When I was growing up, Aretha Franklin was more than just a singer, but an icon and a powerhouse we all were meant to try to live up to. She was beautiful, talented, strong Black woman whom we all loved. Let’s dig into the life of Aretha and respect her legacy. Like many Black artists, …
After living in Denver for several years occasionally I would get asked a question that just makes me start laughing hysterically until I look at the person’s face in realize that they are serious. “why don’t Black people go camping?” Even now that I can’t fathom how white people don’t know this about Black Americans, …
When I was a child I had a set of quirks. I couldn’t knock on doors, use the phone or meet important people without heavy breathing, much foot dragging, and sweating. I also couldn’t enter crowded rooms, talk to people, or stop counting to 5. And, many many more random things. My family and friends …
I’ve decided to write a series of posts on Black families. It’s a topic that’s on the forefront of my mind, and yet hasn’t been explored on Obsidian yet. I want to dispel some myths around Black families and also highlight the issues that they have and why. So this is part 1, and a …
As I sit before my computer and yet another online discussion, I’ve noticed yet again that there is a miscommunication about something that feels so obvious and basic to me that I simply kept hoping that eventually people would catch on. You haven’t. I’m too tired to explain this repeatedly throughout my life and instead …
Honestly, I’ve been struggling with this question for months now. To me, it seems like a question with an obvious answer, but this is somehow untranslatable to the white masses (see posts on generalizations). A few months back, I asked DJs to start looking into Black music to play for the last hour-ish of the …
In light of Childish Gambino’s newest video becoming extremely popular, I decided to wait a few days before watching. I watched Facebook and the internet explode about how complex and interesting this video was and when I finally sat down to watch it I was extremely….. disappointed. The video itself was fine and the message …
Black Art for White Audiences Versus Black Audiences Read More »
As I ramp up to strongly promote this month for getting sign ups from Patreon and single donations through kofi, I figure it’s a good time to explain why I run the site this way and why the support is important. When I was a kid my mother asked me what I wanted to be …
I HATE what safer spaces has turned into. A few years ago I started hearing about safer spaces and community when I moved to Colorado. I found it prevalent in the fusion scene and was intrigued by the idea. At the time, my understanding was of a movement to talk about the values we wanted at …
EDITORS NOTE: This is one of the first articles by Obsidian Tea from before it was even named that. With the shift over to the new site, it had been lost to time. Besides some light edits enjoy some vintage Obsidian Tea about Ma Rainey and keep learning about her. I’m honored to be starting …
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