Cesária Évora – RIP!
My first ever music review was for True magazine (the predecessor to sister mag Trace). It was early summer in 1995 and my assignment was to breakdown the hotness of Cesária Évora’s eponymous US debut. My editor told me that Ms. Évora was going to be in NYC later in the month and to make sure I see her perform in the flesh in order to get the full picture of why everyone Read more...
Kiss My Placenta!
Erykah Badu had to break bad when her fans voiced their disapproval over her reproductive life: “HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THE QUEENDOM… AND MY CHILDREN AND MY INTELLIGENCE.” It seems that folk are not pleased that the singer, songwriter, producer, actress and doula has had three children with three different men, so they went straight to her fansite to voice their discontent. Up in arms and all up in her womb, fans feel Ms. Badu Read more...
5 Reasons Why Black Folks Should #Occupy
Black folk have been in the 99% since the Middle Passage. Slavery made sure the majority of us would never be in that 1% by terrorizing our African souls and dismantling our families, our language, our culture, our religion, our bodies, and our spirit. As poet Nikky Finney reminded us when she accepted her National Book Award last month, “Black people were the only people in the United States ever explicitly forbidden to become literate.” Read more...