Politics

Black History Month has barely begun, but some columnists are calling for an end. It’s time, they say, to abolish the month-long observance because of—you guessed it—the election of Barack Obama. His presidency proves that African Americans are fully intertwined into the American experience. So why relegate our history to a month of “rote and…

Just in case you missed it, the president of the United States wants you to know that the country is in an unprecedented crisis, “the most profound economic emergency since the Great Depression,” and that he is on the job for you. To that end, a stern-faced and grave-toned President Obama went before the American…

The hopeful conveners of the “Good Jobs, Green Jobs” conference held in Washington this week are convinced that they have a solution to the twin problems of a shrinking U.S. job market and the existential threat of climate change. Their answer? Green-collar employment for millions of Americans. We’ve heard of white- and blue-collar work—but green…

Barack Obama stood, jacket off and sleeves rolled, straining to be heard over the roaring crowd that had welcomed him home to Kenya. It was Aug. 26, 2006, and the world was already watching. The young senator was just a few months away from launching his improbable bid to become the 44th president of the…

So now you know—the State of AIDS in Black America is dire and getting worse. Moreover, over the past eight years Washington has done little to nothing about that fact. So what are you going to do about it? We’ve got some ideas.  First and foremost, you’ve got to make sure you’re taking personal responsibility…

It’s an odd sort of memorial we arrive at today: Looking back on a 10-year-old police execution of an unarmed black man. It feels terribly incongruent with the political high we’re now on, more like a bad memory than a resonant reminder of the challenges we face as a nation. But here we are. It…

Two black boys died in the span of a week in 2007 because their mothers didn’t have health insurance.  Deamonte Driver, 12, died of a toothache because his mother couldn’t afford to pay $80 to have a tooth extracted; the tooth abscessed and bacteria spread to his brain. After two surgeries and six weeks in…

Today, 12 p.m.: Join the washingtonpost.com Live Online discussion on MICHAEL STEELE AND THE GOP’s FUTURE  with The Root’s deputy editor Terence Samuel. ***** I’ve been a Republican for a long time, more than two decades, and I have always been concerned about the poor relationship between the GOP and black voters. But I must…

I can hear it now. Better still, I have heard it already. “Michael Steele is nothing but a token pick by the Republican Party.” “Republicans only did this to have a black leader to match Obama.” Well, true and false. Michael Steele is the new chairman of the Republican Party in some part (if not…

There’s already a dangerously thin line between parody and minstrelsy; just ask Dave Chappelle. But Young Jean Lee isn’t afraid to walk it. The brilliant, young director and playwright has taken great pleasure in obscuring the line further—and she’s winning critical acclaim for doing so.   Lee just closed a wildly successful New York City run…