I must be one cynical bitch. I’ve never had a hero. I mean, there are people whose work I love and damn near worship, but it has always been about the work- not the people. I’ve always felt a distance from the artist because- people have issues.

I’ve been raped and there are likely men in my music, movie or literature collection who are rapists.

My work spans a range. There have been deeply intimate expressions of belief or feeling; most often they are explorations of a concept or a mostly intellectual exercise.

You assume a lot yourself. I’m a novelist and a poet. My works are a tiny, focused exploration of one kind or another. They are not me. The sum of them are not me. My art is a vehicle, not a representation.

Lordy, I shall remember this day as the day I agreed with Mr Harriot without caveat- it is a rare thing.

Stop with the hero worship, period! Appreciate the work for what it is and accept that it comes from a flawed human being.

Why, exactly, do you think the public should be interested in Trump’s ornament? She isn’t interesting. She doesn’t engage in public works.

I apologize. I’m not ascribing that attitude to you specifically, but to the Root in general. And I also got my wires crossed - I wasn’t addressing what you think I was.

Not disingenuous, a different perspective. Yes, I know what is meant, but I disagree with their conclusion.

I don’t care about cute. I care about accurate. As I stated previously, female is a biological term and woman isn’t. “Woman” is some nebulus term in reference to what one feels or identifies with. The derision some use with female is used all the time with woman as well. I’ve seen several men call out “woman” as if it…

Given his particular”quirk” I don’t believe for a gotdamned minute that wifey didn’t know what lil’ Billy was up to. I bet he tried it on her once, and she told him to take that sick shit elsewhere, but keep bringing her checks.

So I am trash for identifying myself as a female person or a human of the female persuasion? I like specificity and “woman” doesn’t mean what it used to, so I’d rather not use it for myself.

I refer to other people as they prefer.

Full disclosure, I’m a Black woman married to a foreign born Chinese man. We’ve been together for over a decade & I don’t look like Hallie. No, he doesn’t have tons of Black friends and has never tried to “act Black”.

Why is this a thing right now? Oh, because no one is talking about Miley!

Unlike the preachers....

Not just Hip Hop. Look into the histories of many of our beloved icons. Your Mama’s music. Your Grandma’s music. They we’re all messy.

I would say there are no Black community leaders, not as a whole. We aren’t unifed enough to have any.

Maybe we need another term, because this wasn’t “grape” so much as not wanting to call someone she cared about a rapist. I know too many woman who were clearly raped as children, teens and adults who do not refer to the perpetrator as a rapist because of their relationships to/with the criminal both prior to and…

The head wrap ban is wrong, but I don’t have a problem with dress codes or school uniforms. I’m a Black woman with DDs & ass. I never ran afoul of school dress codes because my mother’s requirements were stricter, just like my own will be.