-
Save Haiti, Plant Trees
Every hurricane season, Haitians at home and abroad gird themselves for the inevitable loss of life that comes with the torrential rains and winds. But this season has been especially hard, as one storm after another has battered the island, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Tropical Storm Fay struck in mid-August. Hurricane Gustav…
-
Taming it Down
An untrained ear listening to Michelle Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention might have dismissed her carefully scripted and reassuring comments as the unfortunate repackaging of a woman derided for being too strong and outspoken. But perhaps the audience was witnessing something entirely the opposite, a Michelle Obama so confident in her essential self…
-
A Handbook for Haters
Now that the presidential campaign is entering the homestretch and Barack Obama’s formal nomination at the Democratic Party’s national convention is just weeks away, it’s time to issue a primer for those older “black leaders” who still can’t seem to bear Obama’s ascendance. We already have a “Greatest Generation.” We don’t need a Hater Generation—a group so…
-
Just Give It Up, Geraldine!
Geraldine Ferraro, the self-appointed angry spokesperson for Hillary Clinton’s historic White House bid, is on yet another tear about Barack Obama. This time she’s speaking for all the misunderstood white, working-class, voters who say they won’t vote for Obama— not because he’s black, but because they believe he has a black agenda. Apparently, in her…
-
A Flag Pin? Come on!
B, you’re kidding me, right? The flag pin? Come on. I’ve noticed you’re wearing it again—a lot. I also noticed you’ve been talking about patriotism—a lot. Too much, in fact Now, I have no beef with the flag or with patriotism, but I do when they are used as political weapons by people who think…
-
Pangs of Hunger, Pangs of Guilt
Most Americans, even those who have occasionally faced what the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls “food insecurity,” will never experience the depth of hunger gripping poor countries around the globe and triggering a rash of food riots. It is the sort of hunger that causes families to forage garbage dumps to look for discarded food,…
-
The Trouble With Transcending Race
They both have unique names and amazing life stories. They have legions of adoring fans who find them inspiring. They have sold millions of books and can fill stadiums like rock stars. Few black Americans have occupied the rarified status of Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama, two “racially transcendent” blacks whom white admirers find appealing…
-
When Jesse Had Game
As news programs around the country marked the 40th anniversary of the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. recently, I watched the special reports and documentaries with a mixture of shame and pride, joy and sadness, inspiration and discouragement. I listened to the interviews of civil rights leaders who knew King and the…
-
The Dream Heard ‘Round the World
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places shall be made plain, and the crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope.…
-
Color, Character, Content: At play in the new “post-racial” politics
It seems like a lifetime ago when some black people were asking if Barack Obama was “black enough” and some white people were insisting that he was “not really black.” Those silly debates seem quaint in retrospect. Back then, people were merely having trouble wrapping their minds around Sen. Obama’s biracial heritage and itinerant upbringing,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
