Politics

It’s one of the depressing ironies of black life that in the Obama era, black mothers and fathers must continue giving their teenage sons “the talk.” I’m not talking about the birds and the bees. I’m talking about the “how to act when the police stop you” talk. Rule 1. Don’t talk back to the…

In November 2008, less than one week after winning the votes of city dwellers by a margin of 28 points, President-elect Barack Obama announced he would reward them by creating the first-ever “White House Office of Urban Policy.” Like other new aspects of Obama’s executive branch, appointing a city czar was intended to fast-track communications…

If I ever have to die for my beliefs, I sincerely hope that my reward in secular humanist heaven is a bottomless platter of crisp, thick-cut Irish bacon—delicious. But for an al Qaeda suspect locked up at Guantánamo, finding out that interrogators snuck a tiny grain of pepperoni into his already-eaten cheese pizza might be cause…

Let me be clear: We all oppose torture. However, to blindly oppose and broadcast lawful interrogation techniques which were used to successfully protect the American people and to extract valuable information to prevent further harm to us is dangerous at best. I’d like to respectfully remind everyone to think back to what life was like…

In scenes reminiscent of the historic, first all-race elections of 1994, South Africans of all ages and races pitched up at polling stations Wednesday, some as early as 3 a.m., for what many are calling a watershed moment in the 15-year history of the young democracy. The turnout is the highest since 1994, with 80…

Years before it was announced that Van Jones, the premier green-jobs advocate in the country, was headed to the White House, it was clear that Van Jones was headed to the White House. Thomas Friedman devoted an entire 2007 column to Jones, writing of his lofty goals, “I would not underestimate him.” Jones muscled his…

In greenwashing, as in life, there are seven sins. There’s the sin of the hidden trade-off, for example, the sin of vagueness, and the sin of no proof. So says sinsofgreenwashing.org, which takes on companies that offer seemingly green benefits—often at a hefty price tag—with little results. As the green trend continues, companies in almost…

It’s Earth Day, and for a lot of black folks, sadly, that doesn’t mean much. But at The Root, we’re trying to do our best by the environment. Don’t worry. It’s easy being green. To get started, here are seven tips to help you put your best green foot forward. 1. Recycle 2. Become a Straphanger 3. Go From Four Wheels to…

For too long, most pundits have talked about the environment as, to borrow a phrase, a “white man’s burden.” Conventional wisdom has portrayed environmental justice as a pet project of beach cleaners, trail hikers, spotted-owl savers and—worst of all—elitists. But here’s the reality: In the fight to save the environment, city dwellers, especially African Americans,…

The green movement has always had an Achilles’ heel. Environmental issues are typically not like, say, racial profiling or gender-based pay inequity, where the injustice is demonstrable and plain. You’ve got to walk a would-be environmentalist through a few, often complex steps to connect seemingly benign action A with huge catastrophe B. And it often…