Uncategorized
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Your Wallet Shouldn't Be The Only Thing Getting Slim
That’s right, I said it! The “R” word. And no matter how politicians try to spin it, the fact is, we’re in one. Nationwide people are scrambling to stay employed, afloat and are tossing non-essentials off their fiscal boat. And it’s not just a financial toll; there’s the psychological impact of an economic downturn. Nothing…
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The Science of Racism
James Watson has long assumed a certain special status among American scientists. The molecular biologist was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962, along with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, for, as the Swedish Academy put it in its announcement for the prize, “their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids…
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Color, Controversy and DNA
Below are excerpts from the Q&A with Nobel laureate and DNA pioneer James Watson. READ Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s thoughts about this interview in an essay about the science of racism . WATCH portions of this conversation in video. James Watson: I’ve thought about these things a lot over the last couple of months, because…
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Did Obama Betray Wright First?
Barack Obama is deeply indebted to Rev. Jeremiah Wright for two crucial elements of presidential campaign: The first is Obama’s Christian faith and the second is his work with black Americans on the South Side of Chicago. On March, Obama claimed that the video clips of Rev. Wright playing nonstop on television news “expressed a…
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Classical Music’s Latest Bloomer
The 42-year-old, modern classical composer Joseph C. Phillips Jr. is a self-described “late-bloomer.” Now one of the brightest new lights on the modern classical scene, he studied music at the University of Maryland and began his career as an award-winning high school director near Seattle. He honed his gifts as a composer while he was…
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Music's British Invasion, Remembering the '80s and Once Again, The Roots Go Deep
Estelle, Shine I guess no one saw this coming since Paul Revere didn’t saddle up in a Dodge Charger flying down I-495 yelling that the British are coming. But they’re here, and it is a shame that American soul music sounds much better through European lungs. With Amy Winehouse “Elvis-ing” her way into the American…
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Yankee Haters in Heaven
Yankee haters have had plenty of opportunities to engage in Schadenfreude in the last few years. The Bronx Bombers, a team that regards postseason success as a birthright, has become the biggest October underachiever. Since taking a three-games-to-none lead on the Boston Red Sox in 2004, the Yanks are 4-12 in the playoffs, and they…
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Good Times: 'Ain't We Lucky We Got 'Em'
The close of the writer’s strike-shortened television season – the endless season finales and salacious sweeps week programming – has made me think about how far television has evolved. But as I thought, specifically about how African Americans are represented on television, I realized that I could still count the notable and inspiring black characters…
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One of the Girls: BBF in the City
When the prophesies finally turned out to be true—that they are making a movie, that all four girls are in and that there is going to be a wedding—scores of the devout laid in wait, salivating for more manna to rain down from the Sex and the City: The Movie mountaintop. But one particular crumb…
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If 5-0 Shoots…
I made “If 5-0 Shoots…” because I wanted to show my support for and solidarity with Sean Bell, his friends, family and the millions of people around the world who believe in social justice. The murder of Sean Bell and the acquittal of the three police officers indicted for it were unjust. I was upset…