Cassius Life, the new lifestyle destination for the urban millennial, is making its bid to get the people talking with the rollout of its new June cover. Cassius has revealed its “First Supper of the Unapologetics,” featuring 30 voices that promote, defend and uphold Black excellence across several fields.
Cassius Life’s Jamilah Lemieux writes:
Some seem to think that existing outside of a truly narrow set of racial or gender stereotypes makes one a special snowflake of some sort. Think: the corny, eye-roll inducing shit written by folks who have often deemed themselves special, better or ‘different’ than the rest of us: “I’m Black and I Do Yoga!” “ Yes, I Am Black But I Don’t Like Rap Music!,” “Just Because I’m Black Doesn’t Mean I Can’t Do the Polka.” (You won’t be reading any shit like that here, dear reader. Trust.)
However, though such trite narratives speak to a not-wholly-uncommon belief that one is, in fact, special for not doing ‘regular’ Black people things (which is what, frying chicken, smoking menthols, shooting dice?), there are still some limitations that are often imposed upon our folks—implicitly or otherwise. Thank the rampant narrowing down of Blackness to a measuring unit. Can you play spades? Will you eat just anyone’s potato salad? Check ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’
We don’t need white folks to police our bodies, our language, our dress, our ways…a lot of our own people will gladly do it for them.
Enter the IDGAFS, who knew the power of resistance long before it was a hashtag. We honor those who haven’t a damn to give about making people uncomfortable (including, perhaps, themselves) by showing up as who they are at their core, never pandering to the behaviors and boxes that put society-at-large at ease.
Powerful, right?
Some of the names in the IDGAFS Last Supper rendering include Beyonce, Colin Kaepernick, Jaden and Willow Smith, Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, and even surprising figures like Tyler, The Creator and Amber Rose among others.
Peep the discussion among the Cassius Life staff below about “The Unapologetics” below.
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Photo: Cassius Life.
