The nod.
What am I missing? Why would this be ubiquitous at home and non existent here? Then it dawned on me… the transatlantic slave trade.
It’s hard to share a truth you haven’t faced yourself yet
It’s hard to share a truth you haven’t faced yourself yet. I seem to have stumbled my way into yet another sloughing off what is not working to reveal raw and unknown aspects underneath. My relationship to dance is in a state of disrepair due to a variety of reasons, some that come from the …
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A new future for the Blues Dance Scene
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of work for the Lindy Hop community. I’ve dove deep into the history of the dance, and the scene and considering what could be improved moving forward. Now I’m turning to look at the blues community. I know the blues scene has taken a long time to return to …
Why Does Everything Have To Be About Race?
It’s middle school. It was long past my first year in a PWI and it was time for a dance. At the time, I refused to dance, so I walked around with friends. I was in the hall when I was startled by my white friends getting excited and flooding toward the gym. Leaving the …
Intersectionality Is More Important Than Ever
This piece is going to be a bit off the cuff for Obsidian Tea. Remarking on an observation of a trend I think as a culture we need to look at and be careful of: Fetishization and social commodification of oppression and adversity. That’s the fancy way of saying there is a lot of social …
What the context of “the slap” can teach outsiders about Black culture
And why colourblindness is an issue I went to bed early and noted there was some drama at the Oscars. Never one to care much about award shows, I wasn’t interested enough to learn more. At 3 am, I groggily checked my phone and found what I assumed to be minor drama was blowing up …
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Being Mixed is Not so Black and White
I’ve been asked a question for as long as I can remember. “So, where are you from?” People of all colours, backgrounds, and ages have always been curious about a thing I was bound to disappoint on. “Here,” or “Ohio,” were my confused answers. All the while, I tried to figure out why I was …
Critical Race Theory In School Is A Good Thing
When I was a kid, I was taught Critical Race Theory in school. To be fair, no one was calling it that at the time and especially not in non-academic spaces. And yet looking back, it becomes obvious to me that there were three different approaches by my social studies teachers in dealing with race …
Why Do Black Men Love Martial Arts?
I happened across a video a few years ago and after I was done laughing, the wheels that let this blog work started to turn. When we think of weebs, (or Otakus for the uninitiated, or, to even further oversimplify, Anime lovers) in the West, what comes to mind for you? Right or wrong, the …
Skin in the game: surviving against the odds
I didn’t want too much of the Obsidian Tea content to turn into just pandemic or politics. I ain’t an expert and I don’t want to take too much focus away from the culture work. But this article, and an upcoming one on hope, are too important in general to not speak on. If you …