The Black diaspora is showing out at the World Cup
The FIFA World Cup looks to be the Blackest sports tournament, at least for me. I absolutely enjoy living in the World Cup bubble, learning about different countries, and talking to people from various countries who came to Houston to support their teams. Watch parties blended soccer with music, food, fashion, and pride in ways no corporate sponsor could manufacture. It’s a good break from White House shenanigans. My favorite pastime during the tournament is learning about the Black players playing for all those European countries. Let me tell you, there are so many! Don’t get me started about the African countries. They are coming in strong, like Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Ghana. Then there was DR Congo’s team arriving in sharp black suits with leopard-print panels, the internet declared them the real winners before they played a single game. And did you all see the underdogs like Haiti and Curacao making history for their countries? It’s fun to see how everyone is so unified, even if it’s just for a month. I wish it were longer.
The NBA draft 2026 is the most diverse yet
There’s a conversation that happens in African immigrant households across America, especially when it comes to careers. Stability first, dreams second. I grew up hearing it. You probably did too. But the 2026 NBA Draft just added an amazing element to this conversation: 11 players of African heritage were drafted, the deepest class in history. AJ Dybantsa, son of a Congolese father who came to the U.S. in 1989 and a Jamaican mother, went No. 1 overall to the Washington Wizards. Ugonna Onyenso, born in Owerri, Nigeria, was picked by the Houston Rockets. Zuby Ejiofor, born Chukwuebuka Ejiofor in Dallas to Nigerian parents, swept the Big East Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the same season. I’m happy to see more parents open to encouraging their children to explore their options and being part of the process.
Student loans are bleeding us dry, and it’s by design
If this doesn’t pertain to you, then this message doesn’t apply. For the last several weeks, I’ve been down a rabbit hole of Thread conversations and TikTok clips debating how steep these new changes to the federal loan repayment programs are under Trump’s policies. Some people who have managed payments are now having to pay upwards of $400, $500, or even more under these changes. There are so many Black borrowers who’ve had to take out more than they needed and then owe more than they originally borrowed, not because they were irresponsible, but because we’re entering the same job market with less inherited wealth, an economic rollercoaster, stagnant wages, inflation, and everything else in between. The American Dream was sold on a payment plan that people couldn’t afford. That’s a predatory system. And it’s time we called it exactly what it is.
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