1. i’m flabergasted that a florida jury allowed yet another man to murder a black teenager without a murder conviction. i’m sickened by the constant reminder that the lives of black children are less important than those of their white counterparts. watch as jessica williams of the daily show does a tongue and cheek run-down of white america’s omnipresent “fear goggles” that can make “four black teenagers taking a calculus test look like a scene from the wire.”
2. 
don’t you just love yaya alafia (nee dacosta)? i remember her season of america’s next top model and the way she schooled tyra banks on the origins of kente cloth. the ivy league grad is now an actress, wife and mother who was recently interviewed by michel martin on npr’s tell me more. listen to her thoughts on her role in lee daniels’ the butler, colorism and why she calls herself an african in america.
3. have you heard the teaser to beyonce’s drunk in love remix featuring kanye?!?! it made me jump up and run around my apartment full speed — the only appropriate response when one of your favorite songs from beyonce’s new album gets better.
4. it’s not every day that you hear an artist reference brandy, bun b, bounce music and kirk franklin as their inspirations. in a recent interview with npr’s new r&b and hip hop show, microphone check, i fell in love with solange all over again as she rattled off a list of 90’s hip hop and r&b that only a person raised in the south can appreciate.
