Uncategorized
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Rev. Wright and the Easter Bunny
Last June, on assignment covering religion for the Washington Post, I found myself at the National Press Club, where a group of religious leaders were meeting to craft a social justice agenda for the 2008 elections. Among those at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Legislative Conference was a minister named Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a man with…
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Addressing and Undressing the Race Problem
As a journalist, I do not publicly endorse candidates. So, as the black South Africans who had never been allowed to vote in their lives said when the finally could in 1994: My vote is my secret. But as I listened to all the commentary before, and after Sen. Barack Obama’s speech on race, among…
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My Teletype Transformation
Over the last week, I have been seething about how the media has used de-contextualized clips from Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons to hijack the public perception of Sen. Barack Obama’s historic run for the presidency. I was therefore eagerly, if anxiously, awaiting Obama’s formal response to this situation. Since I was en route to the…
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Confessions of a Black Feminist
In 1975, my parents’ marriage ended. My mother and I moved to Atlanta where Maynard Jackson opened Atlanta as the gateway to the New South. For the first six months, we lived near the intersection of Bankhead Highway and I-285, in what is now called the Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway Corridor – a place made…
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Race in America: Caught Between Healing and Bitterness
Today most Americans tell themselves that we as a nation are finally beyond race. Or at least nearly so. Wake up! All the hope and self-delusion aside, racism runs much deeper than most Americans realize. Indeed, a sign of the depth of this fissure has emerged in the current Democratic presidential campaign. The last few…
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Rebirth Brunch
Maple-Coated Pecans Yield: 1 pound (4 cups) 1 pound (4 cups) pecan halves 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/2 cup organic raw cane sugar · Preheat the oven to 375°F. · Spread the pecans on a large baking sheet and toast for 4 minutes, stirring halfway through the cooking. · Remove the…
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Was it Too Little, Too Late?
It was an amazing speech, a brilliant speech. It was brilliant both in substance and in delivery. He told a convincing, moving story about his own racial history. He was able to paint a truly hopeful, but pragmatic, picture of why people should come together across races. He attempted to explain why he would not…
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I'm Black and for Hillary.Get Over it.
I am a Hillary Clinton supporter. There, I said it. And I’m tired of the dirty looks I get when I out myself. Why is it so surprising that someone like me – a black, educated, progressive chick – would put my support behind Hillary Clinton? Oh, I know. I’m black, so, of course, I…
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From the Eco-Soul Kitchen: Rebirth Brunch
Agave-Sweetened Double-Orange Pekoe Tea Yield: about one gallon When it comes to non-alcoholic, beverage staples from The South, “Sweet Tea” will consistently be in the top two along with lemonade. And it ain’t called “sweet” for nothing. Although “Sweet Tea” usually comes pre-sweetened with white sugar, most people add just a lil’ bit more of…
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Is Obama Wrong About Wright?
Senator Obama is mistaken. The problem with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the Chicago minister who is the Obama family’s pastor and the subject of recent fierce attacks in the media, is not, as Obama has stated, that “he has a lot of the…baggage of those times,” (those times being the 1960s). The problem is also not,…