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France, Slavery and Colonization
Louis-Georges Tin is a French intellectual and the vice president of CRAN (Conseil représentatif des associations noires de France or the Coalition of Black French Associations). As Black History Month comes to an end in the United States, he reviews the role of France in slavery and colonization, and talks about the social scars left…
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Win Your Own 'Faces of America'-Type Moment
There’s only a few more days to enter for a chance to win a free DNA kit, with the results personally delivered by editor-in-chief of The Root and “Faces of America” host Dr. Henry Lous Gates, Jr. Find more details and an online entry form on the Rooted For The Future sweepstakes page.
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New York Governor Paterson Drops His Bid to Get Re-elected
The dream is over for New York Governor David Paterson. The Empire State’s first black governor announcedannounce this afternoon that he will withdraw from the race for a new term after news reports that he and New York State Police officials had intervened in a domestic violence incident involving a close aide. At a news…
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Blood Test Results: Exercise or Die
This is not the blog I was thinking about writing today. An hour ago, I was prepared to state that personal trainers are agents of the devil. An hour ago, I really wanted to have a protracted pity party about how much I hate exercising, and how I might have to renew my inhaler prescription…
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Haiti's Development: A Human-Rights Approach
In the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti last month, thousands of its countrymen are reversing a trend that has dominated life in developing third world countries for decades—they are migrating back to the countryside, after having flocked to the cities in a desperate search for employment. What drove their urban flight was…
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ACORN: Dissolved as a National Structure?
Saw this bit of ACORN news over on Politico. The national structure of the organization is no more The embattled liberal group ACORN is in the process of dissolving its national structure, with state and local-chapters splitting off from the underfunded, controversial national group, an official close to the group confirmed. “ACORN has dissolved as…
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Ursula Burns is Running the Show at Xerox
Ursula Burns, the new head of Xerox, had a nice write-up in The New York Times. Here’s an excerpt: What were her big influences before she joined Xerox? The answer, she says, is “150 percent my mother. My mother was pragmatic, focused and extremely, exceedingly practical, and she was the ultimate self-determining person.” Her family…
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Why Voting For Obama Was Like Buying Starbucks Coffee
In my recent book, Everything but the Coffee: Learning About America from Starbucks (University of California Press, 2009), I show how consumerism has oozed into every corner and crevice of American life and how we increasingly treat everything as a purchase. We seem to think that anything of value in life can be bought as…
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Read/React: "Tiger Woods Takes the Blame"
Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post weighs in on Tiger Woods’ apology Tiger Woods said all the right things about his transgressions, about the feelings of entitlement that allowed him to stray, about wanting to make amends. But it has to be pointed out that whatever impact therapy is having on his sexual issues, it…
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NEWS STAND: Bad Time for Black Politics, Buying African Mobile, Hamburger War
It’s Hard Out Here for a Black Politician First, there was the exposé by the New York Times of the Congressional Black Caucus’ profligate ways, spending more on catering than on the scholarships it gives out to black college students. The story has not provoked the outrage you might expect.Maybe folks are in the don’t-air-our-dirty-linen…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
