Homecoming

I always fancied one day owning that house, despite my dad’s disbelief I’d ever want to live there. I also thought I’d have him for at least another 20 years, so consider how my feelings for that place soon changed once he was no longer in it. Had I bought the house from my dad or had he gifted it to me, that would’ve been ideal. But it felt weird knowing that house could exist without him, if that makes sense. I hated walking in that door, I dreaded going into his basement, I’d go into the kitchen and start daydreaming about the fake wrestling matches we’d have, I’d look inside his bedroom and notice one side of the bed hasn’t been touched because, oh yeah, only one person sleeps in that bed now.

Essays, CultureLarry J. SandersApril 13, 2017Homecoming, Family, Larry J. SandersComment

01.23.2017

About three months ago, I considered shuttering the website. In many ways, and for a number of reasons, my confidence was shot. I hadn't written a thing in months, and the whole project was starting to feel like an enormous and expensive waste of time. I’ve never been big on asking God for signs, but that day, I prayed during lunch that God reveal to me whether W S H was still worth the effort.

Essays, CultureLarry J. SandersJanuary 23, 2017Larry J. SandersComment

Granny

I give my grandma a hug and kiss before I leave the house. “Bye, Granny. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Don’t forget this address and this phone number, now.”

“I won’t, Granny. I promise.”

Essays, CultureLarry J. SandersJanuary 19, 2017Family, Reflections, Larry J. SandersComment

12.09.2016

This is all to say, social media ... I don't know what social media is. I'm sitting here trying to articulate it perfectly, and nothing's coming. People can say pretty much whatever they want, and I'm forced to respect that because our country's constitution promises freedom of speech to us all. What I cannot and will not respect, however, are people whose political views are so dangerously incorrect. There is what looks to be a calculated and concerted effort to execute black people happening in front of me, and I'm supposed to care that two rich people don't want to live together any more? You cannot be serious.

Mr. Me Too: Rediscovering Originality in Urban Fashion

Over the last five years, I've seen many young men purchase their outfits right off the mannequins or copy looks from Instagram or straight out of a magazine. They see a look they think is dope and run with it without taking the time to customize it to their own style.

Essays, CultureBlake HallDecember 2, 2016Fashion, Streetwear, Mannequin Challenge, Nelly, JAY Z, Nike, Urban, Future, Fabolous, Social Media, Fresh Never Fades Clothing, Blake HallComment

WSH's (Highly Scientific) African-American Literary Canon

The second semester of my senior year, I signed up for African-American Literature from 1940 to the Prresent, and the assigned final project was for each student to develop his or her own African-American literary canon - the works we believed were most indicative of whatever we individually thought a black literary canon set out to achieve. My thesis was that the African-American literary canon details a quest for authenticity and self-honesty in the face of a power structure demanding assimilation and acquiescence.

Over two years later, I stand behind that thesis and the works I selected for my canon, but the internet is the internet, so I expect some disagreements on my picks. If you feel so inclined to let me know you disagree, the comments section is open for your convenience. Enjoy.

Eight Years Later

My nephew likely can't remember a time when a black man wasn't running this country. All of my nieces were born in this midst of this presidency. As a kid, I'd always been told I could be whatever I wanted to be – even the president. They've got the last 8 years as proof.

Essays, CultureLarry J. SandersJuly 31, 2016Barack Obama, Larry J. SandersComment

Mr. Trump's America

Cursory acknowledgment somehow meets their -ism threshold. "I occasionally say nice things about these people; therefore, I can't be racist! I can't be sexist! I love gay people! They're the best!" There's a tolerance there, but not an acceptance. To accept would beget a willingness to share. And the closer we inch toward true equity actually bound to law, the angrier the cult seems to get.

Essays, CultureLarry J. SandersJuly 22, 2016Larry J. SandersComment

Where You From?

Pretending Flint is some land far far away only makes me something of an accomplice to the crime. What am I doing to rectify the situation? How can I be of service? Is there something in my experience as a Detroiter that I can apply to what's happening there? I wasn't thinking about any of that. I just didn't want to know. I actively chose ignorance, and I'm not proud of it in the slightest.

Essays, CultureLarry J. SandersFebruary 12, 2016Detroit, Flint, Howard University, Detroit Public Schools, Education, Larry J. SandersComment