The Recession Nobody Called a Recession — Because It Only Hit One Community
Black unemployment has climbed to 7.8% from a 2023 low of 4.7%, erasing an estimated $87 billion in household income. The National Urban League calls it a recession. Here’s why almost nobody outside the community is using that word.
Work Stopped Being the Container. Now What Holds a Man Together?
Somewhere in the last decade, work quietly stopped being what it used to be for men — the fixed container that held everything else in place — and started becoming something more like a moving platform you have to keep rebalancing on. That shift, more than any single headline about masculinity trends or grooming routines, […]
The Masculinity Debate Isn’t About Vibes. It’s About Work.
The Atlantic says the “manly man” is back in Democratic politics. The Federalist says that’s backwards. Both are arguing about a version of masculinity that never included the men I grew up around.
America’s 250th Birthday Split the Country Instead of Uniting It. That’s Not New – It’s the Point We Keep Missing.
The America 250 celebrations were supposed to be a unifying moment. Instead they became another Rorschach test for a divided country, and the divide itself is more American than the unity we were promised.
AI Isn’t Coming for Black Jobs Someday. It’s Already Here. And Almost Nobody’s Building the Off-Ramp.
Black workers are overrepresented in 17 of the 30 U.S. occupations most exposed to automation, and AI-driven layoffs are already running roughly 50% ahead of last year’s pace. Marcus Hart on why this is a cultural reckoning, not just an economic one – and what a real response looks like.
Grievance or Growth: The Two Versions of Masculinity Competing for 2026
Two competing stories about what it means to be a man are circulating right now – one built on resentment, one built on growth. Marcus Hart on why the version that wins matters more for urban and Black communities than either side of the culture war admits.
Manning Up Was Never the Flex We Were Told It Was. Black Culture Is Finally Saying So Out Loud.
New reporting on Black men and mental health has sparked a cultural reckoning with the old ‘manning up’ script. Marcus Hart on why the shift toward openness is coming from barbershops and podcasts, not just clinics.
The World Cup Is Doing What America’s 250th Birthday Party Couldn’t
Official America250 celebrations drew sparse crowds and political controversy this July. Meanwhile, World Cup stadiums are packed with a country that actually looks like itself. Marcus Hart on what that contrast says about American identity right now.
Wisconsin Still Hasn’t Passed the CROWN Act. Milwaukee Employers Are Left to Decide On Their Own What Counts as “Professional” Hair.
Twenty-seven states have banned hair discrimination outright. Wisconsin’s version has stalled in the legislature two sessions running, which means whether a Black employee’s locs or braids are “workplace appropriate” still depends on who’s doing the hiring.
The NFL Is Turning Into the NBA. What That Says About What We Actually Want From Our Athletes Now.
Tunnel-walk fashion, viral sideline moments, and personal branding are reshaping football’s culture in real time. Marcus Hart on what the NFL’s shift toward NBA-style identity says about a generation redefining masculinity in public.