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About Panama Jackson

Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, "Dear Culture" on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn't answer the phone because the caller ID said "Unknown" (Blackest).

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"Freshman Year" (Screenshot, YouTube)
April 20, 2022

‘Freshman Year’ is a movie that reminds me that life-changing events are all one bad (or good) decision away

"Freshman Year," the 2019 faith-and-family film, is about two smart kids facing trials and tribulations and going on a life journey…
April 17, 2022

My kids have discovered FaceTime. If I have your number, it ain’t safe, it ain’t safe, it ain’t safe, it ain’t safe

I quite passionately told my wife that I didn’t think it was a good idea to enable FaceTime on the…
April 15, 2022

New Balance’s ‘Conversations Amongst Us’ campaign celebrates the ways we engage and communicate in the Black community

Unless you’re a sneakerhead or into urban fashion, you might not know that New Balance has been killing the collaboration…
April 13, 2022

‘Pastor Shirley’ is a film whose spiritual cup runneth over with abundance…of foolywang

I recently watched Pastor Shirley—check it out on April 16 and April 30 on TheGrio TV and TheGrio app—and I…
April 8, 2022

The 3-minutes of ‘Dying Laughing’ where Royale Watkins talks about bombing makes the whole thing worth watching

There was a brief era of my life where, because of the success of Very Smart Brothas, I decided to…
April 7, 2022

I watched ‘Diamond in the Rough’ because Clifton Powell was in it. He punched a dude, and some other things happened

As a general rule, if Clifton Powell is in a movie, there’s a better than 99 percent chance that I…
April 4, 2022

Jazmine Sullivan’s ‘Heaux Tales’ won a Grammy for best R&B album, and that reminds me that ‘The Other Side’ is the best vision board song of all time

I’ve said many times over the past year that Jazmine Sullivan’s "Heaux Tales" is easily one of the best albums…
March 31, 2022

‘May the Lord Watch’? I hope so. But I definitely will watch the documentary about the rise and fall of Little Brother. Thanks for asking

I’ve been a fan of Little Brother—the rap group made up of Phonté, Big Pooh and 9th Wonder—since the first…
94th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals
March 29, 2022

8 thoughts about ‘The Slap’ now that we’ve had a day to process, argue and debate it to death on social media and wherever Black folks gather

As with any important event that happens in the Black community, I’ve learned to wait a day and watch the…
March 27, 2022

I saved my kid from impending doom, but am I a hero? A discussion

Nap time isn’t exactly my favorite time of day, but it is a time of day I look forward to.…
March 24, 2022

I can’t tell if the slang on Netflix’s ‘Top Boy’ is just better or sounds better because of the British accents

There’s a lot of good television out there in the world to watch these days. It can almost be overwhelming…
March 22, 2022

I like Pusha T x Arby’s-gang McDonald’s diss—and I’m gon’ let him finish—but he has a small kid. Somebody is still picking up McDonald’s nuggets

One of the worst decisions you can ever make as a parent is introducing your children to McDonald’s chicken nuggets.
March 18, 2022

This new season of ‘College Hill: Celebrity Edition’ seems cast for the foolywang enthusiast in you

There was a time in my life when I pretty much watched all of the reality shows, from Love &…
March 16, 2022

10 thoughts, prayers and concerns about ‘Polo Ralph Lauren Exclusively for Morehouse and Spelman Colleges Collection’ 

You've likely seen the recent launch for Polo Ralph Lauren’s new collection inspired by the sartorial legacy of Spelman and…
March 11, 2022

6 reasons you absolutely should be watching (and talking about)  ‘Bel-Air’

I’m not one to be down on the idea of a reboot. I love musical remixes too much to ever…
The Notorious BIG thegrio.com
March 9, 2022

Even all these years later, the Notorious B.I.G. is still the rapper I’m most impressed by

I still get sad listening to Biggie. Not any particular song either, all of them. My father was the one…
March 8, 2022

Arrested Development’s first single, ‘Tennessee,’ is 30 years old this month, and it’s still perfect

For years, I thought Arrested Development’s sophomore album, Zingalamaduni, was the most criminally slept-on album EVER.
Rapper J. Cole
March 4, 2022

J. Cole is already one of the greatest rappers to ever do it, but I’m still waiting on a truly great album from him

As a general rule, I try not to be too critical about great art and artists in my midst. Now,…
February 28, 2022

28 Days of Black Movies: I love ‘Boyz N the Hood’ with my whole heart, which is why I hate that it has one glaringly impossible plot device 

Like most folks who spent their teen years in the ’90s, "Boyz N the Hood" is part of my life.…
February 27, 2022

28 Days of Black Movies: 5 quotes from ‘New Jack City’ that I use on my parenting journey

I know, I know. The idea that "New Jack City" is a movie that has anything to do with solid…