Black Family Cookout Rules

An excerpt from Afro.com -

What you not fid’na do at a Black family cookout

By Rev. Dorothy Boulware 

Yes we have rules for everything and everybody. Rules for behavior in Big Mama’s house. Rules of proper conduct for “in person” church. Rules for butting or rather, not butting into grown folks’ conversations. And we have rules for going to a cookout, a Black family cookout. Granted they’re not written, but you’d better ask somebody if you don’t know.

~~~~~

Cookout or barbeque. Some prefer one over the other. Picnic? Absolutely never!!! Check out a Black history book. So what are the rules of your family’s barbecues? The funny thing is that when the question was posed to family, friends, FB friends and AFRO staff, the answers were quite similar.

*Don’t disrespect Big Mama.

*Don’t pack take-home dishes before everyone eats.

*Don’t come empty handed (unless we have eaten, or not eaten, your food before)

*Don’t put raisins in anything that’s not dessert. Seriously. Even if you are newly Black.

*Don’t bring your new girlfriend when you know your Ex is always invited.

(Click below to check out the entire list.  Please pass this on far and wide to those who need it.  You know who. - Faye)

https://afro.com/what-you-not-fittin-do-at-a-black-family-cookout/

Priceless Guide to Black BBQs

From Deadspin - 

The Caucasian's Guide To Black Barbecues

By Michael Harriot

As interracial dating, integration, and cross-cultural friendships increase, many people find themselves attending events in which they are the minority, and have no frame of reference from which to base their etiquette. In an effort to help bridge the cultural gaps we all have to traverse at some point, I have created a few rules for all my Caucasian friends who might find themselves at a black cookout.

1. You gotta bring something. One time, I went to a co-worker named Tom’s barbecue and brought a pasta salad. He looked at me like I had shit in the middle of his living room.

At a black cookout (yes, if there’s more than seven black people there, the name automatically changes from “barbecue” to a “cookout”), only the meat and the grill is supplied by the host. Everything else is brought by attendees—and no, this is not “potluck.” Black people don’t do potlucks. Potluck dinners are for Caucasian bible-study meetings where one can bring store-bought dishes. Here, you either show up with a homemade dish, or they’re gonna look at you funny. And please don’t try no new shit like potato salad with raisins or vegetarian shish kabobs. If you can’t cook, or you don’t have all the required black seasonings, just bring some cups and napkins. Or LOTS of aluminum foil. I don’t know what the hell black people do with all the aluminum foil at cookouts, but they ALWAYS need more. I have long suspected that black cookouts were ploys by hosts to get free aluminum foil. In any case, you are expected to bring something.

https://adequateman.deadspin.com/the-caucasians-guide-to-black-barbecues-1730865233

 

What Are They Afraid Of?

An excerpt from the Salt Lake Tribune - 

Leonard Pitts: Sometimes you wonder what they’re so afraid of

The powers that be have conspired to protect white people — and prevent Black people — from knowing our history. 

By Leonard Pitts, The Miami Herald

Not that the subject has ever been easy. No, as has often been noted in this space, this country has been positively Herculean in its effort to remain ignorant of African American history. From schools trying to ban it to state laws restricting it, to textbooks telling lies about it, that history is something we have long resisted.

But if the subject was never easy, it has seldom been as fraught — as filled with political heat — as it is now. The New York Times Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “1619 Project,” in which reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones had the temerity to reframe America’s story through the lens of slavery, seems to have tapped something primal in some of us; something that has moved them to spend two years condemning it; something that has states like Texas, Tennessee and Idaho rushing to pass laws banning schools from teaching critical race theory (which seemingly all conservatives fear and none can define); something panicky that is emphatically not explained by academic arguments over points of factuality.

For the record, I consider myself pretty well-informed about Black history. But it is not lost on me that most of what I know was learned on my own after my formal education ended, that I somehow managed to graduate an elite private university knowing next to nothing about it.

Even at that, I was more fortunate than some. School only left me uneducated. It left them miseducated, i.e., taught things that were not true. In an inspired feat of enterprise journalism, Michael Harriot of The Root recently dug up the high school history textbooks that would have been used by many of those who grew up to deny the reality of systemic racism or seek to restrict the teaching thereof. The results are enlightening.

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2021/05/16/leonard-pitts-sometimes/

Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors Testify

From Custodian to Teacher

An excerpt from The Black Detour -  

Georgia School Janitor of 23 Years Graduates College With A Degree in Education

A Georgia school janitor for the last 23 years has graduated from college with a degree in education. Tylan Bailey is now ready to change careers and become a teacher.

“Just walking through these halls every day, you’re surrounded by education. Each corner of this building, education. So why not be a part of that,” Bailey told WSBTV 2.

Over the last 23 years Bailey has worked at Hightower Elementary School in DeKalb County as its head custodian.

“He’s the kind of person you want in your building, on your side,” Principal Sheila Price told the news outlet. “It’s a bittersweet moment because we love him and we want to keep him here. But we know this is a huge step and we support him. We’re here for him for whatever he needs.”

In 2017, Bailey started his journey to become a teacher when he began attending classes at Georgia State University while still working part-time.

https://theblackdetour.com/georgia-school-janitor-of-23-years-graduates-college-with-a-degree-in-education/

Katie vs. Big Pharma

 

Big Pharma says they need to charge astronomical prices to pay for research and development. Yet, the amount they spend on manipulating the market to enrich shareholders completely eclipses what's spent on R&D. Today, I confronted a CEO about the industry's lies, with visuals ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/c3jSLr0yVd

— Rep. Katie Porter (@RepKatiePorter) May 18, 2021

Grants & Scholarships For Black Women

From Essence - 

9 Grants, Scholarships and Resources For Black Women To Apply For Right Now

WHETHER YOU ARE AN ENTREPRENEUR OR A CREATIVE, WE FOUND THESE GRANTS THAT ARE WAITING FOR YOU!

https://www.essence.com/news/money-career/grants-scholarships-for-black-women-to-apply/

This Masquerade | Fingerstyle (Leon Russell / George Benson / Carpenters)

Medical Pedicure

 

Black Girls Climbing in the Midst of Racism

From the Washington Post -  

The Racism of the Great Outdoors

Hikers and climbers of color face a host of obstacles, from bigoted route names to Confederate flags. This D.C.-based group is trying to change that.

By Ikya Kandula

Five years ago, Gabrielle Dickerson, then a sophomore at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, lay awake in her sleeping bag on her first overnight climbing trip, enveloped by the woods of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve near Fayetteville, W.Va. Like many rock climbers in the D.C. area, she’d been drawn to the New, as outdoor enthusiasts call it — a five-hour road trip from Washington — because it offers 1,400 of the best climbing routes in the United States.

The rest of her group had swiftly fallen asleep after a day of projecting — the process of strategizing about, and eventually completing, a climb with no breaks — but apprehension took hold of Dickerson. “I was very aware of how uncomfortable I was in the backcountry of West Virginia,” Dickerson recalls. “Not only because I was a Black woman, but also because of the relationship and trauma my ancestors had with the woods.” Her grandfather had been born on a North Carolina cotton farm in 1930 and picked cotton until he escaped from the owner in his teens. On his way to Philadelphia and a new life, he witnessed his best friend get lynched in the woods.

Loneliness sank in as Dickerson realized that no one in her campsite would be able to relate: She was the only Black climber in her group. She’d been climbing in a gym in Rockville, Md., for six months; that day in the New was her first experience projecting in a natural space. She’d spent the afternoon struck with a sense of wonder, but that didn’t offset her disquietude in that moment. She knew that the deep canyons that surrounded her overflowed with histories of Black families just like her own.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/05/19/rock-climbers-color-face-host-obstacles-this-group-is-trying-change-that/?tid=a_classic-iphone&no_nav=true

Cob on Wood

A Luxury Dog House

From Buzzfeed - 

This Guy Built His Dog A Luxury Home, And It's Nicer Than Anything I've Ever Owned

"For all the people asking, 'Why a TV?' Being extra is a choice, and we chose it."

by Alexa Lisitza, BuzzFeed Staff 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza/diy-luxury-dog-house

 

The morning makes you. So make the most of your mornings with MTN DEW RISE ENERGY. @KingJames #MorningMakesYou #MTNDEWRISE pic.twitter.com/CBty4JIZTU

— MTN DEW RISE ENERGY (@MountainDewRise) May 13, 2021

Engineer Explains Every Roller Coaster For Every Thrill | A World of Dif...

Hair: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Mortician Answers Dead Body Questions From Twitter | Tech Support | WIRED

The Shadow of Your Smile (Johnny Mandel) - Fingerstyle

Good Dog!

 

Tiffany Cross Rebuts Senator Tim Scott's Comments On Race in America | M...

Black children with white moms are sharing what it's like for them

How to Buy a Watermelon

 From Eagle Eye Produce - 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eagle Eye Produce (@eagleeyeproduce)

He's Headed to FAMU!

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

D.C. SCHOLAR, 16, WHO WAS DUALLY ENROLLED IN COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL DECIDES TO ATTEND FAMU IN THE FALL 

Curtis Lawrence III’s journey of excellence proves that early scholastic preparation can turn out to be extremely rewarding. FOX 5 reported that the 16-year-old who graduated high school early decided to attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Lawrence will be double majoring in biology and computer science at the HBCU. Also, FOX 5 also reported that Curtis was accepted to 14 colleges and has received $1.6 million in scholarships.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/d-c-scholar-16-who-was-dually-enrolled-in-college-and-high-school-decides-to-attend-famu-in-the-fall/

One Smart Cookie

An excerpt from the NY Times By the Book - 

The One Book Stacey Abrams Would Require the President to Read

Stacey Abrams, the Georgia politician and romance writer, whose latest novel is the thriller “While Justice Sleeps,” recommends “Master of the Senate,” by Robert Caro: “It is a seminal work on the nature of power, the limits of the presidency and the awesome demands politics make on the soul.”

What books are on your night stand?

I read several genres at once, rotating through as the mood strikes me. My long read right now is “The Coldest Winter,” by David Halberstam. My sibling book club picked “Ring Shout,” by P. Djeli Clark, which is paced wonderfully so it will not be over too soon (but luckily before our call). A recent discussion with my niece reminded me how much I love fairy tales of all kinds, so I decided to dive into “Tales of Japan: Traditional Stories of Monsters and Magic.”

Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).

I had it a few weeks ago. Georgia’s mercurial weather shifted from an unreasonable 48 degrees to a balmy 75 degrees over the weekend. Knowing how soon it could be 25 degrees or 89 degrees, I filled my water bottle, poured myself a glass of Martinelli’s apple juice, and picked up “Black Sun,” by Rebecca Roanhorse. Soon, I was outside on the patio in the springtime, midafternoon, with my feet up on the ottoman and my reading glasses perched on my nose.

What’s your favorite book no one else has heard of?

“What’s Bred in the Bone,” by Robertson Davies, is a novel about a man whose life contained much more than the surface would suggest, including espionage and angels. Davies was a distinguished Canadian author, and this is Book 2 of his Cornish Trilogy (“The Rebel Angels” and “The Lyre of Orpheus” are first and third). I usually recommend the book to folks who ask me for a good book list. Rarely has anyone heard of him or the novel, which is a shame.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/07/books/review/stacey-abrams-by-the-book-interview.html

Uh . . . NO!

An excerpt from the Washington Post - 

Opinion: Should you say the n-word? No, especially if you’re not Black.

Opinion by Jonathan Capehart

No one who is not Black and uses the n-word should be surprised to receive blowback, let alone expect a free pass. It’s one of the most offensive and painful words in the English language. Sometimes, a pass could be granted depending on the context. Ultimately, I just wish folks, especially White folks, would have the good sense not to say it under any circumstances.

I’m wading into this thicket because of a controversy at Rutgers University Law School in New Jersey. Last October, a criminal law student said the n-word while quoting a 1993 legal opinion during virtual office hours. The class’s professor, Vera Bergelson, told the New York Times this week that she didn’t hear the word said at the time and wishes she had.

I have great sympathy for that Rutgers student, a middle-aged White woman embarking on a second career in law. According to the Times story, she had the good sense to forewarn her classmates by saying, “He said, um — and I’ll use a racial word, but it’s a quote.” In that context, I can’t fault her for wanting to quote from the legal opinion exactly. But if she knew enough to warn of the forthcoming word’s “racial” nature, she should have known better than to utter the six-letter abomination in the first place.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/05/07/should-you-say-n-word-no-especially-if-youre-not-black/