The Snob Among Hello Beautiful's 25 Women to Know 2013

Yup. Yours truly, along with Francesca Ramsey, Patrice Grell Yursik (aka Afrobella), Awesomely Luvvie, Angela Yee, Necole Bitchie and many more were all honored by sites Hello Beautiful and Black Planet for being among the 25 Women to Watch in 2013. Last year (and this year) have been quite the years for the ol' Snob as I wound up in all sorts of places: editor-at-large for Clutch Magazine Online, quoted in Ms. Magazine, head writer of a TV show (that sadly was cancelled, waaaaaaaah!), a regular on NPR (Happy Birthday, Michel Martin of Tell Me More!), I'm writing a book (as always), I'm writing a TV pilot (that's new!) and I'm, as always, doing media appearances on any and everything while staying on my grind. It's not a bad life. So far I've managed to keep afloat without completely burning out, resorting to hysterics or starting a new life making my "livin's" via casino theme games. (Perhaps ones involving Spades as that's the only card game I know besides UNO and Go Fish. Can you get rich off Go Fish?) But life has been good to me and you guys, my readers, have been good to me through all the ups and downs and changes in job titles. I appreciate it. I hope I'm still doing things worth watching in 2014 and years to come.

TV on the Internet: An End to Awkward Black Girl, But A New Beginning For Issa Rae

The fourth in a series of stories on the people behind your favorite YouTube channels, new and old. Previous entries include Alison McDonald's "She Got Problems," Patti LaHelle's "Got 2 B Real," and  Tanjareen's "The Celibate Nympho Chronicles." This time we take a look at the uber popular series by Issa Rae that wrapped this year, "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl."

Issa Rae, the writer and star of web series The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl went Hollywood as she wrapped season two of her show this February and continued to branch out into other YouTube series. She's pitching shows to major TV networks in Hollywood and blowing up, all because of the popular web series she created and launched.

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The Snob Quoted This Month In Ms. Magazine

Guess which story I was interviewed for? Durr. Beyonce. It's always Beyonce.

Point #1: I like how Ms. found one of the most conservative photos ever of King Bey. It's like a photo from the time she got bored and decided to enter and win the Miss America beauty pageant.

Point #2: That headline is missing a question mark as in the interview with author Janell Hobson we were debating if Beyonce's actions and lyrics could be considered feminist. VERDICT IS STILL OUT!

Check the magazine out on newsstands this spring and summer.

I'm also quoted this week in an article about black people and mental illness on The Root, written by mi amiga Keli Goff. Check that out as well here.

The Snob Talks Danny Brown and Consent on NPR

Rapper Danny BrownThis Wednesday on NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin, I was on discussing rapper Danny Brown being fellated by a fan from the audience as he was rapping on stage. Rapper Kitty Pryde, who is touring with Brown, condemned the act, calling it sexual assault. For me, this was about consent (which is the basis of sexual assault). Whether Brown enjoyed it or not is a non-factor as he had no way of consenting to anything if he was on stage performing. Despite popular belief, men (especially black men) are not sex automatons, ready to go at anytime incapable of being molested, assaulted or raped. They do get a say about who they want to have sex with and when.

Check out the convo, featuring myself, Prof. Mark Anthony Neal, Deputy Director Malik Washington of the William Kellibrew Foundation, and Village Voice music critic Jessica Hopper.

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Nobody's Mother on Mother's Day

My mother and her baby (my baby sister) who eventually went on to be the only one of us to have a baby."Happy Mother's Day!" He said, so happy and bright and full of expectation.

In the past I used to say, "Oh, I'm not a mother" but that seemed to endlessly disappoint the black men who said this to me with all the vigor saying it to their own beloved mothers. So now, unless someone on Twitter or Facebook says it to me (aka, my friends who should know I ain't birthed nobody's baby), I just smile and nod and go on.

But this happens because I'm in my mid-30s and, statistically, I should be someone's mother by now. I'm a once married (more than a decade ago) African American woman over 30. How did I make it this far without a kid? The answer is an easy one.

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Reason #367 Why You Don't Have A Job? You're Black and You Don't Know the Hook Up

Nancy Ditomaso on The New York Times Opinotator blog writes how "Black" Twitter and your Facebook friends who put extra sayings in their names like Natasha Ohsofine Washington, are not helping you get a job. This is because they don't know anyone. This is unlike your friends on "White" Twitter and their Facebook friends who don't have clever handles because they might know someone who has a job connection and everyone knows fancy job places don't hire people with elaborate nicknames as googleable public record.

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The Snob Talks Cleaning Out Your Closet on Tell Me More

Image via California ClosetsOn NPR's Tell Me More with Michel Martin Wednesday, we were talking about closets! Namely how much clothes in them we actually wear. (Not a lot.) Why we purchase so many clothes. Why living in a town with an extended social season will result in you owning an inordinate amount of dresses thanks to all the fashion snobs. And why that is so annoying. Featured Beauty Shop segment chatters were yours truly (coming in from NYC this time), Pulitzer-winning fashion writer Robin Givhan and a woman who really enjoys the smell of throwing out useless things in the morning, author and life coach Gail Blanke. 

Check it out.

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Clutch Magazine: Reality Shows Are the New Soap Operas

For Clutch Magazine on Tuesday I penned a piece on the new season of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta and how terrible/good it is, in the sense it is a trashy dime store romance, masqurading as "All My Non-Rappers" in a nice casserole made with nothing but Velveeta, it's so cheesy. Here's a snippet after the jump.

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Clutch Magazine: With Retirement Uncertain, We Fantasize About Being "Done"

Monday for Clutch Magazine Online, I wrote about the desire to be free from the burden of making sure you don't starve to death in a world where retirement seems more myth than reality. Here's a snippet: "Thanks to today’s 'new' economy where we’ve all be turned into contractors and freelancers without benefits, job security is a dream and retirement quickly becoming something no one can afford, being 'done' seems more elusive than ever. My father, thanks to more than thirty stable, profitable years with the same aerospace company and a pension, was able to retire at 57. The world I live in is full of 30-somethings who’ve already cashed in their meager 401k’s in order to survive being unemployed thanks to the 'Great Recession.' Savings? What savings? Retirement? Ha. All we see is work and more work and work and then a hope that Social Security isn’t completely dead before we are."

Read the full post at Clutch Magazine Online.