ColorLines‘ Akiba Solomon offers the perspective of “a professional observer of race and pop culture” on what the two very different series actually have in common. “Basketball Wives” and “Girls” deploy casual racism: On “Fantasy Island,” last night’s episode of “Basketball Wives,” resident party girl Suzie Ketchum repeatedly asks if the indigenous people of Tahiti…

The war on Planned Parenthood continues in Texas, and ColorLines‘ Akiba Solomon writes that many Planned Parenthood centers are already closed because of lack of funding. After a federal judge ruled that the Texas Health and Human Services Department could not defund Planned Parenthood by cutting the organization out of the state’s Women’s Health Program…

At ColorLines, Akiba Solomon writes that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations belong in the conversation about racial profiling, and no amount of seething white male privilege masquerading as gun-control advocacy can change that fact. In a recent opinion piece titled “All aboard the Trayvon bandwagon,” Washington Blade editor and co-owner Kevin Naff accuses 28…

In a personal essay for ColorLines, Akiba Solomon introduces a young cousin who, if he were to walk around Trayvon Martin’s Sanford, Fla.; Oscar Grant’s Oakland, Calif.; or Sean Bell’s Queens, N.Y., would likely be deemed “threatening.” Like millions of others, I have been following the fight to bring George Zimmerman to justice for racially…

ColorLines blogger Akiba Solomon challenges adults to do more to help children develop healthy attitudes toward sex at a time when the media are inundated with exploitative images of girls, and manhood is identified with promiscuity and sexual aggression.  I had one of my first major lessons about gender and power dynamics in third grade…

In a blog entry at Ebony, Akiba Solomon excoriates Chris Brown and Rihanna for making a mockery of domestic violence with the release of their musical collaborations. While they both display common traits of abuse victims and abusers, she says that fans should ignore their moneymaking and attention-seeking antics. … And besides, their fame dragged…

In a blog entry at ColorLines, Akiba Solomon delivers strong criticism of the Susan G. Komen breast-cancer charity’s decision to discontinue funding for preventive breast-cancer screening exams at Planned Parenthood. She says it’s part of the GOP’s continued assault on the poor. Even if radical anti-choice politics didn’t motivate Susan G. Komen for the Cure…

In a blog entry at ColorLines, Akiba Solomon examines the recent Washington Post series, “Black Women in America,” saying it skims the surface. It doesn’t cover issues such as structural racism or why reductive ideas about black womanhood have been created. … While the article briefly covers underemployment, tokenism and the stereotype of the “welfare…

In a blog entry at ColorLines, Akiba Solomon writes that pro-choice advocates should prepare to battle for reproductive rights for women of color in the coming year. She says that given assaults lobbed by anti-choice advocates, the issue is sure to play a pivotal role in the 2012 presidential election. I’m not a psychic, cable…

In a blog entry at ColorLines, Akiba Solomon laments a decision by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to squash the FDA’s decision to allow girls under 17 to buy emergency contraception without a prescription. She cites four ways in which the decision may harm young women of color. 1. Black and brown…