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Black Woman Arrested at Town Hall Meeting
Activist Maxine Johnson was minding her business when some wingnut comes over to get in her mix and she gets understandably upset. Johnson then got hemmed up by the boys in blue and they threw the book at her while. Her antagonist, James Winfrey (who kinda looks asif he could be the town wino) was…
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More Than Rum and Relaxation
Plantation, sugar cane fields, chattel house. These words evoke powerful images of slavery and antebellum America, and even now they are laced with unpleasant racial sensitivities. However, in a recent trip to Barbados, these loaded words were part of my daily itinerary. On the small island are plantation houses surrounded by acre upon acre of…
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Side-Stepping The Swipe Card
Credit card companies like Capital One Financial are traditionally happy to hand out credit cards to customers who like to engage in retail therapy but consistently neglect to pay on time. Why not be ecstatic when those “over limit” and late fees produce hundreds of millions of dollars in profits in a given quarter for…
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Obama Hugs it Out with Sidney Poitier
President Barack Obama bestowed the National Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, to a host of prominent Americans today, including actor Sidney Poitier, the Rev. Joseph Lowery, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Obama gave a particularly moving tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy, the last to be cited, and said at the start of the…
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Green the Block: Coming to a 'Hood Near You
On August 4, 2009 Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus and Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Green For All sat in a room surrounded by a diverse group of notable national leaders: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Department of Energy Under Secretary Kristina Johnson to announce a…
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Anti-Prop 8 Legislation Moved to 2012 Ballot
From the LA Times: Leaders of Equality California, one of the state’s largest gay rights groups, announced today it will wait until 2012 to push for an amendment to the California Constitution to permit same-sex marriage. Many gay rights groups have favored returning the issue to voters as soon as 2010. Leaders at Equality California,…
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Let The Telly Entertain You
I came across an article entitled “Recession Sparking New Era in Stand-Up Comedy” penned by The Atlantic’s Christina Davidson. In it, Davidson touched on the efforts of comedy club promoters to lure cash-strapped patrons into their clubs and how this has spurred an opportunity for new comics to be discovered. For my comedic friends looking…
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Ex-Nebraska Star Lawrence Phillips Faces Up to 25 Years in Prison
From ESPN: SAN DIEGO — Former NFL running back Lawrence Phillips was convicted of assault and other felony charges Tuesday in San Diego. A Superior Court jury took less than a day to find Phillips guilty of seven counts, including assault with great bodily injury; false imprisonment; making a criminal threat; and auto theft. He…
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Who Won the Recession?
Now that the recession is most likely over, it’s time to start looking at which companies, institutions, and individuals thrived during this grim period. In the harsh downturn that began in December 2007, success was redefined—flat became the new up, and muddling through became a triumph. In a recession that hit all rungs of the…
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Thou Shalt Be Debt Free
Slate’s Sandy Stonesifer gets a do-gooding dilemma: Dear Sandy, I’m not a preachy Christian, but I do think it’s important to follow the tenets set forth in the Bible. Right up there at the top is tithing. My husband feels that you tithe once you get out of debt and only if you have something…