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News Flash: Black Magazines Aren't Always That Black
Before I go into the whole Essence fashion-director uproar, some disclosure. For a total of about four years, I worked at Vibe magazine, right up until the magazine folded (it has since been resurrected under different ownership) in June 2009. I began there in 2004 as a fact checker and writer until 2006, when I…
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Does the NAACP Have a Leadership Problem?
Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and chief executive officer of the NAACP, strode into the media spotlight last month when he called on the Tea Party to “repudiate the racist element and activities within” its ranks. He immediately became the focus of attacks from the right and emerged as a visible advocate for racial justice, following the announcement…
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Turning Cannibal on Black Leadership
As they say in the Budweiser commercial, “Here we go!” The Shirley Sherrod incident provided one of the most fertile and significant opportunities to focus attention on the toxic racism of the far right, the dynamics of race and class in the rural South, the cynical use of the “reverse racism” charge to ignite opposition…
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The Domino Effect: Rep. Maxine Waters to Be Charged With Ethics Violation
In the words of Chris Rock in the classic film Boomerang, “First the Fat Boys break up and now this.” Legendary California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters has been charged with an ethics violation. On the heels of a high-profile ethics-violation investigation of New York Congressman Charles Rangel, Waters appears to be next in line. She…
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Mad Men, Miles Davis and the Aesthetic of Cool
Would it be proper to describe Mad Men as ”cool”? Well, yes and no, but before answering that question, let’s ponder the often misunderstood properties of cool. Cool has a history, believe it or not. It is the lack of historical knowledge about cool’s origins that has allowed for the rampant and unfettered exploitation of…
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The Essence Hire: It's Personal and Professional
Reports that Essence magazine is hiring Ellianna Placas, a white woman, as fashion director have ignited a passionate response around the Web. Michaela angela Davis, a former fashion editor at the magazine, spoke out against the news on her Facebook page: “It’s with a heavy heart I’ve learned that Essence magazine has engaged a white…
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Obama Shores Up His Base
Those who attempt to paint the president’s appearance on The View this Thursday as a reaction to the Shirley Sherrod situation or as a political triumph miss the point. President Barack Obama did not appear on the ABC midmorning show because he was on the defense after the Sherrod-Breitbart bungle. He was going on the…
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The Elusive Life of Jean-Michel Basquiat
The artist Jean-Michel Basquiat led a mercurial, tumultuous and tragic life. At 25 he was an art-world superstar, and a few months before his 28th birthday, in August 1988, he was dead of a heroin overdose. In many ways he was emblematic of the ’80s art world, when a new wave of artists bum-rushed the…
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Why Diabetes and Haircuts Go Together Perfectly
Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings today introduced a resolution to recognize the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program, an initiative that attempts to improve the health of the black community by going to that community in barbershops and hair salons, long known to be informal meeting places for African Americans. Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings today introduced a…
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9/11 Heroes Denied Health Care by GOP
House Republicans were able to corral enough votes to defeat a bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to those sickened by toxins resulting from the 9/11 attacks. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) went off, giving Republicans a piece of his mind for doing the unthinkable. See the video below: Read more…