Search results for: “node/olopade”
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Talking Points
Barack Obama’s 2004 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention contained sound-bite-worthy lines that would be replayed long after the ovation subsided. “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America,” he said. Despite his greenness—Obama had never before used a teleprompter—the reaction was titanic. Bill Clinton waited with throngs…
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How Can You Access Blocked Web Sites in China?
With the Olympics underway, Americans are devoting countless hours to Googling their favorite athletes and using the Web to find out all they can about China. But how free are people in China to interact online with fellow citizens and the world? How easy is it to surf the Web in China? The Chinese government…
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China's Long March Across Africa
By now, we’re used to seeing foreign fingers in the African pot. For the latest act of this timeless drama, one need look no further than the Chinatown in Lagos, Nigeria. For years, a small community of Chinese workers ran restaurants or sold textiles in the city; today, however, a walled-off square is brimming with…
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What Does a Taser Do to the Human Heart?
On January 17, 21-year-old Baron Pikes was stopped by the police. Nearly half a million volts of electricity later, he died on the street. Handcuffed, held down and stunned with a Taser-brand electro-weapon seven times before he died (and then twice more after that), Pikes’ heart, the coroner notes, simply gave out. Amnesty International estimates…
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Sketchy Imagery
Depending on whom you ask, the July 21 cover of The New Yorker has become cause for outrage, confusion and partisan glee. Given the flare-ups surrounding race and representation that have rocked the 2008 presidential race, it’s easy to treat the satirical cover—of a be-turbaned Barack and a be-afroed Michelle Obama—and other “racialist” images of…
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A Masterful Move
One’s thanks for the work of Jacob Lawrence—an American painter of ingenious vision and remarkable aesthetic grace—must always be twofold. The duality stems from what was, throughout his career, a truly hybrid mission. Lawrence made history with his 1943 “Migration Series,” now on display in its entirety in the airy rooms of the Phillips Collection…
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Tough Love From the Father-in-Chief
President Barack Obama kicks off the Father’s Day weekend with a string of events designed to “begin a national conversation on responsible fatherhood and healthy families,” according to the White House. Much like first lady Michelle Obama’s March celebration of women’s empowerment, the day of bro-mance hits eight Washington-area nonprofits that mentor young men, and…
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Environment, Genetics or Both?
Last year, when “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts found a lump in her breast during a self-exam, her first thought was: This can’t be; I’m too young! Yes, at 46, Roberts was younger than age 55, when two out of three invasive breast cancers are diagnosed. But she’s also black. Though African-Americans are less…
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Lifting the Lower Ninth
Conventional wisdom teaches us that historical fiction takes a while. It’s a process, much like the stages of grief. A culture must wade through the shock, acceptance, recovery and reflection of a particular incident in order to draw insight from hindsight. “Lower Ninth,” an original one-act torn right from the pages of recent history and…