A few days ago Dj Stylus shared this video on Facebook and I haven’t been able to shake it since. He quipped, “I’m surprised that I saw this before Thembi, aka the mistress of all things obscure and Negronian.” Yeah thanks, but courtesy of  this video I’ve developed a mild phobia related to brown leather and fringes. I’d never seen Fox’s Celebrity Duets let alone this performance, but there is so much squatting and doing-the-most-ness on the part of Alphonso Ribero that Chaka Khan’s trademark extraness is almost a mere distraction. Just watch…

“The Grio’s 100″ is a comprehensive list of black influencers from ten fields: sports, education, business, science and the environment, media, service an activism, politics, health, pop culture, and the arts. The list is driven by the need to highlight the next generation of history-makers. We’d expect to see Oprah Winfrey listed as a leader in business and Lebron James at the top of the sports field, but are you familiar with Derek Pitts? As Chief Astronomer at The Franklin Institute he has the potential to make a major difference in the Science and Technology realm (he…

It doesn’t seem like most of America is feeling the Hope anymore. Anyone could have predicted the fierce opposition that Obama has faced in office, and sadly he is on track to become a single-term mistake. How can Obama fix this? Well, in addition to the obvious need for progress on his campaign promises – health care, managing our two wars, and reviving the economy – Obama should reach for some low hanging fruit. If he does anything in his four years the least he can

Fact #1: I cannot now nor could I ever double dutch

Fact #2: I cannot double dutch because I came from private school to a public school where no one would let me have enough turns to learn how to do it.

Fact #3: When I tried to participate by turning the rope, I was called “double-handed.” I still don’t know what that means.

Fact #4: Due to the above events, there is a hole in the tapestry of my blackgirlness.

Fact #5: Michelle Obama is way blacker and doper than I am, because even though she is not very good at it, she has double dutched on the White House lawn!

AND she hula hoops.

“In tight jeans, Chinese eyes/Indian hair/Black girl a**/let me pour you a glass of Belvi” – Memphis Bleek, “Do My”

I have a close friend who is half Japanese and half Ethiopian. I have another who is half Panamanian and half Filipino. Both of these women expect to hear a common catcall in the street “Hey Indian Hair! What’s good?” Neither one of them as a single drop of Indian blood, so what gives?

Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas from TLC is of both Indian and Native American descent, and her baby hair game is notorious.

Google “Indian hair” and your search will yield page after page of hair from the Asian subcontinent

Everyone you’ve ever heard of died this summer, but so did someone you probably recognize by face but not by name. Zakes Mokae almost fits into the Obscure Black C-Lister category, and sadly instead of a timely post celebrating his career I have to write about him in memoriam after his passing last week.

Zakes Mokae was the African dude – Father Kani in Cry Freedom, Lettie’s South African old flame on A Different World, Dr. Zeko in A Vampire In Brooklyn, and Big Kathy in A Rage In Harlem. Mokae had a recurring role on Oz and guest spots on Law & Order, Monk, and The X-Files. If you saw the extremely creepy Wes Craven movie The Serpent

Why is it that the older I get the more I sweat Diana Ross? I always thought she was so gorgeous and glamorous but now that I know what a *diva* is I’m in awe of the career she’s had. Undercover Black Man hipped me to this 1968 clip of a twenty-four year old Diana rocking out with some African Interpretive Dance on national television while she was still part of The Supremes. Just for some context, 1968 is the year Martin Luther King was assassinated. Blaze those trails, sister!…

I’ve stayed quiet on the Chris Brown/Rihanna situation because the thought of one person beating another person until her mouth fills with blood is not very funny and you know I like to crack myself up. Notice that I did say a “person” – my problem with the domestic violence discussion is that it focuses on the idea that men should never hit women and I don’t exactly see it that way. Not only does the men vs. women idea reinforce gender and sexuality stereotyping, it ignores the more fundamental fact that no one should use violence or intimidation against…

It happens to most black women. Whether you have relaxed or natural hair, a weave, or braids. I’m talking about white people asking questions and making nutty comments about your hair.

If you spend any time in an environment where blacks are in the minority (i.e. if you have a job), then there has to be someone who wants to touch your ‘fro, another who asks how long your braids took, and another who innocently inquires about your new weave. The effects of humidity and heat styling on Negro hair are lost to most people, and the difference between a “perm” and a “curly perm” has still not been clarified for the masses.

Editors Note: The flashbacks are funny so feel free to bust on me for being such a corn, but the point is just to share my journey.

The Naïve Years. Left to right, me in second and third grades. Those two cornrows were go-to style #1 and the sassy pigtails were #2.

The first time I chemically straightened my hair it was because I really really wanted a perm – in fact I’d wanted one for over a year. I’d had childlike cornrows, a braid bang that needed to be curled with a sponge roller at night, and a press n’ curl that caused other girls at