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Models Monday: Grill it and Braise it

Grilling out is a big deal in Cleveland, my hometown, because the freezing temperatures and the snow and ice storms limit your opportunities to get that grill fired up. Clevelanders see summertime, especially summertime holidays, as their one shot at grilling at the crib. When I was a kid, I hated grilling holidays because IContinue reading “Models Monday: Grill it and Braise it”

Models Monday: Fruitvale Station

I just came from seeing Fruitvale Station. The film offers a sensitive portrayal of the last day in 22-year-old Bay area resident Oscar Grant’s life. Having apprehended Grant and several other black and brown skinned passengers after a scuffle on a BART train, Police Officer Johannes Mehserle’s fatally shot Grant, claiming he mistook his ownContinue reading “Models Monday: Fruitvale Station”

Doing Something Hard Part II: Jay Z and Social Responsibility

I’m offended by that because first of all, and this is going to sound arrogant, but my presence is charity. Just who I am. Just like Obama’s is. Obama provides hope. Whether he does anything, the hope that he provides for a nation, and outside of America is enough. Just being who he is. You’reContinue reading “Doing Something Hard Part II: Jay Z and Social Responsibility”

Models Monday: What Black Boys Know

Phil Skinner’s photograph of an unidentified black boy with a tear streaked face holding a sign that reads “BLACK LIFE MATTERS,” is poignant because it can lead to an easy conclusion that the child is crying because justice was denied Trayvon Martin given the “not guilty” verdict rendered in favor of George Zimmerman. Of course,Continue reading “Models Monday: What Black Boys Know”

Models Monday: The Hoodie Distraction

I wish people would stop donning hoodies as a sign of protest. There was a time when I found this gesture meaningful in the way it symbolized the trivialities in American culture that can be used to justify racial terror against black people. We are in a different moment now and so we need aContinue reading “Models Monday: The Hoodie Distraction”

Beauty, Human Rights, and the Zimmerman Verdict

In the introduction to her book Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present, Deborah Willis cites Ben Arogundade who provocatively frames the subject of the moral and political implications of beauty: “in literary terms, black beauty remains a cause without a portfolio…Who can really talk of the folly of beauty when thereContinue reading “Beauty, Human Rights, and the Zimmerman Verdict”

Models Monday: Observing the Country Mouse

For some time now I’ve been ruminating on Aesop’s fable “The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.” On the surface, the story tells of two mice-one from a rural environment and one from an urban environment-who interact with one another inside the home territories of the other over a meal. In Jerry Pinkney’s version ofContinue reading “Models Monday: Observing the Country Mouse”

Models Monday: Learning from Paula Deen’s Dream

With great interest, I have followed news reports concerning Paula Deen’s problematic deposition testimony she provided as part of a racial discrimination suit against the celebrity chef and her brother, Bubba Hiers. Mainstream news outlets strongly emphasize the moment in the deposition when Deen admits to using the word “nigga” and her suggestion that in doingContinue reading “Models Monday: Learning from Paula Deen’s Dream”

Models Monday: Keeping Up

I’m not totally averse to an expanded understanding of what it means to keep up with the Jones’s. Though this used to be a caution against competing with our peers over material possessions, it might have some under-acknowledged benefits. I have been easily swayed by arguments like the one I first read by Juliet B. SchorContinue reading “Models Monday: Keeping Up”

Models Monday: Being Among Your Betters

I have talked with friends about the contests and games staged for children these days and the verdict seems to be that children are routinely shielded from loss and encouraged to believe that everyone wins. Loss is cloaked with badges, ribbons, and medals for showing “spirit” and simply participating. It was a much harsher climateContinue reading “Models Monday: Being Among Your Betters”