The Story Behind “You’re Beautiful”

I was walking through an airport the other day when I spotted the glossy cover. An unabashedly black Lupita Nyong’o, sporting her very own nappy black hair, cropped short, beamed on the cover of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful” issue. Another first for dark black women in American popular culture, courtesy the luminous Lupita. But for…

Second Chances

(For a slight change of pace I wanted to share a simple portrait of a man I interviewed during my recent field research trip.) What’s the best way to put a stubborn stereotype to bed? Tell a different story. Better yet, let the subject of the stereotype tell a different story himself. It may not…

Black Women-Black Men: Where is the Love?

Sitting at my desk at work, not long after Dan and I got married, one of the cleaning ladies walked into my office. After the warm greeting we exchanged, she caught sight of Dan’s and my wedding photo on my computer desktop. She asked if that was my husband. I enthusiastically responded, “yes!” As she…

Am I racist? Some thoughts on what we call ourselves and the “other”

When it comes to inter-racial IQ, I’d like to think I’ve got my boxes ticked: my skin may be white as can be, but I’m married to a black South African, learning to speak isiZulu (clicks and all), spending time with the in-laws in black townships, and cultivating a taste for the likes of Gill…