The Girl Next Door is Black

The Life & Opinions of a Late GenX-er/Early Millennial

  • Home
  • About
  • Life
  • Race + Culture
  • Travel
  • Contact
  • Work With Me
  • Support

Pop Culture

  • Home
  • /
  • Category: "Pop Culture"
  • I Could Have Used More Laughs and Fewer Tears, but 2015 Was Actually Pretty Okay

    Thursday, December 31, 2015 37 Blogging, Culture + Society, Life, Pop Culture, Travel 2015 retrospective, binge-watching, Black Lives Matter, books, depression Permalink 14
    2015, like every other year, had it's ups and downs. However, it's important not to let the year's lows overshadow the highs. | Read more from "2015 Year in Review: I Could Have Used More Laughs and Fewer Tears, but It Actually Wasn't That Terrible" on The Girl Next Door is Black

    Happy New Year!

    2015, like every other year, had it’s ups and downs. However, it’s important not to let the year’s lows overshadow the highs.

    When I considered writing an end of the year retrospective, my face scrunched up in disgust as I reflected on 2015. Not my favorite year by a longshot. So much of it felt like a continuous struggle – like I’m in the middle of a significant lesson which I’ve tired of learning.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Growing Up “Keisha” in a World of Ashleys and Joshes

    Saturday, October 10, 2015 29 Pop Culture black names, Freakonomics, ghetto names, Meaning of "Keisha", only black kid Permalink 13
    There's nothing wrong with having a "black" name Raven-Symone. Read more in "Growing Up Keisha in a World of Ashleys and Joshes | The Girl Next Door is Black

    In 7th grade, I pleaded with my mother to let me change my name to one less “black.” I didn’t use those words exactly, but I’d gleaned by then that, just like my dark skin, my name was considered inferior somehow. We’d just moved to Texas from Georgia where I’d experienced for the first time the anguish and confusion of being the only black girl in my “gifted and talented” classes full of white kids. I was in the midst of my racial identity crisis.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • What Emotions Am I Allowed to Have as a Black Woman?

    Thursday, July 23, 2015 33 Pop Culture angry black woman, angry white men, black women in music, fuck the media, intersectional feminism Permalink 0
    It seems as though Black women in America are not allowed to express anger, otherwise we're seen as combative, mean or "having an attitude." So what emotions are we allowed to show? | Read more on The Girl Next Door is Black

    A few days ago, rapper Nicki Minaj tweeted out her frustration that her big booty-full, controversy-generating Anaconda video was overlooked for a Video of he Year Award by MTV. Soon after, media darling and America’s archetypal sweetheart, singer Taylor Swift, inserted herself into the situation, which was NOT ABOUT HER, tweeting Minaj with her hurt feelings and ivory tears.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 5/01/15 – Baltimore Uprising Special Edition

    Friday, May 1, 2015 4 Friday Five #BaltimoreUprising, Baltimore, black Americans, Black people, Freddie Gray Permalink 0
    A curated roundup of the best tweets from 5 top trending topics this week for week ending 6/12/15 | The Girl Next Door is Black

    This week’s Friday Five is dedicated to the tweets about the protests and related events in Baltimore and around the US.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Don’t Be That Insensitive Jackhole

    Thursday, February 26, 2015 16 Culture + Society, Pop Culture 2015 Academy Awards, apologies, black Americans, black hair, black women Permalink 0
    Thinking Allowed Written on Brick Wall from Don't Be That Insensitive Jackhole

    On Sunday, after the Academy Awards, Giuliana Rancic, co-host of E!’s Fashion Police, made a contentious statement in reference to the locs worn at the ceremony by 18-year old actress Zendaya.

    In a previous post, I touched on the complicated relationship many black women have with their hair.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 11/28/14

    Friday, November 28, 2014 8 Friday Five #BlackoutBlackFriday, #NotOneDime, AMAs2014, American Music Awards, Black Friday Permalink 0
    Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup 12/12/14 | The Girl Next Door is Black

    In this week’s Friday Five, read the emotional tweets post #FergusonDecision, also #BlackFriday madness, Thanksgiving funnies and more!

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 11/21/14

    Friday, November 21, 2014 14 Friday Five #Aaliyah, #BreaktheInternet, #DonLemonReporting, #Snowvember, #SolangeWedding Permalink 0
    Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup 12/12/14 | The Girl Next Door is Black

    In this week’s Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup – Nobody liked the Aaliyah Movie, CNN’s Don Lemon stepped in it again; Solange’s Wedding exploded heads, #Snowvember and more!

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 11/14/14

    Friday, November 14, 2014 2 Friday Five #fixtheinternet, #NationalPickleDay, #rokerthon, #WeCanLandOnACometButWeCant, Al Roker Permalink 0
    Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup 12/12/14 | The Girl Next Door is Black

    Reactions to Kim Kardashian’s nudie shots, everyone loves Rokerthon, cranky snow tweets & more in the Weekly Twitter Roundup! See the funny tweets you missed this week.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 10/31/14

    Friday, October 31, 2014 6 Friday Five #ScaryStoriesin5Words, candy corn, catcalling, cats, Friday Five Permalink 0
    Happy Halloween | Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup | The Girl Next Door is Black

    Actor Jesse Williams goes in on racial inequality and offensive Halloween costumes; candy corn: good or gross; is catcalling street harassment; and more, in this week’s Twitter roundup!

    If there’s one thing the internet does well, it’s obsess over pay homage to kitty cats and #NationalCatDay proved no different.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 10/24/14

    Friday, October 24, 2014 5 Friday Five Barack Obama, black people and fried chicken, blackface, Bloomberg, Chrissy Teigen Permalink 0
    Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup 12/12/14 | The Girl Next Door is Black

    Here are five things you may have missed on Twitter this week.
    1. Renee Zellweger strolled onto the red carpet wearing a different face this week. Of course, Twitter had something to say about it. #ReneeZellweger

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • What Happened to OFFline Dating?

    Thursday, October 23, 2014 29 Culture + Society, Life, Pop Culture acting, black women dating online, dating, longreads, Match.com Permalink 0
    What Happened to Offline Dating | The Girl Next Door is Black

    Does anyone meet anyone in real life these days? Offline? For dating purposes, that is. You know like:

    Guy sees cute girl at bus stop.

    Guy makes joke about the horrid stench wafting from a black trash bag near the bus shelter.

    “Ah, the sweet smell of street funk and human waste,” he cracks.

    Girl giggles. She relaxes her street defenses.

    They discover they share a preference for puffy Cheetos over crunchy. “This is awesome,” they both think.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Scenes from the 2014 Treasure Island Music Festival

    Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4 Life, Pop Culture, San Francisco 2014 music festivals, Andre 3000, Bay Area, bay area weed smokers, Coachella Permalink 0
    Treasure Island Music Festival Stage 2014| The Girl Next Door is Black

    When my friend asked if I’d go with her to the Treasure Island Music Festival, I surprised myself when I said, “Yes.” After my one and only experience at the Coachella Music Festival a few years ago, I all but swore off large-scale music festivals. Between the heat, the parades of douchery, the posers (people who literally seem as though they are just there to pose), the flower headbands, the Native headdresses on non-Natives, the spilled beer, sloppy drunken fools, the long lines to get just about anything and my general dislike of unruly crowds, I must have temporarily lost my memory to agree to this. Of course, it didn’t hurt that my friend’s face lit up as she gushed about how much she loves André 3000 of Outkast, one of the headliners of the two-day concert.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Friday Five: Weekly Twitter Roundup 10/17/14

    Friday, October 17, 2014 0 Friday Five #mylovelifein3words, Childfree, Confederate Flag, fall cocktails, fall drinks Permalink 0
    Friday Five Weekly Twitter Roundup 12/12/14 | The Girl Next Door is Black

    Here are five things you may have missed on Twitter this week.

    1. I love everything about this White Macaroni and Cheese dish from the New York Times. It has brie! and mascarpone! The recipe looks simple enough that I might attempt to make it myself.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • Is Everyone Saying “N***a” Now?

    Thursday, October 16, 2014 30 Culture + Society, Pop Culture Eminem, hip hop and violence, hip-hop, is it okay for white people to say nigga, Juicy J Permalink 0
    Lil Wayne Unplugged | Is Everyone Saying Nigga | The Girl Next Door is Black Rap Music Fans

    “If you having a good time, I want you to say, ‘Hell yeah, niggaaaaaaaaaa!”

    “Hell yeah, niggaaaaaaaaaa!” the crowd screamed back at Lil Wayne.

    I scanned the stadium of concert goers: a sea of young, white and light faces surrounded me, bopping their heads to the beat, hip-hop hands swaying in the air, phone cameras recording and repeating at Lil Wayne’s command,

    Helllllll yeah, niggaaaaaaaaa!!

    I looked over at my friend, who, like me, hadn’t joined the crowd.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • What Halloween Taught Me About Economics

    Tuesday, November 5, 2013 0 Life, Pop Culture 80s Halloween myths, Candy, classic candy, economics, Halloween Permalink 0

    This is the third year that Jimmy Kimmel encouraged parents to torment their unsuspecting, innocent, cherub-faced children by pretending the parents ate all the kids’ Halloween candy. These candy-nappers film the interaction as they break the news to their presumed beloved spawn, and we, as adults, are expected to laugh at the pain these helpless tykes feel at the sudden, shocking and unexpected loss of their sugar prizes. “That’s not a very kind thing to doooooo,” one sweet boy wailed at his candy-napping parent.

    Continue Reading...
    Share on:
  • 1
  • 2
Advertisement
Topics
Africa african-americans art black Americans black in San Francisco Black people blogging Career cats Christmas conversations with strangers Copenhagen dating diversity diversity in San Francisco Europe family food Friday Five friends friendship Humor longreads Los Angeles making friends making friends in a new city making friends in San Francisco Moshi moving moving to a new city pets police brutality pop culture racism San Francisco single life Tanzania Texas travel travel photography Twitter Voluntourism White supremacy work writing
  • Home
  • About
  • Life
  • Race + Culture
  • Travel
  • Contact
  • Work With Me
  • Support
Design © BUZZBLOG. All Rights Reserved, 2018
Content © thegirlnextdoorisblack.com and The Girl Next Door is Black, LLC 2012-2017