A Peek Inside Travis Hunter’s New Jacksonville Mansion
In Minnesota Assassination Attempt, Wife’s Split-Second Decision is a Testament to a Mother’s Love
KWN, ‘The Female Version of Chris Brown’ Got Black Men Worried And For Good Reason
Oklahoma Black Man Hit By Patrol Car During Jaywalking Arrest, and That’s Not Even the Most Infuriating Part
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Michael Savage Banned from the UK
Savage Nation shock jock Michael Savage may think autistic children are bratty or that the Koran is a “book of hate”, but there’s at least 8 million Americans who tune in everyday to show allegiance or passive outrage. However, the U.K. thinks Savage is abominable. In fact, Mister Savage Nation has recently been prohibited from…
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A Race Czar for Black Farmers
One hundred and forty-seven years ago this week, with the Civil War raging around him, President Lincoln signed into law a bill that created the United States Department of Agriculture. He called it the “People’s Department,” in a tribute to the wide-ranging ambitions he held for it. Almost a century and a half later, the…
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Slaves to Denial
I am a descendant of Cherokee Freedmen, the former slaves owned by the Cherokees and a smaller number of free blacks who lived among the tribe before the end of the Civil War. So watching the PBS series We Shall Remain, which aired last month, I empathized with Native Americans and silently condemned the white…
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The Recessionary Arts
On a blighted stretch of industrial highway in Maryland, Artmosphere, an arts-focused restaurant/bar/coffee shop, was a little light in the darkness. Creative types—writers, painters, musicians—would flock there for the camaraderie and to feed off of each other’s energy. On any given night, there was Miss Jane, poet Jane Landolt, eating dinner at her usual perch…
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Why Sex Makes Lousy Diplomacy
Fed up with the unrest that threatens to throw the country into the kind of violent turmoil that followed the 2007 elections, a group of women in Kenya took matters into their own hands. The Women’s Development Organization spearheaded a weeklong strike in which they called on Kenyan women to withhold sex from their husbands…
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Tattoo Therapy
The American auto industry continues to fall by the wayside, the stock market remains as volatile as ever, and the real estate market, well, it’s about on par with Chris Brown’s career. But, there is one industry currently that’s still in the black. In fact, it’s also in the red, green, yellow, and any color…
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Is Kenya's Sex Strike a Problem for Congress?
Juuuust as THE ROOT concluded that the Great Kenyan Sex Strike of 2009 was no good, we’re hearing word that, tomorrow, Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) will preside over a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee titled, “Confronting Rape and Other Forms of Violence Against Women in Conflict Zones.” The session…
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Is the White House's Poetry Jam Good for Poetry?
With the news that the First Family is hosting a Poetry Jam (not slam, as has been cleared up by Social Secretary Desiree Rogers) at the White House tonight, it made me wonder if poetry will benefit from the good press. I’m just saying. Poetry is often treated like the underappreciated stepchild. Publishers ain’t really…
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Putting It Out There, Alllll Out There
Sigh. Round Three/Four/or is it Five? in the Chrihanna saga: Last night, Kanye released a spanking new Rihanna—featuring Lady GaGA!—single on his website. For free. Yes, I think it’s safe to call it a dis track, considering that it’s called “Silly Boy” and the lyrics go something like this: But you`re not ok, tellin’ me…
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“A Definition of Hell” in Sri Lanka
British foreign secretary David Milliband spoke to a group of reporters at the New America Foundation this morning. The talk was ostensibly about new media strategies and diplomacy (Milliband blogs—the unthinkably modern equivalent of Hillary Clinton trying out Twitter), but quickly turned to the hot-button geostrategic issues of the day. Moderator Steve Coll, president of…