Former Drug Dealer Turns Life Around, Graduates From Ivy League

His journey wasn’t an easy one, but this former drug dealer is now an Ivy League graduate.  David Norman, a Harlem, New York City, native, spent many years of his life in and out of jail due to a past of selling drugs and battling substance abuse, and was incarcerated for manslaughter in 1995.  But […]

This Poet's Chilling Take On Black Death Is Heartbreakingly True

Heavy is the head that wears the kinky, curly, coily crown of blackness in America. Poet Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib reminds his audience of this in his piece titled “That Crown Ain’t Worth Much.” Performed at the 2015 National Poetry Slam in Oakland, California, Willis-Abdurraqib talks about the hardships, tragedies and pain that many black people have to endure. […]

Steve Harvey Opens Up About When He Was Homeless

In the upcoming cover story of People magazine, Steve Harvey recalled the “very painful” experience of becoming homeless following his first divorce while he was pursuing a career in comedy. Harvey was living out of his car at the time and making $50 a week. “All I knew was that I could make people laugh,” he […]

We've Been In Formation: New Artist Lish's Black Superhero Music

We’ve been in formation. Before Beyoncé’s ode of unapologetically standing firm, unapologetically being proud, hot sauce in her bag, and more importantly not being controlled by long centuries of negative portrayals and ideologies that have been systematically pushed concerning Black people, there was Lish. Of course we must pay homage to Queen Bey, because what […]

On the "A" w/Souleo: Maxwell and Estelle Help MoCADA Celebrate Art & Activism

To find out what The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) means to its loyal supporters all you need to do is ask. That’s exactly what executive director, James Bartlett did at the museum’s 2nd annual MoCADA Masquerade Ball held on May 19 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Instead of delivering a fully […]