it really is that simple

Unless you’re a president of some nation or the leader of some over-achieving guerrilla faction, rarely do you get the chance to put the world on stop. But then there are people like Rick Rubin.1 Go ahead; look at that face. That grizzly-Jesus-lookin’ mofo is a pioneer of modern music because of his influence on [...]

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it’s been a long…

… a long time coming.¹ Disney finally has its first black princess. Her name is Tiana.  I’ve seen all of her predecessors’ stories.  We’ve had Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, Ariel and Belle.  And if you expand the “princess” category to include any animated lady in a leading role, then there are also characters like Alice, [...]

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even if i’m never black enough

¡Bienvenidos a Free Verse Friday!  It’s the day when I share something different than banter and prose and hope it reads wherever you are as it sounds when I hear it, here, on my side of the interwebs. But before we get to the content… You know those moments in which you expect noise and [...]

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… the whispers ring

It is Free Verse Friday (FVF), but first I want to thank all of you for yesterday.  It wasn’t my moment, and so it feels selfish to admit how much it mattered to me.  But it did.  And if you plan on being at Marvin tonight around 8, I’ll thank you in person. —   [...]

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when the screaming stops

Before you (probably) ever read this blog, it was often very different.  Not that I’ve changed, but it is what it was: back then, “readers” were people kind enough to read the links I delivered to their inboxes, people who already knew me.  And so what follows today may feel different.  It’ll probably sound more [...]

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Madea goes to fail

Tyler Perry. I’m sure he’s a good guy.  And by “sure” I mean he’s probably not, but I can’t prove it, so I’ll benefit-of-the-doubt him for the time being. I’ve never seen more than a trailer for any of the movies.  So the following might be a little premature and woefully ungrounded: I bet I’d feel [...]

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A Promise We Should Keep

every moment is a once in a lifetime not because tomorrow’s not promised but because even if it was right now is exactly what tomorrow could never be: this very moment. but instead of living life like we own it we’ve lived life like we’ve been loaned it – like we’re seat-fillers at the Oscars [...]

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Second Comes Love

Late tonight, huddled at my computer screen, I met Barack Obama. I liked him. We still have a lot to talk about before we’re pushing a baby in a baby carriage, but at least we’re finally sitting in a tree. He seems different exposed. Maybe we all do. Maybe our truest moments come only when [...]

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and still I see no changes

Somebody should tell Barack Obama that it’s ok that he’s black. It’s ok that he went to a primarily black church, with a black pastor, who often spoke to issues specific to the black community. It’s not a validly categorized “political liability.” But by aggressively distancing himself from a man who was willing to acknowledge [...]

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Still A Bachelor…

I’ve been silent for a long time. From the beginning, actually. I didn’t vote in my primary. There were a lot of concerns to balance: my ego over a thoroughly deluded ex-dream of being the first black president; a hearty distrust of a vote approving “the use of force…” The sum of those parts: I [...]

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