Largely unknown to the overall U.S. population, Juneteenth is the most popular annual celebration of emancipation from slavery in the United States and celebrated each year on June 19th throughout the country. June 19, 1865, is the date that Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger established the Union Army’s authority over the territory of Texas. It was the date also when he […]
About Nicole Renee Brown
Choosing Not to Go Into Debt for College
Nicole Brown wrote the following after reading, and being so affected by, last month’s (May 2016) Classism Exposed blog post on the possibility that students are deciding not to attend college due to the fear of loan debt. After reading that low-income and working-class students may be choosing not to go to college for fear of taking on debt, […]
Broke vs. “Broke”: Bothered by Humble Brags
This summer, I had a “stay-cation,” meaning I stayed put in DC where I moved last year to attend grad school. My “stay-cation” was awful, imposed on me because of my lack of funds; I was completely broke. I take issue when people flippantly use the term “broke” to describe their financial situation (e.g. the […]
Class & My Identity as a Woman of African Descent
Class was a confusing issue for me. Despite that, I never doubted for a moment that my race intersected with my class in a profound way. I experience class through the many different lenses of my identity. I am a Black Woman of Afro-Caribbean descent from Brooklyn New York. Class has been racialized in American […]
Thoughts about Thanksgiving (& -isms we may encounter at the table!)
After listening to a NPR segment about Thanksgiving and some anxiety that this very social holiday brings up for folks, I realized that this year may be challenging in new ways. Not only has the economy been stagnant, unemployment is rising, and political movements are taking place nationwide and internationally that put class inequality at […]
Who Gets Plowed in New York?
After the first huge snow storm on December 26, my family was asking two questions: a) where are the damn snowplows in our Brooklyn neighborhood?; and b) why is Manhattan clear? Smells like a class issue here. I was born and raised in this neighborhood, which saw white flight in the 70s, the crack epidemic […]
Responding to Verbal Classism
When I hear a classist put-down, I feel like Derek Zoolander in the Ben Stiller movie Zoolander, tongue-tied and unable to come up with a response until hours or days later. I know that being a bystander is not enough. I owe it to myself, other listeners, the offensive speaker, and the target of the […]
