HeyJaredThe Re/Write
Writings, musings, and cultural critique from Dr. Fahamu Pecou.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 9
- Latest publication
- Sep 19, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 4, 2026
Latest issues
How to Eat Watermelon (opens the original)
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I don’t eat watermelon.During the summer months, my wife probably eats 3–4 a week. By herself.Watermelon was everywhere when I was a kid growing up in South Carolina. Cutting into one was like unveiling a pig at a luau or bringing out a multitiered cake at a wedding. The star of the show.Everyone loved watermelon.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!iDgT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.c
Hip Hop Didn’t Come With a Manual (opens the original)
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Hip hop didn’t come with a manual.I vividly remember being completely enthralled by Whodini’s “Five Minutes of Funk.” I played that song obsessively. Rewind. Play. Rewind. Play. Until I memorized it word for word.No one told me how to listen. I just did.The lyrics inspired images in my mind. The beat reverberated through my six-year-old body. Hip hop wasn’t just music. It was an immersive experience.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7G6Z!,
MENACE TO SOCIETY (opens the original)
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Summer 1993.The summer of my 18th birthday. There was only one big difference between this and the thirteen previous summers I spent in the small, dusty town of Hartsville, SC. In just a few weeks, I would be leaving for Atlanta, where I would attend college and pursue my dreams of becoming the “Black Walt Disney.”I couldn’t wait to start my new life.My homies and I arrived at the movie theater early to lock down the best seats. Menace II Society was the blackbuster hit of the summer, and we wan
We Wear the Mask (opens the original)
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Masking and masquerade traditions across the African continent give form to all manner of spiritual and cultural ideals. They teach social cues and morals. They intervene in civic disputes. They mark major passages from birth to death. They do more than perform or entertain. They give voice, body, and language to concepts that transcend the limits of words.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!UDsN!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/http
DO or DIE (opens the original)
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For years.Decades.Centuries.Every summer.The heat rises and with it, a familiar rage. Stoked by violence, mysterious deaths, and images of Black families in anguish, like some vile ritual, the stories return. A Black person killed by police. A young Black woman found dead under suspicious circumstances. A young Black man disappears after an evening with friends, only for his body to be discovered days later.Different names.Different cities.The same grief.The repetition is itself, violence.<a cla
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