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(ThyBlackMan.com) Jay-Z stands in a rare place in American cultural history. He is not simply a rapper who became wealthy. He is a chronicler of ambition, survival, capitalism, and the psychology of coming from nothing and refusing to stay there. When I look at his words as a like-minded writer, I do not treat them as celebrity soundbites. I read them as artifacts. They are windows into a generation shaped […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) One of the amazing things that occurred quite frequently during Jesus’ earthly ministry was that he had to remind his apostles to keep their focus, concentrate on the vital issues, the really important things, and not to be sidetracked. It was not that these stalwart Galileans had an attention deficit disorder, or that they were uninterested in what Jesus was teaching them and so become easily distracted. No, that […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) As 2026 unfolds, the landscape of international travel for Americans has shifted dramatically under the Trump Administration’s renewed focus on border security, immigration restrictions, and reciprocal travel bans. The administration’s policies, including expanded travel bans and visa restrictions, have not only affected inbound travel to the United States but have also triggered responses from foreign governments, impacting where and how Americans can travel abroad. This article examines the safety, […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) America’s children are growing up in a landscape shaped by persistent educational inequities, the trauma of gun violence, and the psychological toll of civil unrest. For Black and minority children, these forces converge in ways that threaten not only their safety and well-being but also their ability to thrive and realize their full potential.   Education should be the great equalizer, yet for many minority children, it remains a […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Does it sometimes seem as though too many people have never learned the lessons of the schoolyard? If you capitulate to a bully, you will be bullied forever. If you stand up to him, he will back down. What’s true on the playground is also true in the office, in politics and in international relations. Standing up to bullies is not free of risk. You might get bloodied in […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Like most Americans, I have had seemingly endless discussions in the wake of the murders of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Jeffrey Pretti at the hands of ICE agents in Minneapolis. Yes, I understand that “murder” is a legal distinction that must be determined in a court. However, what I have seen dozens of times, from multiple angles, leaves no doubt as to the moral question of the nature […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) White People Created Jazz is a claim that resurfaces whenever cultural memory becomes inconvenient. It is often framed as a bold correction to political correctness, yet it collapses the moment it encounters history, geography, and lived testimony. Jazz is not an abstract idea whose origin is lost in time. It is a specific response to a specific set of conditions experienced by a specific people. Those people were Black […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) As this reflection is written, Wynton Marsalis stands at a rare threshold in American cultural life. After nearly forty years, he is preparing to step down as founder and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the institution he helped build into a permanent home for jazz inside one of the nation’s most prestigious cultural spaces. A two year transition period has been announced, signaling not a retreat but […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) As I read the commentary across social media, legacy media and the broader public discourse surrounding the latest deadly shooting in Minnesota, I see something deeper than disagreement over facts or law. I see a nation struggling to reconcile rights, authority, fear and accountability in moments when events move faster than judgment. Let’s begin with the Constitution and the Second Amendment. The right to bear arms is not granted […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Black men financial stress is something most of us know well, even if we do not always call it that. We feel it in our chest when the bills are due. We feel it in our silence when somebody asks how things are going. We feel it when we tell ourselves we are fine even though we are barely holding things together. For a lot of Black men, money […]