Uncategorized
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Jimi Does Philly
Philadelphia’s a fine city. I only know its hotels, and frankly that’s the kind of intimacy I prefer: plastic and superficial. I don’t need to know your Liberty Bells or your World’s Largest Cheesesteak. Lately, cities are one-night stands: hard and fast. In and out. Hours later, I’m looking down at your landmarks from 15,000…
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Renounce Me, Obama!
Any day now I expect George Stephanopoulos, Sean Hannity, Hillary Clinton and John McCain to pressure Barrack Obama to renounce my endorsement. Mind you, Obama woudn’t know me from the man in the moon since I ‘ve never actually met him. But that’s splitting hairs. I’ve watched him on TV: I want him to win,…
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Obama's Genie
The last Democratic Presidential debate was both uplifting and depressing. The uplifting part of it came in the moments of real substance from Sens. Clinton and Obama. For my part, Obama was the steadier, clearer, and the more inspiring voice over the full arc of the evening. The depressing parts were many of the questions…
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If Clinton Were a Man …
According to a report I read here on TheRoot, Bob Johnson, “the billionaire founder of Black Entertainment Television says Barack Obama would not be a leading presidential candidate if he were white.” Since Johnson is a Hillary Clinton supporter, I started to wonder if his candidate would be a leading presidential contender if she were…
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Sweet, Sour & Spicy Blackberry Limeade
Sweet, Sour & Spicy Blackberry Limeade Yield: 2 Servings Soundtrack: “Very Special” by Duke Ellington With Charles Mingus & Max Roach from Money Jungle.” After a few friends living on the east coast told me that they were nursing their second and third colds of this year, I conjured up this recipe. I don’t know…
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Forgive Me Father, For I Have Sinned
Those who know my politics, such as they are for a journalist who’s spent a working life concealing such things, might be surprised at my inner closeness to the old beliefs and rituals of the Roman Catholic Church. Let’s establish, first of all, that I am no longer a practicing Catholic. I was at a…
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Zimbabwe: If This is Not A Crisis, What Is?
The question I posed in this space before the Zimbabwe election on March 19th was whether the election would bring Democracy or Disaster? What comes to mind now, with no results announced after almost three weeks, is that old saying: ‘It’s always darkest just before it gets pitch black.’ Despite the pronouncements of friendly observers…
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The God Gap
I was raised Baptist and spent more time in church than I thought any normal adolescent should. As soon as I left Atlanta and landed in Washington, D.C., I was determined to take full advantage of my new-found freedom. One of the first choices I made as a freshman at Howard University was choosing not…
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When Jesse Had Game
As news programs around the country marked the 40th anniversary of the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. recently, I watched the special reports and documentaries with a mixture of shame and pride, joy and sadness, inspiration and discouragement. I listened to the interviews of civil rights leaders who knew King and the…
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Africa's Looming Catastrophe — Not Darfur, but Close
The biggest civil war in Africa’s history is looming, and the world naps. (The New York Times’ Nicholas Kristof is awake, but groggy). The sad fact is that we, in the West, are only roused to Africa’s ills after the fact. I think we like it that way. Mourning failed states is a lot easier…