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Best Actor in Blackface
I would classify myself as an intensely proud black man. And I feel completely comfortable saying that Robert Downey Jr. deserves his Oscar nod. Denying Tropic Thunder’s smart satire simply because the artists involved are white is simplistic and short-sighted. Frankly, I find Tyler Perry’s use of trite black American archetypes equally as problematic as blackface.…
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Why I Love Soulja’s Swag
Soulja Boy Tellem! Hopped up out tha bed, Turn ma swag on, Took a look in tha mirror said wassup, Yeeeeea, I’m gettin’ money (oohhh) -“Turn My Swag On” by Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em I have to admit, I sort of begrudgingly love Soulja Boy’s “Turn My Swag On.” Though the Blackademic within should probably…
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Another Cop, Another Video
Don’t get caught slippin’. That’s the lesson for anyone who wants to put forth any malarkey about a post-racial nation. If you haven’t heard by now, NFLer Ryan Moats and his wife were pulled over while rushing to the hospital to see her dying mother. Before you fly off the handle, try to put yourself…
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Since When Does The Supreme Court Stay Hush Hush?
This week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeal for a new trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the ex-Black Panther serving a life sentence for killing a police officer in Philadelphia in 1981. He was convicted by a jury made of ten whites and two Blacks in 1982. Abu-Jamal’s lawyers’ latest appeal was filed on the…
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Arizona Commencement Snub Treats POTUS Like a Nutty Professor
According to Dawn Teo over at HUFFINGTON POST, Arizona State University does not think President Obama, one of its 2009 commencement speakers, is worthy of an honorary degree. The university’s Media Relations Director Sharon Keeler said the selection process for honorary degrees is conducted on an independent basis and that the selection committee was not…
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The End of the Age of Douchebags?
ESQUIRE’s Stephen Marche has written a hilarious piece detailing the end of the “douchebag” era: The departure of W., that backslapping, nickname-calling, know-nothing M.B.A. failure, is the cue for… the expense-account-abusing, bottle-service-ordering, Ayn Rand-quoting embarrassments of the American banking sector: Your relevance is dwindling, your presence no longer required. [W]e are seeing the return of…
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Cover Your Eyes: Obama "Swagga" Segment Not Fit for TV
Congrats CNN, on your “swagga” segment FAIL. We all know that mainstream news can be stiff by nature and necessity, but that’s a reality that exists because, more often than not, attempts to be ‘hip’ and relevant tend to fall flat on their face. It’s pretty clear by his on camera demeanor that correspondent T.J. Holmes was…
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Relax, Father’s Day Isn’t Mother’s Day
The trick to shopping for a Father’s Day present is to understand that this isn’t Mother Day. Unlike the second Sunday in May, which is prepped for and marketed months in advance, replete with brunches and church services and graduation exercises, the third Sunday in June is a day when dad gets breakfast in bed;…
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He Made Us Dance
Michael made us dance.That is an often-ignored fact as we try to grapple with the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson. For 80 percent of his life, he wasn’t merely famous. He was a megastar. Indeed, he rose to almost inconceivable heights of stardom, into such rarefied space that it could only be inhabited by the…
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Have You Driven Obama Lately?
In a recent article for NEW YORK, Jennifer Senior discusses new media rock star, President Barack Obama, and the sheer volume of information that the White House delivers and the media culture that facilitates our insatiable appetite for it. Writes Senior: [H]e’s the first president who has grasped the possibilities of today’s high-velocity, high-density, highly…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
