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Maxine Waters in Hot Seat Over Shady Bailout
The NEW YORK TIMES and the WALL STREET JOURNAL are reporting a seemingly improper role California Rep. Maxine Waters—one of my congressional heroes—played in getting bailout cash for Boston-based OneUnited Bank. OneUnited is one of the nation’s largest minority-owned banks. Waters reportedly brokered a September 2008 meeting at Treasury for the bank, in which its…
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Elevating Our Female Artists
There’s a lot happening in the NYC theater scene right now. For African-American women. And that’s revolutionary, radical and right on time. Last night I strolled over to the Joseph Papp Public Theater in NYC to see the play The Good Negro. And when I say stroll I mean “stroll” because I had $20 staff…
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Steele Trap
Michael Steele probably saw Blazing Saddles once upon a time and then envisioned himself as the hero, Sheriff Bart: saving the humble citizens of Rock-Ribbed Republican Ridge before riding off into the sunset on his trusty steed, tipping his 10-gallon hat. But perhaps Steele would have preferred to skip over the part where Sheriff Bart…
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Where is the Black Superman?
Samuel L. Jackson signed an unprecedented deal with Marvel Comics to star as Nick Fury, and it’s got me wanting for more black super-heroes on-screen. I’m a comic book head from way back, although my taste now leans towards the more literary alt comics like this home-town favorite, but I’m still waiting for Black Superman,…
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Old Men of a Certain Age
People who think age is a b**** are being far too generous. Age is an angry beast with a big chip on its shoulder, and it always has a score to settle with you. No one feels this more acutely than professional athletes confronting the vagaries of increasing frailty at an age that society beyond…
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The Streets of Iladelphia
Every generation needs its Tom Joad, the everyman protagonist in The Grapes of Wrath, struggling in the face of untenable odds. Given the dire straits we face today, there is a filmmaking temptation to recreate Joad for modern times. In Explicit Ills actor-turned-director Mark Webber takes an unsuccessful stab at it. The film, in which…
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Friday's Headlines
HuffPo: Jon Stewart Ethers Jim Cramer. The End. USA Today: The Rock Making Splash in Family Films, Up for O’Shea Jackson Award Deadspin: Barkey Wants to Punch Rush, Everyone Says “Back of the Line, Fella” AJC: BeBe Winans Accused of Assault, CeCe, DeDe, and EeEe Devastated NYT: Maxine Waters Tries to Help Bank and Self,…
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Bayard Rustin vs Malcolm X
Bayard Rustin and Malcolm X debated back in 1962, and it’s hard to imagine what it felt like to be there—-fortunately Robert Gore reported on it for the Village Voice. Malcolm has been lionized, but Bayard Rustin is a figure we don’t hear enough about. I think his history is obscured by homophobia and an…
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Thursday's Headlines
CNN: Roland Martin Vouches for DC School Vouchers; Democrats Not Super Into Them KATC: Black Lawmakers Support Overriding Jindal; Do Not Fear His Response Complex: 5 Black Comedians Who Deserve News Shows; Condolensces to D.L., David Alan AP: Black Mississippi Troopers in Hostile Environment, NAACP Says; Response? Dude, It’s Mississippi Minnesota Spokesman: ‘Hip Hop Repub’…
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Stimulating Women?
Flanked by a cadre of beaming, successful women, President Barack Obama signed an executive order creating the White House Council on Women and Girls yesterday. But the president may have to reconcile that with the fact that the centerpiece of his administration so far—the passage of the economic stimulus package—may in fact end up hurting…