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This morning I awoke to the extremely sad news that Whitney Houston had passed on. At first I assumed that Twitter was back to its games of declaring people dead, but when I came across the news at CNN, I could no longer deny the truth. Growing up in a largely White neighbourhood, Whitney's release of her first album was a godsend. Finally, finally, the kids were singing the music of someone who Read Full Story

Hey everyone, thanks for another great week of conversation.  I think that there were some really great conversations that challenged a lot of what has become normal discourse.  Please remember, we cannot always agree but it is important that we stay respectful and committed to listening to each other. Talking at each other, rather than to each other, get us nowhere. I am Read Full Story

After his treatment by the Republican party, for the life of me, I cannot understand why Steele refuses to get on the right side of history.  In an interview with on MSNBC recently, he decided to parrot the ridiculous state rights routine to deny gays and lesbians the right to vote.  It was his contention that theses things need to be decided on the local level, because the federal level would Read Full Story

April Scissors is a writer and cultural critic. She works to explore and uncover the historical and present implications of faulty representations of people of color, women, and other marginalized groups in politics, popular culture, and media. Find more of her work at aprilscissors.com and on Vocalo.org 89.5fm in Chicago where she is a frequent guest and contributor.   Despite what my bio says Read Full Story

Chekhov’s gun is a theatre and literature term coined by Anton Chekhov saying: "One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it." Or, in other words, you shouldn’t have something in the plot if it is not relevant. If you mention something, it should add to the plot, the characterisation, the world building - something. Well, reading Urban Fantasy, we have Read Full Story

WoodTurtle is a Canadian Muslim feminist currently using her extended maternity leave to explore developments of Islamic feminism in the Western and Muslim world.  As a woman who wears the hijab (owns several abayas and a niqab monogrammed with her initials in pink, sparkly sequins), she writes frequently on genderized Islamophobia. She also works toward dispelling myths and stereotypes about Read Full Story

Dave Ackerman is not saying on his Facebook page that this was a social experiment and that only a few people bothered to point out that he wasn't Black.  He is further comparing himself to Franchesca Ramsey who's Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls Video quickly went viral.  I debated posting the following video but have decided to in order to answer his comparison and his decision to wear Black Read Full Story

Nomade is a 23-year-old Mauritian graduate student living in the United States. She is interested in the areas of Francophone culture, bilingual identity and post-colonialism. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, painting and writing fiction.  I hate the Organic Crowd. There, I said it. Don’t misunderstand me; there is a part of me – a part that longs for the noisy markets of my hometown Read Full Story

Victoria Secret model, Kylie Bisutt has decided to walk away from one of the most coveted positions for a model.  Kylie became an angel at the age of 19, just after getting married. She has since decided that her religious convictions will no longer allow her to model for the famous lingerie brand. “Victoria’s Secret was my absolutely biggest goal in life, and it was all I ever wanted career-wise Read Full Story

A young Black men was exiting a store when he was set upon by several other men, who were also Black. They kicked him and punched him repeatedly while screaming a gay slur.  At this time, the victim has failed to come forward and so we have not idea whether he is indeed gay, however there can be no doubt that homophobia was absolutely the inspiration for this attack given the slurs that were Read Full Story