If you haven’t heard, Bill Cosby has assembled an outfit called the Cosnarati (no, seriously) to spit “positive” rhymes about working hard and being responsible. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it’s probably a bad idea coming from a dude on record as not being a fan of the genre, and who would Read More
(by Jeremy R. Levine at Social Science Lite) Last Spring, Brown University economist Glenn Loury presented at Harvard sociology’s Workshop on Race and Black Youth Culture. He titled his talk “Culture, Causation and Confusion: Why Bill Cosby is Wasting His Time,” engaging with the pervasive “rhetoric of responsibility” frequently applied to blacks in the United States. As Loury Read More
Ben’s Chili Bowl* is about a 10-minute walk from my junior- and senior-year dorm and I ate waaaaaay too many chili half-smokes in college (not to mention every time I go back to D.C.). Obama getting his code-switching on is fun and all, but what makes me mad is that I never once saw the Read More
I’m of two minds about this. Or maybe more than two. But stuff like this always makes me shift uncomfortably in my seat. Of course, the substance of Obama’s entreaties is sorta irrefutable — is anyone finna argue that what families need is less-involved parenting or a less-conscientious approach to nutrition? So no quibbles there. Read More
Tyler Perry’s Tyler Perry Film Franchise Steamroller is chugging right along with the announcement that his latest adaptation slated for production will be Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail. This will, of course, follow The Family That Preys and A Jazz Man’s Blues, the two films he’s probably halfway finished shooting (despite his IMDB page Read More
Legendary comedian and classist bourgie Negro icon Bill Cosby once infamously criticized poor black folks for spending all their money on $500 sneakers instead of educational toys and claimed they had mixed-up priorities. A backlash ensued. According to Slate‘s Ray Fisman, who points to a new study about race and consumer tendencies, Dr. Huxtable is Read More
Between the Jena 6 and that Columbia University professor, nooses have been all over the news lately. NPR wonders if that’s due to a rise in racist incidents involving nooses, or a rise in their coverage. There’s a pretty well-done profile on The Wire‘s David Simon in The New Yorker (spoiler alert for the folks Read More
