Uncategorized
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Unpacking It In
I wish Brett Favre would go away. I don’t mean that in a bad way. He’s my mother’s favorite player. And as a Chicago Bears fan, I can say that beating the Packers won’t be as much fun without No. 4 to chase out of the pocket. I mean I wish Favre would go away…
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The Obama Man Crush
Most men have gotten used to observing their wives or significant others grin at the TV whenever Sen. Barack Obama graces the screen. The Democratic nominee does not even have to be delivering one of his historic speeches—which seems to be every other day—to elicit such an adoring response. What men might not be accustomed…
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Celebrating a Centennial
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated celebrated a century of service this week. The Root takes a look back in pictures. ********** Lay Off Soror Barbie! Don’t let outdated stereotypes about AKAs stop us from celebrating the new black Barbie. ********** A ComplAKAted Kind of Sisterhood I love my pink and green, but we need to…
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McCain in Obamaland
CINCINNATI—If any candidate for president ever demonstrated that he had guts, it was John McCain when he dared to appear before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It’s unlikely that the Arizona senator has faced a crowd so skeptical since he confronted his torturers in the Hanoi Hilton POW camp during the…
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Mandela at 90
I sat there, day after day, week after week, listening to the ways and means of South African terror. How white security forces hacked, shot, burned, poisoned and blew up anti-apartheid activists. How they killed children and bombed churches and received congratulations from their superiors. How they battered Steve Biko to death and dismembered and…
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Sudan, Off With the Head!
Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir has just been indicted for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. It’s a nice gesture. Better 19 years late than never. Whether the warrant issued by the ICC will result in Bashir’s arrest and trial, however, is a dubious prospect. It will take more than…
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America's Immigration Lesson to Europe
The United States and Europe face a host of common economic and security challenges that are well-known and well-debated: The risk of future terrorist attacks, the effects of global warming, exorbitant gas and food prices and the global credit crunch are recognized as transnational threats for which transatlantic cooperation will be critical. A recent article…
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Sketchy Imagery
Depending on whom you ask, the July 21 cover of The New Yorker has become cause for outrage, confusion and partisan glee. Given the flare-ups surrounding race and representation that have rocked the 2008 presidential race, it’s easy to treat the satirical cover—of a be-turbaned Barack and a be-afroed Michelle Obama—and other “racialist” images of…
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Misfire
Honestly, I can’t get worked up about it. Maybe because it’s summertime. Maybe because economic analysts are predicting more than 100 U.S. banks could fail this year, and the bank-run scene from It’s a Wonderful Life keeps flashing through my mind. (Maybe I should mosey on down to the local branch.) Or maybe because it’s…
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Satire 101
Are you laughing yet? If not, you’re probably joining the growing chorus of jeers that has assailed the July 21 The New Yorker magazine cover illustration by artist Barry Blitt, dubbed “The Politics of Fear.” In it, a turban-wearing Barack Obama gives his Afro-wearing, machine-gun gripping wife Michelle a pound as they stand in the…