Texas Mother’s Reasoning for Allegedly Boiling Her Baby Will Make You Cry
After Dissing Black Americans For Years, African Immigrants Want Us To Care As Trump Tries to Deport Them. A Professor Explains What We should Do
This Alabama City’s First-Ever Black Councilwoman Receives Letter Calling Her N-Word, and That’s Not All
New Development for White Michigan Karen Who Lied and Said Two Black Men Assaulted Her
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Charles Taylor Says: I Have No Idea How All Those Dead People Happened!
From CNN: ” Former Liberian President Charles Taylor took the stand Tuesday as the first defense witness at his trial on war crimes charges at The Hague in the Netherlands. Taylor, 61, is accused of fueling a bloody civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone that led to widespread murder, rape, and mutilation. The conflict ended…
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Why Justin Timberlake Will Never Be MJ
With the initial tidal wave of Michael Jackson memorializing—glittery, star-studded and centered around a golden coffin—now behind us, it’s only natural to begin considering who will replace Michael as the King of Pop. The world needs heroes, after all. Cue the media speculation. Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter Monica Guzman asks whether Shaheen Jafargholi, a tween contestant…
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The New King of Pop is a Queen
The two weeks since Michael Jackson’s death have been awash in tributes and testimonies to the man and his music. Yet the tide of nostalgia and revisionism that has gripped the entire planet obscures a nagging truth: The very idea of superstardom may have died with Michael. After all, so many of the eulogies have…
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Wole Soyinka on Obama's Choice
The saddest song to have come out of Africa in recent times was actually composed as a song of celebration, written to mark the ascendancy of an African American to the presidency of the United States of America. It was a musical tribute by a Kenyan, and the lyrics say simply: “It is easier for…
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The Trouble With Greatness
Now that Michael Jackson is gone, but not yet buried—notwithstanding last week’s poignant send-off—what are we to make of his legacy? Will he be remembered as the man who created “Thriller”—revolutionizing pop music and transforming the music video into a work of art? Or will we remember him as Wacko Jacko, he of the creepy…
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Why Have My White Classmates Had It Easier?
Recently, I wrote an entry advising those who constantly complain about their job to be grateful to be gainfully employed. While I still agree with that sentiment overall, one letter sent in by a reader reminded me that the frustration many workers deal with on a daily basis can sometimes be too overbearing. Her words…
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Sotomayor v. Sessions
“There you go again.” By that, I mean the GOP. Sen. Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, can’t seem to grasp that American jurisprudence is about more than just the application of the law to the facts, or that our Constitution has proven time and time again to be one of the most…
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Transcript of Judge Sotomayor's Opening Statements
From the homie Oliver Willis: OPENING STATEMENT OF JUDGE SONIA SOTOMAYOR Before the Senate Judiciary Committee July 13, 2009 As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also want to thank Senators Schumer and Gillibrand for that kind introduction. In recent weeks, I have had the privilege and pleasure of meeting eighty-nine gracious Senators,…
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Sanford, Palin, and Cheney: Write Now?
In the aftermath of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s extramarital drama, his forthcoming book which was slated to publish in March 2010 by Sentinel, has been canceled in an apparent “mutual decision” by both author and publisher. Sanford was contracted to write “Within our Means,” which was described as “a manifesto about fiscal conservatism—why the government…
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Obama Taps Regina Benjamin as U.S. Surgeon General
President Obama today announced his intention to nominate Dr. Regina Benjamin to the position of United States Surgeon General. In doing so, Obama adds to his roster of daring and creative appointments: Benjamin is a Morehouse-trained physician and specialist in rural poverty and health outcomes who would be the second black woman to serve in…