The Liberator: Most Popular Blog Discussions

On the strange habit of dope-dealing and its anachronistic appeal

2011-10-11T12:01:00.000-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Today, practically every one of America's notorious ghettos is undergoing a major facelift. The urban landscape, once replete with condemned buildings and...

"Culture is synonymous with answers" / A conversation with Brady Goodwin: The Death of Hip-Hop, Marriage and Morals

2011-09-07T12:01:00.000-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} The Death of Hip-Hop, Marriage & Morals? by Rohiatou Siby (Contributing Writer, The Liberator Magazine) Hip Hop will simply amaze you Craze you, pay...

Agriculture's necessity in liberation / "I thought of land people live on, develop and make profitable but do not own ... contemporary serfs, forced off when beneficial for proverbial landlords"

2011-08-22T09:01:00.000-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Striving Toward Self-Sustenance: Agriculture’s Necessity in African Liberation by Sawdayah Brownlee (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) While picking shell...

Faces of Crown Heights, Brooklyn

2011-07-21T12:01:00.003-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} {All images © Kameelah J. Rasheed, 2010} On July 4, 2010, I moved from the small town of East Palo Alto (Bay Area, California) to Brooklyn, New York. After...

Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

2011-07-04T15:01:00.003-04:00

She had me at “I’m awkward.” Such a simple admission -- such a reflection of a significant amount of self-awareness on the speaker’s part. J, the protagonist in Issa Rae’s “The Misadventures of...

The Disadvantages of an Elite Education

2011-06-24T15:01:00.003-04:00

This is a great companion piece to the conversation we had here a while back on David Foster Wallace's comments on reading, television, intimacy and creativity in America. Here, William Deresiewicz...

Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind: On race, black power, black studies and affirmative action / "It really meant that blacks would be recognizably second-class citizens"

2011-05-11T12:01:00.002-04:00

The following is an essay taken from Allan Bloom's The Closing of the American Mind, subtitled "How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students". Published in...

"Deeper connections with everything we engage with" / A conversation with jazz prodigy Esperanza Spalding

2011-04-12T12:01:00.004-04:00

Some excerpts from a great interview from The Revivalist. I'm reminded of how our Chris Brown conversation is centered around an appreciation of nuances and b-sides. But, more importantly, if you...

"The nauseating stench that oozes from the wound" / In Defense of Chris Brown

2011-04-07T12:01:00.011-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} In Defense of Chris Brown by Nyaugenya (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) “Let’s pray for him.” These words tumbled sarcastically out of my BFF’s mouth a...

"When my father was a young idealist, he let me know that it is not my place to try to "fix" whatever problems the elders, the parents, were having..."

2011-04-05T12:01:00.017-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com feature} My Cousin about His Mother: “the thirsty crap she does” by Bryan Wilhite (Guest Contributor, The Liberator Magazine) The enmity between male and female laid out in...

Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts & Baldwin's Nigger: "It is not a racial problem. It's a problem of whether or not you're willing to look at your life and be responsible for it, and then begin to change it ... White is not a color, it's a attitude" / James Baldwin and Dick Gregory [film]

2011-03-21T12:01:00.170-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} In the film "Baldwin's Nigger," (available free below) James Baldwin and Dick Gregory talk about the black experience in America and relate it to that of...

"Organized Labor & the State Fistfight in Heaven": Context for the Wisconsin protests / A Breakdown of Sorts

2011-02-21T12:01:00.009-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Organized Labor & the State Fistfight in Heaven by Robert Bland (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) Be weary of any charlatans, snake oil salesmen or general...

The Rise and Inevitable Liberation of the Black Creative Class

2011-01-28T12:01:00.006-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} The Rise and Inevitable Liberation of the Black Creative Class by Robert Bland (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) Urban Studies theorist Richard Florida...

The Myth of Black Hollywood

2011-01-21T12:01:00.008-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Recently I was listening to some of my old Public Enemy records, tapes and CDs. I can admit that I’m old enough to have purchased all three from a retail...

"Space is the Place": Val Wilmer photographs Sun Ra [visual art]

2011-01-18T12:01:00.005-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Space is the Place: Val Wilmer Photographs Sun Ra By Kameelah Rasheed (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) "In tomorrow's world, men will not need artificial...

At the dark end of the street: black women, rape & resistance [book review]

2011-01-14T12:01:00.014-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} At the Dark End of the Street reviewed by Anthony Gayle Wayne State University Professor Danielle McGuire's latest book, At the Dark End of the Street,...

The problem with Outkast

2011-01-12T12:01:00.007-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} The Problem with Outkast by Robert Bland (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) While Andre Benjamin and Antwon Patton have not released a cohesive LP since the...

Haiti: The Specter of Saint-Domingue

2011-01-04T12:01:00.004-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Haiti: The Specter of Saint-Domingue by Robert Bland (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) Late last January I had an uncomfortable conversation with a friend...

"Parent Trigger" law in California lets parents take over "failing" schools

2010-12-20T12:01:00.004-05:00

A new California Law, Parent Trigger, allows for parents to call for an 'over-haul' of a school if the majority of parents are on board. This is what happened at McKinley Elementary in Compton. The...

The (mixed race) bastards of our colony

2010-12-14T12:01:00.012-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} A new book -- "The Bastards of Our Colony: Hidden Stories of Belgian Metis" -- is now in circulation; and it concerns the policies and cultural protocols...

Heroes: Talismans of power; Beautifully human, complicated and contradictory

2010-12-09T12:01:00.009-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Beautifully human, complicated and contradictory by Robert Bland (Intern, The Liberator Magazine) I have two 22x34 inch posters that overlook my work desk....

"White girls dipped in chocolate" / The Colour of Beauty [short film]

2010-11-30T12:01:00.007-05:00

Synopsis: "Renee Thompson is trying to make it as a top fashion model in New York. She's got the looks, the walk and the drive. But she’s a black model in a world where white women represent the...

Indigenous wisdom

2010-11-26T12:01:00.006-05:00

"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect...

"My theory of girl chasing" & remarks on "Sorry successful black women, but most of ya’ll ain’t as cute as you think"

2010-11-19T12:01:00.015-05:00

I would only have something substantial to contribute in response to just a few points made in the concise pieces below that we're sharing here today: In the so-called millennial generation, we all...

Einstein on being human [sayings]

2010-10-28T12:01:00.047-04:00

{via onBeing} “A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the...

Eartha Kitt on love

2010-10-27T12:01:00.003-04:00

{© Carl van Vechten} This is a fantastic film clip from the 1982 documentary about Eartha Kitt, All By Myself. What she says about love, compromise, and relationships is profound and spoke to me on...

Runaway [film]

2010-10-24T12:01:00.008-04:00

Here's Kanye West's directorial debut -- a 40 minute short film titled "Runaway" based on his upcoming album (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy). Folks will be spending many words on this piece in...

Ghetto Physics [trailer]

2010-10-12T12:01:00.004-04:00

Synopsis: "Will the real pimps and hos please stand up? Ghetto Physics is a blend of documentary, satire, and narrative filmmaking that examines the power dynamic that exists in social, political,...

Night Catches Us [trailer]

2010-09-30T12:01:00.005-04:00

Magnolia Pictures has an interesting two-fold release schedule: On Demand on Oct. 29th and in theaters (for old fogeys like me who don't have cable) on December 3rd. I cannot wait for this to...

Waiting For Superman [film review]

2010-09-29T12:01:00.011-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Waiting For Superman by Anthony Gayle “Waiting for ‘Superman’” is another documentary detailing the sad state of our educational system. It follows several...

David Foster Wallace: on Reading

2010-09-12T12:01:00.003-04:00

"Reading requires sitting alone by yourself in a quiet room... I have friends -- intelligent friends -- who don't like to read because they get, it's not just bored, there's an almost dread that...

Andre 3000 [mp3]

2010-08-31T12:01:00.002-04:00

Benjamin is back. I Do Comment for download.

Malcolm's grandson speaks

2010-08-04T00:01:00.004-04:00

Worth every second of your time. Young Malcolm (25 years old) talks about Nas, the release of his grandfather's confessed killer, government involved in Malcolm X's death, his responsibility for the...

The Roots: "Dear God 2.0" x "The Fire" [vid/mp3]

2010-06-18T07:54:00.006-04:00

A few tracks from the new upcoming album (How I Got Over) were recently liberated. In case you forgot about him in your who's-the-best conversations, Black Thought puts in his bid for president on...

Nigger, Akata, and a Nigerian cab driver [musing]

2010-06-17T10:45:00.003-04:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} {image via Mindspill} Nigger, Akata, and a Nigerian cab driver by Marie Kanu A few weeks ago an unfortunate cab driver felt the hot smack of my A Million...

Numaads: "Now" [video]

2010-06-11T08:19:00.007-04:00

"Hip-Hop beats can evolve into something that is music by itself." That sentence belongs to The Q4 (The QuadraphoniQuartet), the group to whom Numaads producer Sense also belongs. Along with vocalist...

Investigating "Teach for America"

2010-05-24T15:37:00.003-04:00

Public education, once viewed as the great equalizer of "our union", now faces unprecedented scrutiny and ever-increasing competition from private and semiprivate entities. Teach For America (TFA), a...

Live From Planet Earth, Dakar (PanAfrican Summit)

2010-05-04T13:02:00.013-04:00

{liberator event} 2nd Pan African Youth Summit: Dakar, Senegal +Live From Planet Earth: Dakar ("Style de Dakar") +May 28-29, 2010: University Cheikh Anta Diop If you've been with us for more than a...

Remixing History: Titus Kaphar [visual art]

2010-03-31T20:16:00.004-04:00

{"Conversation Between Paintings #1: Descending From a Cross to Be Nourished at the Breast of Our Mother" (2006-2007), Titus Kaphar} Titus Kaphar. With a name like that you’re practically destined...

Rare & Bizarre Vol. 3 [ep/mix]

2010-03-26T13:39:00.002-04:00

I like rare grooves. The Rare & Bizarre series of projects is a favorite. This is volume 3. Enjoy. {via Revival Blog} Rare & Bizarre Vol. 3 (download it) This rare find by Wet Willie you might...

New Erykah Badu [mp3/video]

2010-03-03T13:01:00.003-05:00

Erykah's leaked these in recent weeks (but, in this strange age, low-tech is my new high-tech and slow-burn is replacing the superficial need to be on the bleeding edge -- intimate, honest connection...

Mos Def: The Ecstatic [review/mp3]

2010-02-26T15:37:00.014-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Mos Def's most recent album The Ecstatic is a classic album. Meaning: it will be just as good, and probably better, with more and more time sprinkled on it,...

Good Reporting vs. Exploitation [on Haiti]

2010-02-10T13:48:00.006-05:00

It's hard to parse my feelings on the images coming out of Haiti, where Port-au-Prince experienced a devastating 7.0 earthquake on January 12. I can't ever remember papers like the Washington Post...

An awkward interview with Nneka

2010-02-02T17:49:00.007-05:00

Nneka's beautiful U.S. debut album drops today: Concrete Jungle (she's also performing at S.O.B.'s tonight in New York for $15). Click the topic "Nneka" below to browse some of the free tracks we've...

What you're not hearing about Haiti (but should be)

2010-01-20T18:21:00.002-05:00

(SOURCE: Common Dreams) What You're Not Hearing about Haiti (But Should Be) by Carl Lindskoog In the hours following Haiti's devastating earthquake, CNN, the New York Times and other major news...

Finger on the Page: Frantz Fanon's "Black Skin White Masks" (Chapter 1)

2009-11-25T21:51:00.008-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} The goal of these posts will be to conduct a chapter-a-week close reading of Frantz Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks, while analyzing, summarizing, and...

Speak, So You Can Speak Again

2009-11-18T22:46:00.009-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} Incredible concert, huh? I mean this is MJ’s coming out party, the day he dazzled the world with the first moonwalk. His performance was so arresting...

Philly Native Son: Barkley L. Hendricks

2009-11-18T11:09:00.003-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} As with all other forwards, I opened it (the email) and began to read. Barkley Hendricks... Birth of the Cool... random details... et cetera. Sounded good....

Finger On The Page: Frantz Fanon's "Black Skin, White Masks"

2009-11-14T16:54:00.006-05:00

{liberatormagazine.com exclusive feature} The first serious encounter I had with Frantz Fanon's work came during a college course surveying post-colonial literature. A hefty part of the class was...

Nneka: "Walking" [video | kiotd]

2009-11-04T19:42:00.005-05:00

Walking (check it)