Malcolm Shabazz: A Life Cut Short

May 13, 2013

Jelani Cobb writes in the New Yorker that Malcolm Shabazz, who died last week in Mexico, was a young man still defining his place amid a looming legacy.

Barack X: Race and the Obama Presidency

In a piece for the New Yorker, Jelani Cobb explains how the Obama presidency has "validated both our hopes and our fears and given dueling legitimacy to optimism and cynicism simultaneously." 

Rodney King as a Cultural Marker

University of Connecticut professor and New Yorker contributor Jelani Cobb digs into Rodney King's passing and what it means to African Americans.

Confessions of a Reluctant Flag-Waver

Presidents Day was once a rude interruption to Black History Month, a reminder of whose terms we were on. This Presidents Day I find myself celebrating.

Why Blacks Should Consider McCain

If Limbaugh can register a protest vote for Hillary, why can't we look at the GOP?

With Friends Like These ...

Black people have escaped an abusive political relationship before.

Frayed Bootstraps in the Black Mecca

What the Judge and the Cos couldn't see in that all-black Atlanta courtroom.

How I Became an Obama Delegate

The Krispy Kreme effect and other hijinks along the road to Denver.

Obama and the Suicidal Left

Why the black intelligentsia needs to stop hating on the Democratic nominee.

New Deal to Big Deal

There are obvious reasons for the comparison between Barack Obama and Franklin Roosevelt, not the least of which is the trying economic and military circumstances Obama will inherit. The most-telling connection between Roosevelt and Obama may be one that we tend to overlook—their membership in groups that have historically suffered from discrimination.