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The Controversy Over Black Confederate Soldiers
The controversy started well before the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War got under way. We learned a few months ago that a book used in the fourth grade in Virginia public schools claimed that 30,000 blacks fought for the South in the War Between the States. The number came up again on…
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Architect Puts Africa in New African-American Museum
David Adjaye is the most famous black architect in the world. In fact, he may be the only famous black architect in the world. The tall, slim, ebony-handsome Londoner shrugs off his celebrity status and prefers to talk about his work. But big wins create big stars. Adjaye teamed up with the Freelon Group, a…
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Almena Lomax, 95, Founder of Los Angeles Tribune
Almena Lomax, who founded the Los Angeles Tribune, a black newspaper, has died at the age of 95. Mrs. Lomas borrowed $100 from her future father-in-law to launch the paper in 1946. It quickly became the voice of black Los Angeles in the 1950s and 1960s. The Tribune earned a reputation as a source of courageous journalism,…
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Brazilian Website Posts Racist Obama Cartoon
The furor started as soon as the cartoon was posted on a Brazilian website, Paraná Online. A hairy monkey ponders: “Obama will have for lunch for baião-for-two [a traditional rice-and-beans dish associated with Brazil’s predominantly black northeast], steak, ice cream … and bananas, many bananas.” The use of the cartoon should not be surprising: Brazil is not…
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Qaddafi and Aristide: Dumped by a Fickle America
The United States plunged into its third Middle East conflict Saturday, launching missile strikes against Muammar Qaddafi’s armed forces in Libya even as our leaders denied that we were going to war. With the approval of the Arab League and the U.N. Security Council in hand, the U.S. took its first active step in what…
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The Root Interview: Walter Mosley
Walter Mosley burst into literary stardom in 1990 with Devil in a Blue Dress, the first of his Easy Rawlins mysteries. The Rawlins series captured a loyal audience — including an enthralled then-President Bill Clinton — with its late 1940s Los Angeles settings, casual police brutality, authentic language and vivid characters. Mosley, who grew up…
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Clarification: Buddy Fletcher vs. the Dakota
Last week The Root ran a Buzz item referring to a lawsuit filed by investor Alphonse “Buddy” Fletcher Jr. against his building co-op. In the suit, Mr. Fletcher alleged that his co-op board discriminated against him by refusing to sell him an apartment adjoining his own. He said in his complaint that members of the…
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Will a Tea Party Favorite Become the Next Black U.S. Senator?
He wears boots and a bow tie and calls global warming a “fantasy.” He worked for George W. Bush’s White House and sits on he Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates energy in the second biggest state. He’s also African American, and he’s announced that he’s running for the U.S. Senate to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison.…
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Sasha Obama and Hu Jintao Talk a Little Chinese
If you’re going to practice your Chinese and you’re the president’s daughter, why not start at the top? Nine-year-old Sasha Obama was in the crowd on the White House south lawn when President Hu arrived for his state visit. She managed to exchange a few phrases in Mandarin with China’s leader. There’s no report about…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
