Politics
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Comedian-in-Chief: Still Funny One Year Later
Much has changed for President Barack Obama in the 51 weeks since he visited the Washington Hilton for the 2009 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, just a couple months removed from his inauguration and the heady afterglow. At that dinner, he joked about “the 10-day anniversary of my first 100 days.” He said he believed…
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When Legislators Go Too Far
There once was a time when government in America generally erred on the side of caution. The unspoken rule mirrored the oath taken by physicians: “First, do no harm.” Echoing that sentiment, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama said in 2008 that sometimes it takes a scalpel to address a problem instead of using a hatchet. With…
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What's a Moderate Republican To Do?
Well, I hate to say I told you so. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist’s defection from the GOP yesterday was a long time coming, and he is one of the last of a dying breed of moderate Republican elected officials in the United States. My fear is that like former moderate Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa.,…
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NEWS STAND: Vaccine for Prostate Cancer, Tupac's Mom Busted, Latin Cops Sue Arizona and More
Dear Momma: Afeni Shakur Arrested on Drug Chargeshttp://www.ballerstatus.com/2010/04/27/tupacs-mom-afeni-shakur-arrested-on-drug-possession-charges/ Say it ain’t so. Afeni Shakur, mother of late rapper Tupac Shakur was arrested for drug possession in Lumberton, NC. Charges include felony possession of marijuana, simple possession of a controlled substance and maintaining a vehicle, dwelling or place for a controlled substance. Translation: she’s back on…
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Your Take: Reflections on Dr. Dorothy Height
The first time I met Dorothy Height, who was laid to rest this week, I was 29, a member of the Political Congress of Black Women, and struggling to find my place in the civil rights movement as a black lesbian. It seemed, back then, that I had an awful choice to make: I could…
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A Service Fit for a Queen
President Barack Obama strode to the podium Thursday morning at Washington National Cathedral, 41 minutes into Dr. Dorothy Height’s funeral. His presence alone indicated the 98-year-old’s significance in American history, which she impacted for the better part of the 20th century as a civil rights and human rights pioneer. Not that Wednesday’s services at Howard…
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President Praises Dorothy Height's Achievements at Funeral
President Obama joined a capacity crowd of the rich, the famous, and the beneficiaries of Dorothy Height’s struggle for equality in her final sendoff today. The President delivered a moving eulogy at Washington’s National Cathedral for Height, who died last week at the age of 98. From the president’s eulogy: “Look at her body of…
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Creating Black Political Dynasties
If Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Fla., wins the Senate race in Florida, where the two conservative candidates have dominated the headlines, it won’t just be a historic win for a black politician. He would offer a glimpse of success for a group struggling for victories: the children of prominent black political figures. At the same time…
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What Obama and Drake Have to Do With Being Black
I’m the son of a black father and a white mother. As a child coming up in the 1980s and ’90s, I immersed myself in hip-hop style and culture, excelled at sports, rocked aerodynamic hairstyles, and spoke in the same florid body language that the older brothers at the local black barbershop were fluent in.…
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Do You Have Your 'Hood Pass?
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama aroused some controversy by checking “African American” on his U.S. Census form. He’s black, some say. No, he’s half-white, declare others. If blackness is more of a social construct than a biological one, what are its social definitions? Its dating and marriage choices? An identification fostered on Hawaiian basketball…