Marcus Miller keeps jazz contemporary with his 2018 album ‘Laid Black.’ Here are the deets.
Read More
All articles filed in culture
Do They Know It’s Christmastime?
Every December, people around the US finally allow themselves to listen to Christmas music, joining the few of us who believes in the extension of the beautiful season. Yet with the introduction of this wondrous genre to public radios comes the airing of one particularly degrading song. “Do They Know It’s Christmastime,” a well-meaning song…
Read More
“Despacito” is taking over my life
“Despacito.” I hear it on the radio, in the office halls, and through the walls at night before I sleep. “Despacito.” Firstly, I would like to say that my old housemate Abby and I listened to the Fonsi hit while it was on the way to the top but before it became uber popular. Yes,…
Read More
Lunchtime in DR Congo
Six of us sat on the maize-colored rooftop, attempting to circle together in the sliver of shade as we ate our lunches. The men bantered in Kiswahili, and my eyes wandered to the green banana tree across the way. I rolled the bugali in my fingers, scooped some greens and dipped it in pilipili while trying…
Read More
If I’m not Italian, what am I?
During my freshman year, my college’s group for racial (re)conciliation held an event in combination with the theater group in which we used our bodies to explore the concept of home. Through a Never-Have-I-Ever type of exercise, I discovered I was the only person out of approximately 40 in the room who had grown up…
Read More
Three things TCKs taught me not to take for granted
If you know international students or have friends who are third culture kids (TCKs), you know you can’t take anything for granted—not the terms or phrases you use, not your understanding of geographical knowledge and especially not your time spent together. Language. Catchphrases are cultural, so you may have to ask questions about what an…
Read More
Finding joy in cabbage
I was deprived before college, though I did not realize it. Of what was I deprived, you ask? Kimchi. Yes, a life without kimchi is a deprived life. You can pair it with rice; you can cook it into a soup; you can have it as a side to any meal. Kimchi is flavorful and…
Read More
Mu Kappa: a taste of Heaven
We sat around the pot of fufu, a handful of sisters. First we wet our fingers in our bowls of homemade peanut soup. Then, protected from sticky base we were about to share, we reached into the communal pot to tear off a piece of the doughy circle of boiled flour. Next we dipped the…
Read More
A List of New England Things
“You know you’re a ____ if” lists and “20 things about _____” articles are popular right now. Being bullet point style, they’re easy for Millennials to skim, and they appeal to our sense of identity. Inspired by these attractive albeit shallow articles, I’ve constructed a list of New England identifiers. Not all of these apply…
Read More
From Ireland to Philadelphia: the unknown story of my ancestors
About six generations ago, my ancestors crossed the Atlantic from Ireland to Philadelphia. Well over a century later on Saint Patrick’s Day, I cannot stop wondering about my great-great-great grandparents. Only in the past few months have I realized the privilege I have to know from where my ancestors came. Being African-Americans descended from slaves,…
Read More