culture

Ta-Nehisi Coates of The Atlantic Monthly takes a little bit of time to explore the supposed rift between President Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus. Real or imagined, on the block or in the halls of Congress, black-on-black crime will always be big business. *sigh*

A nice bit of bloggage regarding Venus and Serena Williams, sport, and the perceptions of femininity and beauty from The Buzz’s sister-in-arms, Dayo Olopade, a Rootitian who moonlights over on The XX Factor at Slate. The Buzz says: Ladies, if you look like that, flaunt it and let the haters quake in fear.

Why are so many of the best and brightest leaving South Africa? Tune into NPR’s Tell Me More to find out. Right now, there are a lot of World Cup organizers who are sweating bullets. There’s certainly a lot of time left to turn certain logistical issues around, but they’ve got their work cut out…

According to Chris Fusco, Tim Novak, and Dave McKinney of The Chicago Sun-Times, Roland Burris, Part Deux, doesn’t like to pay taxes and, for his trouble, landed a $75K per annum gig with the state of Illinois. How? Rod Blagojevich. This whole saga would amuse The Buzz if it wasn’t so shameful. Remember that scene in…

Avis Thomas-Lester of The Washington Post delivers a nice piece on Black female soldiers who made sure the brave souls on the front lines of Europe got their little pieces of home. Check out the video below. Sister Soldiers Thank you, ladies. Thank you.

You might think The Buzz is piling on Bobby Jindal, and while you’re correct in some regard, you’ll probably be equally fascinated by Max Blumenthal’s piece on the Louisiana governor’s past over on The Daily Beast. You can try to tell The Buzz that you weren’t fascinated by the article, but that would just be…

If you’re not already aware, The Buzz has an unhealthy obsession with music and will, from time to time, provide jams to make you smile and do that computer chair dance we are all known to do (admit it.) The song after the jump falls into the “thinker” category courtesy of The O’Jays. Ship Ahoy…

The New York Times: Obama looks to tax wealthy to pay for health care TBT: Who, oh who, will defend the poor defenseless wealthy?! The Boston Globe: Food stamp applications rise in Massachusetts TBT: This is one of those times when legacies get written, Governor Patrick. The Washington Post: An unwanted ally for D.C. residents…

Per usual, Venus and Serena Williams continued to dominate on the court last weekend with big sister winning her 40th singles title in Dubai, after barely nudging past younger sister in the semifinals. And, as always, the more uncomfortable questions about their extraordinary careers are taking place outside the tennis court lines. In the lily-white…

One-hundred and thirteen years ago, in the midst of the deepest depression of the 19th century, William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic nominee for president, addressed his party’s 1896 convention with one of the most famous speeches in American history. The program Bryan called for in his “Cross of Gold” speech was what would now be…