culture

I had only been teaching at Duke University for a few months when I caught one of my first public glimpses of John Hope Franklin. It was a chance encounter at a local supermarket—one of the many times I would encounter him during his daily routine. Flanked by my then-7-year-old daughter, I approached Dr. Franklin…

BBC: Iran, US Have ‘Cordial’ Chit-Chat; Exchange Baby Pics, Nuclear Schematics UPI: British Hand Over Basra Command to US, Don’t Let Door Hit Behind on Way Out AP: Netanyahu Wants ‘Full Peace’; Says ‘We Can Do This the Easy Way or the Easier Way’ LAT: 200 Migrants Feared Drowned in Mediterranean Reuters: Record Drop in…

For years—decades really—I’ve drifted away from college basketball. As I lamented a year ago, it wasn’t the same game I watched as a kid and as a young adult. It was exciting, no doubt, but the quality of play had declined. I still watched, but the thrill was gone for me. This season, I came…

The water is still on at Morris Brown College in Atlanta. At the very last minute, the 128-year-old historically black college came up with the money to pay its past due water bill of $64,887.32 in March. The historically black college was able to tap its proud history. The school reached out to alumni, churches…

SFC: Six Members of Family Die in Murder-Suicide WP: Surprise, Surprise: Israeli Military Finds No Misconduct in Gaza War FOX: White House Not Super Into Auto Industry Plan, Says ‘Try Again’ NYT: Cholestrol Drug May Cut Risk of Clots; Not a License to Eat More Bacon DS: Dallas Cop Apologizes to Moats (That Should Just…

MONDAY MSNBC: Tips for Making College Affordable—Step One: Have Money AJE: Deadly Attack on Iraq Funeral (Yeah, It’s Reaaallly Time for Us to Go) CNN: Tyra Gets Her Robin Givens On, Talks to Oprah of Abuse WH: Obama Talks Green Jobs *Live* IS: Indiana Near Top of Black Homicide Rate; Buzz Didn’t Know Hoosiers Were…

The future National Museum of African American History and Culture — as envisioned by competing teams of architects — will most likely include water features and music halls, evocations of slave ships and the African past, and vistas acknowledging its important, monumental neighbors. Yesterday, the Smithsonian Institution unveiled conceptual designs from six prominent architecture teams…

Michael Steele Forgets Memo, Continues Speaking

He’s not the first person that you’d expect to author a series of mysteries starring Mma Precious Ramotswe, an enterprising “lady detective,” a Botswana woman of “traditional build.” Novelist Alexander McCall Smith is, after all, neither Botswanan nor female, but a Scottish law professor who was born in Zimbabwe and educated in Zimbabwe and Scotland.  …