Why the Black Internet Believes Grammys Just Threw Shade at Beyoncé
Proof The ‘Absent Black Father’ Was a Big Lie
Jay-Z’s Daughter Rumi Carter Throws Up the Roc Nation Sign On Stage, Sparking Insane Illuminati Theories
Black Musicians Who Were Targeted By The FBI and Other Law Enforcement
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The Obama Effect and Black Quarterbacks
The New York Times Magazine has released its annual “Year in Ideas” package—alphabetically analyzing such interesting new developments as man-made greenery and bicycle highways. In the “Os” there is, of course, our current president, Barack Obama. The entry related to him, however, explores a trend that’s become known in social science circles as “stereotype threat”—lower…
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Obama's Peace Prize Speech Text
Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Distinguished Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of America, and citizens of the world: I receive this honor with deep gratitude and great humility. It is an award that speaks to our highest aspirations – that for all the cruelty and hardship of our world, we are not mere…
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NEWS STAND: Obama's Speech, Caucus Friction, Atlanta Stays Black, China in Africa
OBAMA’S NOBEL MOMENT The brother can preach. U.S. President Barack Obama delivered another dazzling speech this morning as he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, an award that many Americans say he doesn’t deserve. In his far-reaching Nobel “lecture,” as the speech is called, the President acknowledged the controversy and said he could not argue with…
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In Peace Prize Speech, Obama Proves a Student of War
Accepting the 109th Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway before an expectant world public, President Barack Obama delivered a thoughtful and nuanced speech about the reasons for war and the limits of peace. The Nobel Committee awarded the honor, previously granted to leaders of populist, nonviolent movements such as Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela and Martin…
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And Now We're Post-Biracial
So, The New Republic’s John McWhorter sees a “certain crowd” that just isn’t giving the pre-post-racial era a chance. He takes me and Jenée Desmond-Harris to task for our bi-biracial evaluation of the “Cablinasian” thing in the context of the Tiger Woods scandal. Of Tiger Woods and race he writes, “an America in which a…
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Talking Jobs
Way back in the Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton argued that Barack Obama hadn’t the mettle to connect his inspiring rhetoric with actual reform, that soaring speeches are poor weapons for the Beltway battle zone. Her skeptical, tough-lady political persona was anachronistic in those pregnant times. But listening to Obama’s latest Big Speech Tuesday, on jobs,…
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Gone, But Not Forgotten
January 2009 “Prince” Joe Henry, 78, a Negro League all-star baseball player with Memphis Red Sox, Indianapolis Clowns and Detroit Stars died on Jan. 2. Sam “Bluzman” Taylor, 74, a blues singer-songwriter/guitarist, died Jan. 5 from complications of heart disease. On Jan. 4, Giselle Salandy, 21, Trinidad and Tobago’s unbeaten female boxer and winner of…
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BOMB THE ROOT: The Yinka Shonibare Interview
Yinka Shonibare MBE is an artist who works in layers. First you have comedy: Victorian era gentiles mid-orgy, oh my! Second, you have historical reproductions: Victorian era bustles, impeccable! Third, you have colonialism: This brightly colored cloth is African not British! And lastly, you have a whole new understanding of race, hierarchy and world history.…
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Letter From Cambodia, Part 2
PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA—A few weeks after we met, I called Arn to tell him that I would be traveling north to his home province of Battambang, Cambodia. “I’m in the movie theater,” he said. “I’ll call you back.” He said it was a horror movie about a Cambodian woman who could command the nation’s snakes—he…
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Check It Out: Activists Call on Obama for Climate Justice Leadership
Climate change is no joke and as President Obama gets set to accept his Peace prize, climate justice activists are calling on him to act a s a leader in their cause. “Africans and US citizens of the African Diaspora are appealing to Obama to take leadership and insure climate justice for Africa, a continent…