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Basketball's Forgotten (Black) History
There’s a good 50-year gap in the story of basketball’s evolution. We go from the game’s invention late in the 19th century and fast forward to the NBA’s late-1940s inception. In the interim, though, there were the Black Fives (teams were called “fives” in reference to their five starters). They were amateur, semi-pro and professional…
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Cheap 'Arab Money'
Nov. 21, 2008—Sometimes I like to shut off my iPod, turn on the radio and see what kind of tripe is filling the FM airwaves. It’s subversively entertaining to me. And since I hold popular radio in such low esteem, there’s not much that can alarm me—not even cuts like “My Neck, My Back” or…
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The Black QB Scramble
Chris Rock has a classic bit in his 1999 HBO special “Bigger and Blacker” where he documents his father’s obsession with Robitussin as a cure-all remedy. “Daddy I got asthma! Robitussin. I got cancer! Robitussin. I broke my leg! Daddy pourin’ Robitussin on it.” When it’s time for me to ponder the complex and nuanced…
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If Dad Were Around…
While growing up in Houston, Vince Young endured some trials and took some perilous detours on his way to stardom and riches. His mother had her bouts with drug addiction. His Pops was absent, mostly in jail. The streets were calling. His talent saved him from the statistics. He surfaced as a college football star and…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
