culture
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Where’s the Magic?
Basketball enthusiasts are missing some of the best basketball-related TV if they don’t flip to the ESPN News channel after each game in the NBA finals. In particular, Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy’s comments to reporters are the sort of thing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert wished they had dreamed up. Watching Van Gundy…
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Video: Remember Charles Hamilton? The Rapper Who Got Popped by his Girlfriend?
As you probably know, Charles Hamilton is the rapper who got his clock cleaned by his girl for talking slick regarding their personal life on camera. If you are not familiar with it, check it out here. Below, someone offers up an explanation as to why Chaz—who has something of a history of being a…
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The Harlem That Was
“Harlem, 1970-2009: Photographs by Camilo José Vergara” is on exhibit at the New York Historical Society until July 12. I began my documentation of Harlem in 1970. The neighborhood was like a rundown version of Paris in which life was lived outside, on the streets, amid the fading glory of its grand boulevards. Once imposing…
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Video: The Oakland Dummy Chronicles
It’s times like these when the collective conscience is a reeeeaaal drag.
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Black and Tan: African-American Novel Wins Irish Literature Prize
“Man Gone Down”, the story of one Black man’s difficulty to achieve the American dream, has won the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize. Written by Michael Thomas, the novel triumphed over 145 other novels nominated by libraries from 41 different countries. Along with the prize came a $140,000 winner’s purse. Concerning the novel, Thomas had this…
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Key Figure in Burris Scandal Dies in Suspicious Car Crash
John Ruff, a political consultant connected to both Sen. Roland Burris and former governor Rod Blagojevich, died in a single-car automobile accident Monday afternoon. According to the Associated Press, alcohol was not a factor and authorities are not sure why his BMW swerved off the road and struck a tree. Connected to both men through…
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The Speed to Steal
I was trying to take a night off earlier this week from the sporting world, but I wound up at a place with the TV on. The images were too compelling to not tune in. It was a sports highlight show, and they kept rolling a clip of Pittsburgh Pirates rookie outfielder Andrew McCutchen motoring…
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Femi Kuti Live!
It’s hard to imagine the pressure Femi Kuti must feel, taking the stage as the son of one of the world’s most legendary performers, charged with carrying forward the Afrobeat music his father, Fela Kuti, created decades ago. “It’s true,” Femi offers. “I do stand in big shoes—because my feet are bigger than his. Ha!…
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What Ever Happened to The Wiz?
In its prime, The Wiz couldn’t be beat. Throughout its four-year run on Broadway, the hit 1975 musical brought flavor and funk to Oz like never before, introducing theatergoers to a quirky gang of vagabonds with a style and rhythm all their own. This was not Judy Garland’s Emerald City. On stage, it had a darker hue and a…