How I went from merely accepting my race to proudly and passionately embracing it. — There’s a memorable episode of the ’70s and ’80s TV sitcom The Jeffersons in which Allan Willis, the White son of mixed-race couple Tom and Helen Willis, makes an uncomfortable blanket presumption. While discussing race and jealousy with his sister, Jenny, who is Black, and several of the show’s other…

Sisters with voices have proven their fluency in country music— so why is chart success still so elusive? — “Country is what you make it,” Tom T. Hall sang on his 1974 single “Country Is.” The late singer-songwriter, author of “Harper Valley P.T.A.” as well as singer and writer of seven No. 1 country hits (including “Country Is”) between 1969 and 1975, certainly qualified as an expert on the…

We interrupt this magic moment for a social media post. — It was 10 years ago today that I first saw you. I couldn’t believe it when our eyes met from across the pool at the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah in Dubai. I was living my best life, and you were stretched out on a chaise lounge, looking good enough to…

There’s a sad beauty to being on your own — but solitude can mess with your head. — My husband is leaving me. Don’t worry; our marriage is fine. But in two days, we’ll be separated for the first time since our wedding day three years ago. He’s heading to Australia, where he is from, on Tuesday. It will be his first trip back “home” since moving with…

It’s not always the one you’ve been singing along to for years. — I have a theory: The more classic songs a classic act has released as singles, the more likely it is that the one most people would think of as their biggest hit wasn’t actually their biggest hit. Take Paul McCartney, the most successful solo star from the most successful rock…

That was the question. I wasn’t satisfied with the answer. — Several months ago, I launched something of a personal crusade at work. I approached the brand’s top brass and suggested we update our style guide by expanding on our practice of capitalizing Black when we refer to Black people. Here is one email I wrote in addition to having several…

For anyone having trouble reading between the lines. — When White (and Black) conservative Republicans speak these days — to borrow from the late, great James Brown — they talk loud and almost always say nothing. (Exhibit A: Georgia’s Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s pregnant cow parable.) And my capacity to connect dots (and shameful rhetoric) has led…

The sexual orientation of cartoon characters isn’t hazardous to anyone’s mental health. More broccoli? — On Friday I made a guest appearance on CBS News to talk about the revelation in the new animated movie Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! that Velma, a main character in the long-running Scooby-Doo series, likes girls. After just one look at a comely female costume designer named Coco Diablo, Velma…

When you measure success by Top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100, legacies suffer. — What makes a recording act legendary? The world of music is littered with icons and legends (some legit, some so-called), but what becomes a music icon or legend most? The list of qualities can go on and on: talent (of course), influence, timelessness, critical acclaim, continued relevance, etc. One thing…