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Barack Like Me
The day after the presidential election, I went to work at a small inner-city public high school to find people walking the halls with contented smiles. Even the students who generally find it easier to scowl than breathe were beaming. As their principal, I reprimanded them, half-heartedly, numerous times for suggesting that we all should’ve…
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Dark and Lovely, Michelle
“Hey, dark ‘n lovely!” Gotta love the brothers who show their affection for the dark-skinned girls, even if they are hollering out the window of a passing car. Gotta love it even more when the brother is the president, and the object of his affection is front and center for the world to see. It’s…
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Henderson Slides Into Hall of Fame
Rickey Henderson’s on and off the field flair—more Babe Ruth and Willie Mays than Joe DiMaggio or Hank Aaron—won’t win him any popularity contests among the conservative baseball press. But it’s still a travesty that he will be announced as a new Hall of Fame inductee today without a unanimous selection. Every year, at least…
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Sorry, So Sorry!
It was all there today — the introspection, the cluelessness, the smirkiness, the defiance, the sense of humor, the surprising humility. When George Bush said goodbye for the last time to the White House press corps this morning, he refelcted on everything from the ‘Mission Accomplished’ to Katrina to the failure to find weapons of…
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Happy Birthday! Motown Turns 50
In the months leading up to the presidential election, much was made about the size of the crowds and the energy level at Obama rallies. For clues, some looked to the Obama playlist—the songs that served as the soundtrack for those frenzied events. True to his overall political strategy, Obama’s playlist cut across various popular…
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Twist and Shout
We are all hungry for every minute detail about the Obamas; we’ve read all about Michelle Obama’s trendsetting style, her choice of dresses, the flip of her hair. But my main focus so far has been on Malia. Her hair, to be specific. On her first day at Sidwell Friends School, 10-year-old Malia seemed to…
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Meet the Peeps
Meet the Press, the crown jewel of the Sunday morning talks shows, determined yesterday that the future of black America was topic worthy of discussion and invited a panel of black luminaries, most of them from the past, to talk about the future. The panel included Bill Cosby, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian…
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Viola Davis: A Golden Globe Favorite
Several years ago when I was still boiling an egg and making it last a week, I was apartment-mates with THE Viola Davis. It wasn’t a romantic relation, so no need to call the Tabloids, but if you do, just get the name right. There were actually four of us in the apartment in Harlem…
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Meet The Browns – America's Out of Touch Family
A friend called me over the weekend to wish me a happy birthday and to tell me another friend of ours was cast in Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns. At first, I was silent. And I know I have a history of Perry-bashing and advocating for what I believe to be quality TV for black…