yes, black men do deserve to grow old.
thinking about takeoff + reads & vibes for your weekend.
Coming to you live and direct from the ATL shawty… let’s get right to it!
thoughts at large.
When I woke up Tuesday morning to the news of Takeoff’s death, I was shocked and honestly, unprepared for the deep sadness that followed. Never met the guy. I can’t even say that I am the biggest fan of the Migos, but I would be lying if I said their music hasn’t played an integral role in the soundtrack to many a fun night in my life. They are culturally influential. I think that’s where a lot of the mainstream conversation stops, and I just don’t think that’s enough. Neither does Aoki Lee Simmons. Watch this TikTok:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
It’s not just the culture vultures, though. As a community and a culture - I hate that we look at celebrities and artists as commodities and forget about their humanity. We often record people’s final moments instead of trying to help. We don’t think about the families that will have to relive the pain of seeing their loved one fighting for their life. Instead we’d rather have the social clout.
In general, there is a deficit in empathy that often scares me.
While the stories of untimely deaths of rappers dominate the news cycle and social media conversation, I often think of the Black men & boys who are gunned down in neighborhoods every day. They matter to someone, too. Often that someone was me as a high school educator. It’s so bad that any time I hear about a situation in the neighborhood I used to work in, I’m praying it’s not one of my former students. It shouldn’t be that way.
Young Dolph’s wife Mia Jaye coined the term “Black men deserve to grow old” and it’s true. But if we don’t do our part to help Black boys (and girls) learn to resolve conflict without violence…we’ll continue in this same sad cycle. Honestly - we’re the change we’ve been looking for. It’s on all of us. Yes you too, friend. Let’s do better.
reads + vibes.
Drake & 21 Savage put out a joint album called Her Loss. If you missed Drake rapping after his oontz oontz album “Honestly Nevermind”… you’ll get what you want on this one. apple | spotify
If you like R&B… please do yourself a favor and check out Coco Jones’ new EP “What I Didn’t Tell You” - somehow she found time to record this while also filming season 2 of Bel Air. A multi-talented queen! apple | spotify
The Wakanda Forever soundtrack is out now… it features Rihanna, Tems, Tobe Nwigwe and more. Don’t forget, the movie comes out a week from today… get your tickets, and your outfit together ASAP. apple | spotify
Angie Martinez sat down with Usher for the latest episode of her IRL podcast… it’s worth. Listen. I especially loved when Usher explained that his Vegas residency is going so well because for the first time in his career he’s actively choosing to be happy. Watch here.
Duchess Meghan sat down with Ziwe and Issa Rae in a recent episode of her podcast Archetypes. This week’s focus was on the angry Black woman archetype, and I gotta be honest… there was some very relatable content in that episode. Listen here.
That’s all for this week, friend. Take care of yourself. Also: we’re one win away! #GoAstros
