culture
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Art From Around the Diaspora in ATL
(The Root) — You can always tell when the National Black Arts Festival is headed to Atlanta. Colorful banners with its logo sway on lampposts dotting Peachtree Street. Black talk-radio stations begin interviews with organizers and participants. Local media start featuring ads. And there’s also the kickoff celebration. “They definitely do a good job [advertising…
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The 'War on Terror' Really Is Over
The Washington Post‘s Eugene Robinson says that a war against identifiable foes can be won — and, for the most part, has been. President Obama wisely avoided the phrase “mission accomplished” in his major speech last week about the “war on terror,” but columnists aren’t obliged to be so circumspect: It is time to declare…
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New Orleans' Weekend of Smiling Faces
(The Root) — There was only one reason five guys journeyed to New Orleans on a Fourth of July weekend five years ago: women. Black women. All shades, shapes and sizes of ladies from all over the world were going to be in Nola for the annual Essence Music Festival. To my four friends and…
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Urban School Reform Isn't Truly About Kids
A piece by Leslie T. Fenwick in the Washington Post makes the case that blacks don’t control the critical economic levers shaping school reform. She also explains why that’s a problem. The truth can be used to tell a lie. The truth is that black parents’ frustration with the quality of public schools is at…
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White Writer, Black Characters: Bad Idea?
(The Root) — “I’m a well-known writer of women’s fiction. I want to incorporate black characters into my books. How does a white woman write black women correctly? For example, is it disrespectful to have a black woman have a bit of a thing for white men? What’s the best way to introduce a black…
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Reflections on 'Scandal' and Interracial Romance
Angela Onwuachi-Willig explains at the Huffington Post why the relationship at the center of the drama is personal for her, and a reminder of how far we have to go. My reaction to Scandal is, on one level, personal. As a black woman who has been married to my white husband for 17 years and,…
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Will and Jaden Smith's Interview About Everything
In an interview with Vulture pegged to their postapocalyptic drama After Earth, Will and Jaden Smith touch on everything from seeing patterns in life (Will says he’s a student of them, and Jayden seems to be, too) to who’s the biggest star in the family (Willow) to lessons learned about “the intricacies of global finance.”…
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Charges Filed in Infant Shooting Death
Police filed charges on Monday in connection with the March shooting death of 6-month-old Jonylah Watkins, who was killed while sitting on her father’s lap in a minivan on Chicago’s South Side. THe Huffington Post reports that 33-year-old Koman Willis was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. He reportedly turned himself…
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This Christian Couple Says a Sexless Marriage Is Holier
‘What is the point of marriage if you’re not having sex with your spouse? In a piece at BlackAmericaWeb, Michael H. Cottman ponders a couple’s commitment to abstinence after wedlock. I thought the reasoning for marriage, in part, was to spend quality time with your soul mate, which also includes monogamous sexual intimacy. But Jon and…
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Where's Black Outrage for Mark Carson?
(The Root) — When James Byrd, a black man, was dragged to his death in Texas in 1998 by a group of men later identified as having white-supremacist tendencies, African Americans were outraged. Most Americans were. That same year, another horrifying hate crime captured the attention of the nation, when gay student Matthew Shepard was…