RECOGNITION by Nkosi Ife Bandele   On the elevator, finally alone, and so I let it fly. A split second before the doors snapped shut, he bounded in, and right then and there we both knew, our eyes locked, knowing smiles overtook our faces, a real stinky. We...

THE OLD BALLGAME by Nkosi Ife Bandele The last time I attended a professional baseball game I was about the same age that my daughter is now, ten years old. I grew up in Philly in the 1970’s, and in those days you could hang out in the “nosebleeds” for about two...

At the beach a racist white dude passing by points at me to inform me that "You're dark enough already, bro!" All I can think of is how my stunningly dark-complected older sister used to call me "Yellow boy" with such disgust in her voice. If the racist only knew.

Trans Bully by Nkosi Ife Bandele As soon as my wife told me that our little girl was being bullied at school, I was ready to go off the deep end. I’m like that. Nobody, and I mean nobody, messes with my kid, and, shoot, I’ll fuck up a little kid! I really don’t get my...

WHAT STAR WARS’ DARTH VADER AND BLACK PANTHER’S ERIK KILLMONGER HAVE IN COMMON: besides they both Black! by Nkosi Ife Bandele The most revealing moment of the Star Wars saga occurs when young Anakin Skywalker (morphing into Darth Vader before our very eyes) approaches...

Fuckitty-Fuck-Fuck-Fuck Part 2: Shit-Shit-Shit-Shit-Shit by Nkosi Ife Bandele “Shit!” My daughter’s eyes lit up. My otherwise perfect parent of a wife had cracked something in the kitchen, and her reaction was immediate. She emphasized her “Shit!” with “Goddamnit!”...

Over the summer, I read "White Trash: The 400 Year Untold History of Class in America," and I am so recommending that all the terribly-misinformed-about-their own-histories-USAers read this book, cover to cover, right away, like, now! While I’ve taken a position not...

AN unHAPPY MEAL by Nkosi Ife Bandele You got me. I sometimes steal away to McDonald’s with my nine year old, and we share a large fry. (and, well, a small apple juice for her.) When my wife inevitably finds out, she’s not happy about our otherwise 'happy meal'. You...

“USE YOUR WORDS” Since I am 6’4”, Black, and a furry dude to boot, I am not your typical Upper Westside Mom. Still, I try. I give my son “time out,” and I repeatedly say “use your words.” I even do all that in my best Mary Poppins’ voice though, granted, she certainly...

Ah, finally giving props to Junot Diaz for his brilliant work “This Is How You Lose Her”! Been trying to embrace Diaz (along with Colson Whitehead) for the longest but was just not feeling him, specifically “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” feeling that as much...