Aaron

Author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston once described herself as a brown bag of miscellany. I like to think my interior a bit more defined and purposeful than that, but it’s a fitting description nonetheless.

A future educator. Aspiring novelist. Current English major at the University of Chicago. Life-long intellectual. I revel in the realm of ideas. I endeavor to create social, emotional, and spiritual foundations for the communities of individuals around me. I pride myself on being a rebuilder of sorts. Let’s talk about Race sometime.

Posts by Aaron

Featured Post

May 11, 2012 at 9:10am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

It’s Not Enough, But it Feels Good: A Response to Obama’s Support for Same-Sex Marriage

It’s not enough that Obama has finally expressed his support for same-sex marriage, but it’s still a very good thing, and it feels nice. It’s not enough, because honestly, the myriads of problems facing LGBTQ people, especially youth of color, are not going to be solved by the ability to marry. Some LGBTQ individuals are [...]

Read the rest

Featured Post

May 4, 2012 at 11:58am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

The Newer, Cuter, Post-Obama Racism

Affirmative Action is soon to be challenged once again, and I find the debate around it particularly troubling. Not necessarily because of the political implications surrounding the debate, but because it begins to expose just how little people understand the complexities of Race in this country. The conversation around Affirmative Action usually begins to devolve [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

April 20, 2012 at 6:35am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

You Know Something is Problematic When… A Quick Go-To Guide

Okay, sometimes “things” happen in the world that just make me sigh. (Read: blackface cakes meant to represent female genital mutilation.) Over the past few months, there just seems to have been a torrent of misguided gaffes and controversies that continually reveal how much work still needs to be done in the world along the [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

April 13, 2012 at 11:02am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

What Would Happen If We Took Youth Seriously?

I wonder what would happen if we took young people seriously. And don’t nod in agreement too quickly, because you might miss my point. I repeat: What would happen if we took young people seriously? What if we didn’t obfuscate the opinions of a 17 year-old through the lens of age? I invoke us to [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

April 6, 2012 at 10:12am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

The Cleveland Show and the Problem of Black Identity

I recently watched an episode of The Cleveland Show, the satirical spin-off of Fox’s hit comedy Family Guy, which centers on the African-American character Cleveland, and his return to his home state of Virginia to be with his new wife and stepchildren. It’s a funny show, just as crude as Family Guy, and inherently problematic [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

March 30, 2012 at 11:19am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

The Arc of History: Why We Should Remain Hopeful in the midst of Trayvon’s Death

When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

March 23, 2012 at 10:00am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

“If We Must Die”

“If We Must Die” If we must die, let it not be like hogs Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot, While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. If we must die, O let us nobly die So that our precious blood may not be shed [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

March 16, 2012 at 10:06am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

Do We Really Know How to Talk About Racism?

I often hear that as a society we need to learn to confront racism and talk about both race and racism head-on, but sometimes I wonder if any of us really know how to talk about racism. And I don’t mean in the academic way that delineates the effects of racism in its many different [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

March 9, 2012 at 12:48pm

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

Topics: Kony 2012

Sorry Critics, Why I Still Will Be Drinking the KONY 2012 Kool-Aid

If we could all conjure up memories of our K-12 education, we will remember that at some point in time, we were forced to work in a group and offer some sort of peer critique. In order to do this effectively and productively with minimal tension, teachers would talk about something called “constructive criticism,” this [...]

Read the rest

comments

Featured Post

March 2, 2012 at 11:33am

By Aaron

All posts by Aaron »

The Kindness of Strangers: Recognizing Humanity

“I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers.” — Blanche DuBois, A Streetcar Named Desire Be nice to people you don’t know. Seriously. I know it sounds a little bit corny (because talking about emotion has become corny in our society), but I get personally annoyed when people single handedly deny the human experience of [...]

Read the rest

comments