Seventeen months ago, Byron Perkins, a Hampton University football player, was in a dark place. After a promising 3-0 start to the season, his team lost two games in a row —  including a likely discouraging, 32-point beatdown at the University of Delaware. 

In 2000, I wrote an introduction for a new edition of Essex Hemphill’s magnificent collection "Ceremonies." I pointed out what I believed to be that work’s purpose: remembrance as the only way to begin the process of healing the wound that white supremacy, poverty, homophobia, heterosexism, and most recently HIV/AIDS had inflicted upon us as Black Gay Men. (Cover image of Essex Hemphill by Barbara N. Kigozi, June 1994)

On Essex Hemphill's birthday on April 16, 2020 CNP hosted a virtual reading of the artist’s work. Since the founding of CNP, we have honored the life and legacy of Essex. Our organization is a love letter to him. (Cover photo of Essex Hemphill by Dr. Ron Simmons © Ron Simmons TA2019.38.1.1.1.8)

It is no surprise or secret that X (formerly known as Twitter) is an archive for critical cultural commentary. In fact, since the start of the new year, Black Twitter has been the center of multiple conversations relevant to the Black queer experience.

As anyone who’s ever had a fulfilling hookup app experience can attest, even the most contrived and artificial scenarios can yield moments of genuine connection and intimacy. Jerrod Carmichael has plenty of those moments in “Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show,” his new Max project chronicling the comedian’s biennial whirlwind.

Considered a brilliant organizer with an aptitude for detail, he’s the exacting architect of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, an unprecedented demand for civil rights which drew a quarter of a million people to the National Mall -- and catapulted Martin Luther King Jr. into national prominence.

When he was diagnosed with prostate cancer late last year, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin joined the 280,000 Black men annually identified with the disease. It’s so common, studies show, that 1 in 6 Black men will develop it during their lifetime. 

When Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now known as “X,” there were immediate concerns about how his leadership style and company would hinder “Black Twitter.” While not technically a separate platform,  Dr. Moody-Ramirez, author of From Blackface to Black Twitter: Reflections on Black Humor, Race, Politics and Gender, explains that Black Twitter is not a separate digital platform or space.

At the start of 2024, like every year, resolutions and bold proclamations are being sprinkled throughout daily conversations. From desires to maintain physical fitness to claims dedicated to creating and implementing boundaries, the start of a new year often allows time for reflection, resolution, and growth.

Each February, via Black History Month,  our nation has the opportunity and privilege to reflect on the legacy of Black Americans. From Google Doodles to corporate banks to federal proclamations, reaching far beyond slavery, observing Black History Month allows us to celebrate the substantial contributions that African Americans have made to The United States of America’s history, culture, vibrancy, and soul.

It was with these words that poet Audre Lorde began her groundbreaking 1982 work “Zami: A New Spelling of My Name”, in the process launching earning a reputation as a master poet and black lesbian literary icon that has endured years after her death.

On this episode of The Reckoning, we are honoring National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (#NBHAAD) with Dr. Deion Hawkins.

I’ve now made a career out of being an award-winning debate coach and HIV advocate. Like the foundation of a home, being an advocate is a core part of who I am. Asking me to stay silent is like asking the ocean not to wave – it's against the very nature of its existence.

At first glance, Morna Gerrard doesn’t seem like an undercover superhero. Spend time chatting with her about her work, however, and her superpowers gradually emerge. 

Growing up in the Bronx in the 1980s, Will Ramirez saw his mother, Alicia -- a devout Catholic and church volunteer -- show love and compassion to men who often were afflicted with a mysterious, deadly virus sweeping through New York City’s gay community.

In this episode of The Reckoning, we talk to Senior Editor, Dr. Deion Hawkins about the historic Best Actor Academy Award nomination for Colman Domingo, who portrayed Bayard Rustin in the 2023's biopic, ‘Rustn’.

As our nation continues to be blasted with arctic chills and snow, things in Hollywood are heating up. Some industries enter the year gradually, but movies and television make a grand entrance at the top of the year as the award season blazes on.

For decades, the Rev. Duncan Teague has been one of Atlanta’s most charismatic, high-profile public-health warriors, a fierce advocate for the city’s Black and gay communities.

In September, 2023, hundreds of key stakeholders and advocates convened in Washington, DC, to attend the annual United States Conference on HIV/AIDS (USCHA). The yearly conference featured over 120+ sessions on critical topics like biomedical HIV prevention, aging, service delivery, health equity, and telehealth, all while centering on the needs of those with HIV and the mission to end the epidemic.

In this episode of 'The Reckoning,' we delve deeper into the allegations of sexual assault against former NBA star Dwight Howard. Our guest, Joseph Williams, The Reckonings' Race and Health Editor, discusses his recent article on the same topic.