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Environment, Genetics or Both?
Last year, when “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts found a lump in her breast during a self-exam, her first thought was: This can’t be; I’m too young! Yes, at 46, Roberts was younger than age 55, when two out of three invasive breast cancers are diagnosed. But she’s also black. Though African-Americans are less…
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Sister Study
We’ve all been touched by breast cancer, whether we’ve personally experienced the disease or have a relative, good girlfriend or co-worker who has faced this challenge. We react with a range of emotions and responses to the news that a loved one has breast cancer. Many women hear the news and are spurred to action.…
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Tammi and Me
My cousin Stephanie gave me a picture of Tammi and me at about ages 4 and 5. In this tiny, black-and-white photo, our hands are clasped as we stand on the sidewalk in front of our home, smiling. We are two sisters in matching denim overalls; we look very “country” because we were! In the…
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‘Thurgood’ Hits Broadway
Like actor Laurence Fishburne, I was in elementary school when the Thurgood Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court. Today, the Tony Award-winning actor is breathing new life into the late Justice’s words and his struggles in “Thurgood,” an inspirational one-man play in that has begun a limited 16-week run on Broadway. July will mark…
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Black Skin, Blue Passport: Cruising Out of Our Comfort Zones
I recently came across the Web page for Black Cruise Week. The site serves as a kind of clearinghouse for African-American-themed cruises, including everything from Black Gay and Lesbian trips to Tom Joyner’s annual Fantastic Voyage. Thirteen event cruises are scheduled for the rest of this year, with ports of call in Hawaii, the Caribbean…
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Some Marquee Names Showing Their Age in the NBA Playoffs
I first saw pro basketball at the end of the Bill Russell era. Every year it seemed that some team, usually the Knicks, Lakers or 76ers, were better over the course of the regular season; but the Celtics would pull it all together and have just enough mettle and savvy to eek by everyone else…
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Time to Fire Some Folks
There is an image from the 1988 presidential campaign that I can no longer get out of my mind. It is a Doonesbury cartoon. In this four-frame strip there is no dialogue and no action. Each frame simply shows the unmoving figure of Michael Dukakis covered in mud. It pains me greatly that this awful…
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The Trouble With Transcending Race
They both have unique names and amazing life stories. They have legions of adoring fans who find them inspiring. They have sold millions of books and can fill stadiums like rock stars. Few black Americans have occupied the rarified status of Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama, two “racially transcendent” blacks whom white admirers find appealing…
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Dayo — Obama Presser
Covers the White House and Washington for The Root. Follow her on Twitter.
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Exactly Wright for Obama
Here is a radical notion: this is exactly what Barack Obama needed. Clearly, he needed to stiff-arm Rev. Jeremiah Wright, but more than that he needed to show some outrage and maybe even a little bit of rage. He needed to show that he is capable of action when action is what is called for.…