-
Is Jewish the New Black?
It’s been a bit of a mixed bag for blacks and Judaism lately. In the heartland city of Cincinnati this month, 45-year-old Ohio native Alysa Stanton became the first African-American female rabbi. Sadly, Charles Taylor, the former Liberian dictator awaiting trial for war crimes, made news, too, as a convert to Judaism. Party crasher. But…
-
Where’s the Pride in Pride Parades?
There’s a famous photograph, taken by Charles Moore, of Martin Luther King Jr. being shuffled off to jail by two Montgomery, Ala., police officers. King had been loitering, meaning he sat down for a meal at a segregated restaurant. The image of the crime’s aftermath is striking for a number of reasons: the cops’ stone-faced…
-
Why Justin Timberlake Will Never Be MJ
With the initial tidal wave of Michael Jackson memorializing—glittery, star-studded and centered around a golden coffin—now behind us, it’s only natural to begin considering who will replace Michael as the King of Pop. The world needs heroes, after all. Cue the media speculation. Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Monica Guzman asks whether Shaheen Jafargholi, a tween contestant…
-
Mos Def and the Boogeyman
The subject line was ominous: “This is difficult to watch,” it said. I probably shouldn’t share with you what sort of video I was expecting to find upon opening the message, but I can tell you that the enclosed clip, though not what I imagined, was indeed difficult to watch, especially for a huge hip-hop…
-
Making School Cool
It was the sort of conversation writers dream of stumbling upon. Walking my clothes back home from the laundromat, I ended up behind two young men from Brooklyn — both of them black, male and no older than 19. They were engaged in a discussion about higher education, the best part of which went like…
-
Obama Is A Racist? Look Who’s Talking.
Recently, the notoriously inaccurate Fox News host Glenn Beck, who uses rage the way artists use oils or acrylics, made what was undoubtedly his most shocking proclamation to date. While discussing the Henry Louis Gates Jr. controversy on morning chat show Fox and Friends, Beck turned to his colleagues and said quite certainly, “[Barack Obama]…
-
'Macaca' Was the Least of Allen's Sins
Three years after seeing his presidential dreams dashed by a rash, three-syllable slur, George Allen, who occasionally insists on wearing full cowboy regalia, is reportedly back in the saddle. Perhaps you don’t remember Allen. Despite a decades-long career in public office—first as a congressman, then as the governor of Virginia and then as a senator—you’ll…
-
Time to Silence the Lambs
By now, you’ve probably already seen this clip of Rep. Barney Frank issuing a scathing rebuke to a woman comparing Barack Obama to Hitler at a Dartmouth, Mass., healthcare town hall. But a little refresher won’t hurt: For those of us who have long been yearning for a return to rational political discourse, it was…
-
Obama's School Daze
If the days leading up to President Barack Obama’s address to American schoolchildren Tuesday were retold on stage, the title would be a no-brainer: “Much Ado About Nothing.” Not since the rampant Y2K panic 1999, has frantic, reflexive public reaction so outweighed the actual harm of the potential problem.To anyone with an iota of sense, the…
-
Don't Tax the Kool-Aid!
Mentholated cigarettes may have avoided the FDA’s axe last week, when all other flavored smokes were banned outright. But another African American favorite—sugary drinks—is increasingly a subject of legislative interest. Though New York State has tabled discussions about “sin taxing” (just the name is problematic) sugar-heavy drinks like soda and Kool Aid, the New York…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
