on the dig

The news is official. Michael Jackson is no longer with us. I’m shocked, anxious and shocked.  I actually need the night to absorb the news and have something clear to say.  However, I will leave you with this: Off the Wall is my all-time favorite Jackson single.  Off the Wall completely opened my door to…

A recent poll conducted by CNN/Essence Magazine claims 55 percent of African Americans believe racial discrimination is still holding court in Obama’s America.  That’s up from the 38 percent during November’s election.  I don’t know about you and yourn, but brother here still feels the sting of daily discrimination, white liberal arrogance, conservative snobbery and…

Martin Lawrence may be the saving grace of black TV, or not.  Yeah, I said “or not”.  Lawrence is in development with three projects for TV.  The first is an animated comedy loosely based on Lawrence’s pubescent years in D.C.  The other is a comedy based on the life of comedian Gary Owen.  It will…

Brooklyn writer Michael Thomas recently won the Impac Dublin International Literary Award. He was nominated for his novel Man Gone Down by the National Library Service of Barbados.  He also beat out Pulitzer-winner Junot Diaz, among others.  If you don’t know, Man Gone Down is this amazing, edgy piece of fiction that examines the life…

I have to honest.  I envy the protestors in Iran.  I envy their relentlessness.  I envy their willingness to put their lives on the line for democracy even after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has recently warned against it.   I’m not advocating for violence or death, but I do feel black Americans can re-learn a thing or…

Obama kicks off his national conversation today about fatherhood at the White House. There’s also a CBS Obama interview scheduled for Sunday and an essay in Parade magazine. Obama is not letting up about fatherhood and I don’t blame him.  I love Father’s Day.  I love reaching out to my dad and expressing gratitude. My…

Tarzan is on exhibit at the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris through September.  The museum is well-respected for its exhibitions that explore African, Asian and Pacific art and culture. However, the museum’s curator, Stephanie Martin, says the exploration of Tarzan will focus on the sensuality created from a white man living among a continent…

A recent climate study suggests global warming is in full effect and getting worse.  From 100-degree summers to diseases gone amok,  the U.S. Global Change Research Program warns that Americans will soon stand face-to face with a planet in serious peril.  Look, I appreciate the updates and warnings.  I do, I do.  But truth be…

Later this month, the U.S. Senate will consider the Matthew Shepard Act, an amendment to federal hate-crime laws. The amendment would provide standard protection to blacks and Jews, but it would up the ante for gay and transgender America. James von Brunn’s recent racist rampage has put fire under our government, and the gay community wants…

A black woman from Kingston, Jamaica has been bleaching her skin for three years.  She claims she simply wanted to try on a new look.  You know, like a pair of shoes or some swanky tattoo.  Now the bleached woman is warning all bleach-seekers to (one) reinvest in the beauty of black skin; (two) study…