Book Review of “Losing My Cool: How A Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip Hop Culture” by Thomas Chatterton Williams

Earlier this week, my friend sent me a text and said “I found my new favorite writer. His name is Thomas Chatterton Williams. His book is so well written I want to throw it.” So immediately, upon such a wonderful review, I googled this brother’s name while on my phone driving (yes, I know what […]

The (Anti-)Intelligence of The Hip Hop Culture

Okay, that’s a loaded title, I’ll admit that upfront. So if you’re inclined to take the following article with a grain of salt, I’m not going to be mad at you. That being said, I think it’s time to admit that as a black culture we can no longer afford to blindly act as though […]

The ‘Inception’ of Reality into your Dream

SPOILER ALERT!!!! I wouldn’t consider myself a movie buff, but certainly I appreciate movies that are thoughtful that include a well written script, directed with some expertise and actors that don’t come off as placed there merely for their namesake or their well chiseled face and abs or voluptuous chest and sensual lips. I’m even […]

A Character Case Study of The Boondocks: Conclusion

I actually completed a full series for the first time in my blogging career. I was supposed to do it consecutively, but I just didn’t have it in me, but I completed it nonetheless. I took it upon myself to discuss each of the Boondocks cartoon characters and highlight various episodes that I felt best […]

A Character Case Study of “The Boondocks”: Uncle Ruckus

I saved this character for last for a certain reason, but for a very important one. That reason is that Uncle Ruckus is the most one-dimensional character that exists on The Boondocks. To true Boondocks enthusiasts the addition of Uncle Ruckus was certainly a shock. Uncle Ruckus was a character that was not in the […]

It’s An Issue of Brand Loyalty (and some other stuff): Why Lebron James Went to Miami

Let the record show that this is my first EVAR sports blog piece. I’m actually creating a new category for it. Now on to business. I usually always scoffed at the comparisons that many cultural critics drew with regards to the NBA players being compared to slaves on the plantation and that the whole deal […]

A Character Case Study of “The Boondocks”: The DuBois Family

The DuBois family of Tom, his wife Sara and their daughter Jazmine is an interracial family, with Tom being black, Sara being white and Jazmine being the interracially mixed child of this union. The family lives along with the Freeman clan in the suburb of Woodcrest and the family appears to be friends with the […]

It’s Easy To Hate, So Don’t

NSFW Notwithstanding the great urban prophetic voice of comedian Katt Williams, I think black folk “hate” on each other a bit too much for my comfort. There’s a thin line between legitimate criticism levied against an individual versus just hatin’ on another just because you can. As I see it, too many of us suffer […]

A Character Case Study of The Boondocks: Robert “Granddad” Freeman

No one really knows how old Robert “Granddad” Freeman is. What we know is that he is the grandfather of both Huey and Riley Freeman who has taken on the parental responsibility of raising his grandkids. The entire show, he never mentions Huey and Riley’s parents or begin to deal at all with them. Robert […]

Joshua Lawrence Lazard

The blog of the one formerly known as The Uppity Negro

Month: July 2010