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Good Grief: Exploiting Bereavement in the '08 Campaign
Just when I thought the unsavory litany of insults, absurdities and hypocrisies that defined the race for the Democratic presidential nomination could not possibly get any longer, the long goodbye of Hillary Clinton proved me wrong. The Grief Narrative that led up to the New York senator’s grin-and-bear-it endorsement of Barack Obama on Saturday just…
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My Career: The Remix
The other day I decided to update my resume. First, I changed my title from journalist to content producer. Next, I went through and carefully deleted some entries then updated others. That December 1988 Providence Journal Bulletin Sunday Magazine cover story on heroin addicts in Gloucester, Mass.? Buh-bye. That 1988 summer internship on the features…
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Om, Sweet Om
Tuesday mornings, after the children are delivered to school, I lose the business-casual attire of a working, suburban mommy, in favor of: — Sweat pants. (Pale yellow, loose-fitting.) — A short sleeved T-shirt. (Either the black-and-gold Parliament Funkadelic throwback or one of the many I own that are emblazoned with school or sport-team logos.) —…
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Black in America, Now What?
In Black in America, CNN’s four-hour-long series premiering this week, we learn some facts that may be news to viewers, including:— The prolific, loquacious Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson has a younger brother who is serving a life sentence for murder.— A fresh-faced, 18-year-old black single mother in the Bronx does not have the virus…
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No Boys Allowed
These are interesting times for women of a certain age.Not only has much of the presidential campaign season centered on the concerns of women voters, but Hollywood appears to have discovered us, too. Since last spring, feature film versions of Sex in the City and Mamma Mia! have scored millions at the box office, a development…
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The MILFy Way
Homespun. Folksy. Straight-talking. These may be just a few of the endearing terms pundits have used to describe Sarah Palin. But there’s another, more salient, tag floating around the Alaska governor, a secret weapon that was on winkin’ and twinklin’ display during the debate. Few Beltway commentators would dare call this stealth device by name,…
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The Unending Tragedy of Jonestown
I am the person I am because of something that happened 30 years ago today in Guyana, a tiny equatorial country thousands of miles away from my home.In the years since, every time Nov. 18 arrives, I am visited by an existential unease that falls across my shoulders. It isn’t helped by all the “anniversary”…
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Why Stanley Crouch Is Wrong About Bette Davis
With all due respect to the incomparable Stanley Crouch, his recent assessment of the film version of Margaret Mitchell’s blockbuster 1936 novel Gone With the Windis off base. The 1939 film, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last month, is a landmark achievement in 20th-century pop culture. For me, it is right up there with Works…
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Henrietta Lacks and Her Cancer Cells
What are we to do with the waves of pain, humiliation and outrage that flood from the pages of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks? Not that I blame the author for the high emotions this story elicits. Rebecca Skloot did her job, and she did it expertly. As was the case with Harriet A.…
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Hey Bernie, Hillary: Do You Really Care About Police Brutality in Calif., or Do You Just Want Votes?
As Californians prepare to vote in the presidential primary Tuesday, there’s one person we know for sure who won’t be participating. In fact, we will never know which candidate could have earned the vote of Jessica Williams Nelson, a 29-year-old woman from San Francisco. That’s because on May 19, Williams Nelson was shot dead by a…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
