Author: Corey Washington

23Dec By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Combatting racial narratives in America; how two “P’s” can skew our outlook in the face of uncertainty

Like many of you, with Christmas around the corner, I’m more mindful to give thanks… for the universe exposing me to challenges that strengthened my faith in myself. I was taking notes on addressing anxiety recently as I listened to a therapist’s podcast, and she said something (extraneously) that I knew I needed to notate with simplicity: when we catastrophize outcomes, we are focused that on the probability for it to manifest, hence attraction to this mindset for the average pragmatist. Her explanation lacked the brevity  my ADHD preferred, but I extracted the key message: we should believe in plausibility, not  probability. That is the driver of hope that cannot be overlooked facing any challenges, business included. As adults, we all have to look ahead from time to time to gauge...

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15Dec By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

With surprise appearance by Musk, Dave Chappelle’s disconnect with society was on full display in San Francisco

It’s almost Friday yet it’s as if I can still hear the sound. There was a lot of groaning over the week about Dave Chappelle’s show in San Francisco, and this time, it had nothing to do with his insensitivity toward the transgender community. The legendary comic switched up his routine in epic fashion and performed several magic tricks of sorts, in my view, after morphing from a celebrated— and frequently derided— comedian to a political stunt man all before the very eyes of thousands of people in a live audience. That noise that has been ringing in my ears this week is possibly a reverberation of the boo’s that filled Chase Center on Saturday night when to everyone’s surprise — and chagrin — Dave pulled a white rabbit out of a hat in the form of “the world’s richest man,” according to C...

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10Dec By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Walker vs Warnock: A race too close to accept

Tuesday night’s runoff election in Georgia was nothing short of a nail biter. It was one for the historic books. Incumbent U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Black man, was squaring off for the last time against Trump-endorsed challenger Herschel Walker, another Black man. But unless you’ve tuned out for the past year, you are aware the differences between the two were deeper than skin color. It was experience versus inexperience, intelligence versus ignorance, dignity versus indignation— and unfortunately, the results were too close for comfort. Black America was heavily invested in the results of this contest, and the turnout at Georgia polls reflected our feelings. From the comfort of a couch here in California, I spent the night texting my cousin as the results spewed out a dire possib...

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25Nov By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Tips on how to cope with holiday season downers

Thanksgiving is in our rear view mirror and the holiday season is in full swing. But what’s been touted for ages as the most joyous time of the year isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be for many people. While Santa brings smiles to children’s faces, he delivers a lump of coal to many adults — in different forms. The holidays can stir our emotions, sometimes sinking us into depression or winding us up with anxiety. I’ve experienced my share of the holiday blues before, and I’m here to say there are things we can do to mitigate the sour moments and make the holidays a sweeter occasion. Here are five tips that could help you steer clear of holiday season gloom. Keep Christmas in perspective. Christmas is the biggest — and most celebrated — holiday  in America. Let’s be honest, ...

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21Nov By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

The bird’s the word — Let Twitter die

Yes, I’m flipping off the bird millions once heralded as a Phoenix of the digital age. Ever since Elon Musk’s ostensible rescue attempt of the once-venerable social media platform known as Twitter, or Twatter as I often refer to it, it has appeared as if the feathered god of 280-character messages could soon burn to ashes. Twitter is currently operating with a skeleton crew after more mass resignations following the first round of firings. While I don’t revel in anyone losing their job, as I experienced as recently as two years ago, I also find it difficult to shed a tear for the latest slew of resignations. Many (but not all) of the now-unemployed “twits” earned lofty salaries and received generous severance packages I could only dream of receiving when I needed it. And let’s not f...

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11Nov By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

“Red wave” predictions fizzle but 2022 midterms won’t be the last critical election

Election day came and went but I can’t say it didn't feel elongated. I was on edge most of Nov. 7, 2022. How could I not be? Here in California we were braving a rare rainstorm that lasted all day and were on the eve of an even rarer ominous blood moon eclipse on the day Republicans had predicted would result in a “red wave.” By the time Tuesday came to a close, it was clear I should be as leery of political prognosticators as I should superstition — they can amount to the same unmaterialized predictions for the future. Just a week prior, in an MSNBC interview, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi projected confidence Democrats would retain the lower chamber. I have to admit, I thought she was either puffing up her chest or heavily medicated. Yet, here we are at the end of the historic week a...

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7Nov By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Rap is the new crack epidemic killing Black America

The most recent death of a mainstream rapper reminds me of how insidious the music industry has become, and it didn’t happen overnight. It has many shades of the crack epidemic of the 1980s with a much broader reach, killing Blacks everyday across America and leading to mass incarceration. Much like crack cocaine was slipped into Black communities at the hands of White institutions , which birthed street gangs and widespread drug addiction, the same can be said of the music industry that has reaped billion-dollar profits convincing young Black kids that violent robberies, greed, gratuitous sex and misogyny are the name of the game to get ahead. And the dealers, like the crack epidemic of the 80s, are Black, except the profit margins are higher and adulation are the norm. Rapper “Take...

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31Oct By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

N-word use jumped over 500% as soon as Musk took over Twitter. The Elon Effect?

Spooky season is upon, and I’m not just talking about Halloween. Since Spring, the internet has been abuzz about the fate of the beloved — and loathed — Twitter after Elon Musk announced his intention to acquire the platform. While it isn’t exactly clear what a Musk-controlled Twitter would look like, the Tesla-SpaceX tycoon has rightfully earned his place in history as a controversial figure. Musk has also been tightly embraced by the far right, and some in the center, for his views on the First Amendment — a man who could lift the floodgates of hell hate in the name of “free speech.” The past few months of chatter over Twitter’s future — the "will he or won't he" — reminded me that Musk has a voracious appetite for toying with the press. After several months of playing with everyo...

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24Oct By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Black men shouldn’t duck mental health resources

Sometimes prevailing wisdom falls in our lap when we least expect it. Years ago, a close colleague and myself would frequently visit two friends who were in their senior years. Our conversations ran the gamut but I always felt like I walked away from our lunches and dinners with a refreshing outtake on life that only people who have experienced more of it can offer. There were many takeaways from those chats, but one in particular stuck with me when Bradley said he even at his age, he is less concerned about losing his physical abilities and more concerned about losing his mind — without it, nothing else matters. As we age, everything is prone to declining — and it’s unpleasant to consider having to choose what we are willing to sacrifice… assuming we have a choice in the later years of...

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14Oct By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

L.A. City Council racism scandal exposes holes in “Black-brown coalition”

If there was ever any doubt that one conversation could tank an entire political career, we needn’t look any further than the scandal involving former Los Angeles City Council president and member Nury Martinez. She and two of her fellow city council members, Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo, and now-former president of the Los Angeles Labor Federation Ron Herrera, have been feeling the heat since leaked audio made the rounds on Sunday— and rightfully so. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re aware of the racist and homophobic comments which I don’t need to rehash here. If you mistakenly thought you were listening to alt-right extremists, you’d be forgiven. As despicable and insensitive as the remarks were, there was something much more vexing than the insults. The topic of redis...

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8Oct By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Support for Herschel Walker amid latest controversies proves GOP hypocrisy has no limits

Someone, please throw America a life raft. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse for Georgia’s contentious senate seat than a candidate like Herschel Walker, the man at the center of yet another controversy proved we haven’t seen the worst yet. I’m surprised I’m back so soon writing  about Walker, but perhaps I shouldn’t be. By now, you’re probably familiar with the latest allegations that the “Christian” values candidate who is campaigning as completely against abortion, has himself paid for an ex-girlfriend to get an abortion. The nature of the woman’s relationship to Walker wasn’t known before Walker went on Fox News (also known as Faux News) and said he didn’t know who the woman was that made the allegations, and tried to pivot to a poorly-crafted talking point blaming De...

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1Oct By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Jeffrey Dahmer Netflix series a reminder of society’s failure to recognize gay Black men as humans

Netflix’s new “docu-series” titled "Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story," which centers around the unthinkable murders committed by Jeffrey Dahmer, has been an unexpected, albeit controversial, hit for the streaming service. Reportedly, following its release, the series became the most-watched series during week 1 in the history of Netflix. I haven’t contributed to those ratings because of my reservations about the release of this series and don't intend to. I am one of those people who empathizes with victims and couldn’t imagine living with being retraumatized if I were one of the family members of the men Dahmer killed. Maybe it’s another signal I'm aging, but this series seemed unnecessary — there have been many Jeffrey Dahmer biographies, I didn’t see the point in the making ...

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24Sep By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Right-wing media embraces Black suspects, ignores Black victims

Believe it or not, once upon a time, right-wing media giants like Fox News actually exercised some restraint when covering news about crimes involving Black suspects. But post Trump-era, the masks have come off — and Black suspects are the soup du jour served up daily. Unfortunately, too many people stuck in their corner of racist White America can’t help but lap up the racially-tinged news Fox News spews out everyday. God help you if you are brave enough to risk your sanity by reading the comments section on these stories — an apropos term for what these articles are. There’s no attempt to moderate the racism there — and that’s no accident. Racism equals engagement in the nonsensical internet generation we’re living in. Perhaps on some level it makes sense — what else will fill the extr...

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14Sep By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Walker vs Warnock: It’s no laughing matter

If you’re mildly educated and have endured the misfortune of hearing Herschel Walker speak more than once in 2022, you’ve probably cringed so much you lost count. At this point, I’ve reached PTSD level — I cringe upon the sight of Walker moving his lips on a TV screen. Sure, he elicits a laugh or two from time to time; his misunderstanding of how evolution works and how China apparently could get our "good air" top the list of idiotic quotes for me — so far. Watching Walker in action as he vies for a Georgia senate seat held by someone (Raphael Warnock) who is actually qualified for the job often reminds me of Malcolm X’s famous “house negro and the field negro" speech, amongst other sell-out warnings from the ancestors. But jokes and cheap shots aside for a moment (because he makes ...

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1Sep By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Biden’s speech on “MAGA extremists” threatening democracy: 5 things he got right, and 1 important thing he got wrong

I have to admit, I haven’t been Team Blue for quite some time. Watching President Biden stumble (sometimes literally) through his first term as president didn’t make me feel as if I missed anything since becoming an Independent voter. Democrats have had their share of issues, but the Republicans are increasingly on a whole ‘nother plateau — perhaps even planet — of lunacy that I can't fathom condoning since Donald Trump took office. Putting my career as a journalist aside for a moment, Trump’s presidency and post White House life has been worrisome to me simply as an American citizen. Since 2015 I could not shake the feeling Donald Trump is a puppet playing to his audience. Who pulls the strings and why will come to light sooner than later, and I suspect the Kremlin and Putin’s connect...

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15Aug By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Black America must work to eradicate homophobia and transphobia from within

Perusing the latest news around the world this week, I couldn’t help but feel hit with a bout of deja vu — perhaps even a time machine. Last week, the feeling overcame me when I learned about a Black LGBT teen in Florida who has been assaulted twice — once this year and last year. In both of the incidents, the assailants were Black — and the attacks were suspected to have happened because of the victim’s LGBT identity. But he wasn’t the only one. Far from it statistically. The feeling struck again this week when reading about an incident in Washington D.C. where an interracial couple holding hands in a gayborhood were reportedly attacked by young Black assailants in June. That report came to light last week. Earlier this month, another gay couple was reportedly attacked in the D.C. area ...

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5Aug By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

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Monkeypox and Coronavirus: Opportunities to pause, think, and prepare for what’s next

I loathe conspiracy theories. I’ve said this before but as a journalist, I entertain possibilities, even when they stray from conventional wisdom if it serves a purpose that actually materializes into something grounded and honest. Unfortunately, it seems too many Americans lean so far into dire prognostics that they believe life will resemble a dystopian B-movie. I’m not new to this, but 20 years into this business, I find it slightly problematic to stick with my philosophy given the post-truth world we live in. These lies many Americans — throughout the political spectrum — eat up are increasingly dangerous to our individual minds and the future of our collective health. It’s been 2 1/2 years that Americans have been struggling with living in the coronavirus age. Every time it seems we ...

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31Jul By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Your electric car (and tech) is powered by the cruel exploitation of Black children

The rain pours heavy, soaking his oversized pants and ripped shirt as he staggers up a mound of mud surrounded by wooden contraptions. A man accompanies him not too far, but not close enough to be of any assistance. He’s a mere 6 years old. His vision is obscured by the ceaseless pelts of water dripping down his eyes as he scans the area in search of something. The man following the boy reminds him he is no guardian for the lost child as he whips him across the back for his perceived errors. The child helplessly finds his target and waits for another man with a shovel to dig minerals from a crevice in the ground — metals sought after by unscrupulous Chinese mine owners that will be sold to electric car and cellphone manufacturers. As heartbreaking as this situation might read (video her...

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20Jul By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Can you tell me how to get… away from Sesame Street?

Sesame Street has always been an American institution in providing fundamental learning and supporting developmental skills for children — a right of passage in our journey through childhood. I’ve spent my time strolling down Sesame Street (and sliding down Reading Rainbow) just like you and anyone else 50 years old and under. I can't lie, it made the world feel like a happy place. There was no such thing as exclusion — it would be contrary to the core mission of Sesame Street. But, again, this is an American institution I’m talking about. By now the viral images of a little Black girl’s bewilderment and disappointment is etched in your memory. The video of two Black girls being dissed at Sesame Place Philadelphia by someone dressed in a Rosita costume was truly heartbreaking. I was alm...

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13Jul By Corey WashingtonNo Comments

B/ME

Batten down the hatches — American Democracy failed its most critical test yet

I’m an independent voter and a non-conspiracy theorist. I’m compelled to open with this transparency in such a divisive society we’ve grown into because truth and credibility are assumed to be partisan attributes these days. A large swath of U.S. voters now mirror wayward people who have drawn our world into the preludes of the scariest periods depicted in history books — people who operate on proliferated falsehoods… the kinds that eventually carry mortal consequences. That may be down the line, but what’s set off the alarms today, very specifically today Wednesday, July 13, 2022, is the eerie quiet instead of the storm logical voters would expect to engulf this nation. Audio was leaked today of Steve Bannon, once Trump’s right-hand man — former White House senior adviser and chief strat...

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