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Sister Sarah She Ain't
An evening at the Urban League of Central Carolinas was advertised as a discussion of the black women’s agenda with a multigenerational panel. And it followed the program, until the topic turned to Sarah Palin. That’s when it got really interesting. You think Barack Obama exposed a racial divide this election season? Bring up the…
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The Untimely Death of Oscar Grant III
As Washington prepares for the inauguration of Barack Obama, security is certainly a concern. But there is confidence that he and his family will be well-protected. Elsewhere in the country, and far from the lead of the evening news, investigations continue into the shootings of black men by police. You can see Oscar Grant III’s death…
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Barack’s Funny, After All
Does anyone remember the moaning and gnashing of teeth when Barack Obama was elected president? Not from defeated Republicans but from professional comedians, saddened when George W. Bush—and the comedic gold mine that was his presidency—took that last helicopter ride out of D.C. They worried that it would be difficult to make fun of the…
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Barack Is Not Spock
Barack is not Spock. I’ve heard so much rhapsodizing recently about the obvious kinship of the “mixed-race” marvels that I had to set the record straight. I saw “Star Trek” last weekend. Good film, but when the Vulcan commander strolled across the bridge of the Enterprise, I was not reminded of the president. Others have…
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The Greensboro Four, 50 Years Later
The image of the Greensboro Four is frozen in American history, four young men sitting quietly at the lunch counter at the F.W. Woolworth in downtown Greensboro, N.C., on Feb. 1, 1960—politely asking to be served and being refused because they are black. There had been sit-ins before, but the headlines generated by the simple…
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Coping With 'The Help'
It was kind of funny. While the overflow crowd of 450 or so ate in the dining room of Queens University of Charlotte, staffers took their lunch in the kitchen before Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help, spoke. No, it had nothing to do with race or class. (And no one had to use separate…
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Trying to Be Post-Racial
I tried to be very post-racial this weekend. It didn’t take. Let me explain. The saga of Shirley Sherrod that mesmerized the country stopped me in my tracks. I covered it as a writer. I lived it as an American, an African American. This latest attempt to start a national conversation on race ended as…
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Rosa Parks' Other (Radical) Side
Rosa Parks was a demure seamstress who defied a Montgomery, Ala., bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a white man because — on that particular day — she was tired. Her spontaneous act sparked a 1955 bus boycott that launched the civil rights movement. Sound familiar? It should. It’s the tale told…
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Marian Wright Edelman on Continuing King's Work
Never mind the model of the “Tiger Mother,” Amy Chua’s controversial version of tough parental love pushing sometimes reluctant children to heights of achievement. Marian Wright Edelman’s hopes are far more basic. The founder of the Children’s Defense Fund has always been a fighter. In the week during which the country celebrated the achievements of…
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The Bitter Battle Over Voter ID
On the list of types of state legislation with the potential for big national impact, voter identification is right up there with moves to reduce collective-bargaining rights of public-sector unions. Such efforts, which would require voters to provide ID at the polls, are being voted on amid fierce debate in many states. But are they…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
