culture

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…

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…

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,…

Day one of Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings.

From NewsOne: “A 15-year-old Los Angeles girl who navigated a single-engine Cessna through thunderstorms in Texas and took in breathtaking aerial views of Arizona’s sunsets landed her plane to cheering crowds at Compton Woodley Airport on Saturday. She is believed to be the youngest African American female pilot to fly solo across the country. Kimberly…

From NewsOne: “The men of Phi Beta Sigma are hosting their National Conclave this week in New Orleans, Louisiana. According to sources in New Orleans yesterday the men of this brotherhood voted on several members to be inducted into the fraternity at a later date. One of those men is former President Bill Clinton and…

When Paris Katherine Jackson tearfully spoke those 26 words at Michael Jackson’s memorial service, she did more to humanize him than any other speaker at the service. But she also turned on their heads the uncomfortable public conversations Americans have been having these last two weeks about Michael’s complicated relationship with his blackness and black…

Brüno, the latest entrée in Sacha Baron Cohen’s quest to dismantle American idiocracy, is raunchy, ribald, riotous, risqué, over-the-top, obnoxious and brutal, smashing cultural conventions with all the zeal of a 2-year-old let loose in the middle of a Chuck E. Cheese. It’s that chaotic and that funny to watch—funny in the oh-no-he-didn’t—kind of way.…

On a warm, breezeless July night in suburban Maryland, a football team runs drills on a high school field: 7-on-7, blitz packages, pat and go. If you pulled over to take a closer look, you’d be surprised to see that the players beneath the pads and helmets are women. The 60 of us are members…