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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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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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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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Mixed-Up on Gay Marriage
“As to mixed marriages, the most delicate question of all, it is to be noted that 29 states – all those of the South and many in the Southwest – forbid it. In the North, such marriages are frowned upon, and represent an almost insignificant percent.” —The American Negroes, special bulletin published by the U.S.…
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To Protect and Serve?
Even before the car stopped, the police officers began swarming out of their own cars. They snatched the three young black men out of their vehicle, threw them onto the ground in the streets of North Philadelphia, and for more than 30 seconds kicked and punched and swung billy clubs, brutalizing, torturing and dehumanizing the…
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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…
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Diplomacy Isn't Appeasement
It’s always sad to see those who have blundered egregiously defending their mistakes to the bitter end – hoping that forceful repetition of erroneous arguments will somehow make up for what they lack in wisdom. We have seen this tactic throughout the failed presidency of George W. Bush, especially regarding his disastrous choice to invade…
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The Man Behind the Music
Music reflects a people’s political, social and cultural life, so it is no surprise that “We Shall Overcome” conveys the optimism and determination of the Civil Rights era, and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Goin On?” conveys the disillusionment of the post-Civil Rights era. Similarly, it is no surprise that since Barack Obama has opened a new…
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Café au Lait, Sans Politics S’il Vous Plait
I’d had enough of the political horse race which seemed to consume every intelligent – and not so intelligent – conversation for months. So I left the country, hoping a week in France would rescue me from the unending palaver about the Democratic presidential campaign. It didn’t work. Seems the folks over there are just…
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The Appeasement Game
Barack Obama is, for the moment, winning the silly appeasement debate raging in American politics, but the fact that the fight is occurring at all highlights a set of vulnerabilities that Obama must address quickly if he is to win in November. Because he is still distracted by a prolonged primary battle with Hillary Clinton,…