Search results for: “quotemedia/f”
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Lena Horne Was a Friend to the Press
The late CBS correspondent Ed Bradley was fond of saying, “When I get to the pearly gates and St. Peter asks what have I done to gain entry, I’ll say, `Have you seen my Lena Horne interview?’ “ In that classic 1981 piece for “60 Minutes” [video], “he got the legendary performer to candidly discuss…
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Shakira's World Cup Theme Gets F Minus from South Africa
Shakira recently released the World Cup anthem she recorded with South African group Freshlyground. South Africa wishes she had not “It’s horrible,” local fan Lindi Munonde said. “I’m not standing for it. I mean, what is our president doing about it?” “Waka Waka — Time for Africa” takes its inspiration from Cameroonian music, but South…
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Black Tea Partiers Speak
Charles Butler, a black, Chicago-based conservative talk show host, has been in shouting matches and called a traitor to his race because of his affiliation with the largely white Tea Party movement. Lloyd Marcus, a black, Orlando, Fla.-based, conservative folk singer who wears a black panama hat, leather vest, white shirt and black pants, has…
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Treme: On The Verge of a Faster Pace?
So I’m still slow-moving on the Treme bandwagon. (Hence, the lateness of this post.) But I haven’t given up quite yet. Last night’s episode had some interesting moments. Of course, the music was great. Even Wendell Pierce’s “singing” of “St. James’ Infirmary.” And then, there was a split second of New Orleans bounce music, courtesy…
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Single-Minded: Plowing Through the Oprah Bio
As it stands, “internationally acclaimed investigative biographer” Kitty Kelley’s latest offering, Oprah: A Biography, reads more like a middle-school book report than a well-researched, heavily reported, and revelation-laden expose. Footnotes would have been greatly appreciated. It reminded me of one I wrote in seventh grade on France. I waited until the 11th hour and, instead…
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Do You Have Your 'Hood Pass?
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama aroused some controversy by checking “African American” on his U.S. Census form. He’s black, some say. No, he’s half-white, declare others. If blackness is more of a social construct than a biological one, what are its social definitions? Its dating and marriage choices? An identification fostered on Hawaiian basketball…
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The Musicians 'Down in the Tremé'
is an intern at The Root and senior journalism major at Howard University. Born in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans, Boutte got his start in music by playing the trumpet and cornet in area marching bands. Although he grew up with a heart beating to New Orleans’ rhythms, he didn’t start singing professionally until…
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Dorothy Height's Legacy in Print
Some Wednesday newspapers had a photo of Dorothy Height on the front page, or more likely, relegated her death to an inside page. But in the Washington Post, the image of civil rights leader dominated the paper. A photo of the longtime president of the National Council of Negro Women, who died in Washington on…
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President Obama May Not Get What He Wants on the Supreme Court
They don’t always get what they want, but I’m hoping that President Barack Obama sticks to his values as he nominates a new justice to the U.S. Supreme Court. That appointee would replace Justice John Paul Stevens, who has announced that he is retiring in June. Here are a few examples of surprises to presidents…
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Daryl Gates, Controversial LAPD Chief, Dies at 83
Daryl Gates, former LAPD chief, dies at 83 Daryl F. Gates, the rookie cop who rose from driver for a legendary chief to become chief himself, leading the Los Angeles Police Department during a turbulent 14-year period that found him struggling to keep pace with a city undergoing dramatic racial and ethnic changes, has died,…