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What Does Justice Look Like in Darfur?
Last week, the International Criminal Court, a prosecutorial arm of the United Nations, issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir. The first ever such warrant for a sitting head of state (Bashir bests génocidaires Slobodan Milosevic and former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who were nabbed after leaving power) accuses the president of committing…
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TRASHED
When I was little, all the ladies on the street would be seen at some point in the day with brooms in their hands. They routinely swept their walks and steps and pretty much dared anyone to walk down the street and drop trash in their gutters. Trashing your own neighborhood—or someone else’s—just wasn’t done.…
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What Should Happen to Chris?
“I think he should not go to prison, where there are already too many black men and where he may come out worse than when he went in. Rather I think he should be rehabilitated by sentencing him to at least a year of house arrest, except for 10 hours a day of community service,…
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How to Draw Noir Politics
There are no superheroes in the real world. Looking at the American Dream realized in Barack Obama, many Americans see a red cape on his back, flapping in the wind. They imagine him descending from the sky to lift them up, from despair, from poverty, from unemployment, from apathy. Just like the “S” on Superman’s…
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Hard Times on the Hardwood
During the last 30 years, the sports business has remained remarkably resistant to economic trends. The national economy goes up, and sports thrive; the economy dives into a recession, and sports still thrive. The reason is simple. Sporting events are a reliable deliverer of eyeballs to TV screens. Networks love this: Their costs are limited…
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What Color Is a Superhero?
Today, with the much-hyped release of Watchmen, is a Holy Day in superhero comic book Geek Nation. The movie, an adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel, has gotten mixed reviews, but that will not diminish the high level of interest among the comic book devotees flocking to theaters all weekend to see it. But maybe…
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Cherry Pickin': A Headline Round-Up
Stanley Crouch Ethers Michael Steele, Et al; Steele Apology Probably Forthcoming Obama Gives British PM Brown DVDs, England Salty Michael Steele: Hip-Hop Rethuglican Don’t Understand Obama’s Budget? Get Stimulated Black Unemployment Rose in February, No Longer Considered Month All God’s Children Work Black Leaders Set Records in State Legislatures, Roland Burris Given Asterisk First Lady…