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What’s the New American Idea?
The United States of America celebrates its 233rd birthday this year, while its leaders try to refashion the “idea of America” for an increasingly complex and unpredictable world. The White House is burning the midnight oil deliberating on the extent to which American foreign policy should move toward national interests or national values, realism or…
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Can You Hear My T-Shirt Now?
T-shirts are a powerful form of American expression. The ’60s, ‘70s and ‘80s were chock full of chic, racially specific slogans and images on T-shirts that amounted to an ongoing protest rally. Who can forget “Black Man’s Time”? Or the equally iconic: “Happy to be Nappy”? But in the 1990s, that sort of in-your-face, activist statement…
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Michelle Obama's Sistah-Girlfriend Press Corps
Howard Kurtz’s recent claim that black female reporters are having difficulty covering the first lady because she is also a black female is a worthwhile topic of discussion, but his focus on “objectivity” misses the point. THE BUZZ has a pretty good summary of Kurtz’s analysis, and at TAPPED, Adam Serwer makes a characteristically smart…
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So…Black Women Shouldn't Cover the First Lady Because She's 'One of Them'?
From the Washington Post: “While Michelle Obama was meeting with doctors and patients at the Upper Cardozo Health Center, nearly two dozen journalists stood behind a white rope in a small room upstairs, most finally growing so tired during the hour-long wait that they sat on the floor. Finally the first lady emerged, read a…
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Cops Anoint Texas Minister with Pepper Spray
From NewsOne (via the AP): WEBSTER, Texas – Police used a Taser on a pastor and pepper spray to disperse his congregants Wednesday after the pastor allegedly interfered with a traffic stop in the church parking lot. Congregants say they were in the Iglesia Profetica Peniel church for an early morning prayer when pastor Jose…
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Pimp My Kid!
Did anyone look at this along with Papa Joe Jackson’s comments to CNN’s Don Lemon at the BET awards with utter disgust? Dressed in a zoot suit that looks tailor made for Satan, Jabbing Joe stood there talking about his new business venture amid questions about the death of his own son. It was obvious…
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Manny Returns
For the first month of the baseball season, the Los Angeles Dodgers romped through their opponents as if the rest of the league did not get the memo that the season was underway. Through the first week of May, the Dodgers were 21-8*, a pace that would have resulted in a record-breaking 117 wins in…
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The Patriot Act
My man’s not running for president, so I can say without fear that 2008 was the first time in my adult life that I was truly proud of this country. It was an unusual feeling, exhilarating even, but it’s since passed. My pride then had nothing to do with Barack Obama’s candidacy. Rather, all the…
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'Star-Spangled' Bloopers
From Roseanne Barr to R. Kelly, check out the celebrities who performed the worst renditions of the national anthem. Full of pride, but short of pipes. Even Jennifer Hudson makes the list! CARL LEWIS Retired track and field man Carl Lewis may have won 10 Olympic medals, but he won’t be winning awards for his…
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The Only Ones: The Underside of Integration?
What does the First Family’s vacation destination reveal about the limits of integration and class within the black community? A whole lot, at least according to Touré, whose NEW YORK magazine article, “Black and White on Martha’s Vineyard” is still sparking fireworks. For generations, high-achieving African Americans who exist in elite, all-white environments during the…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
