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'Corrupt Administration'? Darrell Issa Says Yes
By Phillip Rucker The Republican congressman who is taking over responsibility for congressional oversight called President Obama‘s administration “one of the most corrupt administrations” on Sunday and predicted that the investigations he is planning over the next two years could result in about $200 billion in savings for U.S. taxpayers. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming…
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Pitt Fires New Coach Mike Haywood
Mike Haywood lasted only two and a half weeks as the football coach at Pitt. But he wasn’t fired amid a bad record or an expired contract. On Friday, he was arrested for felony domestic battery in the presence of a minor. He was released on Saturday, and Pitt sent out a statement of his…
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Kanye West Lynches Women in New Video
Gina, the “blogmother” over at What About Our Daughters, has laid out the offensive and violent elements of Kanye West’s latest video. Women hang lifeless in the background amid rappers talking about how they’re monsters in the hip-hop industry. From What About Our Daughters: Just know that if a White male artist made a video with…
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Michael Steele on His Way Out?
Politico recently completed a weeklong canvass of the Republican National Committee. And the findings seem to prove that Michael Steele will not be re-elected later this month. Out of 168 members, 88 Republicans have vowed not to vote for him for a second term. To win the chairman seat, a candidate must gain support of…
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NYT: Eugene Robinson Examines 4 Black Americas
In Eugene Robinson’s latest book, Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America, he says that in the past 40 years, black America has split into four subgroups: the transcendent elite (see Winfrey, Oprah; Beyoncé), the mainstream middle class, an emergent community of mixed-race families and black immigrants, and an abandoned underclass. In the New York Times,…
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New Fiction Discovered From Zora Neale Hurston
When you think about Zora Neale Hurston, first thing to come to mind, perhaps, is her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. But she also wrote several short stories. (In 1995, Harper Collins published a book of Hurston’s short stories, The Complete Stories of Zora Neale Hurston, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sieglinde Lemke.) But two professors…
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More Black Parents Are Homeschooling Their Kids
According to the National Home Education Research Institute, African-American children make up 15 percent of the 2 million children who are being homeschooled in America. Parents say the failing education system and the lack of curriculum focused on African-American history has prompted them to take matters into their own hands. “That is the No. 1 reason…
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The Root Cities: Los Angeles' Black Literary Giants
Everett is one of the most prolific and uncompromising literary minds in America. He is the author of 20 books, including Erasure, I Am Not Sidney Poitier and the upcoming Assumption. Everett, who teaches creative writing and American studies at the University of Southern California, is the recipient of the PEN USA Literary Award and…
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The 12 Black TV Shows of Christmas
Martin surprises Gina at the last minute with a trip to Philly for the holidays. But instead of enjoying family fun on Christmas Eve, they get snowed in at a Detroit bus station. From a bootleg Santa singing “Deck the Halls” to Ms. Jeri stomping on Martin’s tuna sandwich, there are plenty of laughs in…
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The Root Gift List: Buy Black in 2010
What to get for the audiophile who’s already bought Aloe Blacc and Bruno Mars? Music from the African Diaspora. A generation of griots — or hereditary musicians from Mali, Gambia, Guinea and Senegal — are collaborating with American artists. Good picks include Reverse Thread, in which jazz violinist Regina Carter collaborates with Yacouba Sissoko, who…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
