The formal statement issued to the Sunshine State has left many African Americans feeling defeated — Being a Black person from the South, you get to see America’s growing pains up close and personal. Since the early days, the southern states have been characterized as the cornerstone of slavery and anti-black racism in America. Research has even confirmed that an environment once heavily dependent on slavery…

Addressing the structural racial incompetencies disproportionately impacting mental health treatment in the Black community — A recent report in Mental Health America (MHA) found that of the 13.4% population (nearly 46 million people) of African Americans in the United States, over 16% (roughly 7 million people) officially reported having a mental illness in the past year; —not accounting for the unreported cases currently living with…

Confronting the strategic propaganda exploited around Black female singlehood — When Beyoncé dropped ‘Single Ladies’ in 2008, it became a critically acclaimed, cultural phenomenon of empowerment for women. The record itself helped define Beyoncé’s uniquely powerful brand and career. …

How rejection of racial equality in Florida schools fails us all — In the state of Florida, you’re likely to witness the possibilities of one day becoming a Governor, like Ron DeSantis, or a legendary baseball player, like Dwight Gooden. There’s the possibility of becoming a dancer like the great Fernando Bujones or a singer, like Butterfly McQueen. Or a scientist, maybe…

The Queen of Rock n’ Roll’s life and career after early fame and deep heartbreak. — “You ask me if I ever stood up for anything. Yeah, I stood up for my life.” It’s 1984, and Prince is Making Doves Cry, Ashford & Simpson are Solid as a rock, Stacey Lattisaw and Johnny Gill are the Perfect Combination, Lionel Richie is calling in to say Hello…

Getting even on the financial responsibility in relationships and the unequal power it conveys — When Destiny’s Child dropped their #1 hit, Independent Women (Part 1) in the summer of 2000, we bobbed and shook our fingers alongside lyrics: “Pay my own car note and I pay my own bills, always fifty-fifty in relationships.” Hell, I was only nine then, but still there I was…

Remembering one of America’s most influential Black leaders on his 98th birthday — “I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” — Malcolm X American author and anti-racist activist, Ibram X. Kendi…

The WGA Strike and our revolutionary impact on the craft and community — Ever since I became a rather serious writer, I have found one thing, if anything, to be true. Writing is, in just about every sense of the act, — a habitual solitary endeavor. We often realize this when we inadvertently choose it over the relationships of our lives, nights out…

An unpopular theory on the late John Singleton FX series finale — “It’s an untold story. It’s the story about how cocaine changed Los Angeles.” — John Singleton The 80’s to late 90’s crack epidemic surged into the United States with a rather obscure vengeance; — one that left a devastating share of social consequences such as increased crime and violence, (specifically…