Chicago’s Mayor Claps Back at Trump Deeming the City the Next ICE Target
Black Folks Have a Strong Reaction to Trump Dropping the U.S. in the Middle of the Israel-Iran Conflict
A Peek Inside Travis Hunter’s New Jacksonville Mansion
13 Things You Better Know When Dealing With a Cancer This Season
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Judge Blocks Part of Arizona Immigration Law
A federal judge blocked part of Arizona’s immigration bill. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton sets up a lengthy legal battle as Arizona fights to enact the toughest-in-the-nation law on immigration. Republican Gov. Jan Brewer said the state will likely appeal the ruling and seek to get the judge’s order overturned. The provisions that angered…
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New Law Narrows Racially Charged Crack-Powder Divide
The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which will at last narrow the divide between prison sentences for crack and powder cocaine busts, is on its way to President Obama’s desk today. The Senate passed the bill in March, and today the House gave it approval, thus ending an ugly sentencing disparity that’s existed for almost…
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President Obama's Popularity Among Hispanics Is Waning
President Obama’s strong support in the Hispanic community may be waning. The Nielsen Company and Stanford University sponsored a survey that shows that President Obama gets “lukewarm ratings” on issues important to Hispanics, which could have a negative impact on his party and him. For a group that supported Obama so heavily in 2008 and…
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Former Oakland Raiders Star Defensive Back Jack Tatum Dies
Jack Tatum, 61, a defensive back for the Oakland Raiders whose bone-jarring tackles earned him the nickname “the Assassin,” died of a heart attack on July 27 at a hospital in Oakland, Calif. A three-time All Pro player with the Raiders during his 10-year career, he is considered to be one of the top defensive…
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Timbuctoo: Secret Town Fed by the Underground Railroad Discovered
Move over, Rosewood and Black Wall Street, and make room for Timbuctoo. In the 1820s, freed and escaped blacks formed the self-sustaining town well before the Civil War and emancipation. Timbuctoo survived through the end of slavery in New Jersey, the Fugitive Slave Act and the Jim Crow era. The last families didn’t leave until…
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UPDATE: Rachel, 2 Months after Gastric-Bypass Surgery
The last time we heard from Rachel was in June, 19 days after her gastric-bypass surgery. If you’re new to this blog, you will want to start with the three-part series that began right before my friend Rachel had the surgery. Now, an update: How much have you lost since the surgery?I have lost 39…
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Black Money: Last Exit in Brooklyn
Brooklyn, New York, has long been stereotyped for its hard-edged hustle, even in a city already known for its unbridled capitalism. When New Yorkers think of black people, Brooklyn and money, clockin’ dollars is the old-school vernacular that comes to mind. Spike Lee, who has arguably fetishized black Brooklyn life and culture more profitably than…
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Is White Privilege a Myth?
Here is what I anticipate: Jim Webb, the senior senator from Virginia, will soon be both vilified and lionized in the ”media” for attacking affirmative action as wrong-headed and divisive. And one result is that the intense conversation we’ve endured in recent days about race in the wake of the sacking of Agriculture Department employee…
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Trying to Be Post-Racial
I tried to be very post-racial this weekend. It didn’t take. Let me explain. The saga of Shirley Sherrod that mesmerized the country stopped me in my tracks. I covered it as a writer. I lived it as an American, an African American. This latest attempt to start a national conversation on race ended as…