on the dig
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Gold Teeth and Other Stereotypes
A 152-foot mural goes up at AutoZone Park in downtown Memphis and city residents go crazy. Why? It’s a 152-foot mural of an 80 year-old black woman sporting a gold tooth. The mural also depicts several other people of varying ages and races, but the gold tooth stands out like a sore… stereotype. [Yes, I’m…
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The Swine Flu Scare
Experts say the Swine Flu is among us. Travelers home from recent trips to Mexico are concerned. Schools from Ohio to NY to Texas are closing down. How safe are we? The World Health Organization advises that this new strain of Swine Flu could become a pandemic. China has banned the import of live pig…
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Climate Change and its Impact
It’s Friday. It’s actually unseasonably warm and sunny in the BK [that’s Brooklyn for you non-urban snobs]. I wanted to blog about the 1500 Indian farmers who committed mass suicide after their failed crops [due to climate change] sent them into debt. I also wanted to blog about the Eskimo village that was flooded [due…
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White Directors, Black Success
Yesterday the New York Times published an article by Patrick Healy about white directors trumping black ones. This is not a new conversation, but with the recent successes of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone as well as Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-winning Ruined—both directed by white directors—it appears the issue has resurfaced with fire. Bartlett…
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Earth Day Dos and Don'ts
It’s Earth Day and I’m keeping things real simple. I plan to spend the day near Prospect Park. In fact, I plan to go the Botanical Gardens and stand in wonder at the cherry blossoms [I may be too late for that, but it’s the green thought that counts. Right?]. Better yet, I advise all…
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Why Blacks Don't Believe in the Extraterrestrial
It’s the day before Earth Day and former Apollo 17 astronaut Edgar Mitchell has caused a stir about extraterrestrial life. Yes, folks, he’s convinced there’s life beyond our singular existence on Earth. He also confesses our government is keeping the alien files on lock down. Now before you lock me away as the crazy black…
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Lynn Nottage's "Ruined" Wins Pulitzer Prize
Ruined, the Off-Broadway play that examines the lives of Congolese women, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. I’m especially stoked: I know Lynn as well as most of the cast of the current Off-Broadway production. So I’m throwing up a toast for them and Ms. Nottage’s beautifully written and provocative play. If you’re in…
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Young, Gifted and the Niece of Angela Davis
So there’s this really interesting play happening in NYC right now. Stay with me, folks. I know most of you are not in NYC, but this is worth unearthing some lively discussion. The play’s called Angela’s MixTape. It’s produced by New Georges and the Hip Hop Theater Festival. Angela’s MixTape is an autobiographical musical/poetic/comical/dramatic odyssey…
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Africans Still Trumping American Blacks
In 2004 Dr. Henry Louis Gates insisted that African and Caribbean immigrants as well as bi-racial students were trumping American Blacks in numbers at top-ranked universities. In 2008 I blogged extensively about my experience within the Afropolitan culture, the social/intellectual circle where Africans [from abroad and second-generation] mingle and organic global consciousness is commonplace. My…
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African DNA – What's it Really Mean?
A few days ago Forest Whitaker was in Nigeria for the African Movie Academy Awards and was honored with a chieftaincy title. The people of Nkwere crowned Whitaker after a recent DNA test confirmed that Whitaker was not only linked to the Igbo, but that he’s specifically connected with the Nkwere people. I’ll be the…