The recent heated debate over immigration in the United States has left me worried:  Arizona was one gavel-bang away from being the only state in the US where cops could stop and detain you for lack of “papers.” Granted, there is nothing new about the desire to reform the country’s immigration laws and policies, just as there is nothing new about its current unfairness.  Right or wrong (cynical or on-point), I’ve long held the idea that the individuals that mainstream America want coming to this country have light (read: fair) skin.  I grew up in Florida where the wet foot-dry...

With the temperature steadily rising as we cruise into summer, it’s only natural that things get a little steamy around here.  But when I tell you that Black on Black Rhyme’s Take a Load Off Tuesday May 18th show was hot, I don’t just mean the soft humidity that coated my skin before I walked into Studio 281.  The Tallahassee troupe, Back Talk, was in the building, and so were a lot of other talented people. The packed house helped–you know it always gets a little warmer when black folks sit close together.   The faces become more familiar each time, the embraces more...

By Scottie Lowe TheAfrican-centered community is steeped in sexual dysfunction. For all of our efforts to rid ourselves of European cultural, social, and spiritual norms, we have denied our sexual growth by blanketing everything under the assumption that anything other than heterosexual vaginal/penal intercourse is European and thus deemed “not African”. When the African-centered community discusses sexuality, they are most often satisfied with making uninformed references to ancient sacred sexual texts from the East and asserting that those texts were stolen from Africa. We are far from healthy...

By Raw Dawg Buffalo It is apparent for me that we have some serious problems in our community. I mean serious, for any time a young man walking home from school can be beaten to death, in day light, while folks watch and think nothing of it, and even video it without considering that said person may need help, or what they are watching is not right, is a true indication that something is amiss in our beliefs and world view. I have noticed that there is a difference in general behavior when I look and my parents, myself and the present generation. As a father with a 17 year old son, I am proud to...

By Makeda Voletta “Fecundity-defined as fruitful in offspring or vegetation- is generally interchangeable with fertility. It is used to illustrate those concepts that apply to the natural world beyond human societies. This is of course, an artificial distinction because indigenous peoples concerns with fertility were inextricably linked with the fecundity of the earth, plants ans animals. Many cultures perceived a connection between human sexuality and plant plant and animal fertility, and through sympathetic magic and rituals related to sex, they invoked supernatural power in guaranteeing...

By Tamara Madden When I was growing up, I was constantly told how ugly I was. My mother was stunning and always had men running behind her, but I never thought that I would look like her and never wanted to, surprisingly. I would look in the mirror at my dark skin and big forehead and wonder why people judged me. I always felt like I was a nice person, but nothing seemed to matter more than my outward appearance. My mother was light and I was dark and I often wondered if her complexion and the length of her hair made her more attractive to people.  In high school many girl’s got their self-esteem...

By Scottie Lowe I AM my hair.  I am my naps.  I am my African wooly hair.  I am every African woman who was beaten and told that she had to cover her hair or lose her life.  I AM every slave woman who loved her nappy hair and who had to see white women and mulatto slaves get preferential treatment for having straight hair.  I will NEVER as long as I live let straight hair define my beauty. If you ever watch that show “Yo Mama” on MTV, every show, they crack on someone for having nappy hair and everyone in the audience rolls with laughter.  Anyone who finds nappy headed momma...

by Maxwell Reddick My wife is a very intelligent, very well-educated person with impeccable, refined taste. Usually she acts as my cultural compass in matters such as the proper televisions shows and movies to watch. Left to my own devices, I would watch a bunch of corny b-movies and old blaxploitation flicks. I’m well-rounded that way. So, that is why I find it so curious that she actually watches and enjoys the Real House Wives of Atlanta. Before this season, the only television she watched was the Sunday night HBO line-up which was cool because I enjoyed that too, but this whole stop everything...

By Tamara Madden It seems like everything is causing cancer these days–from the air we breath, the processed foods that we eat, the toxins that we inhale and the products that we put on our skin.  All of these aid in the deterioration of our bodies. Did you know that your skin is the largest organ that you have? Most people don’t think of it that way, of course, but our skin is obviously necessary for protecting other parts of our body. Everything that you put on your skin gets absorbed by your skin. Many of those things contain lots of chemicals that are completely unnatural and can...