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The Conversation in St. Paul
It was striking, the tears that welled up in the eyes of Texas delegate Anne Price Mills as she spoke of her devotion to her candidate at the Democratic National Convention. She was talking to CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux on the convention hall floor. The way she gushed about inspiration, experience and presidential credibility seemed emblematic…
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What is fueling political instability in Pakistan?
The deeply divided political system in Pakistan makes for strange bedfellows. Former President Pervez Musharraf’s resignation on August 18 shed light on one marriage of convenience, a short-lived ruling coalition led by two of Pakistan’s largest political parties—the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The December 27, 2007 assassination of PPP…
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Serena at Center Stage
Great athletic careers typically come in three acts. In act one, a player bursts onto the scene, possessing skills that immediately put them in the elite of their game and exuding charisma that make them media friendly and accessible. In other words, they are the sports version of a star is born. In act two,…
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The Big 5-0
Prince, Michael Jackson and Madonna. One last name, three big birthdays. The big 5-0. Mike crossed the threshold on August 29. Madonna hit it on August 16, and Prince is the elder of the bunch, having turned 50 on June 7. Fifty? How did that happen? To some, 50 is a marvelous milestone; to some…
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The Other Pride Parade
You’ve never been ostracized and excluded from mainstream society. Your basic human rights were never stripped of you, and you’ve likely enjoyed a life free of death threats. Still, you believe you’ve been ignored for far too long, and now your time has come. Here is your moment to look back at the people who…
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Katrina, the Ultimate Party Crasher
If you hear the dogs, keep running. That’s what Hillary Clinton told us Tuesday evening, invoking Harriet Tubman shepherding runaway slaves through the dark night toward freedom. It was an inspiring refrain, especially given the fact that, to many, it is still controversial to suggest that the U.S. government should apologize for the barbarity from…
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Triumph, Bold and Clear
For several weeks, there has been a tiresome, two-part drum beat, the sort of somber thumping one associates with a funeral procession or wake. One droning beat came from the press. Can the Democrats unite? Will Hillary and Bill support Barack? Is there any hope that working-class whites or feminists will find a way to…
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Obama's iPod Anthem
“I decided, you are the him for me.” —Solange Back in the day, KRS-One penned “Jack of Spades” for Keenan Ivory Wayans’ ‘hood Robin Hood in the blaxploitation send-up I’m Gonna Git You Sucka because, “every hero should have his own theme music.” We probably won’t see a reconstituted BDP performing “My Philosophy” behind Sen.…
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Boston to Denver, Nonstop
It is hard to separate out all the different levels of astonishment and euphoria attached to Barack Obama’s acceptance speech tonight. For many people, Obama’s triumph thus far so fundamentally shatters the worldview of what is possible in America that there are no words up to the task of describing what they feel. For black…
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Our Stage, Our Speech, Our Time
Yes, I did think this moment would happen. I believed that an aging, maturing democracy was capable of separating itself from race to evaluate the merits of an exemplary candidate. I believed that while the Clintons are formidable, my party would not resist the chance to capture lightning in a bottle. I believed from the…