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Friday, August 29, 2014

Better Said Than Written: Things I Tell My Black Son

*This story has been edited for a correction... see below.
Welcome to the first podcast supplement to Arts of Cultures - Better Said Than Written. This is where I make a personal connection with today's trending topics. The story that is still on most people's minds is the tragic death of Mike Brown, who was gunned down by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. Mike Brown, as you know, was not armed. This could have been your son, your nephew, your brother. This could have been my son. So what do we tell our children? Click play to hear: Things I Tell My Black Son.



Correction: Renisha McBride was NOT a victim of police brutality or social injustice. (see story here)
Here is the video of the Black Woman who was... 

Friday, August 22, 2014

Artists Takes a Stand for Mike Brown

As I scrolled through my Twitter feed this morning, I realized that the Ferguson, Mo. protest and riots were no longer trending. The uprising was sparked by the shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. Brown was unarmed.



After the death of Brown hit social media I came across a painting done by Demont Pinder on Instagram. Brown’s eyes pulled me right in. Pinder captured the essence of a young boy who was ready to take on the world yet there was still a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.  

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Guest Post: The Beginning

Earlier this year I introduced you to Aria Kier, a rising sophomore working toward a degree in creative writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. The 19-year-old young lady had a bad case of writer's block. To resolve, I opened up my laptop and said, "You can't leave until you write something. Now write!"

Aria needed to be in her own space, with her own thoughts to write. So instead, she shared one of her poems she was most proud of from her collection. My Refund, Please?

Since that day, Aria's writer's block slowly started to crumble. She started to write again. This makes me happy, because as I mentioned before, "It saddens me to see a young, talented artists slacking off from their passion."

Aria's newest piece, which recently appeared on her blog Vision of My Words, gets in touch with her sensual side. It's a side that some of us neglect because we are either too shy, embarrassed or we believe that sensuality is down right dirty.

WARNING: If you haven't read a romance novel, do not read any further. If you think that 50 Shades of Grey was too explicit, don't read any further. If you forgot what it was like to be touched with lusting hands and would like to remember then read on...

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Summer Discoveries

This summer I spent some time at Point Pleasant Beach along the coast of the New Jersey shore. I also spent a few days in Boston, Mass., to attend the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Conference. During my time away from my day job and Arts of Cultures I found a few cultural topics hiding out in the not so obvious places and I'm surprised more people aren't having these conversations.

First topic: Where do people of color take their vacation?

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