One of the challenges of doing cultural criticism is when the critic begins to infer their own meaning onto something that was not intended by the author or the creator of the work. With my theological background, we learned about textual criticism when it came to the exegetical work of the biblical literature. One […]
Read more "Kendrick Lamar and Black Hip Hop Masculinity"Beyonce’s rendition of “Precious Lord” fell rather flat at the 2015 Grammys. That’s a commentary that didn’t make it into many news stories the day after. Most stories used descriptors as “resplendent” and “emotional” to detail what the artist did in her rendering of the classic gospel piece. Social media, particularly the eponymous Black Twitter, […]
Read more "When “Precious Lord” Doesn’t Lead Home"We got out of the cab at 7:55 pm that let us off on the corner of 8th and 49th rushing to the theater as we were trying to make sure we weren’t late to the curtain of Broadway’s “The Book of Mormon.” I had marginally heard about the show and knew it was a musical. […]
Read more "The Cost of Free Speech: The Racism of Equal Opportunity Offenders"In lieu of flashpoint moments that have directly affected black Americans in the recent months, particularly the rape allegations of Bill Cosby, the tragic saga of Andrew “I am Delivert” Caldwell and the Church of God in Christ, and the prolonged moment of Ferguson that has has managed to arch over a few months, I […]
Read more "Nothing to Lose, A Reflection"In the weeks leading up to the 107th Holy Convocation of the Church of God in Christ, I wrote an open letter to Bishop Charles E. Blake and to the General Board imploring them to make a visible and vocal statement concerning the situation demanding justice for Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri–only 12 miles from […]
Read more "Telling the Tragic Truth of the Church of God in Christ, A Post-Mortem"If you’re black and want to go to an HBCU, go watch “School Daze,” if you want to go to a PWI, go see “Dear White People.” If you’re white and have no idea what I’m talking about, go watch both movies. Justin Simien’s directoral debut “Dear White People” was and is a refreshing look […]
Read more "Dear White People: Simple Comedic Satire or Complex Real-Life Drama"Dear Bishop Charles E. Blake and the General Board of the Church of God in Christ, The 107th Holy Convocation of the Church of God in Christ will be held from November 3-11, 2014 in St. Louis, Missouri and as a concerned progressive Christian of the millennial generation, I implore you that during this week of […]
Read more "An Open Letter to Bishop Charles E. Blake and the Church of God in Christ"“To put it bluntly, the likes of Pharrell and Raven-Symoné can afford to declare their independence from blackness.” In April of this year, Pharrell Williams declared the “new Black” in an interview with Oprah Winfrey by saying: The “new black” doesn’t blame other races for our issues. The “new black” dreams and realizes that it’s not a pigmentation; […]
Read more "The Millennium Negro: The “New Black”"A week later, ABC’s last week #1 comedy, “black-ish” dropped from that position, losing 24% of their audience from last week (however ABC is quick to point out that this is still the strongest showing of a show in the slot immediately following the Emmy Award winning “Modern Family”). Also, while dropping in the number of […]
Read more "The Continuing Blackness of “Black-ish”"“Black-ish picks up the conversation the Huxtables were having when the cameras weren’t on.” –myself, 9/24/2014 To round off ABC’s Wednesday night line-up with millennial sit-coms using the pre-year 2000 format of focusing on the American family, after three back-to-back shows focusing predominantly on Anglo-Saxon families, there is a black family. Well, I guess they’re black-ish. […]
Read more "When Keeping It Real Goes Black-ish"
Joshua Lawrence Lazard 