Today's story is about a question schools don't ask out loud enough: What is a grade actually supposed to mean?

We're looking at two connected developments out of California—one focused on grade inflation and the incentives driving it, and another focused on grading reform that's spreading across high-performing districts, even when they avoid naming it directly.

• Don’t blame California’s teachers for inflated grades. Look at school officials (CalMatters, 1/16/26)
• Why some top schools in the Bay Area are rebranding a controversial grading system (SFChronicle, 1/16/26)

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Ryan Coogler made a $368 million vampire thriller with a nearly all-Black cast. Michael B. Jordan delivered a career-defining dual performance. Warner Bros. had the biggest original Black film of the year. And the Golden Globes gave it two awards - one of which wasn't even televised.

Meanwhile, a table tennis movie made $79 million and won Best Actor. A 2 hour 41 minute PTA film about anarchists made $200 million and won Best Screenplay.

Is Sinners bound to get snubbed at the Oscars?

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Today we're talking about a book that's shaped how I think about activism, sacrifice, and what it really means to fight for change: "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" by Sam Greenlee.

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We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com

A recent study examined three Black men who earned doctoral degrees despite growing up during the crack epidemic. Despite meaningful cultural differences—two African American, one Caribbean diaspora—all three demonstrated remarkably similar patterns of development across three dimensions

1. Awareness:
2. Navigation
3. Duty

Let's talk about it.

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Thank you for listening to Color Commentary. We’d love to hear from you, so us drop an email at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com

And if you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show, leave us a five-star rating, share it on social media, and join us every Thursday for more Color Commentary with Dr. Cole.

Today we're talking about the Quarter Zip movement - young Black men trading in their Nike Techs for business casual, their coffee for matcha, their "YN" identity for something they're calling "Young Gentlemen." But to understand why this matters, we need to talk about what a "YN" actually is. These teenagers are calling themselves "Young Niggas," and I have complicated feelings about how adults are responding to this. Let's talk about it.

Thank you for listening to Color Commentary. We'd love to hear from you, so drop us an email at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com

This week, we're talking about Dr. Howard Fuller. I was just at the Black Male Educator Convening in Philadelphia last week, and I posted a clip of Dr. Fuller speaking. It went viral on TikTok—a new generation discovering an 83-year-old revolutionary who refuses to rest.

Watching young educators discover him moved me in ways I wasn't prepared for. Dr. Fuller is one of my most faithful advisors, and today I want to introduce him to those who don't know his story. Not as a historical figure, but as a living blueprint for how to fight for Black children's liberation. Let me explain.

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• "Howard's University" - my 10-episode series with Dr. Fuller:
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This week, we're talking about Eddie Murphy. Netflix just dropped a documentary called "Being Eddie," and while I knew most of what was in there—what can I say about myself knowing that?—it got me thinking about something bigger. Eddie Murphy isn't just arguably the greatest comedian of all time. He's the kind of architect I respect—the quiet kind. The one who changes the landscape without needing a title or a speech. Let me explain.

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We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com

Today we're talking about something that will reshape Black futures for the next generation—new federal student loan rules that just cleared a major hurdle at the U.S. Department of Education.

We’d love to hear from you! Email Charles at colorcommentarypod@gmail.com