What Does it Mean to Be a Black Male Today?

Sharing Our Secrets Panel: Brandon Hay, Amanda Parris, RT!, Rich Kidd

I'm very excited about my brother's play, Secrets of a Black Boy, hitting the stage in Toronto this Saturday July 27th! He's worked hard on making sure that each of the characters that he has created portrays the truth of the young black male.

If you only used the media as your source for who a black man is you would probably come to the conclusion that black men are violent, arrogant, sexual beings who are absentee fathers. Secrets of a Black Boy aims to answer the "why" behind some of these perceptions and also flips this stereotypical image so that audiences will leave seeing black men as so much more.

Darren recently spoke with Urbanology Magazine about the truth that he needs to tell with this play:

I’m very in your face; I’m not sugar coating anything… I think with seeing this piece, this will probably change your perspectives on black males. And I know that’s brave to say, but at the end of the day, I know my culture, I know myself, and I know my peers, and this is basically a window into our lives… I feel like there are a lot of negative images of black males in the media as well as some of these storytellers and I definitely want to put an end to that.

There has been a lot of dialogue and feelings of fear for our black men, especially recently, due to the verdict in the Trayvon Martin/Zimmerman case. A lot of anger and frustrations have been expressed, or expert opinions on news programs but not enough dialogue amongst youth and the people that these issues affect the most. Darren has created an awesome forum called "Sharing Our Secrets" that will be offered exclusively for audiences of the 2pm performance this Saturday. The forum is for the youth of the community with a panel of some of Toronto's most respected community leaders and artists. The amazing lineup has just been announced and it will include - Brandon Hay of The Black Daddies Club, Award Winning Director RT!, community activist and founder of the Lost Lyrics Amanda Parris, and the much buzzed about producer and performer Rich Kidd.

This panel is truly awesome because all 4 of these individuals really put time into their communities inspiring, motivating and working with our youth. So they know exactly what issues they face and steps to creating solutions.

The play and this panel is definitely a MUST SEE for all you folks in Toronto! I promise, it will be a play that will have you laughing at one point and then really thinking about your life and the lives of those closest to you in another. We need to keep the dialogue going in our community!

The "Sharing Our Secrets" Forum will be after the 2pm show at 4pm for those who purchase tickets for that afternoon performance.

For more information about the play, click here: https://secretsofablackboy.eventbrite.ca/?nomo=1

Rough & Tough With Your Afro-Puffs? Solange is The Latest Victim of the TSA Afro Pat Down

What's she hiding in there??

Airport security has become extra tight these days, because even a womyn's afro is seen as a potential threat to national security! There have been several cases reported recently of TSA agents giving womyn's lush and textured hair a quick pat down to make sure nothing of threat is hiding in it.

Recently, Solange Knowles experienced this same treatment at the airport when TSA asked to check her hair while traveling. She later tweeted:

Discrim-FRO-nation. My hair is not a storage drawer. Although, guess I couuld hide a joint up in here. *Blames "Romnesia" (my wigs name).

I honestly can't believe that security has gotten to this point that even our hair is getting the frisk at the airport. There are a number of black womyn who are calling discrimination on this matter  as they believe that if they were of another race or had long / flowy hair then they would not be victim to this kind of treatment.
I think that TSA should be doing what they can to keep us all safe and protect us from potential harm but I wonder if this is necessary and it is quite humiliating to get your hair palmed through at the metal detectors in front of everyone.

What do you all think, is this just another form of airport profiling, this time aimed at black womyn and their hair or do you feel that everyone should be subject to a pat down if suspected / necessary? Has this happened to you at the airport?? Meet me in the comment section and let me know what you think.

Have a great weekend!

Moms Punishes Daughter for Inappropriate Instagram Picture - Very Clever!

This mother taught her daughter a valuable lesson by posting the picture below on Facebook.

it says:
"Since I want to post photos of me holding liquor, I am obviously not ready for social media and will be taking a hiatus until I learn what I should and should not post! BYE-BYE :( "

A 12-year-old girl was recently banned from social media by her mother after she found a picture of her daughter with a bottle of closed vodka with the caption "Wish I could drink this vodka."

When novelist ReShonda Tate Billingsley allowed her daughter open an Instagram account, she made sure to educated her daughter on the do's and don'ts of what pictures would be appropriate to share.

Her daughter broke the rules and is now suffering the consequences.

Billingsley posted the picture above on her daughter's Instagram account as well as her personal Facebook page and within hours it had gone viral.  At first the girl was obviously embarrassed and ashamed, but after a few days,she realized that what she did was wrong and asked her mom to take down the picture of her holding the bottle of vodka.


This is a far cry from the discipline methods most of our parents would have used.  I grew up in a Jamaican home and as you can imagine, had I done something like that the consequences would have been much MUCH different.


Through this lesson Billingsley was able to open up the lines of communication regarding social media in a way that was on her level and something she can relate to.  We have all heard the phrase "the punishment should fit the crime" and in this case I think it has.  I don't think she would have gotten the point if she had been grounded or spanked.

It's nice to see parents stepping into their children's online lives and teach them how to behave!  We hear so many stories about children being preyed upon, taken advantage of, and even killed because of inappropriate behaviour online and we always ask..."where are the parents?"  Well here they are...taking a stand and teaching their kids how to effectively use the technology that is available to them.

As you can imagine, there are some people who think that this was the wrong way to punish her child....saying that this will haunt her for the rest of her life (crazy people)....but I want to know what you think?  Did she go to far?  Did the 'punishment fit the crime'?  What would you have done differently?