleged theft and consequent cover-up […]
Every day we share ourselves, our thoughts, our preferences knowingly and unknowingly across the web and elsewhere, leaving our digital footprints behind. But why should we care? The first decade of the 2000s saw the birth of several current-day digital marquees: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google. In 2006, I remember uploading pictures and posting status updates on Myspace, the most popular […]
Human trafficking is the criminal practice of buying and selling coerced or kidnapped individuals for the purpose of sexual slavery, involuntary labor, child soldiery, or another form of exploitation. Audrey Moore, CEO of Lift Up the Vulnerable (LUV), is committed to fighting against human trafficking. Moore’s discovery of the human trafficking market began in the early 2000s as a recent […]
In 2018, Andrew Gillum was the handsome, 38-year-old runner-up in Florida’s gubernatorial race. Gillum, the state’s first Black nominee for governor, lost by fewer than 35,000 votes. Despite his loss, Gillum’s political capital was rising on the national stage. Rumors of a vice-presidential nomination spread. In March 2020, on Friday the 13th, Gillum, now 40, was found in a heavily […]
In late 2015, I browsed through the sometimes strange, uncharted corners of YouTube (as I regularly do) – laptop on belly, fingers (middle and pointer) on mousepad, I discovered The Grapevine TV, and haven’t stopped watching since. To see long-table conversations with numerous intelligent and expressive young black people, discussing topics with such kitchen-table honesty, for me, was a dream […]
Since the late 1950s, the Grammys have represented the summit of success in the music industry. Musicians all over the world have dreamed of holding a golden gramophone. The Grammy is considered one of the big four entertainment awards, alongside the Emmy (TV), the Oscar (film), and the Tony (theater). As a child in the early 2000s, I sat in […]
Grammys Less than two weeks have passed since Lizzo conquered the 2020 Grammys, opening up music’s biggest night in the wake of the tragic passing of global icon Kobe Bryant. Lizzo performed her chart-topping single “Truth Hurts” in a medley of her other songs, and won three awards: Best Urban Contemporary Album, Best Pop Solo Performance, and Best Traditional R&B […]
Technology has transformed all of our lives and continues to do so at an increasing rate. The post-industrial era is a term coined by French sociologist Alain Touraine in 1969 and later popularized by sociologist Daniel Bell in 1973. This era marked the transition from a factory production-based economy to a service-based economy. The post-industrial era has brought with it […]
The recent death of Juice WRLD (pronounced “juice world”) is yet another famous causuality by drug abuse. Jarad Anthony Higgins, age 21, was a gifted and rising musician, praised critically and supported by devoted listeners. During his short career, Juice WRLD would release hit songs like “Lucid Dreams” (peaking at number 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart), complete an international […]