The Normalization of White Male Violence

This morning, I sat on the edge of my mother’s bed, watching news coverage of the murders of ten Black people in Buffalo on Saturday on her television.

I felt compelled to write — just as I did when I began writing for national publications after Trayvon Martin’s killer was acquitted nine summers ago — even though I’m unsure what to say. Or, rather, I’m unsure that saying anything matters. In the ensuing decade, the nation has exploded as we have been plunged back into the murky depths of systematic, overt, and unrelenting racist assaults on Black life. Hasn’t every Black body said it all before? “Stop killing us,” we have shouted, protested, cried, begged, pleaded. To no avail. Somehow, we still keep ending up right here.

Breastfeeding isn’t free or even cheap — and it isn’t a solution to the national baby-formula shortage. Welcome back, Century 21, and congratulations on your resurrection. Adding this to the long list of reasons not to move to Florida. Bookmark The Altantic’s summer-reading guide. Restaurant professionals suggest ways diners can be better guests. Bad news: Vegan beauty brand Bite is going out of business. Good news: It’s having a 50 percent off closeout sale. On the “Nolitafication” of Dimes Square. Heidi Klum’s teen daughter borrowed her mom’s strapless ’90s dress for prom and looked amazing. And the woman who slept through a year of the pandemic.

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