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New HIV Strategy Focuses In on Black Community
Top government officials convened at the White House Tuesday to unveil the Obama administration’s new blueprint for combating AIDS in America. Before a crowd of about 60, Director of Domestic Policy Melody Barnes, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy Jeffrey Crowley and Assistant Secretary for…
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Why the Old Spice Guy Is Good for Black America
By now you’ve probably at least heard about Old Spice’s uber-viral Old Spice Guy ad campaign. It’s so simple and successful that Gillette is probably rubbing a Mach3 on its wrists as I type this: A well-built, often shirtless black man (Isaiah Mustafa) demonstrates his virility to women with a series of romantic, sometimes magical…
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Why the NAACP Is Wrong to Condemn the Tea Parties
Currently in the midst of its annual national convention in Kansas City, the NAACP today introduced a resolution condemning racism in American Tea Parties. Though exact details are currently sketchy, The Kansas City Star reports that the resolution will ask “all people of good will to repudiate the racism of the Tea Parties, and to…
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NAACP Aims to Reclaim the American Dream
As it enters its 101st year, the NAACP continues to have its work cut out for it. High unemployment, racial conflict and partisan politics tear at the country’s fabric, and financial uncertainty ratchets up the tension underpinning everything. The civil rights group held its annual national conference in Kansas City, Mo., this past weekend, under…
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NAACP Drops Major Allegations of Prejudice on BP
NAACP President Ben Jealous today leveled weighty allegations of prejudiced hiring against BP, the embroiled oil company responsible for the Gulf oil spill. Following a recent trip to the Gulf region, Jealous, who is currently in Missouri for the NAACP’s national convention, says he is now convinced that BP is hiring workers of color to…
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Obama's Justice Department Isn't Racist, But It Should Explain Itself
The Right’s coverage of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation scandal has been as absurd as one might expect. Wild allegations by former Justice Department official J. Christian Adams—that the DoJ under Obama has become racist toward whites—is stoking flames that have been burning at places like Fox News for months now, at least…
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Alvin Greene Saga's Racist Undertones Plagued Father, Too
Last month, I questioned some of the motivations behind the bipartisan attacks on South Carolina Senate candidate Alvin Greene. Despite having won nearly 60 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, Greene—a less than qualified candidate, to be sure, but still the winning candidate—was immediately battered by politicians and the media alike, who insisted…
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Is Obama's Justice Department Racist and 'Lawless'?
The Justice Department’s dismissal of voter intimidation charges against members of Philadelphia’s New Black Panther Party, a decision at the center of testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Tuesday, is one in which every American — particularly ones of color — should be interested. In sworn testimony, J. Christian Adams, a former Bush…
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But What If I Don't Want to Be a Dad?
Consider this scenario: A 19-year-old man in Harlem is dating an 18-year-old woman, a friend of a friend whom he met in high school. Both have no plans to go to college, and both come from low-income backgrounds. Neither wants to get married anytime soon, and they make it clear to each other that, despite…
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The Music Industry's Funny Money
If you thought the life of most musicians was comparable to the blissful and blinged-out existences of Kanye and Rihanna, you’ve clearly not heard much about our ever-desiccating music industry. According to the latest Nielsen research, only 2.1 percent of the albums released in 2009 sold even 5,000 copies — that’s just 2,050 records out…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
