Fashion Spiece

It’s no mistake that the music video for “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” begins with the country star perched under a tree with giant, bulbous apples. The scene alludes to the Garden of Eden where Lil Nas X thrums his guitar under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and conjures the serpent onto his lap. Unlike in the original version, where the main characters are naked, Lil Nas X’s “Montero,” dressed in a gold, bedazzled bodysuit, ignores the apple completely. Instead, he is enraptured by the serpent and croons, “Eve ain’t in your garden.” He’s entangled in the snake’s smooth flesh, and, with a kiss, seals his fate to judgment and hell. After sliding on a stripper pole to the inferno, the artist seduces and strangles Satan before crowning himself the new ruler of the underworld. Provocative Satanic imagery and references in music aren’t new. Artists such as Black Sabbath, who popularized the devil...

To some, this may seem a bit ludicrous, but my true identity has felt like an enigma for years and years — I am the product of a white dad and a Filipino mom. The questions are the same: “But you’re not actually Asian, right?” “I don’t get it. Do you classify as white or Asian?” “It doesn’t count if you’re only part Asian.” Growing up in Orlando, Florida, these were all things I’ve been asked and told. Typically, I chose to play it “safe,” because safe meant not getting into the nitty-gritty details of my nonwhite side. It wasn’t because I am ashamed of what I am, but people questioning it so often made me question it, too. Related Story Two weeks after the Atlanta spa shootings, there’s still a lot to talk about Read now Days after six Asian women and two others were killed in a mass shooting in Georgia, a presentation in my multimedia reporting class at the Universi...

As the murder trial of Derek Chauvin begins Monday in Minneapolis, a pivotal chapter of the proceeding is already finished: the selection of a surprisingly diverse 14-person jury that includes people who recognize the racial issues at the heart of this infamous case of police brutality. Juries that are mostly or entirely white have long been a problem in the criminal justice system, especially in the rare cases when police officers go to trial. So a jury that is more representative of America can raise hopes for an even more unusual result: a conviction. The panel consists of two African Americans, two Black immigrants apparently from Africa, two people who are mixed-race, and eight white people. There are nine women and five men. A 15 th juror, a white man who was selected in case someone dropped out over the weekend, was to be dismissed before opening arguments began. (Two previously selected jurors, a Hispanic man and a white man, were dismissed after acknowledging th...

The first poet and author was a woman. A high priestess, in fact, whose works worshipped the goddess Inanna. Enheduanna was said to live in 2285 to 2250 B.C. in the Mesopotamian civilization. Now, thousands of years later, the tradition of poetry remains a tool for Black women to connect to their own divinity. Poets Maya Angelou and Audre Lorde have paved the way for modern-day poets such as Amanda Gorman, whose prose has won her many awards, even granting her an opportunity to recite at the 2021 presidential inauguration. Black women’s rhythmic lines seem to intertwine with the universe, conjuring their very own manifestations of Black joy, Black love and self-empowerment. Self-taught artist Vanessa German knows this dance with the universe very well. It’s been embedded within her psyche since she was a little girl. Growing up, German’s mother made sure that she and her siblings were well-read by intentionally carving out space in her home for bookshelves and...

The decades-long conversation surrounding college athletes’ name, image and likeness rights is once again bubbling up in the makeshift March Madness bubble. On the eve of the $900 million-generating tournament this month, players in Indianapolis took to social media to declare they are #NotNCAAProperty, in the hopes of creating meaningful discussion with NCAA execs that will lead to changing the ways in which student-athletes can earn money during their playing careers. No. 1 seed Michigan, which will play Florida State in the Sweet 16 on Sunday, found itself at the center of the conversation when injured star forward Isaiah Livers donned a black t-shirt with white text – declaring #NotNCAAProperty – along the sidelines of their opening tournament game. The shirt was made by The Players Trunk, a company that includes Charles Matthews, a former Michigan standout who starred on the school’s 2018 Final Four and 2019 Sweet 16 rosters, as one of its founders...

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Is there anything more seductive or ultimately disappointing than a fairy tale? It’s been nearly two weeks since the interview of the decade, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s post-Buckingham Palace emancipation sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, and the repercussions just keep coming. The queen is appointing a diversity czar for the palace . The royals are orchestrating a bumbling publicity blitz , and a new poll found that more than half the people of Canada, which is part of the British commonwealth, think the British monarchy is obsolete . Then there are the small-scale conversations Black women are having amongst each other about how the most famous interracial couple in the world revealed something they already knew: There is no way for a white man to politely disengage from confronting the racism his partner faces from in-laws and family acquaintances. After all, plenty of them have faced the very same dynamics. Some fairy tale, eh? Meghan Markle (left) and Prin...

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It wasn’t like Megan Thee Stallion needed any validation. Still, the trifecta of Grammys she won Sunday night added more proof to an undeniable truth: In a genre as maniacally competitive and male-driven as hip-hop, Megan is a true thoroughbred, one of the game’s superstars. And as has been repeatedly true for Black superstars on “music’s biggest night,” she found herself involved in one of the program’s most awkward moments. Megan Thee Stallion on the red carpet at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14. Beyonce makes history by winning 28 Grammys, more that any female or male performer, at the 63rd Grammy Awards on March 14. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Jhene Aiko at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14,. H.E.R. on the red carpet at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14 in Los Angeles. Lizzo during the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14 in Los Ang...