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Beige in America
Come on, Soledad. We’re about to see our second “Black in America” series in two years, and it’s only fair to surmise that after the way Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings went down, plans for “Brown in America” will soon be underway. But before you start production on “Brown” or start making plans for “Black…
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Charges Against Dr. Gates Dropped
Cambridge Police have dropped disorderly conduct charges against Harvard professor Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., according to a report by CNN. “The City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Police Department have recommended to the Middlesex County District Attorney that the criminal charge against Professor Gates not proceed,” says the press release. “Therefore, in the interests…
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Dr. Skip Gates and His Surprising Outrage
If Dr. Henry Louis Gates, a Harvard professor and well-known scholar, can be arrested in his home there’s one thing to conclude: it’s absolutely ridiculous to think we live in a post-racial America and profiling black men is part of the DNA of America. Dr. Gates misplaced his keys and simply had to break into…
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Lawyer's Statement on the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.
UPDATE: The disorderly conduct charges against Henry Louis Gates Jr. were dropped on Tuesday. Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — by Charles Ogletree This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client, friend, and colleague, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This is a statement concerning the arrest of Professor Gates.…
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The Never-Ending Beef & Fascination with Street Lit
I’ve grown tired of the whole street lit debate. You know the one that tries to determine whether or not street lit—the genre categorized as sub-par tales that feature gratuitous sex and violence—deserves to be published, if it pollutes minds, if it is a good thing because it gets neglected audiences reading, and/or if it’s presence detracts…
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The Buck Up Billboard
Let’s say you’re on the freeway driving to a job interview or driving away from the repo man and you spot a billboard that says, “Self worth is greater than net worth.” Now, you have two options: You can take a step back, ponder on that message for a minute then proceed to smile after…
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Stay in Your Lane, Beyoncé
When I saw that Nia Long was a trending topic on Twitter, I thought either A) she died or B) she and Larenz Tate were going to do a sequel to Love Jones. Neither was true. But what was happening was even more compelling. Beyoncé was getting called out for her “acting” skills. In an…
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A Song for Lady Day
Life is ultimately mysterious and indifferent about whom it gives much and from whom it expects a measure equal to its gifts. Those gifts are passed out with the same careless precision as handfuls of chicken feed hurled into a high wind. Billie Holiday was obviously given much more than most, and her talent revealed…
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Really, Pat Buchanan?
THE ROOT recently ran a story about why failed, racist Republican politician turned commentator, Pat Buchanan—the devil we know—is better than the devil we don’t. Adam Serwer argued: His rants, while offensive, aren’t persuasive to anyone who doesn’t already agree with him. But they discredit the notion that the Republican Party has entirely moved on…
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Does Gitmo Have Room for One More?
From Black Spin: “Don’t you hate it when some fool tweaks raw racial sores and the First Amendment just to get attention? Allow me to introduce you to the latest, and one of the most offensive perpetrators: Michael Hunt. Hunt, a black man, walked into a Los Angeles City Council meeting and refused to remove…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
