culture
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Principal Fired for Standing Up for Free-Lunch Kids
A former principal at a Colorado charter elementary school claims that she was fired after she tried to stop a school policy that she believed embarrassed kids who received free lunch, Rawstory reports. Noelle Roni, former principal at Peak to Peak Charter School, revealed in an interview published by the Daily Camera on Monday that…
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Michelle Obama’s 50th Invite: Eat Before You Get Here
Michelle Obama has made healthful eating a priority on her agenda as first lady, but guests attending her upcoming 50th birthday bash better eat before they get there. That’s right, Michelle Obama included the old refrain used in many an African-American household, informing VIP guests lucky enough to receive a save-the-date email “to eat…
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4 Things to Tell Teens Who Joke About Race
“I am a white woman who works with a racially diverse group of teens in an after-school program. I hear a lot of jokey, self-directed racism: a Latino teen with a new haircut jokes that he now looks like ‘Justin Beaner’; two girls from Peru make negative comments about who has darker skin after they spend the afternoon…
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Dennis Rodman and North Korea: A Love Story
I guess it’s better to be a fool with “friends” than a fool alone. That’s the first thing that came to mind when I heard that NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman was bringing a cadre of “All Stars” to North Korea to play an exhibition game. I believed this even more after Rodman’s sometimes…
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Why Legalized Weed Is Good News for Young Black Men
As the legalization of marijuana promises to join the legalization of gay marriage as part of the unanticipatedly rapid social revolution that will define our times, we will be hearing certain ruminations. And not only from fire-breathing moralists easy to dismiss as “behind the times.” I refer to wiser heads worried that legalization will raise…
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Don’t Go to Parties for the Food: Build Your Networks
Ninety percent of all small businesses get business from referrals. So your network is your net worth in business, especially when you are starting out. One of the biggest challenges that holds back African-American business owners is not having a diverse network or not networking effectively. Sometimes deals boil down to who knows you, not…
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Tiger Mom’s Latest Book? Obnoxious, but Not Racist
With her first book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, in which she sang the praises of strict parenting and Chinese mothers in particular, Yale law professor Amy Chua evoked some bruising criticism. Some, like the Broad Side’s Joanne Bamberger, wrote that Chua’s parenting prescriptions “bordered on child abuse,” while others simply accused her of…
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Omaha Police Group Posts Video of Black Toddler Swearing and Warns About ‘The Thug Cycle’
The Omaha Police Officers Association is dealing with the backlash after posting on its site a video labeled “The Thug Cycle,” featuring a black toddler in diapers swearing and giving encouraging adults the middle finger, the Raw Story reports. “We here at OmahaPOA.com viewed the video and we knew that despite the fact that it…
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SNL Deserves No Love for Doing the Right Thing
Back in September, Saturday Night Live earned the ire of outspoken fans when the show announced its new cast lineup, which failed to include a black woman, a glaring omission. It didn’t help matters when black cast member Kenan Thompson blamed the show’s diversity problem on a weak talent pool. The SNL cast had not…
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Ann Coulter Calls Melissa Harris-Perry a ‘Token’ Black
Conservative pundit Ann Coulter insinuated on Monday that MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry was a token African American on the cable network. Coulter was on Fox New’s Hannity show discussing Harris-Perry’s apology over comments made on her show about Mitt Romney’s black grandchild. Harris-Perry has apologized for the slipup, which drew conservative fire but was also…