Uncategorized
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Beef 2.0
*Sayin’ yo momma black, his momma this, his momma that/Then he get mad and wanna scrap/We stay mad about 10 minutes then it’s like back on the bike… — “Back in the Day” by Ahmad —In middle school, battles for respect weren’t decided on dodge ball courts or black asphalt. Back then folks lived or…
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Supreme Clarity on Handguns
During the 90s, Washington, D.C. was Murder Capital of America. And I had about a half dozen friends murdered. The killings were not odd actually, for the times; however, these young men were middle-class black boys, who did not grow up in housing projects or rough, violent neighborhoods. Guns became so real back then, carrying…
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Why Barack Owes Clarence Thomas
Lately, I’ve had the most spirited debates with my students and friends, and I always come away feeling like the loser. I, for argument’s sake, draw a straight line between Barack Obama’s White House aspirations and the embarrassing spectacle of Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court confirmation. As soon as I dare utter “Thomas” in the same…
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Waiting for Sunset
The polls are set to open on Friday in Zimbabwe, despite calls from the world community to postpone the elections because of political, social and economic unrest in the country. Nelson Mandela is among the most recent leaders to condemn Mugabe and the violence there. Charlayne Hunter-Gault, a writer for The Root, is like many…
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Food for Thought
Last winter turned out to be a milestone of sorts. I had spent the past four years researching, reflecting and writing about the food of black people and of the Middle East. The watershed occurred in the backdrop of a winter in Chicago cooking and eating foods of Africa and the black Diaspora almost daily,…
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Shaq in the Court of King James
The Cleveland Cavaliers and San Antonio Spurs, the NBA finalists in 2007, both exited the post-season earlier than expected this year. This week, they made big trades that alter the balance of power in the conferences. The Cavaliers acquired future Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal from the Phoenix Suns for guard Sasha Pavlovic and…
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Barack, Here's How to Get the White People
Is America ready to elect a black president? We’ll find out in November. Barack Obama’s candidacy poses an unprecedented sociological experiment. Everything about us, including how far we’ve come toward the creation of the more perfect union in which people are judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin,…
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Is Obama Ready (for the GOP Smear Machine)?
If you want clues to how this year’s presidential election will be fought, look no further than this past week’s Meet the Press on NBC, where the GOP telegraphed its aggressive messaging offensive and Democrats, as usual, sought to play at the smug intersection of fairness and above-the-fray. The entire show, like most political reporting…
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The Race Police Need to Lay Off Imus
Although I didn’t think it was possible, the latest Don Imus controversy is almost as ridiculous as the first one. Imus recently made an off-hand remark on his radio show about Adam “Pacman” Jones’ string of arrests, noting that “Pacman” was black. “There you go,” he said. “Now we know.” Some people chose to infer…
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Pro’s Choice
It looks like Barack needs our help. The Obama VP search team lost senior Democratic strategist Jim Johnson after revelations that he received favorable lending terms from Countrywide. Since neither of us are getting any special rates on credit and lending, we can weigh in on the running-mate choice with clear consciences. Here’s our analysis…