Uncategorized
-
To Denounce and Reject
It was the fall of 1985 when Min. Louis Farrakhan burst onto the New York City political scene. I was a journalism student at Columbia University at the time and, truth be told, I was woefully naive and politically uninformed. I had only a vague idea of who Farrakhan was until he gave a controversial…
-
He’s Black and We’re Proud
It is supremely ironic that Barack Obama, the candidate who seeks to bury race as an issue in this campaign season, owes his overwhelming support among blacks to the continued power of black nationalism. For a century and a half, black nationalism has provided the main ideological challenge to the liberal, social democratic sensibilities that…
-
Not The Race Race
It is not a candidate’s race that ultimately determines the outcome of an election in this country, but the power and appeal of his or her message—especially if that message addresses the needs and concerns of all ethnic groups, not just people of color or whites. Since his early days as an Illinois state senator,…
-
The Clinton-Obama Mash-up
In music, they call laying the lyrics from one song over music from a different genre a “mash-up.” My favorite example is “Collision Course,” the effort from rock group Linkin Park and Jay-Z that resulted in the song “Numb/Encore,” used in the 2006 movie re-make of Miami Vice. Like these “mash-ups” that take two songs…
-
Kosovo — What's at Stake?
The early returns are discouraging for a harmonious transition to independence for Kosovo. The week following Kosovo’s dramatic declaration of independence saw sporadic violence in both Serbia and Kosovo, and the international community dividing itself into supporters and opponents of the declaration. While it’s unclear how the situation will unfold in the weeks and months…
-
Using Our Roots Against Us
Monday’s release of a photo showing Barack Obama dressed as a Somali elder during his 2006 visit to northeastern Kenya was not just cynical, cowardly and out-of-bounds, it was also deeply ironic. After all, it is Black History Month. During February, PBS featured the special African American Lives II. The show, hosted by The Root…
-
Queer, Dead and Nobody Cares
Little Lawrence King was queer. Not just in some identity politics way, but literally. Despite the innocence of his round, brown cheeks and puppy dog eyes, the kid was a threatening oddity at his Ventura County junior high school. Either because he was brave or naïve, or because he just couldn’t help himself, Lawrence reveled…
-
Invisible and Not Really Black?
How’s this for an example of erasure? I was chatting on the phone with an editor at a media outlet which regularly features my writings. Having worked together for years, he and I have managed to move past professional diplomacies and platitudes to fashion something of a friendship. Because of the nature of our relationship,…
-
Blacks and Latinos Should Rally Around Obama
In the midst of Obama’s unimaginable ten-state sweep, with everyone talking about unity — black and white, blue and white collar, old and young — black-brown unity regrettably lags behind. Tensions between blacks and Latinos, painfully hyped by the media in the run-up to the California primary, could be fatal to the country’s best present…
-
Stand Strong, Tavis
One of the really unfortunate aspects of the current battle for the Democratic presidential nomination is the apologetic position many blacks are taking regarding Barack Obama’s candidacy. It goes something like this: “We shouldn’t press him too much to talk about black issues because that might mess it up for the brother.” This color-before-accountability group-think…