culture
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Steele Tries Real Talk on Race and the GOP
The election of Michael Steele as the first black head of the RNC set the political world on its head last week, as the party whose membership claims it wants to be “more like Sarah Palin” finds itself looking more like Barack Obama. Steele’s “first” has been characterized as a case of GOP falling for…
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J. Hud's Back With a Shining Glory
OK, so whether you watched the Super Bowl or not, you’ve probably seen Jennifer Hudson’s performance of the “Star Spangled Banner.” MTV News reports that she lip-synched the performance, but who cares? It’s the friggin’ Super Bowl! All the noise, technical glitches that could have went crazy! Pre-recorded track just seems logical. The Chicago Sun-Times says that her…
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And the Super Bowl Champions Have Black Coach, Too.
Mike Tomlin, the youngest to ever reach the NFL championship game, led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a record sixth championship win Sunday, making him the second black coach to win the Superbowl. The New Times reports that there are not many football franchises that have so many great alumni who manage to show up on…
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Ms. Jackson Will Be There
Earlier this week, Lisa P. Jackson, the former Chief of Staff for New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine, was sworn in as the first African-American to become head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Buzz is excited about Obama’s pick for a number of reasons. She’s a Princeton University graduate, like our other favorite African-American…
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A Veep Is A Terrible Thing To Waste
The Buzz gives props to Vice President Joe Biden (and to the nation’s Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden). And Friday, President Barack Obama did as well—not wanting to squander the considerable abilities of Smokin’ Joe, the former U.S. Senate lion also known as Amtrak’s best customer, today he introduced Biden as Chair of The White…
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Flipping the Script
A funny thing happened to the movie New in Town on the way to your local multiplex: Angela Bassett morphed into Gabrielle Union, who then became Renée Zellweger. This is not entirely shocking. “Colorblind” casting has been around for a while. Remember that the drill sergeant in An Officer and a Gentleman was slated to…
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A Jury of Your Peers
Come 2015, the National Museum of African American History and Culture will be standing on the National Mall, 800 feet away from the National Monument. What exactly will be standing in that space, hasn’t been decided. But The New York Times’ Arts Beat blog says, six architectural teams will be duking it out for the…
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Who Chooses the Super Bowl Host City?
On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will duke it out in Super Bowl XLIII. This year, the game will be held in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.—far from the intense wintry weather in the North. The last three Super Bowls were played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.,…
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Black Coaches, Now What?
When Coach Mike Tomlin leads his Pittsburgh Steelers on the field Sunday evening for Super Bowl XLIII, he will be the third African American to coach in the big game in two years. In 2007, two black coaches, Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts and Lovie Smith of the Chicago Bears, led their teams into…
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Redman’s Compass, Ever Steady
When saxophonist Joshua Redman arrived on the jazz scene 18 years ago, it marked a new phase in a healthy jazz revival that has propelled the music into Lincoln Center and other upper reaches of institutionalized culture. Redman’s latest release, Compass may, again, signal a new and important phase in jazz. The release is Redman’s…