The Taming of the Shrewd

…or the incessant need for *PWIs to make black icons “safer”   by Joseph Guthrie Throughout my lifetime, there are three things that have continued to remain a permanent mainstay in society: Politicians are the masters of manipulation. It’s always darkest before dawn. When an iconic black activist dies, mainstream media rush in to distort said… Read More

The Unbearable White Ignorance of Annie Lennox

by Zoé Samudzi After her October interview with Tavis Smiley, I no longer think of Annie Lennox solely as the edgy, cool, and philanthropic Eurythmics frontwoman. I now see her as an embodiment of white ignorance. On her new album Nostalgia, Lennox covers “Strange Fruit,” a song popularised by Billie Holiday in 1939 that describes,… Read More

Maya Angelou and Chinua Achebe: Warfare Through Writing

By Samira Sawlani  Upon news of Maya Angelou’s death my first thought was ‘there are not enough words to do justice to her achievements, her legacy and her influence upon both the literary scene and humanity as a whole.’ The mounting accolades clearly indicate that her ability to express through prose and poetry emotions, reality… Read More

Luis Suarez’s Redemption? Sport Needs a Political Conscience

CONTENT NOTE: This piece will include examples of racism, rape culture, domestic violence and transphobia. by Shane Thomas  With the recent incidents concerning the footballer, Dani Alves – and the subsequent #weareallmonkeys hashtag, as well as LA Clippers owner, Donald Sterling being banned from the NBA, it may give a false impression that the arenas… Read More

Writing and Reading While Black. Lessons learned.

by Shannon Barber I spotted this article “You can’t do that! Stories have to be about White people”  on tumblr a week or so ago and have been ruminating about it. No seriously go read it. I also highly recommend watching the attached video but you can do that when you’re done here. Now let me… Read More