AfroAsiatic Perspectives

The anticipated fifth and final installment of the internationally acclaimed documentary-series, Hidden Colors, has been met by standing-room-only crowds in both NYC and Atlanta. Following a showing in Manhattan, in which the film’s producer/director, Tariq Nasheed, personally attended, he made his way to J.F.K. Airport to catch a flight to London for is debut in Britain, which was scheduled […]

“If you’re black, stay back…(but) if you’re white, you’re all right!” ~Big Bill Broonzy on Jim Crow In 2019, is “White” still Right? Even with the admission by western scientists that the overwhelming majority of humans trace their ancestry to a handful of people from sub-Saharan Africa, the centuries-old system of racism/white supremacy still maintains its firm grip on

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by Black Creatives Japan. Black Creatives is a social-media group for independent, progressive-thinking people of Afro-descent. Ms. Ayana Wyse, the organizer of the event, stressed in her promotion that everyone (not only blacks) was welcome; and this is exactly the type of

  Takuan Amaru What do HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, the Breakfast Club’s Charlamagne tha god, and ESPN’s Sage Steele have in common? All of them, at some point, have been labeled by critics a sellout or an “Uncle Tom.” In his book Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal, Randall Kennedy defines sellout as […]

When I announced I would be traveling to the U.S. to participate in some book festivals to an American friend who had recently visited there following almost a decade of living overseas, her response was thought-provoking. “Tak, America has changed,” she warned, “everyone’s gay!” Although I was aware that former-President Barack Obama was an advocate

“I can’t believe the U.S. still condones (primitive ideals like) racism…it’s the 21st Century. What I mean to say is, in Japan we discarded out-of-date notions like racism decades ago!” ~this is what a 33-year-old Japanese salaryman said in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin Five years ago while Suzuki-san was saying this to

Many people are offended if Caucasians are referred to as “Cracka” or “Honky,” claiming these monikers are racist terms. But history demonstrates these words are based on class as much as race. After all everyone in black communities knows “honky” was a nickname black men gave to white men who would honk their horns outside

What does it mean to be “American?” When Japanese attempt to label me thus, I always reject the term because to them, being American means eating at fast food joints, wearing your shoes in the house, and growing up in one of the situations depicted on the sitcom, Modern Family—basically being white. None of this even

“What I suffered physically was worth what I’ve accomplished in life. A man who is not courageous enough to take risks will never accomplish anything in life.” ～ Ali at a news conference on October 28, 1984 Exactly what does a person have to accomplish to be dubbed—by the entire world—the “Greatest of All Time?” Yes,

“Everything ebbs and flows. Civilizations climb, rise, then they decline…the Black Race is in a suspended state of retardation”      ～Bro. Bobby Hemmitt For me, everything changed back in 1997 following the killings of Tupac and Biggie. After all that “Thug Life” and “Junior Mafia” hoopla, I expected some sort of retaliation to take