blackink12

Joel Anderson — blackink —  writes about sports, politics, crime, courts, and other issues far beyond his competence at BuzzFeed. He has worked at media outlets in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Atlanta and contributed to a number of publications, including The Root and The American Prospect, among many others.

Quite a start to the week: Ladies Love Cool James, Rozay and Fat Joe. Sincere didn’t go to #thecountryofAfrica for us to suffer through Mondays like that one.

It’s been a fairly epic week for Kanye, even by his lofty standards. He may have never beaten a white artist head-to-head for a Grammy, but he just became a father and lots of people seem to like his new album. If you’re looking for opinions on his latest release, try this one and this Read More

It took me a long time to realize that my father wasn’t a bad man, just a bad husband for my mother. That’s what happens when you’re a mama’s boy and your mother not-so-subtly drills that into your impressionable mind. Yes, he was deceitful. Yes, he was hyper-critical. Yes, he was extremely moody. Yes, he Read More

  Ray Lewis entered the NFL in tears, mourning the death of his slain friend and roommate Marlin Barnes on draft day. Ray Lewis left the NFL in a spasm of joy Sunday, a two-time Super Bowl champion at the conclusion of the final game of his 17-season career. In between, Lewis went from an Read More

I had a mostly unremarkable, short career in football—yet that was still more than enough time for the game to leave its mark, all over my body. I had been dealing with arthritis, joint stiffness, and backaches for years when a weight-room mishap drove me to an emergency clinic in the summer of 2010, when I was 32. Several follow-up appointments ended with me in an MRI machine and an appointment with a neurosurgeon.

I know I have my own hypocrisy to deal with, from my previous romantic entanglements to my music choices.

But at the least, I got a headstart on confronting that hypocrisy. It started in earnest when I was 17, the summer before my senior year of high school, at a leadership camp just outside of Houston.

Once the whistles were blown and men started thudding into one another again, Robert Griffin III summoned all of that magic and most everyone forgot about his head in favor of his arm and legs. It’s easy to forget about the men – and their heads – beneath all that armor. They are our conquering Read More

… Michael Vick was white? Well, if we have to provide an answer, I suppose he’d look like Brian Austin Green and play like a slightly less effective but more dynamic blend of Steve Young and Fran Tarkenton. But that’s not really the question worth asking. What I really want to know is what is Read More

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