culture

Browsing books at a Barnes & Noble in south San Francisco before dinner the other night, I saw a book called Sellout between the aisles, obviously positioned to be noticed. I saw the title of the hardcover, but it was the author’s name that drew my attention: Randall Kennedy, a Harvard Law professor who also…

After a flurry of jabs, feints, and ripostes last year—all signifying nothing—I had hoped the Nigger Wars had finally died down. In the words of The Abstract, it all goes in cycles and whenever the intellect of the black talking class is taxed, they inevitably point to some irrelevant cultural phenomenon as the source of…

Bit by bit, I’m becoming a fan of the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team and Don Imus has nothing to do with it. Blame the NCAA. Every year when they pick their field of 64 for the women’s basketball championship, the selection committee figures out a way to slight Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights…

By now you’ve likely been forwarded the link three, maybe four times. The nation may be divided by the war in Iraq, the Democratic Party may be lumbering towards a Denver apocalypse, mortgage-meltdown tent cities may be springing up while lenders collapse, but, look on the bright side: At least everyone loves Stuff White People…

Most of us are dead. But five of us are not. We are among the 20 African American women chosen by a group of educators and black history experts to be featured in a traveling exhibition called “Freedom’s Sisters.” And on a Friday night in mid-March at the Cincinnati Museum Center, the five of us…

I hate her. I’ve never seen her before, and don’t know her, but I don’t need to. I see what she looks like. I see what she’s wearing. I see who she’s with. That tells me everything I need to know. She can’t be trusted—her kind never can—and all she wants is to push her…

Mike Molina, one of my buddies from Xavier, composed this poem to open up my “Mardi Gras (Phat Tuesday)” menu in Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen. Hurricane Katrina devastated the city less than six months later. Down in New Orleans Saffron skies chase down the sun Another sultry day is done Heat seasoned…

Today most Americans tell themselves that we as a nation are finally beyond race. Or at least nearly so. Wake up! All the hope and self-delusion aside, racism runs much deeper than most Americans realize. Indeed, a sign of the depth of this fissure has emerged in the current Democratic presidential campaign. The last few…

Maple-Coated Pecans Yield: 1 pound (4 cups) 1 pound (4 cups) pecan halves 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup organic raw cane sugar · Preheat the oven to 375°F. · Spread the pecans on a large baking sheet and toast for 4 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking. · Remove the…

Agave-Sweetened Double-Orange Pekoe Tea Yield: about one gallon When it comes to non-alcoholic, beverage staples from The South, “Sweet Tea” will consistently be in the top two along with lemonade. And it ain’t called “sweet” for nothing. Although “Sweet Tea” usually comes pre-sweetened with white sugar, most people add just a lil’ bit more of…