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Letter From Lansing
Michigan is once again one of the crucial states that could determine the outcome of this election. There will be a lot of strategizing between now and November. We want answers to our battered economy and our record foreclosure rate. We want to know about health care and the survival of the middle class. At…
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"Young Elizabeth Hemings's World"
Adapted from THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO by Annette Gordon-Reed. Copyright © 2008 by Annette Gordon-Reed. With permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Elizabeth Hemings began life when America was still a colonial possession. She lived through the Revolution in the home of one of the men who helped make it and died…
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The Pain Beneath the Swagger
“I was never depressed. […] I just want to tell everybody I’m fine. I’m good. It’s a blessing to play the game that I love.” —Vince Young In case you didn’t know already, black boys don’t cry. Tears just don’t go with the brand. African-American males are encouraged to be fearless, cocky and impervious to external…
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Glad I Got My Girls
Fifteen years ago, we all adored the “Fab Four.” They came at a time that is barely recognizable today. Before Carrie and her crew, before Joan and ’em even stepped on the scene, nearly every black female in America had another set of friends to flock to—Khadijah, Synclaire, Max and Regine. Living Single was the…
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If Dad Were Around…
While growing up in Houston, Vince Young endured some trials and took some perilous detours on his way to stardom and riches. His mother had her bouts with drug addiction. His Pops was absent, mostly in jail. The streets were calling. His talent saved him from the statistics. He surfaced as a college football star and…
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Mbeki Moved On
And now it’s breath-holding time for South Africa, as the nation comes to grips with the sudden, shock-and-awe removal of its president Thabo Mbeki by his own party. Mbeki’s credo for the continent was ‘African solutions for African problems.’ Even as he applied the doctrine next door in Zimbabwe, a South African solution to the Mbeki…
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Why Obama Can't Get Mad
I’m sick of folks yapping about how Barack Obama needs to do a war dance on John McCain’s head. Sure, McCain and his GOP allies are telling lies and appear to bear no cost for repeatedly doing so. And, yes, the Democrats’ response has been, to say the least, lame and tepid. I understand; it’s maddening to…
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Sally Hemings and Me
I first became interested in President Thomas Jefferson and his famous mountaintop home, Monticello, in third grade, when I read a series of biographies about prominent Americans. The series was just about what one would expect for texts pitched to elementary-school children: cheery and uncomplicated versions of great American lives designed to plant positive feelings…
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Sally Hemings in Paris
Adapted from THE HEMINGSES OF MONTICELLO by Annette Gordon-Reed. Copyright © 2008 by Annette Gordon-Reed. With permission of the publisher, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. The home that Sally Hemings moved to was just inside the city limits of Paris. The Hôtel de Langeac was right next to the Grille de Chaillot, one of the…