culture

I treasure handmade cards from my son. But honestly, my idea of the perfect Mother’s Day is relaxing alone in a luxury hotel—resting and getting pampered. The greatest present my family can give me on Mother’s Day is some well-deserved “me time.” I love my family, but as a working mother I’ve learned to do things…

Yeah, yeah, “eat more, weigh less,” we’ve all heard it. But this isn’t just a women’s magazine cover line. As counterintuitive as it sounds, eating too little and not often enough is one of the most frequent mistakes people make when trying to lose weight. Dr. Ian Smith, author, medical/diet expert on VH1’s Celebrity Fit…

No one who knew my very traditional Haitian immigrant mother could have ever mistaken her for a feminist. Although she lived in the United States for four decades—enough time to learn a thing or two about women’s lib—she also was married for 57 years to my father, a traditional Haitian man with narrowly defined notions…

On Wednesday, Amazon announced the launch of the Kindle DX, a large-screen newspaper- and textbook-friendly edition of the Kindle. Though the new Kindle sports a number of upgrades that will improve its appeal to students and newspaper junkies, Amazon has yet to show that it really understands reading in the digital age. I haven’t tried the DX, but I…

CNN: Obama to Cut Budget by $17B; China: ‘Let’s Not Get Hasty Here’ NO: Jackson, MS Mayor Dies After Losing Primary NYT: Disappearing Acts: The Plight of Girls on Our Streets HP: Breaking the Cycle of Inner-City Gang Violence WP: Ties that Bind, Codes that Break: The Affect of Drug Laws on Black Families USAT:…

Ciara can wear the hell out of some Louboutin pumps and YSL booties. She could possibly rock a Glad trash bag. Her pop-star façade, on the other hand, is ill-fitting. R&B singers tend to come wrapped in a nice, predefined persona— for better or worse—but Ciara’s was always vague and undefined. She wasn’t a Bohemian…

NO: So…Dave…You’re the Mayor of Detroit Now BET: Man Throws Infant from Car; Buzz Hates Due Process ESPN: Usain Bolt Back Training; Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay Sad CNN: Roland Martin Reminds Deadbeat Dads that They Aren’t Tight DB: Does Kanye West Dress As Though He Likes Fishsticks? BSP: Chris Brown Turns 20, EVERYONE Clamors to…

“San Francisco is beautiful. You shouldn’t have to be upper-middle class to be a part of that.” —Micah in Medicine for Melancholy In April 1858, perhaps as many as 700 black settlers—about 14 percent of the blacks then living in California—began an exodus from San Francisco to Victoria, British Columbia, 750 miles north, in a…

Dancing With the Stars would never have happened without Frankie Manning. One of the greatest dancers in American history passed away last week at age 94, but the swing dance craze that he helped to inspire is a testament to his contribution to American culture. What is perhaps most remarkable about Manning is that he…

Mamas, let’s be honest for a minute: Although the card companies would have us thinking otherwise, just having a child of one’s own is a present in itself, right? Well, it is to me. The sound of my kids’ laughter is more melodious than anything I could download onto my iPod. And as much as…