african american

Marriage is For White People

In 2006, The Washington Post published an op-ed essay by writer Joy Jones with the provocative headline “Marriage Is for White People.” The headline didn’t reflect Jones’ views; it repeated what one of her students told her when she taught a career exploration class for a predominantly black group of sixth-graders. If you look at [...]

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12 Things That Stress Out Dads

Being a dad is hard work and stressful. According to a Yankelovich Health & Wellness study, dads are most stressed out by the following twelve items: Planning one’s financial future Job/Career Keeping family safe Worrying about children’s success Health-care costs Aggressive drivers Influence of peers on children Balancing work and family Quality of your child’s [...]

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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is An All Pro Dad

Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the Superbowl Champions. I’m proud to say that the Steelers were my Superbowl pick from the start. Of course I figured they would be playing my formerly beloved Dallas Cowboys, but that’s another story. Disclosure: I hate the Steelers for what happened in their 1979 playoff game against the Houston [...]

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Martin Luther the King

The other day, my daughter, Nee, who is in second grade, was complaining to my wife, K, that her school has shown the same documentary on Martin Luther King, Jr. since she was in kindergarten. Nee attends a private Christian school that has an African-American population of about 2%. We worry about the diversity of [...]

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World AIDS Day 2008

Today is World AIDS Day, a day when individuals and organizations from around the world come together to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic. Eradicating AIDS is something that I am passionate about because African Americans are disproportionately affected by this deadly disease. The AIDS epidemic among African Americans in some parts of the [...]

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President-Elect Barack Obama: Change has Come

Barack Obama is the President-Elect of our country. All I can say is, “Wow!” An African-American will be the leader of the free world. I’m glad that Obama won the way that he did. Not only did he win by a landslide, but he won in traditionally Republican states. Now no one can say that [...]

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Education is the Key to Ending the Cycle of Poverty

I grew up poor. That fact became quite obvious to me when I started attending gifted schools in the wealthier areas of town. While all of the other kids had the latest fashions and the newest Atari video game systems, I had to settle for the clothes and toys that my mother could afford. My [...]

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A Father’s Take on Things That Matter Most

I read several blogs each day and I’m amazed by the talent that I encounter. I recently came across a blog titled iAMrj.com. I was immediately drawn into the author’s post, “A father’s take on things that matter most.” The piece is insightful and heartfelt. It is the type of post I wish I had written for [...]

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Mocha Dad: Mose Alexander

Periodically, I will feature a Mocha Dad who epitomizes what it is to be a real African American father. The first father in this series is my uncle, Mose Alexander. Uncle Mose has been one the role models in my life. As a kid, I always looked forward to his visits. I loved to listen [...]

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Murderer: A New Definition of Manhood

I am not a murderer. I have never killed anyone, nor do I intend to. But a little boy made me feel as if I should, if I am to be a real man. I met him at a basketball court where several young ballers came to play. Running up and down the court to [...]

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Thoughts on Barack Obama

I promised that I would not write about Barack Obama unless he won the election. My daughter made me break my promise. She is only seven, but she is obsessed with Obama. She constantly asks about him, former presidents, and the U.S. election process. Her obsession began last year when my wife bought her the [...]

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Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?

I read that Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps eats an estimated 12,000 calories per day. Even with this large consumption of food, Phelps has a hard time gaining weight because of his intense training schedule and super metabolism. I remember those days when I could eat anything and not gain a pound. I didn’t gain my [...]

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Easy Reader

After watching the Dark Knight (best Batman movie ever), I felt compelled to Google Morgan Freeman. When the results came up, I was pleasantly surprised to see some videos of his character, “Easy Reader” from “The Electric Company.” For those of you too young to remember “The Electric Company,” it was an educational television show [...]

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The Cupcake Incident

As I mentioned in the previous post, we celebrated X’s birthday with cupcakes. Well, the next day, we decided to have the rest of the cupcakes for desert. My daughter, Nee, got a cupcake out of the container, but dropped it on the floor on the way to the table. I told her to throw [...]

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