Everybody, let’s talk about it: 🧵 I picked my daughter up from after-school on Friday, and a little Black girl had braided her hair. My first instinct wasn’t “how cute”- it was pure frustration. Because it felt like a double standard. I’ve spent YEARS drilling into my kids heads: You NEVER touch a Black person’s hair. We treat it as an absolute non-negotiable out of respect. So to walk in and see someone else freely touching, pulling, and styling my daughter’s hair felt unfair. Why are my kids expected to hold this strict standard of physical boundaries, but those same boundaries aren’t extended to them? My daughter’s scalp was red and bleeding a bit from tension. She’s also had a terrible headache all weekend. The Black girl used products (I’m not even sure why she would have them at school) that were very think and oily. We’ve spent most of the weekend trying to wash it out. The other thing is that she used combs and brushes brought from home. There were other kids who had also gotten their hair done. That scares me from a basic hygiene standpoint. You never share unsterilized hair tools- that’s standard health protocol to prevent things like lice or scalp infections. We all know that. It feels like another basic rule that was completely ignored. Did my daughter actually mind? No. She loved the style. But that’s not the point. My concern is not erased simply because my daughter thought it was fun. My daughter not being upset does not mean I have to be okay with what happened. The lesson here is: keep your hands to yourself. Children can enjoy an interaction and still need adults to establish appropriate boundaries around their bodies. My daughter has bodily autonomy, just like anyone else, and I absolutely believe that should be respected. She was violated and taken advantage of. All because she wanted to be accepted and be friends with these girls. It breaks my heart. And then there is the question of how I even talk to this little girl’s mother. Because I am upset. I don’t want to have a fake, overly polite conversation where I minimize what happened just because the girls are children. My daughter is still my child, and I am angry that another child felt comfortable touching and styling her hair without asking. I want everyone held responsible for negligence. If they staff were doing their job, how could entire heads of hair get done?

Inferno paternal, reigns eternal Everybody, let's talk about it: 🧵 Hey Chamieka, I'm writing this in serious frustration, and I need some advice because I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet. I've taught in the same district, same school, for 14 years. I've had plenty of chances to leave. I stay because I grew up in this community before it took a turn, and it still means something to me. We started back August 3rd. Like we do every year, teachers called every family to introduce ourselves and see if they had questions. I've got 28 kids in my class. Maybe 8 families picked up or called back. Parental involvement gets worse every single year. It's easy to point fingers at schools and teachers, but the parents are the problem. I mean that. I want so badly for them to get engaged with what their kids are learning. Some of these kids are sharp, genuinely going places, no question. But their parents have their priorities so jacked up. And I want to be clear, this isn't just Black families. Latino families too. Why does a 5th grader need wigs, acrylic nails, and fake lashes for school? Why are preteens showing up in belly shirts and shorts that are way too tight and too short? In 14 years I never saw this until about 3 years ago, and it's only gotten worse. I wish we would just go back to uniforms although I think they’d find a way to pimp that out, too. On Monday I sent a student to the nurse to get her nails cut off because she couldn't hold a pencil. So it's not just inappropriate, it's actually getting in the way of them learning. Even that went awry because she went home and lied to her grandma about it. The grandma said that she (my student) used money her mom sent her to get them done. Which is heartwarming because I know her mom is just coming out of jail in another state, but she literally could not participate in class!!! I was asked to replace them and I absolutely will not. Why pour that kind of money into looks and send the message that it matters more than school does? A classroom isn't a runway.

August 11 marks the anniversary of Hip Hop, tracing back to a legendary 1973 backyard party in the Bronx, where DJ Kool Herc debuted innovative turntable techniques that would become the foundation of the genre. Six years later, in 1979, The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” became the first commercially successful Hip Hop single, bringing the genre to fans everywhere with unforgettable lyrics that have become ingrained in Hip Hop culture.

Hasan speaks with Ta-Nehisi Coates about whether or not America is the "bad guy"

This is where my McCants ancestors lived. There’s something different about seeing the actual land and places connected to your family—not just names on a genealogy chart, but a physical landscape where people lived, worked, raised families, survived, and built lives. For Black families, especially those of us tracing our ancestry through slavery and its aftermath, these connections can be complicated. So much of our history was recorded through the people and institutions that owned, exploited, or controlled our ancestors rather than through our ancestors’ own voices. Finding the places they occupied feels like recovering another little piece of the story. They were here. They lived lives here. And I come from them. This is a virtual tour where the sounds of birds, and nature play while you explore the grounds. I feel lucky to have this resource, but also horrified and grief stricken to be able to see where my ancestors lived like this. Most cannot track their lineage. Most don't have people who care enough to construct something like this. Between The Waters http://www.betweenthewaters.org/hobcaw-house-entrance/